(La Junta, CO) -- After several concerned residents of Southeast Colorado reached out to CNYW, we realized that we needed a segment where we would follow up based on what YOU want to know about a story.
Last week, CNYW attended the La Junta City Council meeting virtually, offered through the City's Facebook page. We wrote that the council voted to move forward to approve several budget supplement requests for several departments. It was a second reading and only moved forward and has not yet been approved on a final reading.
The requests for more money to be added to the budget were from the following departments:
General Fund
Internal Service Fund
Electric Fund
Water Fund
Wastewater Fund
Sanitation Fund
The question we were asked is how the council members in attendance voted.
Council member Maureen Rikhof went on record during the discussion portion of the resolution to say she carefully examined last year's budget and believes it's council's responsibility to be transparent and to keep the budget in line. She stated that for this reason she would be a "no" vote to approve the resolution for the budget supplements.
Acting City Manager Brad Davidson agreed and expanded on her concerns to say he believed tightening the belt is a good thing for the city.
After the vote on the second reading was called for, it was passed on a 4-to-1 vote.
If you're simply listening to the meeting, you cannot tell who voted for it and who voted against it. The City of La Junta has council vote by pressing a button that lights up a color on a display in front of them. Green for yes, Red for now.
Here's a screen shot captured following the vote.
The yes votes were:
Damon Ramirez
Paul Velasquez
Lisa Pantoya
Mayor Joe Ayala
Voting no:
Maureen Rikhof
Council members not in attendance who did not vote include:
Jeremiah Stoker
Chandra Ochoa
If you'd like to contact City Council, here's how.
Joseph Ayala -Mayor Term Exp. 11/20235 joe.ayala@lajuntacolorado.org, 719.468.1597
Damon Ramirez- Ward 1 Term Exp. 11/20215 damon.ramirez@lajuntacolorado.org, 719.469.1771
Paul Velasquez - Ward 1 Term Exp. 11/20237 paul.velasquez@lajuntacolorado.org, 719.469.0522
Chandra Ochoa - Ward 2 La Junta CO 81050 Term Exp. 11/20237 chandra.ochoa@lajuntacolorado.org 719.980.5030
Jeremiah Stoker -Ward 2 La Junta CO 81050 Term Exp. 11/2025 jeremiah.stoker@lajuntacolorado.org 719.469.3594
Maureen Rikhof -Ward 3 La Junta CO 81050 Term Exp. 11/20237 maureen.rikhof@lajuntacolorado.org 303.525.6865
Lisa Pantoya -Ward 3 La Junta CO 81050 Term Exp. 11/2025 lisa.pantoya@lajuntacolorado.org
719.469.2105
NOTE: We searched for meeting minutes on-line and found that the City of La Junta's page contained meeting packets, and meeting minutes. However, they have not been updated since 12/4/2023. So, we couldn't access the most current meeting minutes.
The council meets at 6pm on the first and third Monday of the month in the City Municipal Building. If there's a holiday on a Monday, the meeting is held the following day on a Tuesday. You can follow meetings live on Facebook and watch them later at the City of La Junta Public Notices page.
Interesting legislation we found with a simple on-line search regarding the requirement to upload public meeting minutes.
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