May 8, 2005
Governor Owens
136 State Capitol
Denver, CO 802031792
Dear Governor Owens: RE: The Front Range Toll Road/SB 1342 and SB 230
I am writing this letter in protest of the Front Range Toll Road (FRTR). When first finding out about the toll road and eminent domain, I thought there had to be a mistake, that no one man would want, much less be able to uproot and destroy so many families, certainly not knowingly. I knew nothing about eminent domain, but soon realized that this was one of my worst nightmares. My husband and I have four children; children that we have tried to teach faith in God, right from wrong, good moral values, and that hard, honest work is what brings success. We have built a beautiful home, our dream home. We built this home with our own hands. Our children helped roof, plumb, paint, pound nails, whatever was needed. We also farm this property. Before we had money to hire help with the farming, our entire family spent many days and nights picking chili, pumpkins, melons, and other produce and hauling them out of the fields. We laughed often and we were exhausted when bedtime hit, but always knew that we were teaching our children the most important lessons of all; with faith in God and honest, hard work, you can accomplish anything. We taught them to be true to their word, mean what they say, and say what they mean. Now I must tell them that all of our hard work, prayers and efforts of building our home and farm may be for nothing. That a gentleman named Ray Wells feels it is necessary to build a four lane highway with two railroads on our property. That it will take our home, our land, our livelihood, that hard work wasn’t enough, and that the pride you take in owning your own home and property can be wiped out without having a say in the matter.
Mr. Wells has never met my family, nor has he seen our home and farm, but yet he feels the need to uproot my family and take over our home. Yes, he will pay us ‘fair market value’ for uprooting our lives, but there is no price high enough or fair enough to compensate us for the love and pride we have in our home and farm.
I beg of you, Governor Owens, to please consider my family and so many other families that will be affected when considering the toll road and eminent domain. We are not against progress, nor do we wish to impede upon Mr. Wells ability to make a living, but we hope his ability to make a fair living will not impact our ability to do the same.
Respectfully,
Joe and Gina Pantaleo