Well there it is! and it didn’t take very long to happen newly elected Aurora Colorado mayor Steve Hogan suggesting to ask  Aurora voters to fund the failed CU Anschutz Medical Campus strategic infrastructure planning!

The CU Anschutz Medical Campus with its national disgrace displayed of failed comprehensive planning previously detailed on the Anschutz Medical Campus blog, network of narrow interior roads reducing the speed of traffic, insufficient parking infrastructure, and now acknowledged failed public access infrastructure by the now jettisoned mayor Ed Tauer and the arrogant city of Aurora city council. Six years later trying to add an additional band aid to repair  flawed comprehensive infrastructure planning approved by the Aurora Colorado building/planning department.

Newly elected mayor, Steve Hogan has now suggested to use Aurora Colorado taxpayers money to finance the extension of the nine mile RTD light rail to the problematic CU Anschutz Medical Campus to ease the onslaught of traffic. Mayor Hogan who has a track record with the E470 beltway suggested Aurora voters kick start the dead in the water nine mile extension before the final construction of the veterans hospital is completed in 2016 as the CU Anschutz traffic congestion continues to emit smog, gridlock, and is quickly deteriorating the entire community boundary area, effectively lowering the quality of life, surrounding the entire CU Anschutz Medical Campus area.

Like a typical government with its spend and regulate mentality Aurora Colorado lawmakers are gearing up to ask Aurora voters to keep a current property tax on the books that generates approximately 6 million dollars a year. The majority of Aurora city council now realizes that transportation is a priority especially as the Anschutz Medical Campus blog profiled the nations largest failed billion dollar infrastructure project. This six million dollar revenue stream can be rolled into a bond issue to extend the nine mile light rail to the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. ….DUH…..

Yea…well lets just critically review and nationally document what the city of Aurora Colorado has done over the last 6 years at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus and surrounding boundary zone.

1. Several years ago the city of Aurora Colorado gave a 300,000 dollar loan to level the heaven on earth hotel located at East Colfax and Potomac street as it was an eyesore so it need to be demolished according to the city. Where is a sign on this property? Where is the taxpayers return on this 300,000 dollars? When it has become impossible to borrow money because of the George W. Bush meltdown? Where is the Aurora citizens return on this private investment?  Nothing here!

2.You have the Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority (FRA) investing 10 million dollars in Fitzsimons Village a private project, the only real project located on the perimeter of the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. Where is the taxpayers return on this cash outlay?…..More specifically when the bank pad was sold for one million dollars why wasn’t those dollars reinvested into the immediate aurora community and the North Peoria branch library reopened. after being closed for years???

3.Lets talk about the 80,000 dollar free gift the desperate city of Aurora flat out gave away to Greffex INC. located on the desolate 184 acre Fitzsimons campus adjacent to the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. This gift was given and the loan will be forgive in five years! Why?
Aurora Economic Development Council and Aurora officials are desperate to keep tenants on the fledging bioscience park. Aurora Colorado is going to change the paradigm according to Wendy Mitchell spokeswoman. It is a priority to keep the company in Aurora, Colorado because of its potential. Greffex has several products in the pipeline one an influenza vaccine that has a market potential of 5 billion annually with several other promising products under development.

Lets just put a few of these Aurora Colorado city official statements under the national public microscope. Anyone can say anything its freedom of speech however when Aurora Colorado taxpayer funds are used and squandered away frivolously there  is the need for transparency and accountability a la George w. Bush and a two trillion dollar additional national deficit which is now up to 15 trillion dollars.

When a company becomes successful they hire tax advisors, consultants and experts to handle decisions and customize exclusive decisions to benefit the individual company. With increased revenues comes closer scrutiny and serious tax implications. Lets look at Apple for instance with no state taxes in the state of Nevada and Apples headquarters in Cupertino, California Apple has opened up satellite offices in Reno Nevada to cut its corporate taxes, additional offices are opened in Ireland, Netherland and Luxembourg. This is nothing new its been done for years with all types of companies.

So with a market potential of 5 billion dollars, a promising new product that will be secured by an intellectual property patent on the USPTO principal register,  which is good anywhere in the entire United States and the current vaccine project process only takes up a couple of hundred square feet how long do you think Greffex will remain on the Fitzsimons redevelopment authority campus when their revenues start to soar? Maybe a week after you talk to your high powered tax attorney I would project. Even if Greffex has to buy out the remainder of its lease. What does this clearly indicate, disclose, and illustrate about the thinking, and comprehensive development of the entire Aurora Colorado planning on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus and the Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority?

Basically, they are all unqualified to do the job and the Aurora taxpayer is being asked to mop up their failed decision making which is clear and transparent, but has not always been that way under the previous jettisoned mayor Ed Tauer. That’s why Aurora Colorado is “out to lunch”

Lets move on and benchmark for the national public at large, and malleable learning CU students these out of touch statements by Aurora Colorado city officials to a bigger more recent event in the national news. Lets take a look at Facebook cofounder Eduardo Saverin who’s less than 4% share in Facebook is worth approximately 3.5 billion dollars…still far less than the potential market share of influenza vaccine. Prior to the IPO of Facebook what did Edwardo do? He renounced his US citizenship of course not to avoid taxes he moved to Singapore with a tax rate of zero. With the tax rates due to go up because of the George w. Bush war and ensuing economic recovery Mr. Saverin saved oh……somewhere around 700 million dollars. However no one will comment as this is a delicate issue. And Washington took notice after this one case there’s talk about raising the US exit tax any surprise here?

There is a reason after over five years there is not one major company is located on the Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority (FRA)campus. Nowhere do you see a Novartis, Hoffman LaRoche, or Bayer. Not one major company anywhere this clearly speaks volumes and indicates structural problems when your industry avoids your facilities. You cannot put “lipstick on a pig”.

Don Elliman chancellor of University of Colorado (CU)was recently quoted the land north of Mont view represents one of the greatest opportunities in the state of Colorado but has not seen much action in the last 5-6 years. WHY? What exactly did the Aurora taxpayer get when they funded the land inside the CU  Anschutz Medical Campus when land on the perimeter is selling for close to a million dollars an acre? Nothing is what the Aurora taxpayer got.

So the City of Aurora, Colorado is now operating like a casino betting, investing like venture capitalist as they have all left the playing field. Aurora Colorado council is operating like a land bank holding on to developmental land at the cost of Aurora Taxpayers. This is a Failed role for government, the role of government is to regulate and tax. Aurora does this and everything else all rolled into one decision. But has failed. why? When you invest there is a calculation called internal rate of return (IRR) That’s one calculation a banker evaluates. Where is the Aurora Colorado taxpayer Rate of Return? Nowhere its absent and there’s no accountability this is one of the many nationally documented reasons the CU Anschutz Medical Campus and the adjacent Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority  is a flat out failure. Its not just this blog stating these facts its the market and we just outlined it in detail! Yet not one leader anywhere can correct the problem and the city of Aurora just stuck its hand in your back pocket. Which is empty do the the war and the economic national conditions. As you remember the state of Colorado recently rejected any funding for development projects on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus.(This was profiled earlier on this blog)

All right lets recap, 10 million privately invested here, 80 grand given away free over there, 300 thousand missing over here, 2 million invested but not generating a return where bankers would be foreclosing and liquidating your property as 10 million national homeowners already know. All of a sudden you are talking about real money that has been taken from the Aurora Colorado taxpayer and squandered away..a real ugly situation when you outline the problem in detail and publish it nation wide on the Anschutz Medical Campus blog….not a pretty sight for a newly elected Aurora, Colorado mayor Steve Hogan when this is a  national  election year..No longer is Colorado a fly over over state with 9 electoral votes and vacillating between Republican and Democrats. A purple state it is called.

Now lets move on to what should occur on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. If the University of Colorado and the Aurora Colorado officials think this campus is so great then start paying for the consistent problems the CU Anschutz Medical Campus is creating. If the nine mile light rail extension needs to be extended to the CU Anschutz Medical Campus due to the 40,000 cars created by this financial fiasco then start taxing the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. Holding their dysfunctional leadership accountable for their actions which adversely effect Colorado taxpayers. Add a special property use or other supplemental tax to clean up the problems this CU Anschutz Medical Campus is creating. Do not move the problem to the Aurora Colorado taxpayer. This is what George w. Bush did. Started a war lowered the top tax bracket, called the bush tax cuts, these are GOP votes and moved the cost of the war to the middle class. Who didn’t vote Republican or want this Iraq war. And here we are 10 years later 2 trillion dollars in additional national debt and no one will articulate the problem.

Disclaimer: This post is written in response to the Aurora sentinel article dated may 24, 2012
getting light rail on track in Aurora, Colorado.