Today is the day that the Torrance County Commission is to vote for a zoning change for the Single Action Shooting Society (SASS) and Founders Ranch. The request to the Commission was a blanket request with SASS and Founders Ranch seeking to do everything all the way up to a "world class event center".
The unanimous do pass from Torrance Counties planning and zoning board was made with suggestions on some conditions for the approval.
Members of the Commission were ask to recuse themselves at the commissions public hearing as evidence exists that Commissioners Candelaria and Tapia lack arms length and have realized financial gain in matters involving SASS/Founders Ranch.
The recusal request has been denied openly by Commisisoner Tapia as noted in local news paper articles. It is rumored that Commissioner Candelaria will recuse himself today, although one must wonder if it would be a recusal position as Candelaria participated in the hearing and deliberation processes.
As for Commissioner Tapia, she is on public record stating that she makes money from SASS/Founders Ranch activities and Tapia has already stated she will not recuse as she belives she can be fair and impartial - political suicide at a minimum and possibly personal liability depending on who drags the decision into court.
Today's decision and how our commission handles themselves will speak volumes as to what kind of leadership is running our county. No matter what the decision is, someone is walking away unhappy and will more than likely appeal to district court.
Our commission continually places our county in line for law suit and each day in court costs we tax payers thousands of dollars, money that could be used for upgrades to our roads, policing, and fire protection services. As a public, we all need to scrutinize what our elected officials do and weigh thier actions heavily when the next election rolls around - poor leadership hurts all of us.
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