Jan Vigil Unfit for Alamosa

05/18/2021

Alamosa City Council admits they have made the family recreation grounds unsafe for our community. You will have to sign a waiver and wear protective gear to clean up the homeless camp built next to the Rodeo arena. Too many drug needles make this a hazard to volunteers. Enough is enough. Alamosa City Council continues to disregard public safety and they need to be replaced.

In partnership with the residents at St. Benedict Campsite and La Puente Outreach, the City of Alamosa is coordinating monthly volunteer cleanups the 3rd Friday of each month at 2:00 p.m. Weather conditions may warrant cancelling an event and will be announced through the City’s Facebook and twitter accounts.

The monthly volunteer trash pickup at St. Benedicts campsite will be on Friday May 21st at 2:00 PM.

Volunteers will be asked to sign a liability waiver form and should bring protective equipment such as durable closed-toe shoes and protective gloves to protect against sharp objects. Sunscreen is also recommended. Trash bags and sharps containers will be provided. A Community Service Officer will be present during the events.

The campsite is broken up into “lots” and residents have been asked to clean up their area so their items are not mistaken for debris. Volunteers should focus their efforts on areas where it is clear that the lot is not being used or trash on lots that are far away from the living structure.

Interested volunteers can contact La Puente Street Outreach at 719-496-1230 with any questions or simply show up the 3rd Friday of the month at 2:00.

For more information please visit our website at https://cityofalamosa.org/departments/boards-commissions/homeless-coalition-board/

11/09/2020

City Council can't keep our neighborhoods safe.

Now they are destroying the Alamosa Recreation/Rodeo grounds with what they call a 'temporary' homeless shelter.

It's time to clean up our City and it starts with City Councilor elections.

We look forward to this discussion in 2021.

10/18/2020

Jan Vigil's LEAD program spent $1,300,000 on a failed effort to address crime in Alamosa.

We all have heard Jan Vigil talk about his LEAD program but what is the LEAD program exactly? It stands for Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion and essentially it is asking police to use social services instead of the judicial system for criminals. The basic idea is that social services might be a better option than jail for some offenders like prostitutes and drug offenders.

That's a debate for another day.

But what's more interesting is that according to the Valley Courier, "The city has received almost $1.3 million in funding.....to operate the (two year) program through June of 2020".
https://alamosanews.com/.../alamosa-takes-lead-in-crime...
Has the LEAD program actually reduced crime?

Jan Vigil claims in a campaign video that the program has "20 success stories". Other news articles state that the enrollment is closer to 13.

Nonetheless, 20 people helped by a program that has cost $1,300,000 comes out to almost $65k per person.

$65,000 per person isn't what other cities are spending, not even close.

In the same Valley Courier article cited above, Ruth Heide's writes, "Retired Albany, N.Y. Police Chief Brendan Cox, who now works in the national LEAD program, met with the local LEAD team and Alamosa city council..(saying)...it might cost $550 a month to serve a LEAD participant."

How bad has Jan Vigil mismanaged this program? Where has the money actually been spent and is there any accounting available to the public?

The State of Colorado is still reviewing the performance of the City of Alamosa and should release a report soon.

What we do know is the State of Colorado entrusted Jan Vigil and the City of Alamosa with $1.3 million to help people and make our neighborhoods safer. It's unfortunate that Jan Vigil seemingly squandered this opportunity.

This isn't a success story for Jan Vigil. It's a story that deserves closer interrogation from the Legislature and the Colorado Department of Public Health.

10/10/2020

In 2019 City Councilor Jan Vigil was urging folks to call Congress and demand Gun Control. https://alamosanews.com/article/two-city-council-members-announce-for-election

Now in 2020 as a candidate for County Commissioner he says he is pro 2nd Amendment and supports being a sanctuary city for the Red Flag Gun law.

Which Jan Vigil do we believe?

10/10/2020

Alamosa isn't a safe community, in fact it is 4th in the state for property crimes. Jan Vigil has only made a bad situation worse when he voted to decriminalize the Alamosa City Code and take away the threat of jail.

A Colorado city is considering decriminalizing many municipal offenses and thus taking jail time off the table as a sentencing option.