The Colorado Municipal League, or CML, is a state level of the bigger group, National League of Cities, or NLC.  Both organizations provide education for city officials and a lobby process for the legislation at the State and Federal levels.  Newly elected city officials can ‘get their feet wet’ at the annual June CML Conference and then move on to the Annual NLC Conference in Washington, DC, which is held in March.  (I attended NLC in March and did a web piece on my experience at that time also.)

That little piece of information leads into my ‘city blog’ about this year’s CML 2005 which was held in Vail last week!  The location for the conference DOES seem to influence the attendance.  There were nearly 500 attendees this year…….and all but about 4 of the cities of Colorado were represented.  I actually ran for a position on the CML Executive Board, with the blessing of our Golden City Council, but lost to 3 incumbent members.  It was, though, a very positive experience.  I met lots of people during my whirlwind 2 day campaign, and received a lot of encouragement to try again.  CML officials invited me to join a CML committee, just to get more involved. 

There were many educational offerings to keep me busy.  I took some notes, but mostly just listened intently to the ideas, problems, solutions, and suggestions that were offered.  I was able to ‘network’ (there is that BUZZword again!) with some of the Councilors from our neighboring municipalities, and also with some of the communities representatives from the far borders of Colorado.  It is all about getting ‘out there’ and being friendly.

The most interesting of the lectures that I attended was on ‘walkable and liveable communities’.  Their presentation was rather ambitious in many ways.  While it would be nice to provide a park within 1/8 miles of each residence, I think that our Parks and Rec Dept is doing a great job in providing parks, maintaining them, and looking ahead with vision to see what we need to plan for the future.  Trail systems that allow people to walk or bike safely was top of the list for this lecture.  The presenter of this class defined a ‘walkable community’ as one where you can walk to buy a Popsicle and it won’t melt before you get back home!  I doubt that we will meet that criteria, but it is a fun idea!

Another focus was on ‘quasi- judicial’ meetings and decisions.  It was recommended that all City Council’s have a defined ‘escape route’ for Councilors…….in case a meeting ‘goes bad’!  I think this is a great idea, but find it hard to believe it necessary in Golden.  The majority of our citizens appear to be responsible and rational!  (I wonder if the people in Granby felt that way?)  Oh well…….other valid suggestions were offered and brought back to our Mayor and Manager.  We all know that the ‘quasi-judicial’ issues are ALWAYS the most difficult items to study and decide. 

The final point that I will share is the economics of communities.  There is always a need to have revenue coming in to the city coffers to pay out for the amenities that we are all comfortable with having!  No one likes to cut services to citizens, and, so far, Golden has not had to do that!  However, the hard work of EDCOM (the city), GURA, and The Golden Chamber are the pieces that look out for that revenue interest.  How about a cooperative meeting of the minds to define some short term and long term goals?  How do we want our downtown to look in 20 or 50 or 100 years……long after I am GONE!
We, as residents, are aware of the attributes of Golden and its lovely scenery and walkable downtown………but we need to constantly and diligently let others know how desireable it is to come to Golden…to shop, recreate, and eat!

In any case, CML is like a shot of adrenaline……..a real boost of enthusiasm and ideas to think about……..until next conference!

Come see us at Council!

Karen Oxman