Carl Cole for Crestone

11/28/2022

A town is civilization's invention to replace the tribe which evolution gave our species; just as evolution gave the goose a flock, the whale a pod, the lion a pride, and the elk a herd.

Civilized structures (towns, cities, countries, companies) depend upon a contrived hierarchical structure to function; where a few at the top benefit greatly while most people are the foundation those few comfortable lives are built upon.

Tribal leaders were chosen because they consistently made good choices and decisions that benefit the entire tribe. Conversely, elected representatives of civilization seek to win popularity contests where there is little to no repercussions for what is said to win that contest or the inability to work for the good of everyone once that contest is over.

We don't get a say because after the popularity contest is over, there's hardly any reason to serve anyone's best interest except the politician's own interests. Sure, there are exceptions to this, but they must operate against the flow of the system; ignoring private donors and special interest groups, among others.

The problem is systemic as the hierarchical pyramid structure doesn't serve most people, has always been unfit for most people, and is quite obviously failing.

To fix what's broken in the present, we must look at what has worked in the past. For hundreds of thousands of years, people were as content to live as a tribe as elk still are content to live as herds. It's not a perfect system, but it is evolutionary successful and stable (as our current civilized social structures are obviously failing.)

If human occupation of this planet is to continue to be comfortable, feasible, or enjoyable at all, it will not be because of old minds with an obsolete vision of humanity coming up with new programs and laws. If the world is saved it will be saved by new minds with no programs or new laws at all.

Why not new minds with new programs and new laws? Because where you find people working on programs and laws you don't find new minds, you find old ones. Old minds, programs, and laws go together like a horse, buggy, and whip.

We are the horse whipping ourself.

Old minds think: "How do we stop these bad things from happening?"

New minds think, "How do we make things the way we want them to be."

I see a lot of new minds working on the problem of walking away from the hierarchical power structure. People are dropping their whips and releasing the cart. The flow of vision is shifting and old minds and old ways of doing things will soon be washed away in the flood.

It’s hard to say what a new implementation of vision will look like as it's almost impossible for one paradigm to imagine that there will even be a next one. The people of the Middle ages didn’t think of themselves as being in the ‘middle’ of anything at all. As far as they were concerned, the way they were living was the way people would be living till the end of time. If those people could have articulated what the Renaissance would be then it would have already been the Renaissance.

If we just keep going with the flow of vision, especially as our children describe it to us, then we will eventually reach our very own New Renaissance.

Crestone is uniquely poised to be at the spearhead of a shift in the flow of vision away from heirarchy and egotistical leadership. All we have to do is keep listening and supplying Crestone's children with what they tell us they need.

Just listen.

04/06/2022

Congratulations to Kairina Danforth for retaining the office of Mayor. I hope you understand the reasons you faced recall and work to correct them. I'm willing to help. I hope you can accept my help and know that I'm working for the good of Crestone because I love Crestone. I love it enough to play the heel or the villain when necessary to get things done that need to be done here.

Congratulations to Adam Kinney for returning to the board. I'm glad to know that you'll be representing me.

Congratulations to Daya Scheide for getting more votes than any elected official in Crestone's history and being duly elected to his position. We need you to speak up for the youth and those who will inherit this town. You've earned your voice on the Board now and we need to hear more from you regarding the future.

Congratulations to Stephen Hume for getting duly elected to his position. You're no longer the new guy and you'll need to take charge sometimes and speak up for the community if you see the board not listening. Keep focused on Fire and Water and Power. We're going to really need those things.

Congratulations to Kizzen...again. How many years have you had a seat at this table?

Many issues were brought to light through this vote. I stand by my position that this Mayor committed egregious mistakes that put the community in liability and ignored public demands. These meetings need to be opened up to the public using modern networking technology. Without a public vote, public comment, or even Trustee discussion, the chat feature on the Zoom broadcasts was disabled. No one was informed as to why.

It should be reinstated. The public deserves a voice.

The government should come to the people, not hide behind closed doors and make people come to them. If you care what the public has to say, then there are simpler ways of listening than a recall election.

While it's certainly not a good look that a publicly vocal opponent of mine, Elaine T. Johnson was one of 2 vote counters working late (exhibiting yet again unprofessionalism and arrogance by not asking that she recuse herself from the process for the sake of propriety and public impressions due to statements made on social media), I will honor the results.

This was the largest voter turnout in Crestone's history and 33% voted to recall the current Mayor.

I hope this is taken into account as we continue this dialogue on Crestone's future. One-third of voters felt that Mayor Danforth should be removed from office for egregious behavior. She is the first and only Mayor of Crestone to face recall. I hope her and the board proceed with humility and grace instead of gloating arrogance and personally persecuting those who voted (or ran) against them.

Any Trustee can face the same recall election and I already know how to make the petitions. Be careful with how you choose to represent this community. As public figures, you are being watched and critiqued by an ever more discerning and engaged public.

One way or another, we will engage with you. Engage us back, on level ground, with equal access, with humility, and we won't have to make you remember that you work for us.

Reopen the public chat at the next meeting. Vote on it if you have to, even though there was no vote to remove it.

Kairina keeps telling me she has an attorney's advice to keep the chat disabled. Stop listening to Eugene Farish for legal advice. He's a terrible attorney that can't get a conviction with no opposing attorney, evidence, or witnesses. He's costing the town more in credibility than even the money we waste on him.

These are things that at least 1/3rd of the town believes are very important. If you truly work for consesus Benjamin, then work for the discriminated minority here that faces trial and public persecution with menace and vengeance. If you shift your focus from what's happening to who it's happening to and why, then you might gain a different perspective.

What this means for me is that I'll just keep this bus rolling right on through and go for Mayor again in 2024. Maybe an opposing candidate will choose to debate me in public and we can forgoe the closed-door actions that led to the Crestone Recall of 2022.

The actions I've taken, whether the board wants to credit me or not, have put them on notice that their job is to serve and engage the public. Self interests have no place here. There have been drastic changes in the last year because of me and I know these changes contribute to the incumbent remaining in her current position.

We need to see more.

Carl Cole
for Mayor
2024

04/06/2022

$165,000 for .5 acres of vacant land in town. What do we think of this?

For sale This is a vacant land. It is located at 4-6 W Copper Ave Crestone, Colorado.

04/05/2022

04/05/2022

How to vote in Crestone today.

04/05/2022

Today we come to the end of a chapter from a story that began over a year ago.

At the tail end of 2020, two local, professional musicians stood in line 6 feet apart from each other at the Crestone post office. Nikki Z asked me if I had a trailer. Because of what Covid did to our industry, I had a trailer sitting in my front yard that should have been on tour.

"Nikki Z, are you trying to play music in a trailer? Because I'm in!"

We curated a setlist of popular rock classics designed to be inoffensive and appealing to everyone in Crestone. We played on sunny afternoons and encouraged the whole town to join in for this moment in time.

When this action was charged as a crime, I became politically active. This wasn't against the Crestone Code, it was directly in line with what I believe this town represents. We were sharing our resources with a community in desperate need of joy.

So I became unreasonable in my fight to protect what I love most about my home. My unwillingness to compromise on this foundational element of Crestone's pioneering spirit and self-reliance led to the decison our community is faced with today.

Will we embrace the future and all the changes at hand with open arms and grace? Or will we cling to the past and be swept up like so many quaint Colorado towns before us?

Win or lose today, I will continue to express my voice and opinions. This election may be seen as a competition, but I'm not here to compete. I want everyone to win, too.

It takes all of us being engaged. It takes every vote in town to elect community representation. It takes everyone being able to express their passions and desires for making this community better for everyone.

It takes a village...

04/02/2022

04/02/2022

21 action items for Crestone. Even if elected, I can't do any of this without majority support. The most important thing is to open the process to all of Crestone, regardless of age, race, gender, or length of residency. I believe this community is populated with geniuses who can solve any problem if everyone's allowed to be involved and welcomed.