Commissioner Sallie Clark participates in NACo Smart Justice Symposium

This week, I had the chance to build on my participation with National Association of Counties (NACo) and explored justice and public safety priorities such as juvenile justice reform, workforce development, jail population management and related jail heathcare issues at the 2013 Smart Justice Symposium, held Jan 31-Feb. 1.
Hosted by Los Angeles County, our NACo Justice and Public Safety (JPS) Committee discussed these critical priorities with justice and public safety experts from across the country and considered how county officials can best shape federal policies and funding levels to ensure that services for communities are efficient and effective.

Seven sessions were held over the two days addressing:

• Latest innovations and successes on juvenile justice reform
• Pretrial justice programs and how they can improved public safety and help counties better manage jail populations
• Workforce development plan and strategies to curb recidivism
• New national health care law and how it relates to county jail populations strategies to curb child sex trafficking
• Relationships between counties and their state in the management of jail populations

The Smart Justice Symposium is part of NACo President Chris Rodgers' presidential Smart Justice initiative which aims to build knowledge and capacity for successful justice policies and practices among the nation's counties. It also provides a closer examination of the need for intergovernmental collaboration and public partnerships in an effort to create safer communities and spend taxpayer money more effectively.

The NACo Smart Justice Symposium builds on the focus of NACo's Justice and Public Safety platform and legislative agenda. The opportunity to hear directly from experts on many of the critical justice and public safety issues affecting counties across the country and the critical matters explored at the meeting will improve and enhance public safety in states and local communities.

In my role as NACo's JPS Court Subcommittee Chair, I participated in panel discussions and facilitated a workshop and conversation on pretrial services, offering alternative sentencing options that can help to reduce jail populations. In addition, along with our chair of the JPS Committee Nancy Schouweiler, Commissioner from Dakota County, MN, I was able to tour a portion of the Los Angeles County jail facility whose Sheriff's Department and County Supervisors are responsible for housing approximately 18,000 inmates at various locations with a budget of nearly $3 billion per year. LA Supervisor Don Knabe and Sheriff Lee Baca both presented at the Symposium.  To see a full agenda of the Smart Justice Symposium, visit www.naco.org

*Commissioner Clark serves on the NACo Justice and Public Safety Committee as the Court Subcommittee Chair.

LOCAL AND STATE COLLABORATION WORKS TO SECURE FUNDING FOR COLORADO' S POST-FIRE MITIGATION EFFORTS




Highway 24 West after the July 30th storm event post Waldo Canyon Fire

A collaborative effort which includes the Board of the El Paso County Commissioners has sent a letter to all members of the Colorado Congressional delegation urging them to support $19.8 million in requested funding for Colorado Emergency Watershed Protection. The Supplemental Appropriation for Disaster Assistance legislation under consideration in the House of Representatives supports recovery for Super Storm Sandy but does not include funding for mitigation efforts in the disastrous Waldo Canyon and High Park wildfires in Colorado.

We have been working collectively behind the scenes to secure additional funding for fire mitigation. To date, El Paso County and Colorado Springs have received approximately 1.2 million in Emergency Watershed Protection dollars to fund necessary project and protect precious lives and properties in eminent danger of flooding post fire. But that amount is far short of the amount approved for our state and necessary for both Waldo Canyon and High Park restoration efforts to prevent and reduce future flooding due to the burn scar areas. Be assured that there is a collaborative effort in communicating our local concerns to both our State and Congressional delegation.

The letter highlights urgent needs in areas affected by the Waldo Canyon burn scar including:

*El Paso County is working with private landowners, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), School District 14 and others to protect the City of Manitou Springs and Highway 24 West from significant erosion and flooding issues which also threaten lives and property in the Ute Pass areas of Chipita Park and Cascade.

*The City of Colorado Springs and Colorado Springs Utilities need additional funding to reduce flooding, sedimentation and debris flow impacts on facilities critical to collecting, storing and conveying raw drinking water to approximately 70% of city residents.

*Additionally, the Navigators and Flying W Ranch need additional funds to protect public and private facilities, including significant historic structures such as Glen Eyrie Castle.
If EWP funding for the Colorado wildfire recovery not included by amendment to Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Assistance the process will become much more difficult and the outcome more uncertain.

In addition to the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners, the Colorado Springs Mayor’s Office, Colorado Springs City Council, Regional Business Alliance, Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments, Larimer County Commissioners, City of Greeley, Town of Green Mountain Falls, City of Manitou Springs, Colorado Springs Utilities, Colorado Counties Inc., and the Colorado Municipal League are all signatories on the letter.

END OF RAINBOW EDGES NEARER FOR FALLS NEAR MANITOU SPRINGS

Thanks to efforts by Commissioner Sallie Clark, the Manitou Environmental Citizens' Action (MECA), El Paso County Parks, citizens and volunteers gathered on Saturday, April 21st to bring Rainbow Falls back to its original splendor, encouraing more families and citizens to enjoy this historic and beautiful area. Coincidentally, the clean up took place on Earth Day.

Clean up activities included painting over destructive graffiti on the bridge and picking up trash along the trails, roadway and in the water fed by Fountain Creek. Over the last seven years, El Paso County, MECA and many other organizations have been making strides in improving the area, which until recently, had been under private ownership. Thanks to persistent efforts and the transfer of ownership to the County, picnic tables and trash cans have been installed, graffiti has been sandblasted from the rocks, the parking lot has been increased and trails have been built, including the restoration of the overlook trail with railings. One of the projects included that of Boy Scout Martin Rendleman, for his successful Eagle Scout project to build a trail access and picnic area near the entrance to the park area.

Rainbow Falls, located just west of Manitou Springs off of Serpentine drive is on the old Ute Pass Stagecoach route and is a historically significant recreation destination. After years of neglect and abuse by vandals, the property was deeded to El Paso County for a $10 transfer fee. Families are now using the area in the park and picnic area and law enforcement has come together to assist in changing the culture of destructive graffiti on the natural outcroppings and the waterway.

L'Aura Montgomery Williams, the founder of MECA, said, "Through increased family recreation and utilitization as well as citizen and sheriff/police patrols, Rainbow Falls is no longer a haven for graffiti vandals. We are sending a message that the Falls is now a park to be enjoyed, not  a place to be destroyed."

Financial contributions can be made through the MECA website: www.MECAcolorado.org