Northern Colorado Peoples Press Collective

The Fort Collins Coloradoan Editorial Staff released its endorsements for Districts 1 and 5 for Fort Collins City Council. The Coloradoan joins the DontGo Movement in endorsing Andrew Boucher for District 5. They recognize Boucher’s support of local business as something the Council needs, and something incumbent Kelly Ohlson lacks:

Although Ohlson has made progress in linking city policy with economic health, the editorial board endorses Boucher because he would bring a positive business perspective to the council that is currently lacking.

The Coloradoan also recognizes Ohlson’s failures regarding new developments and relationships with neighboring cities:

Ohlson’s rejection of the I-25/Prospect Road rezoning and the city’s participation in RTA discussions do not benefit the city economically or regionally. Nor did his ill-timed rhetoric against the (not yet proposed) Riverwalk project at the Harmony Road gateway – rhetoric that fueled the reopening of a wound with Timnath. While legal action and mediation resolved conflicts with Timnath, the process was simply not good government.

Ultimately, they recognized what so many others here in Fort Collins have known for some time; there are many reasons to support Andrew Boucher for the District 5 City Council seat:

Boucher is correct that Fort Collins needs to do more to keep graduating CSU students here and that keeping a close eye on city tax and fee policies is warranted to ensure job sustainability and create an attractive environment for business to thrive.

I hope you’ll join me if you haven’t already in sending in that ballot with the box checked next to Andrew Boucher. He is best suited to take Fort Collins forward during these difficult economic times, and will represent all of the people in Fort Collins, including CSU students that help make our city one of the most preferred places to live in our nation.

I about fell over laughing when I saw the following tagline "Members of Congress must embrace accountability - People across the country are tightening their belts, and we must expect our government to do the same." That was the op-ed title from U.S. Representative (Dem-04) Betsy Markey in a special to the Times-Call on March 25, 2009.

Six days earlier I wrote a piece requesting an apology for what our current crop of representatives pulled with their signing of the stimulus bill without reading it. I'm not going to jump to conclusions and delusions of grandeur that these representatives actually read it or care what I wrote, but I did log a lot of hits from U.S. House of Representatives and Democratic National Headquarters computers. They like Googling themselves apparently, cute.

But this pack of nonsense from Ms. Markey was just too much, and more than likely people bought it hook, line, and sinker. She just signed the bill that people are howling over because of these AIG bonuses, yet now proclaims she and her fellow representatives "must embrace accountability" and "tighten their belts"? This is the same old claptrap of "do what I say, but not what I do" in the guise of freshman, inexperienced politics. This of course includes their party leader, President Obama, whose last press conference was a clinic in doublespeak and dodging.

She mentions "implementing effective policies", like these ridiculous deficits over the next 12 years? Like not noticing these AIG bonuses you signed for? She's "proud" of her "efforts to bring real change to our government". Sounds like more of the same, including the lousy congressional ratings. But what "change" has she brought? Once again, I'm all ears.

She worries about the word "accountability" being "in danger of becoming just another meaningless buzzword". She's right, and she's engaging in that very activity. What total hypocrisy and double standards.

When I met and spoke to her my advice was to try to run a clean campaign and stay above the mud slinging, and that she'd probably have a good chance at winning. I wasn't saying that because I necessarily wanted her to win. While being a nice enough lady, I saw her as a fairly inexperienced, unseasoned future bureaucrat who couldn't even keep our fairly large union's name straight. But I gave this suggestion because she needs to keep in mind the district she represents, which is not some heavily leftwing district by any stretch of the imagination.

You that were fooled into voting for her, you've also been put on notice by her, if you didn't catch it. If you read between the lines of her op-ed she's telegraphing that she's about to disappoint a lot of people who voted for her. Sure didn't sound that way during the campaign jumping fully onboard the Obama bandwagon like a bunch of other suckers. This is the problem with going all in with the hero worship when it involves politicians, whether its people seeking office or their minions. Of any party. Sooner or later these people let you down or will be let down, and they sure take it harder than finding out something like Britney Spears isn't all she was cracked up to be, or the pundit (or governor) they follow is a pedophile, home wrecker, or tax cheat.

When in comes to Ms. Markey, this isn't some newfound independent streak, it's the classic art of political self preservation. She knows she's in a mostly rural, fairly Republican district. She knows she won against an incumbent (and incumbent party) that wasn't very popular. She knows she played dirty during the campaign. She knows candidates are lining up against her for 2010 already and that she'll be in one of the national "targeted" races. She knows she needs either a) Republican votes to win, or b) hope, as in 2008, that Republicans don't show up on Election Day, or both. She hopes op-eds like this one will fool enough people into believing what she says, and ignores her actual actions on The Hill.

Since I gave advice once, and know these blog entries somehow get the attention of certain sites (mentioned above), here's another tip for Ms. Markey: be yourself. That's right, be yourself. You were elected to represent this district, but being this is (still, for now) a representative government, you don't need our constant approval or endless polls, nor do you need numerous town hall meetings to hear griping and your sycophants nudging. (But if you are going to have these kinds of meetings, can they at least be in non-partisan locations and venues?)

Stand and vote on your principles, whatever they may be. You won, with a majority even. Don't just pander for the next election, actually do something, you may not have a second chance (as in term). And I think you know that. If how you vote now is contrary to what you "sold" during the campaign (for instance, did you say you were against the assault weapons ban? I didn't hear that), explain it - don't try to cover it up like this op-ed piece does. Your voting record will be closely scrutinized, count on it. Might as well make the best of it.

But while you're at it, don't forget you don't just represent your party or the drones who would vote for you no matter what. You don't just represent women, you don't just represent this district or state. You represent this country above all else. Waste that and you don't deserve support or re-election.

The Centerra Metro Districts have funded developer McWhinney projects’ landscaping, architectural finishes, Centerra monument signs and the Motorplex sign by determining they are “public Improvements.” As part of their agreement with the City of Loveland, McWhinney also promised to fund general transportation projects named “Regional Improvements” with the money raised through the Metro District bonds and taxes.

Instead, the McWhinneys have played a shell game with the money by changing the definition of “Regional Improvements” and regularly amending the Master Financing Agreement (MFA). In other words, in place of really funding the most critical Regional Transportation Improvements, which was the original intent of the agreement (MFA), McWhinney has simply negotiated changes to the definition of regional improvements in order to claim they are in compliance with the agreement.

Now $3 million of federal stimulus money will be spent to create roundabouts and make safety improvements to the rossroads/I-25 interchange. McWhinney is bringing before Loveland’s City Council another amendment to the MFA to continue their shell game by removing any language that forces them to fund the I-25/US 34 interchange before taking on more debt.

In secret meetings with each city councilor the decision to support their proposal was already made. Absent any significant public outcry, the City Council will approve the next in the series of MFA amendments to free the McWhinneys of any obligation to honor the original terms of the MFA.

Read the complete story and review all the important city documents at LovelandPolitics.com.

Those of you that are familiar with me know I’ve been dedicating the majority of my time on a local City Council race here in Fort Collins. This is why I haven’t posted anything in almost a month. The race in District 5 in Fort Collins is a race for the very soul of our city. There is a man on our city council that believes certain types of people don’t belong in some neighborhoods (read his). The injustices that have been perpetrated by a local city ordinance here are profound. The suspension of personal freedom and liberty should give pause to all but the most liberal elitists.

For several years now, the Fort Collins City Council has singled out primarily students in order to keep them from living in certain areas of the city. This has been done via a city ordinance called the Three Unrelated, or U+2. Three Unrelated discriminates against students, lower-income citizens, and people who simply have a different definition of the word family. Those of us that oppose the law believe that you can’t tell whether or not someone’s going to be a good neighbor simply because of their socioeconomic group. The law states that no more than three unrelated people can live in a single residence.

The violations of individual liberty as a result of U+2 are astounding. To begin with, rents have gone up, yet homeowners that have investment rentals gain less income than they could. Students and lower-income citizens have fewer choices about where to live. More seriously, renters have lost their homes. This includes a specific incident of a city worker visiting someone’s home to inspect their sleeping arrangements. This was done without a warrant, and when appealed in court, the local city magistrate upheld the search of the home without a warrant as legal. This non-traditional family, which included children, were evicted from their home for the simple reason that they weren’t related.

Kelly Ohlson, former Mayor and current City Councilman from District 5 was the primary driving force behind U+2. During the City Council meeting, Ohlsen stated the following several times in different ways,

It’s their mere presence that’s the problem…

This was of course, in reference to the students at Colorado State University. It is very clear from the video below that Kelly Ohlson simply doesn’t want college students to live in some parts of the city. If your first thought when you read that is that they shouldn’t be on the wrong side of the tracks, then you’re beginning to understand what’s in the mind of Kelly Ohlson. Now for the video:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th2itNSlshU[/youtube]

Andrew Boucher is running to evict Kelly Ohlsen from the Fort Collins City Council in District 5. Andrew has committed to working to repeal the Unrelated Three law in Fort Collins. Boucher not only recognizes that we should be welcoming these students to our city, but we should also be encouraging them to stay. To do that, he realizes that Fort Collins will have to change its anti-business ways which are also led primarily by Kelly Ohlsen. To encourage students to stay, we need to invite businesses to come to our city and create good quality jobs, instead of watching them go to the surrounding cities.

I encourage you to support Andrew, and for those of you in Fort Collins District 5, please mail in your ballot right away. You should have already received it in the mail. Every vote will count in this election. We have the opportunity to show not only our wonderful city, but the rest of Larimer County, Colorado, and our nation that we stand for Liberty and Freedom.

A huge thanks to Blaine Gallup, who in addition to creating the video also writes at The Right Candor and has created a local issues blog called The Fort Collins Advocate.

The second mate finally agreed that the outlook for the flailing ship looked bleak.  Despite their efforts to stem the tide, icy water continued to cascade through the gaping crater that exposed the ship’s interior hull.  The beautiful ship was sinking.

So seems the scenario for America’s financial markets.  Lately, every day it seems that the sun rises and sets on new financial woes.  The Dow closed last Friday (3/13/09) at 6626.94, losing half of the value from the single high of 14,165 in October of 2007.  The rally that started earlier today now seems to be slumping; predicting another cold day for those whose retirement depends so heavily on the financial markets to rebound.

To add to the dismal picture, unemployment numbers continue to climb, rising to 8.1% in February 2009, almost a 1% increase since December 2008.  These unemployment numbers are the highest since 1983 and show no signs of slowing.

Isn’t this a beautiful picture I have painted: a sinking ship, sinking financial markets, and a giant wave of layoffs looming on the horizon?  Now, more than ever before, Americans are looking for work among an economy that has none to offer. 

But wait!  Is there is a bright spot on the horizon?  Could Congress possibly be a lighthouse; signaling hope among the waves and terror of the rising ocean?  Let’s see.

What they’ve brought before the floor in our time of need is the DC Voting Rights bill?  What is the DC Voting Rights bill and how will it help our country?  Well, put plainly; it won’t, but for our legislators, that is beside the point.  After all, this bill was created to give one congressional seat to Washington DC and one to Utah; therefore, increasing the size of the House of Representatives from 435 to 437 permanently.  Currently the District of Columbia has a delegate that has no voting credentials; this bill would change that and increase the size of our government (is this the change we were hoping for?).  The bill would treat DC as if it were a state.  DC, however, is not a state; it is the seat of government as stated in the US Constitution (Article I, Section 8).  The Constitution, you ask?  Yes, remember the Constitution?  That blessed document that is suppose to guide this Republic. (The real Lighthouse.  The one that would have prevented these continuous ship wrecks when our country has encountered dark, uncertain waters if we’d have only followed its light.)

In a time of failing financial markets and increasing unemployment, our legislators turn their faces away from us, the people, to concentrate instead on an issue that would solidify the power of one political party.  Maybe it is time they experience unemployment.  Let’s make sure they do, come the next election. Their attitudes will change if they too feel the terror of being in a sinking ship. 

Keep the Constitution alive.  Follow its light.  And there are lifeboats on this sinking ship.  Let’s use them.  Not all ships have to share the same fate as the Titanic.

Itâs baaaack.  Once again our elected representatives at the state capitol have decided that your vote and your voice comes second to theirs.  For the umpteenth time, they want to get Colorado out of the business of having to deal with the Electoral College system and go along with this "National Popular Vote" movement.  Itâs a "movement" alright, if you get my drift.

This years model is House Bill 1299, sponsored by Longmont's own John "Jack" Pommer, Democrat - District 11.  He also was onboard with the earlier versions of this nonsense, as Iâve written about extensively.  This time though it didn't originate in the State Senate like the past versions, usually sponsored by Brandon Shaffer (another one of our illustrious local representatives), and I hope heâs seen the light on this issue - but I doubt it.

Ironically, the House is usually where the previous Senate bills went to die.  Hopefully, one of our other local representatives Paul Weissmann will reprise his role and put this in the political graveyard where it belongs.

I'll remind again that a similar measure went before the voters in Colorado in 2004 and was soundly defeated, rejected by 65% of the voters.  But the main sponsor Andy Kerr, Democrat - District 26, similar to other pushers of this idea (Brandon Shaffer, Ken Gordon, etc) thinks the legislature should overrule you, even though a vast majority of you voted against this.  

So far only a bare handful of states have gone along with this scheme, equaling a whopping 50 Electoral votes.  It wouldn't kick in until enough states approved this scheme equaling 270 Electoral College votes.  But these types have a long view of things with their systematic watering down and killing of what they call a "living Constitution".  But that aside (and thatâs a lot to put aside) it's just plain ridiculous for some states to use one system for electing a President, and others to use some half-baked scheme as the other.

Think it's so great?  Put it to the voters, again.  Why don't they?  Why do they circumvent the voters and pass this as quietly as possible in state legislatures?  Because they know what will happen, the 2004 vote is proof.

Longmont's Council leadership in the 9th year of 21 Century has regressed to the imagination and creativity of a 1968 San Francisco flower child in a hippie commune. This fractious partisan cabal of 4 members ignores the interests & rights of those who do not share their private views & interests in the community. Citizens who exercise their fundamental Constitutional rights are punished if they take economic actions opposed by the partisan cabal.

The most dangerous aspect of the Cabal's anti-Constitution/Charter policies is promotion of class warfare against successful people to promote distribution of wealth. The illusion of progress is staged with put up projects taunting the "affordable housing policy", in reality the home purchasers in new neighborhoods subsidize purchases for people who couldn't afford to buy in that neighborhood otherwise. The "necessity" for "affordable housing" is intentionally designed into the city's economic scheme of things through its policy of social engineering. The cabal's policy is to put free economic development & opportunity on hold using open space purchases to take valuable production out of the private sector; and using studies and lawsuits as illusionary substitutes for constructive action.

The lawsuits against Firestone are punitive actions to further Longmont's redistribution of wealth policies. Contrary to Council lies, costs will ultimately be borne by new home buyers in Firestone and by Longmont taxpayers. Good people can disagree, but most of us believe in the same fundamental precept that this Nation was founded upon: equal opportunity and equal protection under the law for all persons. The Cabal's personal prejudices & political interests are contrary to this fundamental principal which both Nation and City depend upon for unity, prosperity, freedom and liberty for all. The new cabal members lied to get elected and Longmontâs economy dies.

Rich Yale

Itâs a new day in America, or so weâre told. More like that ghastly movie âDay After Tomorrowâ if youâre one of the millions who have seen your job go away or a good portion of your retirement account. We kept hearing that âthe adults are in charge nowâ, funny, we havenât heard that lately.

Buffoonery is in full bloom from Washington all the way down to little old Longmont. Letâs start at the top and work our way downward, literally and figuratively. From the Telegraph UK, in reference to President Obamas snub of British Prime Minister Brown: âSources close to the White House say Mr Obama and his staff have been "overwhelmed" by the economic meltdown and have voiced concerns that the new president is not getting enough rest.â But what parties they are throwing!

And this gem of true class: âMr Brown handed over carefully selected gifts, including a pen holder made from the wood of a warship that helped stamp out the slave trade - a sister ship of the vessel from which timbers were taken to build Mr Obama's Oval Office desk. Mr Obama's gift in return, a collection of Hollywood film DVDs that could have been bought from any high street store, looked like the kind of thing the White House might hand out to the visiting head of a minor African state.â Yep, in over his head. Maybe Hillary Clinton was right.

Speaking of our new Secretary of State, the Russian media is having a field day with her âresetâ button that she gave to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov: âBut instead of the Russian word for "reset" (perezagruzka) it featured a slightly different word meaning "overload" or "overcharged" (peregruzka).â

Which brings us to our local, ahem, leaders. From the Times-Call: âA Longmont lobbying effort, including Dove chocolate squares taped onto sheets of talking points, fell short of securing federal stimulus funds for a new Diagonal Highway interchange. Before the start of Wednesday nightâs Denver Regional Council of Governments meeting, Councilwoman Karen Benker distributed the chocolate-bearing fact sheets â and a letter from Mayor Roger Lange â arguing the case for a $25 million interchange at Colorado highways 119 and 52. Benker is Longmontâs representative on the DRCOG board...â It gets better.

In another Times-Call story, at the same DRCOG event (reminder of previous sentence â âBenker is Longmontâs representative on the DRCOG boardâ): âNo one stepped forward at Wednesdayâs hearing to testify in support of Longmontâs application for the McIntosh Lake trail proposal.â Did this part occur prior to the other? Was she out buying a $3 bag of Doves? The result was the same whether Councilmember Benker was there (in the first case) or not (in the second case) â nothing for Longmont. Thanks for the great representation!

But what did get approved? Among other things, a project for Nederland that will help them with their Frozen Dead Guy Days. Ironic that Ms. Benker should choose chocolate from a huge food conglomeration (I happen to love Doves by the way â only if dark) at around the same moment news breaks of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory closing its store at the Twin Peaks Mall (another place I love and will miss). Itâs almost like dancing on the grave of your constituents who just lost their jobs. Wait, someone did that too, Congressman Jared Polis about the Rocky Mountain News shutting down.

The fun never ends.

Something you probably won't see in the paper or hear in council:

Coming across the police frequency - somebody left their house (not for the day, left as in gone) and LEFT their chicken behind. The neighbor called police dispatch not knowing what to do about it.

So even before this ridiculous new law is in force, these city chickens are costing us money in police time. At the same time as this incident, there was a domestic disturbance, someone being followed for committing graffiti, a traffic accident, and more. But time was taken away from these more important matters because of a chicken.

It's only beginning...

This coming Tuesday, March 3, we will be interviewing Aislinn Kottwitz (District 3) and Andrew Boucher (District 5); candidates for the Fort Collins City Council election on April 7th on the Rocky Mountain Aliance Blogtalk Radio Show. We’ll be discussing the most pressing issues facing Fort Collins, and why Andrew and Aislinn are best able to lead us forward in addressing them.

You can find Aislinn’s website here and her Facebook page here. Aislinn is running for the seat currently occupied by Diggs Brown who is currently serving our nation in the Army. This district covers much of the southeastern portion of Fort Collins.

Andrew also has a website and a Facebook page. Andrew is running for the seat held by former Mayor Kelly Ohlsen, who has been instrumental in sending businesses and jobs to surrounding cities. This district includes much of the western portion of central Fort Collins.

Please join us this coming Tuesday night and listen to ideas from Aislinn and Andrew on taking Fort Collins forward during this challenging fiscal climate. I’m confident you’ll like what you hear. You can ask questions in the chat room, or call in during the show.

During the second interview segment at 9:30pm, we’ll be talking with Tom Stone, who served as Eagle County Commissioner from January 1998 to January 2006, has announced that he is running for the GOP Party Chair. Tom writes a blog called the Stone Cold Truth. He also heads up a Facebook Group called Save Our State which has quite a number of members.