[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 18 (Wednesday, February 27, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E217-E218]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              WELCOMING THE CITY AND COUNTY OF BROOMFIELD

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MARK UDALL

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 27, 2002

  Mr. UDALL of Colorada. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 
``First 100 Days'' of Colorado's newest county.
  At midnight on November 15, 2001, the City of Broomfield, Colorado, 
became the City and County of Broomfield, and as such became Colorado's 
64th county. It represents the culmination of years of difficult and 
tireless work the results of which will benefit Broomfield residents 
with enhanced and more efficient services--not to mention a higher 
profile.
  The success of these efforts is illustrated in an article from the 
Rocky Mountain News that I am attaching for the information of our 
colleagues.
  It all started in 1994 when a citizen group first publicly broached 
the idea due to the inconveniences of a city spread across four 
separate counties. This resulted in a fractured community that had to 
depend on four different seats for basic services and property taxes 
that varied throughout the city. After four years of organizing and 
diligence on the part of many Broomfield officials, Colorado's voters 
took the necessary step of agreeing to amend Colorado's Constitution to 
allow the city to become a city and county.
  But this was only the beginning of the work that lay ahead. As many 
in Broomfield County can now attest, creating a new county from scratch 
is a monumental task.
  In order to prepare the new county for business, a city and county 
building, a courthouse and a county jail had to be located and 
constructed. In addition to these and other physical changes, an 
entirely new administrative system had to be developed, which included 
the complex and daunting county health care program. In the political 
arena, rather than conduct elections for county commissioners, 
Broomfield elected to have their town council and mayor perform the 
task of the county commission. This innovative system will ensure a 
smooth transition and ensure those city services and county services 
are coordinated, assuring the best possible results to residents.
  The people and the government of Broomfield are to be commended for 
such an innovative and far-sighted task. Their years of hard work have 
at last come to fruition and their success will be measured by a better 
quality of life for their citizens. I hope my colleagues will join me 
in recognizing this accomplishment and in wishing the people of 
Broomfield City and County continued success and much prosperity in the 
years to come.

               [From Rocky Mountain News, Feb. 22, 2002]

                 100-Day-Old Broomfield Happy as a Lark

                           (By Berry Morson)

       Broomfield--Greg Young was turned away at the motor vehicle 
     department in this newly formed county when he tried recently 
     to register a used Subaru.
       He didn't have the right paper-work, Young was told.
       But it's what happened next that surprised Young.
       The clerk who turned him away, Darlene Yengich, picked up 
     the phone and politely, but firmly explained to the car's 
     former owner which papers must be turned over to Young for 
     the vehicle to get plates.
       ``It stunned me that she just called the person.'' Young 
     said, He had made numerous calls to the previous owner in a 
     vain quest for the magic papers.
       Thanks to Yengich's call, Young is now legally driving the 
     streets of Broomfield in his '92 gray Subaru wagon.
       That's the kind of personal service community leaders were 
     hoping to achieve when they campaigned for a 1998 ballot 
     proposal to make Broomfield a county, as well as a city.
       Today, Broomfield is quietly celebrating its 100th day as 
     Colorado's 64th county, which took effect Nov. 15. No 
     speeches or parades are planned.
       But Young is taking plenty about the benefits of being able 
     to register his car in the community where he's lived for 12 
     years. He showed up recently at a City Council meeting to 
     tell City leaders about how helpful Yengich had been.
       ``I said, `You must have gotten her from Planet Wonderful,' 
     '' Young said.
       Before Nov. 15, Broomfield was divided among four 
     counties--Adams, Boulder, Jefferson and Weld. Conducting 
     business such as registering a car or applying for a marriage 
     license meant a drive to a distant county seat.
       Transition from a city of a city-and-county has been 
     smooth, partly because citizens are behind the changes, said 
     Russ Ragsdale, the county clerk and Yengich's boss.
       ``They all, as a majority, were behind this county thing, 
     and they want to see us succeed, and they've helped,'' 
     Ragsdale said. ``I can see it when I sit in the motor vehicle 
     office, and watch the customers as they come in. They're glad 
     to have us here, and they make it easy on us.''
       Transfer of records from the previous counties to 
     Broomfield went with few hitches, Ragsdale said.
       Among the people most happy that Broomfield is now a county 
     are police officers.

[[Page E218]]

       Before Nov. 15, arrests meant transporting a prisoner to 
     jail in one of the other counties, said police Chief Tom 
     Deland. They are resting officer was off the street for 
     hours.
       Now the county has its own 80-bed jail.
       Under a unique system, prisoners are booked at the arrest 
     scene via computer hook-up. The prisoner is taken to jail in 
     a van, while the arresting officer goes back on patrol, 
     Deland said.
       Never a high-crime area, the daily jail population at the 
     new jail has not broken the low 20s, Deland said.
       The number will increase in coming months--probably to the 
     50s--as more people begin serving sentences imposed by 
     Broomfield County court. Most Broomfield crimes now before 
     courts were committed before Nov. 15, and so they are being 
     heard in the previous counties.
       So far, the most serious crime committed in the city or 
     county of Broomfield was assault on a police officer with a 
     knife, Deland said. No murders or sexual assault reports have 
     occurred.
       Yengich, the motor vehicle clerk who helped Young register 
     his Subaru, said she would have gone out of her way to help a 
     customer at the Jefferson County motor vehicle office, where 
     she previously worked.
       But, she said, the Broomfield office ``is smaller and not 
     quite as busy as the Jefferson County office. . . . It seems 
     like everybody is closer knit here.''
       Yengich said she's in the process of selling her house in 
     Lakewood. She plans to move to Broomfield.

     

                          ____________________