In what amounts to a subtle but seismic shift in local politics, former Colorado Mesa University (CMU) President Tim Foster publicly endorsed Janet Rowland’s opponent, J.J. Fletcher, for Mesa County commissioner, formally ending his years-long support for Rowland.
Category: politics
Charter schools, Cody Davis, Democrats, Elections, Good things about Mesa County, Grassroots advocacy, Housing, Human rights, Immigration, Local concerns, politics, Poverty, Worker advocacy
Former CMU Professor Tom Acker to run against Cody Davis for County Commissioner
by 6 Comments
• •A Democrat has joined the race against Cody Davis for Mesa County Commissioner. Tom Acker is currently the only Democrat running for local office in Mesa County.
Acker was a professor of Spanish language at CMU for two decades. He is now a retired professor emeritus, an honorary title conferred upon him for his distinguished service to the academic community. He is a founding member of the award-winning Hispanic Affairs Project.
Originally from the east coast, in the 1980s Acker worked with refugees from the Mariel Boatlift, after over 125,000 Cubans piled into boats and headed for Florida after the Cuban government announced that anyone who wanted to leave the country was free to do so.
While he lived in Pennsylvania, Acker worked with a federally-funded agency to help farmers interact with agriculture workers.
Diversity, Latino community, Local concerns, politics, Social Justice
Findings from the 2023 Colorado Latino Policy Agenda Survey to be presented on 3/11 @ 7 p.m. @ UU Congregation
by 0 Comments
• •What issues are top of mind for Latino voters in Colorado? How do Colorado Latino voters feel about the major political parties?
The public is invited to this review of the Colorado Latino Policy survey findings from 2023, with some very knowledgeable local panelists. The review has the highest number of findings from CD-3.
Started in 2021, the Colorado Latino Policy Agenda (CLPA) is an annual, nonpartisan report that provides insights into the demographic makeup and views of Latino voters in Colorado on a number of pressing policy, political, and social issues.
Elections, politics
CD-3 candidate Adam Frisch holding meet and greet Wed., 2/28@Kannah Creek Brewery 5:30-6:30 p.m.
by 1 Comment
• •Grab your chance to meet Adam Frisch, the leading candidate for the 3rd Congressional District seat, and the one who single-handedly chased Lauren Boebert out of our District for good.
Adam is hosting a Meet-and-Greet Wednesday, 2/28 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at Kannah Creek Brewing Company, 1960 N. 12th St., Grand Junction. Adam advocates a climb-down from the “angertainment” politics we’ve had to endure in CD-3 for the last few years
and seeks instead to represent CD-3 in Congress in a more normal way, meaning he would actually represent and promote the needs of our district in the House instead of seeking fame and notoriety by constantly engaging in outrageous behavior. He also seeks to restore dignity to CD-3’s representation in Congress, while actually making progress towards solving problems in our District.
Conspiracy theories, Cringeworthy, Dangerous Republicans, Election deniers, Elections, Embarrassing Republicans, Extremism, Fake patriotism, Immigration, Intolerance, politics, Trump Insanity, Weird western slope stuff
Civil War & Feeding Migrants to Wolves: Western CO Congressional Forum Gets Extreme
by 12 Comments
• •Article by Sharon Sullivan, Feb. 14, 2024
This article is republished with permission from the Colorado Times Recorder. You can see the original article here.
Immigration policy dominated the discussion among five of the Republican candidates vying to win Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District primary election in June, and it included some eyebrow-raising statements.
The candidate forum, which took place Monday night at Appleton Christian Church in Grand Junction, included all but one of the Republicans hoping to become their party’s nominee following Congresswoman’s Boebert decision to abandon her hometown district for redder pastures on the Eastern Plains.
While their positions on immigration varied, the candidates found more consensus around their doubts about Colorado’s election system. Four of the five participants spoke in favor of banning the mail ballots used by nearly all Coloradans, based on the debunked conspiracy that they have been used to rig elections. All but one of the candidates advocated for a return to hand-counting paper ballots, a process which has been proven to be less accurate and far more expensive than Colorado’s current system. Hanks, Andrews and Varela all promoted elements of another debunked conspiracy theory: that the Dominion Voting machines used by nearly all counties to tabulate their elections could be manipulated to rig the results.
Anti-vaccine, Conspiracy theories, Extremism, Health, Janet Rowland, Local concerns, politics, Public health, Stephen D. Daniels
KREX TV explores how the County seized control over all of Mesa County Public Health Department’s contracts when it only contributes 4.2% of the agency’s budget
by 9 Comments
• •KREX reporter Michael Loggerwell’s story about Mesa County’s new Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with the Health Department- Part 1
KREX-TV News recently did a two-part series about the Mesa County Commissioners’ new, post-Jeff Kuhr Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) that more tightly regulates the County’s relationship with the Public Health Department (MCPHD), and how it differs from the old 2012 agreement in important ways that could negatively affect public health and safety in the county.
Christian nationalism, Dangerous Republicans, Education, Elections, Extremism, Freedom under threat, Local concerns, politics, Religion, Separation of Church and State
D-51 School Board candidate Barbara Evanson wants to teach creationism alongside science in public schools
by 17 Comments
• •“I feel like we need to be teaching both ends of the spectrum when we’re teaching things in school as well….What I mean by that is if we’re teaching the Big Bang Theory then we need to teach creationism as well.” — Barbara Evanson
On October 31, the Colorado Times Recorder highlighted a locally-made video interview with District 51 School Board candidate Barbara Evanson in which Evanson says that if schools teach what is scientifically known about the origins of the universe, then they should also have to teach creationism alongside that information so kids can decide on their own what’s true.
Creationism is the religious belief that God created the universe. It is a wholly religious construct with no scientific proof behind it,
The idea of mandating creationism be taught in public schools alongside scientific information has been declared by U.S. courts to be illegal.
Children, Conservatives, Dangerous Republicans, Democracy, Education, Elections, Extremism, Freedom under threat, Local concerns, politics, Weird western slope stuff
D-51 School Board candidate Barbara Evanson says she wants to ban “a ton” of material from school libraries
by 13 Comments
• •In this excerpt from an interview with “Ruth” and “Lisa” (who do not provide their last names) posted on a YouTube account named “MesaCountyCompass” on October 8, 2023, “District 51 School Board candidate Barbara Evanson says she would ban “a ton of material” from school libraries that she feels is inappropriate.
Activism, Children, Christian nationalism, Conservatives, Education, Elections, Extremism, Freedom under threat, Homophobia, Intolerance, LGBT issues, Mesa County, politics, Propaganda, Separation of Church and State
Woodland Park-based Christian nationalist group working to influence Mesa County District 51 School Board election
by 4 Comments
• •High-quality, multi-colored, bilingual fliers created by the front range Christian dominionist group Truth & Liberty Coalition are showing up at businesses around town. The fliers use right wing culture war rhetoric targeting gay and transgender students in an attempt to influence the outcome of the November 7 District 51 School Board election. The fliers appear to endorse CynDee Skalla, Jessica Hearns and Barbara Evanson.
The fliers were found at La Milpa Tortilla Factory in Grand Junction and are bilingual in English and Spanish.
Dangerous Republicans, Education, Elections, Ethics, Extremism, Fake patriotism, Local concerns, Mesa County Republican Party, politics, Propaganda, Republican incompetence
“Stand for the Constitution,” which still supports Tina Peters, is working to get Evanson & Skalla elected to D-51 School Board
by 30 Comments
• •It seems like Mesa County never seems to learn from its past mistakes.
Stand for The Constitution (SFTC), the local extremist group that pushed to get Tina Peters elected County Clerk in 2018, that continued to support Peters even after her loss of 574 of ballots in 2019 and even after her indictments on multiple felony criminal charges related to election tampering, is now working to get Barbara Evanson and CynDee Skalla elected to the District 51 School Board in the November 7, 2023 election.
Stand for the Constitution also backed the three conservative school board members Haitz, Lema and Jones who have brought rancor, questionable ethics, uncertainty, disruption and hatred to the school board.
Bad behavior, Conservatives, Election deniers, Elections, Ethics, politics, Republicans violating laws, Scams, Tina Peters
Tina Peters takes the 5th Amendment repeatedly in deposition about soliciting illegal campaign contributions
by 4 Comments
• •On September 29, Colorado Administrative Law Judge Timothy Nemecheck fined former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters $15,400 for illegally soliciting and accepting contributions to a 2022 re-election campaign for county clerk without first registering as a candidate with the State.
The fine was the end result of two campaign finance complaints filed in 2021 by Scott Beilfuss, who is now a Grand Junction City Councilman. The first complaint was dated August 16, 2021. Beilfuss wrote a single sentence:
“Tina Peters flew up to Mr. Pillows cybersymposium on a private plane provided to her and is staying as a guest of the Pillow foundation in a clear violation of accepting gift laws.”
Democracy, Education, Elections, politics
AnneLandmanBlog Voter guide, November 7, 2023 election
by 18 Comments
• •Are you wondering how to vote in the Tuesday, November 7, 2023 Coordinated Election? Are you sweating about where you’re going to find the time to research all the candidates and ballot measures?
Relax.
AnneLandmanBlog has done all the work for you.
Election deniers, Elections, Embarrassing Republicans, Ethics, Mesa County Republican Party, politics, Scams, Tina Peters
9News reports Tina Peters fined $15,400 for campaign finance violation while running for Mesa County Clerk
by 4 Comments
• •Marshall Zelinger of 9News’ Next with Kyle Clark reported on Friday, October 6, 2023 that an administrative law judge has fined Republican former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters $15,400 for soliciting donations to run for re-election as Mesa County Clerk without having first filed the necessary paperwork with the state that requires she report all the money she raised and spent on her campaign. The $15.4k fine pertains to Tina’s campaign for Clerk that she dropped out of in 2022 to run for Colorado Secretary of State instead.
Colorado Public Radio has published additonal information on Tina Peters’ campaign finance fine here: Former Mesa Clerk Tina Peters fined for failing to register reelection campaign, by Bente Berkeland, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2023
Dangerous Republicans, Ethics, Extremism, Freedom under threat, Janet Rowland, politics, Public health
County Commissioners set to exert control over what Public Health Board members can discuss at their own meetings
by 6 Comments
• •At the meeting of the new Mesa County Board of Public Health (BOH) scheduled for tomorrow, Monday, September 11, 2023, the County Commissioners hope to impose a new Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) (pdf, page 10) on the Board of Health that will tie the BOH tightly to most County policies and procedures eliminate the BOH’s ability to control their own meeting agendas, and allow the Commissioners block discussion of any subject the commissioners don’t like.
Embarrassing Republicans, Ethics, Fake patriotism, Lies, politics, Republican lies
Rep. Boebert lies to constituents about missed debt ceiling vote
by 2 Comments
• •Despite railing against the debt limit deal for weeks, tweeting against it 23 times and calling the bill “D.C. self-created garbage,” on May 31, 2023 Colorado House Rep. Lauren Boebert missed her chance to vote on the bill.
A CNN reporter caught video of Boebert running up the Capitol steps too late to vote on the bill. As Boebert is dashing up the steps the reporter tells Boebert “It’s closed.” Boebert stops, turns around and says, “It’s closed?” then turns keeps running up the steps.
Embarrassing Republicans, Inept Republicans, Lauren Boebert, politics
Rep. Lauren Boebert misses vote on debt ceiling bill
by 8 Comments
• •For all her railing against the debt ceiling bill, Colorado’s 3rd District House Representative Lauren Boebert missed voting on the bill entirely on Wednesday night. The vote passed by an overwhelmingly bipartisan margin of 314-117. The Senate passed the bill this morning by a vote of 63-36. The bill had to pass before Monday to avoid a potentially catastrophic, historic federal government default on paying debts the nation has already incurred.
Boebert had vowed to vote “no” on the bill, saying “Our base didn’t volunteer, door knock and fight so hard to get us the majority for this kind of compromise deal with Joe Biden. Our voters deserve better than this. We work for them. You can count me as a NO on this deal. We can do better.”
politics
Unaffiliated Black Nigerian immigrant elected Mayor of Colorado Springs, defeating Republican Wayne Williams
by 4 Comments
• •In a seismic political shift for Colorado Springs, Yemi Mobolade, a Nigerian immigrant with no political experience, defeated Republican Wayne Williams in the city’s mayoral race.
Mobolade describes himself as a “progressive political newcomer,” according to Axios,
Mobolade won by a wide margin.
The unofficial results reported as of 9:40 p.m. last night show Mobolade ahead with 57.47% of the vote to Wayne Williams’ 42.53%. Wayne Williams has conceded the race to Mobolade.
Wayne Williams was a veteran Republican political figure on the front range and state wide.
Andrea Haitz, Children, Education, Elections, Ethics, Extremism, Grassroots advocacy, politics
New website up for the effort to recall D-51 School Board President Andrea Haitz
by 14 Comments
• •The public can now keep track of the effort to recall School District 51’s Board President Andrea Haitz by going to SignForKids.com, where people can find out where to sign petitions, get trained in how to gather signatures, donate to the effort or volunteer to help. The organizers need to gather 15,000 valid signatures of registered voters within the next two months.
The website states the public’s grievances against Haitz:
-
Andrea Haitz was elected to the District 51 Board in 2021, promising transparency.
-
Instead, Haitz has turned local control of school dollars over to extremist organizations, turned fundamental parts of her job over to expensive lawyers, denied student pleas for mental health services, and used her office for family political gain.
-
The biggest decisions at District 51 are now being turned over to outside interests and fringe extremists who don’t represent Mesa County families.