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Second Regular Session

Sixty-first General Assembly

LLS NO. R98­0058.01 JAG

STATE OF COLORADO




BY REPRESENTATIVE Hagedorn;

also SENATOR Tebedo.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 98-1034


WHEREAS, Local government exists to serve the needs of its citizens and business communities; and

WHEREAS, Local government is the level of government closest to the people and most able to respond to the needs and concerns of its citizens; and

WHEREAS, It is the intent of the General Assembly to encourage and support cost efficiencies in government; and

WHEREAS, Local government officials at the county, municipal, special district, and school district levels are interested in providing services in the most cost­effective, efficient manner possible; and

WHEREAS, Local elected officials are charged with the responsibility of making service delivery decisions to meet a broad spectrum of demands by their citizenry; and

WHEREAS, The flexibility for local elected officials to determine how best to meet the needs of their citizens should be preserved; and

WHEREAS, The issues of privatization and unfair competition have been raised to the General Assembly as issues of concern; and

WHEREAS, The 1993 Governor's Statehouse Conference on Small Business has identified privatization as an issue of particular concern; and

WHEREAS, Local officials support privatization as a management tool; and

WHEREAS, Local governments utilize the private sector in the delivery of public services; and

WHEREAS, Service delivery efficiencies are achieved through competition; and

WHEREAS, A vigorous private sector environment is necessary to ensure the vitality and long­term health of the community; and

WHEREAS, It is of general benefit to a community for local officials to consider the economic health of its businesses; and

WHEREAS, The City of Colorado Springs and the County of El Paso have collaborated in the privatization of all military housing at Fort Carson, with such privatization involving two thousand four hundred sixty­four housing units, being the largest privatization of military housing in the United States, and serving as a model for similar projects throughout the United States; and

WHEREAS, The City of Colorado Springs and the County of El Paso have worked in concert with the Committee on Competitiveness and Efficiency in Government in identifying additional opportunities for privatization; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Sixty­first General Assembly of the state of Colorado, the Senate concurring herein:

(1)  That the General Assembly encourages local governments to continue to consider the expanded use of privatization of existing public services;

(2)  That the General Assembly encourages local officials to evaluate the impact of the provision of new public services in­house on businesses and the economy and to explore the opportunity for new services to be provided by the private sector when of equal quality and availability and affordable to the public;

(3)  That the General Assembly believes that local officials need to consider the views of the broadest base of interests in making service delivery decisions;

(4)  That the General Assembly believes that all segments of the community, including businesses, have a responsibility to keep informed about local government issues and to participate in the decision­making process of government at the local level;

(5)  That the General Assembly encourages local governments contemplating the provision of a new service or a significant expansion of an existing service to solicit involvement at the earliest time practicable from the local business community and that any such decisions should be made at open meetings;

(6)  That the General Assembly supports the efforts of the City of Colorado Springs and the County of El Paso in addressing these issues in a proactive and positive manner.

Be It Further Resolved, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Mayor and City Council of the City of Colorado Springs and to the Board of County Commissioners of the County of El Paso.


Created: 4/16/98 Updated: 4/16/98