If there's anywhere that the modern conservative model of governance has been carried out to its logical conclusion, it's Colorado Springs, CO. The effects--somewhat ameliorated recently by Democrats--of a statewide "Taxpayer's Bill of Rights" combined with government elected from literally the home of a significant chunk of movement Christianist conservatism has left Colorado Springs weak enough that it has just about drowned in Grover Norquist's bathtub:
This tax-averse city is about to learn what it looks and feels like when budget cuts slash services most Americans consider part of the urban fabric.The author of Colorado's TABOR and other recent anti-tax measures is a resident of Colorado Springs; one has to wonder whether he'll be out at his local park with the weed whacker this summer, or if he'll be here in Wisconsin campaigning for his brother-in-ideology Scott Walker.
More than a third of the streetlights in Colorado Springs will go dark Monday. The police helicopters are for sale on the Internet. The city is dumping firefighting jobs, a vice team, burglary investigators, beat cops — dozens of police and fire positions will go unfilled.
The parks department removed trash cans last week, replacing them with signs urging users to pack out their own litter.
Neighbors are encouraged to bring their own lawn mowers to local green spaces, because parks workers will mow them only once every two weeks. If that. [. . .]
"I guess we're going to find out what the tolerance level is for people," said businessman Chuck Fowler, who is helping lead a private task force brainstorming for city budget fixes. "It's a new day."
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