For Pete’s sake

Editor,
    I am writing this letter of praise and support for former Firestone Community Event planner Pete Ditmon, whom I and my family have known for nearly six years. We first became acquainted with Pete at one of the first 4th at Firestone celebrations in which my husband and son helped set up the town hall booth.  Subsequent meetings came often as my family and I volunteered for a number of activities, including mailings, organizing supplies, and setting up for and working in various capacities at a number of outdoor celebrations.  In addition, we have also helped incorporate Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and 4-H youth into some of Pete’s activities.  On more of a personal level, I have the pleasure of knowing Pete’s lovely wife and two darling small children. 
    As the Firestone Community Resource Coordinator and Event Planner since Feb. 2006, Pete has been the guy who has planned all town events.  He is very well known and admired by so many of us in this community, and in surrounding communities.  Many recognize Pete as a tall guy around town always wearing a Firestone Polo shirt, a Firestone logoed t-shirt, and often an orange neon work vest.  Always on a mission, Pete’s activities are a steady juggle.
    He is often surrounded by people who he is giving direction to, helping out, or often just listening to what they have to say.  He’s the guy who may have introduced your child’s Tae Kwon Do or dance group when they performed at one of the outdoor celebrations, because he is the guy who always tries to incorporate local talent into the events.  He was the one who personally handed many of your children a free small pine tree when he visited the schools for Arbor Day.  He is also the guy who served kids popcorn at all the “Movies in the Park events that he put on.  He is the guy who isn’t afraid to ask for help and who always graciously offers it.
     His ability to communicate and work with people and businesses from within and outside the Carbon Valley area stands head and shoulders above others.  This is in part due to the fact that Pete always welcomes feedback, is open to new ideas, and works honestly with businesses, local vendors and entertaining acts.  He is detail oriented, persistent, and goal oriented, which is vitally important to the success of the events.   He has been successful in retaining repeat business with the vendors, and has built each event, each year, larger and larger. This in turn attracts families as well as visitors to the area, which adds to the revenue and tax base of the town.  This juggle of Pete’s has included improved 4th at Firestone parade line-ups, and entertainment line-ups at all the outdoor activities, the growth and maintenance of contact lists, as well as many other tedious tasks necessary to organizing large events.  For those who have and will enjoy baseball this summer at the large Firestone Sports Complex, you can thank Pete for writing the Great Outdoors Colorado Grant in 2006 for the Firestone Sports Complex, Phase I.  Because the National Honey Board is stationed out of Firestone, the Honey Fest outdoor celebration was born and has grown considerably, in large part because of Pete.  
    Our family has always seen Pete as a man who embodies the character traits of a respectful, civic minded citizen. He is helpful, encouraging, friendly, considerate and eager to improve any situation. He continually offered opportunities for youth in our community to do community service projects.   He encouraged a young man’s Boy Scout Eagle project in which he built the town parade float, my own daughter’s Girl Scout Silver project of a community message balloon release, and he welcomed a 4-H - CSU extension office booth run by a 4-H club at the Arbor Day celebration.  Pete also volunteered his time to the Carbon Valley Chamber of Commerce to organize the “Carbon Valley Community & Business Expo.” Pete engaged the Colorado Army National Guard and helped to provide additional entertainment for the 2010 Carbon Valley Chamber of Commerce Business and Community Expo.” Having his experience and talents proved helpful in creating a successful business and community event.
    Because he gives so much of his own time to volunteer work, he naturally has an appreciative nature toward others.  He loves providing the volunteer meetings and appreciation lunches and always shows his gratitude to everyone.  I have been impressed with Pete’s sense of responsibility, energy, and well organized “juggle,” and I have always observed him to be hard working, extremely creative, wise and goal oriented.  Pete is the one person down at the Firestone Town Hall whom I would have dropped what I was doing to help. 
    Furthermore, Pete is the one person from the town of Firestone whom I would wish could never be stolen away, and yet I have now found out that he has been in a since, thrown away. Ever wonder what happened to the Town Review which let us know what our elected town board, Mayor and administrative staff were up to?  It also gave us the pleasure of knowing what Pete was planning and how we could help.  The absence of the bi-monthly Town Review has been replaced by a bi-annual, expensive looking, colored publication, with multiple pictures of a few of the same people. (Look online and you can see the 2009 & 2010 publications) The absence of the original version of the Review was my first clue that things weren’t right.  When I asked Pete where his monthly mailer went, I was disappointed to find that his boss took away this responsibility. Other responsibilities that fell from his grasp (immediately, upon new administration changes) were the Parks and Trails Advisory monthly meeting facilitation and the website updates. 
    As time has gone on, and more frequently, Pete was not given the necessary information to do his job properly, and did not have his transition of responsibilities and expectations clearly defined. Not given credit for some of the work he had done, he just continued to persevere. Let me remind you, this is an industrious, reliable, and dutiful man.  Naturally one would think things could get better, but instead, little does the public know, Pete was forced to leave, or be terminated due to poor staff relations, and a host of other petty claims.  Because of the tremendous effort he has put into his job and the existing relations he has developed over the years, he would have chosen to stay in his position.  Instead, his departure came to fruit because of broken promises, unnecessary pressure, and a hostile working environment.   
    As a Firestone resident for the past 12 years I am gravely disappointed in the decisions of a few key figures at the Firestone Town Hall. It is the Mayor and Board’s responsibility to the voters to help retain competent Town employees, and the Board has plainly abdicated their role to maintain campaign promises such as staff retention and transparency, which have plainly been neglected in this case. I can’t help but to wonder, what other important decisions has the Board forfeited to the Administration, or contractor$? It will now be interesting to see who takes credit and who points fingers for Pete’s very sad exit.

Teresa Curtis
Firestone