August 09, 2010 06:25 PM UTC

Colorado Springs is Not Very Bright, Literally

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• by: Vincent Lynn

Most people are familiar with Colorado Springs’ struggles with just about everything civically, earning it the endearing nickname ‘Somalia Springs.’  Terry Tamminen at CNBC did an interesting analysis on recent budget cuts in Lexington, MA versus Colorado Springs regarding street lights to show that not all budget cuts are created equally.  

…On the dimmer side of this tale, Colorado Springs has turned off one third of its streetlights in an effort to save money in these times of tight government budgets. Not only has this already led to complaints about public safety, it hasn’t solved the problem.

The town is also laying off police officers and selling police helicopters, potentially aggravating the crimes those resources previously prevented and incurring more costs for taxpayers in the long run. How many cops would still be on the beat in Colorado Springs if its leaders had cut street light costs by 75 percent-without turning off a single lamp-and applied those savings to the police department?

http://www.cnbc.com/id/38622533

The analysis shows why it is important to have progressive leaders making decisions in local government.  While Lexington may be laying out more money in the short term, they are saving a lot more in the long run in addition to creating jobs, enhancing safety in their community, and reducing their carbon footprint.  Even if all the money is going to Al Gore, as the conspiracy theorists may believe, at least he is creating jobs.