Tag: Economics

Economics, Elections, Ethics, Grand Junction City Council, Local concerns

29 Road interchange project still alive despite being resoundingly defeated at the ballot box in Nov., ’24 election

by Anne Landman • March 9, 2025 • 7 Comments

Screenshot of March 5 meeting at which City Council discussed moving forward with the 29 Road interchange project, even though it was resoundingly voted down at the ballot box just 4 months ago

Even though voters turned down the proposal to build a new interchange on I-70 at 29 Road in the November 5, 2024 election by a margin of 56.44% to 43.36%, a discussion of how to push forward with the project was on City Council’s agenda at their March 5, 2025 regular meeting. The proposal on last fall’s ballot asked voters to approve the City and County taking on $80 million in debt to fund the project, with a payback cost of $173,438,202.

At the time, the City’s finance manager told City council members at a workshop that the debt the from the project would “decimate city capital, basically.”

The City and County combined have already invested over $2 million in trying to make the project happen, and the City is now considering what to do with $800,000 remaining under a current design contract for the project.

Below are notes about the project from Council’s 3/5 regular meeting. Boldfaced emphasis was included by a person who lives on the 29 Road corridor and is following the project closely.

DOGE cancels leases on four federal agencies in Grand Junction

by Anne Landman • March 5, 2025 • 27 Comments

Local TV news stations KJCT and KKCO are reporting that Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) is terminating the leases of four federal Agencies in Grand Junction:

CD-3 House Rep. Jeff Hurd votes in favor of massive cuts to Medicaid and SNAP (food) benefits

by Anne Landman • February 27, 2025 • 5 Comments

CD-3 House Rep. Jeff Hurd, who represents western Colorado (Photo: X/Twitter)

Colorado CD-3 House Rep. Jeff Hurd voted for a budget resolution that, if approved in the Senate, will leave Congress no other choice than to slash hundreds of billions of dollars from programs the neediest Americans depend on, including Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP/food assistance benefits), housing assistance and energy programs.

Next protest: a 24-hour “economic blackout” Feb. 28 to highlight workers’ economic strife

by Anne Landman • February 26, 2025 • 28 Comments

Peoples Union graphic promoting the 24-hour Economic Blackout planned nationally for Friday, 2/28/25

Re-posting this article, previously posted on 2/19/25, as a reminder of the next protest.

The People’s Union, a grassroots organization that seeks to “unionize people to take back our power” is calling for a 24-hour nationwide “economic blackout” on Friday, February 28, 2025 targeting the biggest businesses in America, including companies like Amazon, Walmart, Starbucks, Target, Exxon and others, to highlight the companies’ part in creating an “economy designed to exploit workers, suppress wages, and keep the majority of us in a constant state of struggle. These are the forces that have stolen our financial freedom, manipulated our government, and kept power in the hands of the wealthy elite.”

Blackout participants are asked not to purchase anything online or at big retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Target, Starbucks or other big companies for 24 hours on 2/28. Participants are also urged to not spend money on fast food or gas, or use their credit or debit cards for essential spending, since doing so financially benefits big credit card companies. Paying bills and buying food, medicine and other necessities are fine during the Blackout, but people are asked to patronize locally-owned businesses, and not big corporations or chain stores.

Orchard Mesa Public Library facing possible closure or move

by Anne Landman • February 24, 2025 • 1 Comment

A Mesa County Library card holder posted a 3-page letter on Instagram that is being sent to library users announcing that the Orchard Mesa (OM) Library at 230 Lynwood is facing several problems that threaten its existence, including the sharply rising cost of rent, decreasing usage and a lower budget in 2026 due to changes in Colorado property tax laws.

Section 4 of Article X of the Colorado Constitution exempts public libraries from paying property taxes, but the OM Library doesn’t own its building. It rents the space, and the rent increased 21% in 2023. Also, in the last few years, Colorado has passed laws cutting property taxes to relieve pressure on property owners for rapidly increasing property valuations amid the housing shortage. The result is that less money is flowing to local governments to help fund public amenities like libraries.

Group organizing a national labor strike

by Anne Landman • February 5, 2025 • 1 Comment

A decentralized group, GeneralStrike.us, is organizing a generalized national labor strike in the U.S. in an effort to force significant changes aimed at benefitting hard working, underpaid Americans who are struggling to stay afloat due to low wages and escalating costs of living. The appeal to join the strike is going out to all workers including, but not limited to teachers, fast food workers, drivers, gig workers, waiters, actors, artists, athletes, retail and grocery store workers and more.

GeneralStrike.us says “Our greatest power is our labor and our right to refuse it,” and “We are not one singular organization. We are a network of regular people united by our shared values, committed to a general strike to radically change our country.”

A reminder of the dangers of putting wealthy business leaders in charge of government

by Anne Landman • January 25, 2025 • 9 Comments

Photo: FBI

For those of you who think big business leaders are automatically qualified to run government or head it’s important agencies, here is a picture of the Enron Code of Ethics, signed by the Company’s former Chairman and CEO Kenneth Lay. The foreword in the Code states that Enron “enjoys a reputation for fairness and honesty… but no matter [what]… Enron’s reputation… depends on its people, on you and me.”

Remember Enron?

Trump’s tax policies will raise taxes on less wealthy Americans & cut taxes for those making over $360k/year

by Anne Landman • December 26, 2024 • 5 Comments

Chart from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

The tax policies that convicted felon and President-elect Donald Trump wants to enact will raise taxes on working-class Americans, like those in Mesa County, while cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans.

Policies that raise taxes on poorer people while disproportionately benefitting wealthier people are called “regressive taxes.” A regressive tax essentially takes the most from people who can least afford it.

Get ready for a big increase in the cost of living after Trump takes office

by Anne Landman • December 2, 2024 • 14 Comments

Torch-bearing white supremacists in Charlottesville, Aug. 11, 2017, cited President Trump as the inspiration for their “Unite the Right” rally (Photo: Edu Bayer/The New York Times)

On November 25, Trump said that as soon as he’s inaugurated on January 20, 2025 he will institute a new 25% tariff on all goods coming into the U.S. from Mexico and Canada, plus an additional 10% tariff on goods from China.

So look out. Your cost of living is about to get a huge increase.

Trump is either willfully ignorant about how tariffs work, or is lying to Americans about it by repeatedly asserting that other countries will pay the tariffs, and not Americans.

Economists and tax experts all say that’s completely wrong.

Red Rock Auto wage theft lawsuit headed for trial Dec. 9-11

by Anne Landman • November 20, 2024 • 6 Comments

Red Rock GMC on First Street in Grand Junction, where Derek Paíz was employed as a detailer

A civil wage theft lawsuit, 23CV52 (pdf), filed by a tenacious former vehicle detailer against Red Rock Auto Group II, Inc. and Red Rock’s local minority owner Bryan Knight, is headed for a fast-approaching jury trial December 9-11, 2024 at the Mesa County Justice Center.

At a virtual pre-trial conference this morning, November 20, Judge Matthew Barrett confirmed that the trial is set for those dates and will be heard by a 6-person jury.

Bryan Knight, now listed as a minority (10%) owner of Red Rock GMC

Derek Paíz worked as a detailer for Red Rock GMC at 741 N. First Street in Grand Junction from April-September, 2022. He filed the case pro se (on his own, without an attorney) on October 26, 2023 seeking wages he alleges Red Rock failed to pay him for work he did while employed at the GMC dealership in 2022.

Comparison of interchange projects elswhere in Colorado shows taxpayers are getting a raw deal in Ballot Issue 1A

by Anne Landman • October 27, 2024 • 9 Comments

With other highway interchanges being built elsewhere in Colorado, the developers who will benefit from these projects kicked in millions of dollars towards their completion, or paid the total cost of construction up front and will get reimbursed from the future taxes generated on the retail development it stimulates on the rest of their property.

That’s not the case with the proposed I-70 interchange at 29 Road. The owners of the land the interchange would be built on haven’t pledged a dime towards its construction, even though their land around it would likely skyrocket in value after it is built, and generate income for them far into the future.

Mesa County Ballot Issue 1B: Can the County keep tax revenue above the Tabor limit and use it to fix roads and bridges?

by Anne Landman • October 19, 2024 • 8 Comments

Mesa County Ballot Issue 1B asks voters if the County can keep almost $11.5 million that’s already been paid in taxes, use it to maintain roads and bridges and raise the TABOR limit in the future so they can keep more tax money. So Ballot issue 1B asks Mesa County voters to let County government avoid complying with the state’s TABOR law.

What’s TABOR?

Tax-and-Spend Republicans?

Colorado’s TABOR (Taxpayer Bill Of Rights) law says state and local government can keep and spend only a specific amount of money based on their prior fiscal year’s revenue, an amount called the TABOR limit. If they collect money above that amount, it must be refunded to the taxpayers. The TABOR limit can only be adjusted according to a “population plus inflation” formula. The intent of the law, which was promoted by Republicans, was to constrain government to keep it from growing, a long-held conservative ideal.

Mesa County Ballot Issue 1A: The proposed 29 Road interchange at I-70

by Anne Landman • October 18, 2024 • 3 Comments

29 Road at I-70, where the proposed interchange would be built. Right now there is just a bridge over the interstate. (Photo: Google)

New group forms to oppose 29 Road/I-70 interchange ballot measure

by Anne Landman • September 24, 2024 • 15 Comments

29 Road just north of Patterson, as it currently looks. Residents along 29 Road could find themselves living on a busy route to and from I-70 if Ballot Issue 1A passes. If it passes, the measure would approve the City and County taking on $80 million in debt, with a repayment cost of least $173,438,202, to fund the design and construction of a new I-70 interchange at 29 Road.

Concerned citizens of Mesa County announced September 23 that they have formed a local group called “No on 29 Road Debt” to educate the public about the financial, transportation safety and road design problems with the 29 Road Interchange proposal and oppose the upcoming ballot issue, which will be Issue 1A on the ballot. Grand Junction City Councilor Dennis Simpson is an organizer of the group. Simpson is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). John Traylor is a spokesperson for the group.

Measure 1A as it appears on the November ballot. Note the full repayment cost for the measure is estimated at $173,438.202. The federal government has so far not pledged any funds to help with the project.

No on 29 Road Debt is a non-partisan community organization dedicated to promoting transparency, safety, and financially responsible transportation plans in Mesa County. The group’s mission is to empower citizens with the knowledge they need this November to make a decision on this proposal. As the ballot issue approaches, No on 29 Road Debt will provide clear, factual information to help voters make an informed decision.

SNAP participants: New program adds $60/month to SNAP benefits for fresh fruits and vegetables

by Anne Landman • August 26, 2024 • 5 Comments

Updated with additional information on 9/2/24 @ 9:57 a.m.-

Thanks to a grant from the Biden administration’s U.S. Department of Agriculture, Colorado’s Department of Human Services started a new program August 1, 2024 to boost healthy eating called the Colorado SNAP Produce Bonus. The program gives SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) participants a 100% reimbursement for any qualifying purchase of fruits and vegetables credited directly back to their EBT card at the time of purchase. The bonus provides for up to $20 per transaction and a maximum of $60 per month. Notice that only fruits and vegetables qualify for the SNAP Produce Bonus reimbursement, but the reimbursed funds that get credited back to your EBT account can be used to buy any SNAP eligible items.

29 Road interchange debt service would “decimate” city capital: Grand Junction City Finance Director

by Anne Landman • July 25, 2024 • 25 Comments

A vision of the proposed 29 Road interchange on I-70, with roundabouts (Illustration by FHUeng)

Photo: City of Grand Junction

7/25/24 @ 3:39 p.m. – Note: an earlier version of this blog attributed the quotes criticizing the finance director’s use of the word “decimate” to Engineering and Transportation Director Trent Prall. I’ve been informed that was incorrect. They were actually said by City Councilman Cody Kennedy. I have corrected the blog.

In a Grand Junction City Council workshop discussion July 15 about the proposed 29 Road interchange on I-70, City Finance Director Jennifer Tomaszewski, a Certified Public Accountant, told Council members that given the amount of revenue the City takes in from sales taxes, and the City’s current expenses and financial obligations, including its existing transportation debt and maintenance of parks and facilities, the proposed $2.5 million/year in debt service over 30 years that the City would take on to build the project would “decimate our city capital, basically.” [Tomaszewski made this statement is at 1:12:46 in the above-linked video.]

Former Overstock.com CEO says he paid one of Tina Peters’ attorneys $1 million for her criminal defense

by Anne Landman • April 7, 2024 • 5 Comments

Warning– video contains an expletive

In a video posted on rumble.com on April 3, 2024, Patrick Byrne, the former CEO of Overstock.com, says he paid Tina Peters’ former attorney, Douglas Richards, $1 million to defend her, but was disappointed in Richards’ defense strategy.

Peters fired Richards just as her criminal trial was finally set to start in February, winning her yet another lengthy delay in her trial. It is now scheduled to start on July 31, 2024, after two days of jury selection.

Don’t leave money on the table. Get an $800 TABOR refund, even if you don’t have enough taxable income to file a state tax return!

by Anne Landman • March 28, 2024 • 3 Comments

People who lack enough taxable income to file a state tax return may still be able to get an $800 TABOR refund this year, but if you want to get it, you have to tell the state Department of Revenue (DOR) where to find you. You do that by filing a state tax return.

Most poor or retired people don’t file tax returns because they don’t have enough taxable income (like wages or tips), but many people who could really use that $800 may not get it because they didn’t file.

Don’t leave money on the table!

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