BARRY NOREEN: In Cimarron Hills, recall petitions cause a stir

   Just when the Cherokee Metropolitan District is recovering from past mismanagement, restless natives in Cimarron Hills are beating the drums for a dubious recall.

   Two of the district's board members also serve on the board of the Cimarron Hills Fire District. They've come under fire because they've disturbed a long-running fiefdom, getting rid of the chief 's position, an administrator's position and entering into an intergovernmental agreement with the Falcon Fire District, which now is handling administrative matters for Cimarron Hills.

   The members of both boards are Gayle Jones and Andy Anderson. They've been targeted for recall by those unhappy with changes in the fire department.

   "You would think we sold the American flag," Jones said, "when we suggested there was a fiscally responsible way to run the district."

   Although everyone seems to agree the Cherokee district is doing well now, the recall group is threatening to recall Jones and Anderson and another Cherokee board member. It's the sort of tempest-in-a-teapot, petty stuff that often occurs in small towns, especially in Colorado, where oflceholders can be recalled for any reason at all.

   One of the recall supporters is Robert Lovato, also a board member at Cherokee. Lovato acknowledged that the talk of recalling Jones and Anderson from the Cherokee board is "all about what they did at the fire department. It's a lack of confidence."

   Lovato wanted to be the general manager at Cherokee, but the job instead went to Kip Petersen, the former city manager in Cripple Creek. Lovato denies he bears a grudge over that and freely admits he wants Jones and Anderson off thefiire board.

   Neither recall effort has been certified. If they are, they would appear on the general election ballot in November.

   Steve Hasbrouck, a Cherokee board member not targeted by recall petitions, said the recall effort is "absolutely frivolous."

   Hasbrouck said it's a shame, because Cherokee is "on the leading edge of something that's brand new."

   In 2010, Cherokee's $30 million wastewater plant will be up and running, sending treated water to a recharge facility that will return the water to be stored underground in an aquifer.

   It would be the first such recharge system in Colorado.

   The system will allow Cimarron Hills residents to water their lawns three times a week instead of just two - easing a restriction that has been hard to live with during this summer's drought.

   Cherokee ran into big trouble in 2006, when the Colorado Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision that sharply limited Cherokee's water use from wells.

   Cherokee was able to buy some water from Colorado Springs, but it's expensive. Another piece of the solution has been a $21-a-month increase in wastewater charges.

   The rate increases and the watering restrictions have not been popular, but they were not brought on by the current board.

   "I get complaints daily," said Petersen, hired after Cherokee got hammered by the high court. "It's a challenge, but it's really exciting. Mistakes have been made. We've got to get past those."

   Cimarron Hills residents can't expect the watering restrictions to be relaxed until 2010.

   But recalling Cherokee board members for something they allegedly did wrong on a fire district board doesn't make sense. 

   Contact Noreen at 636-0363 or noreen@gazette.com. He appears every other Friday on KoAA's comcast channel 9 at 4 p.m.