Boulder Weekly Vote Guide 10.8.2020

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2020 VOTE GUIDE NATIONAL / STATE / LOCAL

8-14,

2020

KEVIN SIPPLE for COLORADO Common Sense for Colorado Candidate for Representative – State House District 13 ABOUT KEVIN SIPPLE

Background in Business - One of founders of Eldorado Artesian Springs, Inc., the bottled water company. Inducted into the Boulder County Business Hall of Fame in 2010, numerous other community awards.

Expertise with Regulatory Agencies, Including the EPA, FDA, CDPHE Also various County and City Agencies including Land Use, Zoning, and Building Departments.

PUBLIC SERVICE

Volunteer in various Boulder County Agencies. 1992-2002 Placement Alternatives Commission, an appointed Board managing seven social services programs designed to keep families together, and Victim Advocate with the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office 2001 to present, a program that provides assistance to victims of crimes, personal tragedies, and natural disasters.

Member of Colorado Organization of Victim Assistance. Member of the Suicide Prevention Coalition of Colorado. Strongly supports the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. Member of Colorado Union of Taxpayers.

ISSUES I SUPPORT

Why Vote for Me: I believe that you, not the government, are in the best position to make decisions about what is right for you and your family. It’s not the role of government to dictate or regulate anyone’s personal choices. If elected, I pledge to do my best to keep alive free choice, fairness, and the American Way.

Fiscal Responsibility: The Government should spend our tax dollars wisely. I support sensible spending, no new taxes, and not wasting our money on “showboat” projects.

Rule of Law: Government agencies and officials should follow the law, not their own preferences or laws they’ve made up. If the government won’t follow the Laws, why should anyone?

Law Enforcement: I’m a strong supporter of Law Enforcement.

Defunding the Police is a terrible idea.

Military: I’m a strong supporter of the Military and Veteran’s Services.

Agriculture: I’m a strong supporter of Agriculture.

Environment: I support maintaining strong enforcement of our environmental regulations in order to keep our air, land, and water clean.

I support maintaining the Endangered Species Act. Constitution: I am a strong supporter of the protection and enforcement of our Constitutions.

These documents are a large part of the reason our nation and state are such a good place to live. Fully support the second amendment Energy: I support the development of all forms of energy, Wind, Solar, Hydro, and Fossil Fuels. Fossil Fuels will be necessary until wind and solar power are more developed.

Education: I support school choice and especially school safety.

WHY I’M RUNNING FOR OFFICE

Twenty-eight years ago when I entered public service as a volunteer, I discovered the great personal satisfaction that camcing people. I consider the pursuit of public office in the State Legislature an opportunity to continue my public service.

www.KevinSipple.com Paid for by Kevin Sipple for Colorado

Vote — Bill McKibben,

for

Co-founder, 350.org

People, Planet, Local Power!

— Zan Jones,

Boulder City Council member & mayor (2011-2019)

CLIMATE COST — Mirabai Nagle,

Boulder City Council

COMPETITION COMMUNITY

— Adam Swetlik,

Boulder City Council

No on 2C for Cleaner, Cheaper, More Reliable Energy. Get the facts:

EmpowerOurFuture.org

Our No on 2C Partners include:

International

vote guide:

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events:

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Endorsements and analysis on everything Boulder County voters will see on their ballots this year

by Boulder Weekly Staff

Voting panels, art exhibits, live music and more to do when there’s ‘nothing’ to do

by Boulder Weekly Staff

film:

30

beer:

35

It’s a cursed life for ‘The Gunfighter’

by Michael J. Casey

Know your brew: Crystal Springs Brewing Company’s Naughty Marilyn

by Michael J. Casey

37

feast:

The next few weeks will be critical for the restaurant industry, still ravaged by COVID-19

by Matt Cortina

38

weed between the lines:

Green incentives for the green industry

by Will Brendza

Locally owned and operated in Boulder for over 25 years

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departments 7 The Anderson Files: Free market fundamentalism and COVID-19 8 Guest Column: Your choice to vote or not to vote will direct the course of history 9 Letters: Signed, sealed, delivered, your views 27 Words: ‘to william’ by Greg Alston 28 Home Viewing: ‘Pierrot le fou’ 29 Astrology: by Rob Brezsny 31 Savage Love: Quickies 33 Food/Drink: What to try this week along the Front Range BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Publisher, Fran Zankowski Editor, Matt Cortina Circulation Manager, Cal Winn EDITORIAL Senior Editor, Angela K. Evans Arts and Culture Editor, Caitlin Rockett Special Editions Editor, Michael J. Casey Adventure Editor, Emma Athena Contributing Writers, Peter Alexander, Dave Anderson, Will Brendza, Rob Brezsny, Sarah Haas, Jim Hightower, Dave Kirby, John Lehndorff, Rico Moore, Amanda Moutinho, Leland Rucker, Dan Savage, Alan Sculley, Ryan Syrek, Christi Turner, Betsy Welch, Tom Winter, Gary Zeidner SALES AND MARKETING Market Development Manager, Kellie Robinson Account Executives, Matthew Fischer, Sami Wainscott Advertising Coordinator, Corey Basciano Mrs. Boulder Weekly, Mari Nevar PRODUCTION Art Director, Susan France Senior Graphic Designer, Mark Goodman Graphic Designer, Daisy Bauer CIRCULATION TEAM Dave Hastie, Dan Hill, George LaRoe, Jeffrey Lohrius, Elizabeth Ouslie, Rick Slama BUSINESS OFFICE Bookkeeper, Regina Campanella Founder/CEO, Stewart Sallo Editor-at-Large, Joel Dyer

October 8, 2020 Volume XXVIII, Number 8 As Boulder County's only independently owned newspaper, Boulder Weekly is dedicated to illuminating truth, advancing justice and protecting the First Amendment through ethical, no-holds-barred journalism and thought-provoking opinion writing. Free every Thursday since 1993, the Weekly also offers the county's most comprehensive arts and entertainment coverage. Read the print version, or visit boulderweekly.com. Boulder Weekly does not accept unsolicited editorial submissions. If you're interested in writing for the paper, please send queries to: editorial@ boulderweekly.com. Any materials sent to Boulder Weekly become the property of the newspaper.

690 South Lashley Lane, Boulder, CO, 80305 p 303.494.5511 f 303.494.2585 editorial@boulderweekly.com www.boulderweekly.com Boulder Weekly is published every Thursday. No portion may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. © 2020 Boulder Weekly, Inc., all rights reserved.

Boulder Weekly welcomes your correspondence via email (letters@ boulderweekly.com) or the comments section of our website at www.boulderweekly.com. Preference will be given to short letters (under 300 words) that deal with recent stories or local issues, and letters may be edited for style, length and libel. Letters should include your name, address and telephone number for verification. We do not publish anonymous letters or those signed with pseudonyms. Letters become the property of Boulder Weekly and will be published on our website.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Free market fundamentalism and COVID-19

by Dave Anderson

T

he world turns upside down a couple times a day.

As I write this, President Trump has caught COVID-19 and is benefiting from “socialized medicine” in an excellent military hospital.

Meanwhile, Pope Francis has issued an encyclical saying that the pandemic has definitively shown that we need drastic changes in the global economic system.

He denounces free market fundamentalism and the “trickle down” notion that policies benefiting the wealthy will benefit the rest of us. The poorest and most fragile have disproportionately suffered during the pandemic.

The pope declares, “Anyone who thinks that the only lesson to be learned was the need to improve what we were already doing, or to refine existing systems and regulations, is denying reality.”

In a chapter on politics, the pope says, “Lack of conI

cern for the vulnerable can hide behind a populism that exploits them demagogically for its own purposes, or a liberalism that serves the economic interests of the powerful.”

He is obviously referring to right-wing populists like Trump. He is also criticizing ReaganThatcher “neo-liberal” economic policies, which eliminate the concept of the “public good,” cut public expenditure for social services, bust labor unions and reduce government regulation of business.

Donald Trump is a right-wing populist who gives us “neo-liberalism” on steroids. For example, his EPA is promoting pollution, his education department is attacking public schools, his interior department is selling off public lands and his labor department is trying to destroy labor unions.

The COVID-19 crisis is a big challenge to this approach. We need a big government response to a rapidly proliferating global virus that doesn’t respect boundaries of any kind. Trump responded to the virus just like he has responded to climate change. see ANDERSON FILES Page 8

OCTOBER 8, 2020

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ANDERSON FILES from Page 7

Both contagious disease and envi- “Unmasked.” It was produced by the ronmental destruction are examples Public Accountability Initiative and of what economists call negative several partners, including the SEIU externalities. They are problems that and CWA unions, the Partnership for markets can’t handle on their own. A Working Families, Action Center on person who sneezes without a mask Race and the Economy, Care Test and a CEO of a company polluting Protect and Bargaining for Common the air don’t bear the full consequenc- Good. es of their actions.

The report said, “Many of the Trump has done real damage. most powerful corporations that lead Recently, researchers at Cornell the Chamber have direct financial University analyzed more than 38 interests in how the COVID-19 million English-language articles on response plays out. The companies — the pandemic in traditional and including medical manufacturers like online media 3M and around the world.

Honeywell, Sarah Evanega, major employers the study’s lead of frontline for the vulnerable can hide author, said, “The workers, and big biggest surprise banks — have behind a populism that was that the presthe power and exploits them demagogically responsibility to ident of the United States was reverse the for its own purposes, or a the single largest Chamber’s lobliberalism that serves the driver of misinbying agenda formation around that prioritizes economic interests of the COVID. That’s corporate conpowerful.” — Pope Francis trol and profit concerning in that there are over public real-world dire health and wellhealth implications.” being.”

Trump and his minions have Vanity Fair investigative reporter trashed and muzzled reputable feder- Katherine Eban blames Jared al public health experts and agencies.

Kushner for the administration’s The House Select Subcommittee on disastrous COVID-19 response. He the Coronavirus Crisis has doculed a “shadow” coronavirus task force mented 47 occasions over eight dominated by “young, untested volmonths when Trump administration unteers drawn from consulting firms officials “attacked or undermined” and investment banks.” The group public health experts. had a “quasi-messianic belief in the Early on, many leading Democrats private sector’s ability to respond urged Trump to invoke the Defense effectively to the crisis and contempt Production Act (DPA). The act had for government capabilities.” its roots in the all-out industrial mobiAt a crucial meeting, an attendee lization for World War II. The law said Americans were bidding against was passed in 1950 in reaction to the each other over a finite supply of conflict in Korea. President Harry PPE. He said there were businesses Truman had chaired a special commit- eager to help but they wanted some tee when he was in the Senate during leadership and direction from the World War II that exposed profiteerfederal government. Kushner shot ing and waste in war production. back, “Free markets will solve this.

The Trump administration has That is not the role of government.” refused to make systematic use of the Someone said New York Gov. DPA to rapidly produce needed Andrew Cuomo was desperately askmedical supplies and personal protec- ing for more PPE. Kushner angrily tive equipment (PPE) despite urgent replied that Cuomo wasn’t trying hard calls from hospitals, health care enough. “His people are going to sufworkers and workers in “essential fer and that’s their problem,” he said. jobs” to do so.

At that point, this attendee conThe U.S. Chamber of Commerce cluded, “We’re screwed.” has been lobbying the Trump adminThis opinion column does not necesistration against invoking the DPA, sarily reflect the views of Boulder according to a report entitled Weekly.

“Lack of concern

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OCTOBER 8, 2020

Your choice to vote or not to vote will direct the course of history

by Junie Joseph

N

ot participating in the political process of the community is a potent choice. It is an acceptance of the status quo. A willingness to take a gamble with your future and the future of our community.

Our actions have consequences no matter where we stand in the political arena. Timothy Snyder, in his book On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, notes that in the politics of everyday “our words and actions, or their absence, count very much.” More than ever this year our words and actions, or the absence thereof, matter. Every election year politicians and activists implore us to vote. They remind us over and over again that our vote is our voice. It should not take a leader with a cult-like personality to get us engaged, because as the rallying cry of the 1960s feminist movement forcefully professed, the personal is political.

We need to move beyond our political apathy and empower ourselves to take our place within the politics of our community and beyond in order to solve our most pressing socio-economic issues. It is unacceptable in a first-world nation I

situated among other developed nations to have so few people who participate in their own political lives. During the 2016 presidential election some 138 million Americans voted, which is approximately 58.1% of our country’s eligible voting population. Consequently, over 40% of the country’s eligible voters did not vote. Closer to home, in the same year, in Boulder County 192,822 ballots were counted, out of a possible 215,378 registered voters.

Therefore, 22,556 registered voters did not participate. Our ancestors have marched, bled and died for our rights to vote. And still today there are people who are fighting for their communities’ access to the ballot box. Therefore, there are no excuses for political apathy.

We all must fulfill our personal responsibility to vote, if not for ourselves, then for our community. As Congressman John Lewis once reminded us, “Freedom is the continuous action we all must take, and each generation must do its part to create an even more fair and just society.” Voters are the most important stakeholders in the political process and these are a few simple see GUEST COLUMN Page 9

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

LIVE MUSIC! Hold your nose and vote As an 82-year-old life-long progressive social-democrat (who has experienced the rule of many U.S. presidents), I strongly believe that Trump is the worst ever — worse than even Reagan and Bush Jr. Yes, our country’s so-called “democracy” has been reduced to a corrupt whiteand wealth-controlled Earth-killing plutocracy for at least 60 years. This being the sad case, I still think Trump and the “military industrial complex” corporations that pull his strings are currently dispensing with whatever influnce “We, the People” have remaining. So, please, listen to Professors Noam Chomsky and Cornel West, and whatever you feel about Biden (and Hickenlooper) Hold your nose and vote this November.

John Russell/Boulder

For a National Popular Vote The most important election in modern history is already underway.

Voters like me from across the state have already started receiving their ballots or will soon. The candidates we elect at every level of government — from the president to our state legislators to our city councilors — will have a direct impact on our health care, our economy and our democracy. For us Coloradans, we also have another crucial issue on the ballot: passing Proposition 113, the National Popular Vote.

The National Popular Vote is a pretty simple idea: It would mean that the presidential candidate that wins the most votes nationwide actually wins the election. Under the National Popular Vote (NPV)

Interstate Compact, states pledge to put their Electoral College votes towards the winner of the popular vote. This would be a crucial step towards honoring the principle of one person, one vote.

Last year, the Colorado state legislature passed legislation to join the NPV Interstate Compact, but this year voters must reaffirm that decision by voting yes on Proposition 113. If you’re like me and believe that every single vote matters, then the decision should be clear. We shouldn’t have to put up with a system that disregards millions of voters anymore, and as voters we have the power to change it.

Imagine all the change we can make when each vote is counted equally. So when you fill out your ballot, I urge you to vote yes on Proposition 113, the National Popular Vote.

Jean Dempsey/Boulder

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Speak up for relief Homelessness is a problem that deserves solving. BW’s article presents a well-rounded view of one solution, tiny homes (Re: “A tiny house, a big step,” News, Oct. 1, 2020). The affordable housing crisis is looming across the country, with a tsunami of homelessness, hunger and COVID deaths to come in January if Congress doesn’t pass a new COVID relief package.

Once again the House has stepped forward and passed a relief bill, with Senate action uncertain. By contacting our members of Congress requesting this relief, we can help prevent a hungry and homelessness new year for millions.

Willie Dickerson/via internet

GUEST COLUMN from Page 8

actions we all can take to ensure that we get the government of our choice: 1) register to vote; 2) learn about each candidate’s policy positions; 3) vote by mail, or in person; 4) volunteer as an election judge, poll-watcher or virtual canvasser; 5) educate others on the issues; 6) encourage neighbors and friends to vote.

But the work doesn’t end on the day after the election. Once all the ballots are counted and the new elected officials are announced, we BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

must then reorganize in order to push for accountability and transparency, even from the very people we help put in office. Ultimately, our community’s future and our personal livelihood depend on the political choices we make every day, every week, and every two and four years.

Junie Joseph is a third year CU Law Student and Boulder City Council member.

This opinion column does not necessarily reflect the views of Boulder Weekly.

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OCTOBER 8, 2020

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WELCOME TO OUR 2020 VOTE GUIDE

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elcome to Boulder Weekly’s 2020 Vote Guide. As always, we are providing our endorsements for every election and issue Boulder County voters will see on their ballots this year.

Our process for making decisions has been similar to those of previous election cycles — editors at BW reach out to candidates running for national, state and local offices; conduct interviews with those who agree to chat; then meet as an editorial board and make endorsements. We follow a similar process with state and local ballot questions, conducting interviews with groups for and against measures, when applicable, while conducting research to determine potential motives and outcomes of ballot questions.

While some news organizations have opted not to endorse in elections anymore, we choose to continue endorsing candidates because, well, it’s important.

We know that most of you don’t have time to have substantive conversations with every single person running for office, research often convoluted ballot questions or attend debates and forums, even if they’re on Zoom. We think it’s our obligation to do this time-consuming work on your behalf. Also, you deserve to know where we stand. We believe that by endorsing candidates, we are being transparent, and that is a critical quality for a news organization.

But our endorsement does not mean that we agree with every position of every candidate we endorse.

Far from it. You’ll notice that pretty quickly into our list of endorsements.

We should also note that we have certainly endorsed candidates and issues we later regretted. We do the best we can and have no qualms about later admitting we were wrong.

Please feel free to send us letters telling us why you believe we are wrong (or right) and we’ll make sure they get published in a timely fashion.

Lastly: Please vote. You might be feeling cynical about the political process right now, and we wouldn’t blame you. Though we are confident in our state’s voting (-by-mail) system, we don’t know what the current administration and its network of supporters across the country are going to do come Election Day and the weeks that follow. It’s important you vote, 10

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vote early and vote properly. Visit bouldercounty.org/elections to find out how.

NATIONAL U.S. PRESIDENT Joseph R. Biden / Kamala D. Harris (D) Donald J. Trump / Michael R. Pence (R) Don Blankenship / William Mohr (American Constitution) Bill Hammons / Eric Bodenstab (Unity) Howie Hawkins / Angela Nicole Walker (Green) Blake Huber / Frank Atwood (App. Voting) Jo Jorgensen / Jeremy “Spike” Cohen (L) Brian Carroll / Amar Patel (Am. Solidarity) Mark Charles / Adrian Wallace (Unaff’d) Phil Collins / Billy Joe Parker (Prohibition) Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente / Darcy G. Richardson (Alliance) Dario Hunter / Dawn Neptune Adams (Progressive) Princess Khadijah Maryam JacobFambro / Khadijah Maryam Jacob Sr. (Unaff’d) Alyson Kennedy / Malcolm Jarrett (Socialist Workers) Joseph Kishore / Norissa Santa Cruz (Socialist Equality) Kyle Kenley Kopitke / Nathan Re Vo Sorenson (Independent American) Gloria La Riva / Sunil Freeman (Socialism and Liberation) Joe McHugh / Elizabeth Storm (Unaff’d) Brock Pierce / Karla Ballard (Unaff’d) Jordan “Cancer” Scott / Jennifer Tepool (Unaff’d) Kanye West / Michelle Tidball (Unaff’d)

There are two choices for president this year. We know the list has almost two dozen names, but, pardon our cynicism, only two have a shot at winning: Joe Biden and Donald Trump. That’s the system right now.

And if you don’t vote for Biden, you are voting for Trump.

Maybe you’re OK with that. Maybe you’re OK giving your vote to a person who can’t disavow white supremacy in front of the entire country, and Joe Biden who says we can’t trust our election system this year.

But more than likely, BW reader, you’re not OK with that. You’re not OK with Trump nor the family separations nor the environmental destruction nor the pandering to racists nor the abysmal pandemic response nor the tax cuts for the wealthy nor anything, we surmise, he’s done in the last four years.

But you may also think Biden’s record on race and crime is flawed (it OCTOBER 8, 2020

is), and that he doesn’t share the vision of the next generation of progressives (he doesn’t), and that electing a 77-year-old white, male, entrenched politician with a checkered, often illiberal voting record is uninspiring (it is).

But the threat of four more years of Trump is too dangerous to ignore.

America is not guaranteed. This country is as divided as it has been in decades, and though Biden is unlikely to bring us together in four or eight years, he’ll at least keep the chasm from growing wider.

Biden may not bring us Medicare for All or the Green New Deal or universal basic income or bold criminal justice or immigration reform or anything close to the progressive ideal.

But maybe, the panels he set up with Bernie Sanders have moved his platform to the left. Maybe let’s assume Biden will push the country closer to the vision we have for it than Trump will. And maybe in doing so, he’ll set the stage for more progressives to bring fresh ideas to politics at every level in the future.

Biden, at the very least, is a decent person. Take him at his word that he decided to run after the white supremacist rally and killing in Charlottesville. And compare that to the words our president said — or didn’t say — at the first debate.

There are people in this country that need Biden to win. They need him because they have pre-existing conditions and need affordable health insurance or because they can’t return to their countries of origin for fear of death or because their drinking water is poisoned and they need federal support now. Vote for them. Vote for Joe Biden.

rug in Washington — gun reform, instituting a national public health option and marijuana decriminalization — while also righting wrongs from the Trump administration: inhumane immigration and asylum policies, funding cuts for public education, and allowing the economy for everyday people and small business owners to flounder.

At the very least, Hickenlooper is not Cory Gardner, who votes with Trump almost 90% of the time, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis, and who would assuredly stagnate a President Biden’s already limited agenda.

We think voting for Hick is imperative for liberal-minded folks, but if you just can’t wrap your head around putting a check next to his name on your ballot, Libertarian Raymon Doane is a state Department of Revenue employee who has good ideas: Congressional term limits, environmental justice initiatives, ending foreign wars and criminal justice reform. Though we can’t endorse Hickenlooper with enthusiasm, we can fully support flipping the Senate.

To do that, vote for Hickenlooper.

REPRESENTATIVE TO THE 115TH U.S. CONGRESS — DISTRICT 2 Joe Neguse (D) Charles Winn (R) Thom Atkinson (L) Gary Swing (Unity)

Look, a Biden presidency without a blue Senate is going to be frustrating. More frustrating, it would appear to us, than endorsing John Hickenlooper for Senate.

We still don’t trust Hick on the environment, and we’re still digging out of the oil and gas predicament he creatJohn Hickenlooper ed while he was governor.

But we think he’ll move the needle on a variety of issues that have long been swept under the

We’re pleased with the work Joe Neguse has done in his first term in Congress. A vice chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Neguse has introduced more legislation than any other freshman lawmaker in the country.

Of course, quantity wouldn’t mean much if Joe Neguse there weren’t quality in those bills. Luckily, that’s not the case. Neguse has sponsored bills to support frontline health workers and prevent price-gouging during the pandemic. He’s pushed for environmental protections in light of a feckless EPA under the Trump administration, while also promoting affordable housing measures and supporting those in the immigrant community. He’s also sponsored bills to lower the cost of prescription drugs.

Don’t think twice; Rep. Neguse is your best choice for CD-2.

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

U.S. SENATOR John Hickenlooper (D) Cory Gardner (R) Daniel Doyle (Approval Voting) Stephen “Seku” Evans (Unity) Raymon Anthony Doane (L)

REPRESENTATIVE TO THE 115TH U.S. CONGRESS — DISTRICT 4 Ike McCorkle (D) Ken Buck (R) Bruce Griffith (L) Laura Ireland (Unity)

Colorado’s CD-4 covers all of Eastern Colorado, but dips into Longmont, bubbles around and east of Denver, then back into Parker. That geography means it would take a unique Democrat to win the seat, currently occupied by Ken Buck. We think Isaac “Ike” McCorkle is the person to do it.

McCorkle is a Marine Corps veteran and a Purple Heart-recipient who’s earned the endorsement of environmental, labor and veteran groups.

He supports the Green New Deal and Medicare for All. He vows to fight to overturn Citizens United while pushing for bold campaign finance Ike McCorkle reform. And he vows to dismantle inhumane deportation programs and detention centers.

How’re all these ideas playing in Eastern Colorado, with its heavy agricultural and oil and gas presence?

McCorkle says he’s finding common ground by focusing on the future, a currently transitioning economy and proposing a universal basic income, for instance. His support of affordable health care is resonating with voters who are struggling to pay thousand of dollars or more, in monthly premiums.

McCorkle supports a green energy future that ensures a just transition for the people who work in those fields.

Talking about addressing climate change also resonates with farmers who endured another year in drought.

STATEWIDE/LOCAL ELECTED OFFICES CU REGENT — DISTRICT 2 Callie Rennison (D) Dick Murphy (R) Christian Vernaza (L)

The University of Colorado Board of Regents has held a Republican majority for several decades; currently, five of the nine regents are Republican. In recent years, Republican regents John Carson, Heidi Ganahl and Sue Sharkey have publicly pushed for more conservative viewpoints on campus, with Sharkey going so far as to claim that conservative faculty feel afraid to express their viewpoints on campus. Right now, in the District 6 regent race, Republican Richard Murray has based his whole campaign on not allowing Democrats BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

to take control of the Board (“I will do everything in my power to prevent that from happening,” he said on his Facebook page).

Recently, Republican regents have called for regular measurement of the political climate on campus, development of campus programs centered on conservative thought, and hiring faculty to teach conservative thinking — despite research that shows 96% of CU students already reporting “respectful, non-judgemental learning environments,” and national research of recent college graduates reporting an appreciation for all political viewpoints.

Callie Rennison The conservative push by the Regents seemed to come to a head late in 2019 with the appointment of Mark Kennedy as CU president. The Republican former congressman from Minnesota served less than three years as president of the University of North Dakota, a nonresearch university less than one-third the size of CU-Boulder. His conservative track record and limited experience — coupled with an egregious lack of transparency from the Regents regarding the presidential selection process — led to journalistic investigations that revealed candidates with more experience and closer ties to CU failed to make the cut.

BW does not endorse a Democratic takeover of the Board of Regents; rather, we endorse a Board that focuses on affordability, accessibility, transparency and, above all, highquality educational experiences over political engineering. We believe this is what Callie Rennison will bring to the Board.

Rennison is a first-generation college graduate in her family. She has served as a statistician in the Department of Justice during the Clinton and Bush administrations before she transitioned into higher education, first at the University of Missouri and later at the University of Colorado Denver as associate Dean of Faculty Affairs in the School of Public Affairs, and later as the Director of Equity and Title IX Coordinator at the Anschutz Medical Campuses. She is focused on making the CU system more affordable and accessible.

Rennison believes that legislation like the Gallagher Amendment and TABOR have contributed heavily to the increasing cost of tuition in the CU system and should be repealed; while Rennison is aware that Regents cannot control these measures, she I

believes it’s critical for Regents to openly discuss repealing such legislation. With experience inside the CU system, she understands that costs could be further reduced by consolidating poorly performing departments and — perhaps most importantly — making cuts to middle and upper management in the system.

As Director of Equity and Title IX Coordinator, Rennison believes that the CU system could do more to manage what she calls “unchecked bad behavior,” behavior that doesn’t meet the requirement for sexual assault but still creates an unhealthy environment for learning or working. She also believes that with better management of financial resources and lower tuition costs, the CU system could further diversify its students, staff and faculty.

While Rennison agrees that the University system should allow rightwing conservative speakers like Milo Yiannopoulos on campus, she feels that Regents have an obligation to speak out against any messages of racism or sexism.

Rennison says she’s been asked if she will work to remove Mark Kennedy if elected, and she says that’s not her goal; rather, she wants to ensure Kennedy does his job in a way that best serves the CU system, and create a culture of transparency on the Board of Regents that doesn’t allow for another clandestine appointment like Kennedy’s.

STATE SENATOR — DISTRICT 17 Sonya Jaquez Lewis (D) Matthew D. Menza (R)

We endorsed Sonya Jaquez Lewis in 2018 when she ran for State Representative, and we’re doing so again in the race to succeed Mike Foote in the State Senate this year. As a state rep, Lewis sponsored gun reform, prescription drug and pollinator protection legislation to better regulate the firearms, pharmaceutical and pesticide industries.

Additionally, she worked with her party to pass SB-181 to further regulate the oil and gas industry, and as part of the Latinx caucus, she Sonya Jaquez Lewis worked on SB-207, the state’s police accountability bill. When it comes to the coronavirus pandemic, she helped ensure federal relief money went toward housing, utility bill payment and food pantry assistance, as well as behavioral health services.

As with all Democrats currently serving in the State House and on the ballot this year, we hope Lewis takes OCTOBER 8, 2020

stronger and more immediate action to address the climate crisis. In the Senate, Lewis hopes to continue this work and help shape more policy directly related to public health, reducing emissions and developing innovative renewable energy sources, like community solar gardens.

That said, Matt Menza is truly an “unconventional” Republican candidate, and we think he has some interesting ideas. He wants to increase funding for mental health, including incentivizing more people to work in the field, by folding it into a more comprehensive health care plan. He’s also gone against his party for supporting the Affordable Care Act until lawmakers find a better option.

He wants to pay teachers more by reducing school administration spending and salaries. He wants the state to approach the search for alternative energy sources like the space race of last century, focusing efforts on developing technological solutions to address climate change, not just focusing on reducing emissions. While we do agree with Menza that Boulder County lacks political diversity especially when it comes to elected officials, ultimately, we don’t agree with his view on taxation and the limited role of government when addressing and funding significant public needs and services.

STATE SENATOR — DISTRICT 18 Steve Fenberg (D) Peg Cage (R)

With four years under his belt, Majority Leader Steve Fenberg quickly ascended his party’s leadership ladder when the Democrats won control of the state senate in 2018. Since then, he’s been behind much of the party’s efforts at the State House. He’s spent a lot of time working on regulatory and emission reduction efforts of the energy sector, including a technical restructuring of the Public Utilities Committee (PUC), increasing air quality monitoring resources and creating independent review board he drafted with researcher Detlev Helmig. He was also a prime sponsor on SB-181. To the last point, we understand SB-181 incorporated a lot of previous oil and gas regulatory ballot measures that failed to pass, and for that we’re grateful. At the same time, given what we know about the climate crisis, much more aggressive action is needed from our state legislators, including Fenberg, although he says he’s equally frustrated at the slow see VOTE 2020 Page 12

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implementation of these laws.

Fenberg has worked on election access and reform, including sponsoring the bills that allow parolees to vote and 17-year-olds to participate in primary elections if they will be 18 by the general election, both of which became law, as well as student debt reform.

However, he still has more he wants to do, like creating a student loan forgiveness program and Steve Fenberg more adequately addressing the state’s fiscal situation by reforming TABOR to better fund education and transportation, the latter of which he also wants to explore new sources of funding for improving roads and public infrastructure.

We endorsed Fenberg in 2016 despite his campaign’s funding from establishment Dems, many of whom are behind “The Blueprint” strategy that not only helped flip Colorado, but did so without a lot of transparency.

This year, however, those high-profile donors are missing from Fenberg’s contribution filings, and while national and state insurance, concrete and business PACs have contributed to his campaign, he also has the support of local labor, education and fire unions.

In the end, he seems to be focused on what matters most to Boulder County residents. Without taking a future political career off the table, he told BW, “I don’t ever want to decide how to vote on a bill through the lens of how it would affect the next election.”

We’re taking him at his word.

STATE REPRESENTATIVE — DISTRICT 10 Edie Hooton (D) Kenneth J. Stickney (R)

Edie Hooton is a progressive voice at the State House, working on issues important to those of us in Boulder County. Since first elected in 2016, she’s led the charge on mobile home park regulations, sponsoring legislation that allows mobile homeowners to lodge complaints against parks at the state level, form HOAs and have the first right of refusal if Edie Hooton their park goes up for sale, as well as updating the laws that govern mobile home parks. She helped pass a slew of bills providing and expanding access to medical marijuana, including adding autism spectrum disorder to the list of qualifying conditions for those under 21 and allowing its prescription for chronic 12

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pain in lieu of opioids.

In 2020, her main legislation focused on community choice energy — although it ultimately failed to go to appropriations due to the coronavirus pandemic. But the idea is that it would pave the way for communities across Colorado to procure and purchase energy from alternative sources, other than the local investor-owned electric utility, but without upending the local utility’s current status as sole supplier of transmission, distribution and customer service functions.

Essentially under such a system, communities, like Boulder, could meet their renewable energy goals without having to wait on companies like Xcel to transition or go through a lengthy municipalization process. Hooton is committed to bringing it back if reelected, with some slight changes.

She also isn’t in favor of Boulder Ballot Issue 2C, the franchise agreement with Xcel, which Boulder voters are considering this year, but did say the two are not mutually exclusive.

She plans to continue pushing the state legislature on the things most important in Boulder, as she says most of the opposition she’s faced is within her own party. Climate and racial justice, mental health parity, expungement of non-violent cannabis convictions, and expanding funding for homeless youth service providers are just some of the things she hopes to accomplish in the next term.

STATE REPRESENTATIVE — DISTRICT 11 Karen McCormick (D) Mark Milliman (R)

In 2018, Karen McCormick challenged incumbent Ken Buck in the CD-4 U.S. House race, winning nearly 40% of the vote in the traditionally red district. But, the idea of serving in the Colorado State House suits her much better, she tells BW, as it’s more direct representative work with the ability to enact legislation much quicker.

As a veterinarian and small businessperson, McCormick wants to focus her time at the capitl on health care and building resiliency for future public health emergencies, especially the potential economic fallout. And she wants to continue to move Colorado toward a progressive graduated tax policy in order to meet deep needs for education, transportation and mental health funding. And as a mom of a non-binary child, she wants to continue building equity around LGBTQ civil rights.

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When it comes to climate change, she’s volunteered for years with the Citizens’ Climate Lobby, hoping to influence members of Congress on cli mate policy and convince them to enact a national carbon tax. On the state level, she’s supportive of the recent Democratic push to enact climate legislation. She’s not as hard Karen McCormick on the oil and gas industry as we would like, supporting natural gas until we can transition further to renewables, and we’re disappointed about that.

Still, she thinks there’s more to be done including further regulating emission standards when it comes to the transportation and agricultural sectors, as well as pushing for alternatives like community solar gardens and storage.

While McCormick isn’t as progressive on eliminating the use of fossil fuels as we would like, it seems she has both the professional and personal experience to make significant contributions to public health, mental health and LGBTQ policies, and she has our support.

STATE REPRESENTATIVE — DISTRICT 12 Tracey Bernett (D) Eric Davila (R)

Although new to the ballot, Tracey Bernett is not new to politics, being involved at the grassroots, local and state Democratic party level for years.

She’s a mom, a world-class runner and an engineer with a Harvard MBA. She’s adamantly opposed to fracking operations near schools and homes in Boulder County, especially seeing as both she and her son have asthma and are affected by the state’s low air quality. She wants to transition the state to renewable energy as quickly as possible while holding the oil and gas industry accountable for the full costs of damages fracking imposes on public health and the environment, and get rid of industry subsidies. In the meantime, she’s advocating for conTracey Bernett stant air-quality monitoring at all drilling sites (paid for by the industry of course but independently monitored), and investing in sustainable, green energy job creation to help in a just transition.

She also wants to lead the fight to end TABOR and address equity gaps across the state like access to health care, gender pay, high-quality educaI

tion and affordable housing. On that last point, she served on the Board of the OUR Center during the great recession and on Boulder County’s 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness Advisory Board more than a decade ago. She supports a Housing First philosophy, but she also recognizes that homelessness solutions are not one-size-fits-all for every community and wants to work on introducing measures that will increase permanent supportive housing, micro-apartments and other innovative affordable housing ideas. A self-described policy wonk, she’s volunteered with both Mike Foote and Faith Winter at the capitol as well.

We believe Bernett will continue the progressive work of past legislators from District 12.

STATE REPRESENTATIVE — DISTRICT 13 Kevin Sipple (R) Judith Amabile (D) James Gilman (L)

Democrat Judy Amabile was motivated to run for state representative while testifying at the capitol in favor of 2019’s Extreme Risk Protection Order legislation, otherwise known as the red flag gun law, seeing as one of her sons has a severe mental illness and she’s worked tirelessly to prevent him from purchasing a gun.

Unsurprisingly, if elected Amabile will focus on preventing gun violence further and she has big plans to address the lack of mental health resourcJudith Amabile es through a community based mental health paradigm (as opposed to a criminal justice one, as is the current practice), which will in turn help address other crisis like high incarceration rates, homelessness, drug addiction and high suicide rates across the state. She also wants to address income inequality through a progressive graduated tax rate, while ensuring that monied interests don’t have an outsized voice in state politics.

On climate change, she wants to work on creating and allowing for more storage opportunities as it becomes more and more economical to move away from fossil fuels. And as the founder and owner of Boulderbased Polar Bottle, a reusable water bottle made for cyclists (and from plastic dependent on oil production), Amabile wants to incentivize more see VOTE 2020 Page 14

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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OUR MAYOR OUR CHOICE

Let’s elect

OUR MAYOR

YES ON 2E

“...the Our Mayor, Our Choice initiative seeks to expand opportunities to participate in direct democracy and introduce a more modern, representative way to vote.”

2E is endorsed by these organizations:

SEE OUR FULL LIST OF SUPPORTERS AT: OurMayor-OurChoice.org

YOUR 2020 BALLOT HAS ELEVEN CRITICAL STATEWIDE BALLOT ISSUES, including: yes ON PROP. 113 National Popular Vote!

yes ON PROP. 118 Paid Family Leave! yes ON PROP. EE E-Cig Tax = Education Funding! yes ON AMENDMENT B Repeal Gallagher!

If you leave even one part of your ballot blank, you’re allowing others to choose for you!

VOTE NO on: PROP. 115

Egregious Abortion Ban NO on PROP. 116 Regressive Tax Cut NO on PROP. 117 TABOR 2.0 NO on AMENDMENT 76 — Deceptive, Racist, Suppresses Access to the Vote!

Candidates, ballot issues, ballot drop locations, & MORE at: bocovoter.org

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clean business practices across the state while encouraging rural communities to diversify their economic dependence on fossil fuel production.

She also wants to address the use of “PFAS,” or forever chemicals, which the Water Quality Control Commission recently committed to better regulating. She also wants to bolster water management plans of streams and rivers throughout the state to reduce drought risk while expanding the use of regenerative agriculture which is less dependent on water.

Although we wish she would take a stronger stance against the oil and gas industry (as we do for most Democratic candidates on this ballot), her priorities are in the right place and we think Judy Amabile will contribute to creating a more fair and equitable state.

heating systems.

With a background in public finance, he’s also spent a lot of time at the capitol working on addressing issues with the state’s tax policy and strongly supports repealing the Gallagher Amendment in order to better fund both education and transportation. When it comes to racial justice, Gray, as a former prosecutor, supported the police reform bill passed this summer but wants the legislature to expand that work to other systems to address inequality in other sectors like education, housing and health care.

Gray’s work at the State House has prioritized the issues of his district and he continues to have our support.

STATE REPRESENTATIVE — DISTRICT 33 Matt Gray (D) Mindy Quiachon (R)

Michael Dougherty was appointed as District Attorney for Colorado’s 20th Judicial District in 2018 after Stan Garnett left office for private practice. While he’s running uncontested (not uncommon for an incumbent DA), Dougherty’s track record makes it easy to endorse him for his first full-term.

He came to the office with experience, having served as prosecutor for 12 years with the Manhattan DA’s Office before coming to Colorado in 2009 to head up the Colorado DNA Justice Review Project, an effort that led to the exoneration of an innocent man wrongly convicted of murder.

Dougherty served as the second-incommand for the DA’s Office for Jefferson and Gilpin Counties until Gov. Jared Polis tapped him for Boulder County District Attorney in 2018.

In his two years as DA, Dougherty has focused on expanding restorative Michael justice programs, broadDougherty ening mental health resources, and prioritizing violent crimes over minor offenses like drug charges. When citizens of Boulder gathered downtown this summer to protest police brutality that led to the deaths of black Americans like George Floyd, Elijah McClain and countless others, Dougherty marched with them.

Representing Broomfield, Superior and Erie, transportation is of particular concern to District 33 and Matt Gray has spent a lot of his time at the capitol working on just that. He currently serves as the Chair of the Local Government & Transportation Committee, a role he will continue if reelected, although addressing budget shortfalls in this area have proven elusive for legislators, especially this year as COVID-19 all but eliminated traffic congestion on U.S. 36 and Matt Gray beyond. While he acknowledges the challenges, Gray has been focused on creating coalitions of local governments to increase funding for transportation infrastructure where there is political will. He also wants to see additional transportation revenue streams as we move away from old policies like the gas tax, and toward things like incentivizing electric vehicle use and infrastructure, and instituting fees on big transportation users like freight trucks, rideshare companies and delivery services.

This also plays into his work addressing the climate crisis, of which he sees transitioning our transportation system as a key component. He supports the efforts of the party on regulating the oil and gas industry but remains firm that they need to continue honoring their climate goals. He also wants to do more when it comes to supporting the transition of homes and commercial spaces away from gas 14

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DISTRICT ATTORNEY — 20TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT Michael Dougherty (D)

REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION DISTRICT (RTD) DIRECTOR — DISTRICT I

After eight years in the position, current RTD District I Director Judy Lubow is term-limited as of Dec. 31.

But the only candidate who planned OCTOBER 8, 2020

to run for Lubow’s seat this year didn’t get enough valid signatures to secure a place on the ballot.

State law requires that the county with the highest number of eligible electors within the district fill a vacancy via appointment — that’s Boulder County in District I. So sitting Boulder County Commissioners (Deb Gardner, Elise Jones and Matt Jones) will be choosing a District I director to serve until 2022.

RTD has asked the Commissioners that the vacancy be filled “on or before Nov. 3.”

JUDICIAL RETENTION Colorado Supreme Court Justice Melissa Hart: Retain Carlos A. Samour Jr.: Retain Colorado Court of Appeals Ted C. Tow III: Retain Craig R. Welling: Retain District Court, 20th Judicial District Ingrid Seftar Bakke: Retain Patrick D. Butler: Retain Judith L. LaBuda: Retain Andrew Ross Macdonald: Retain Nancy Woodruff Salomone: Retain County Court Judge Jonathon P. Martin: Retain

This year’s Boulder County ballots include four statewide and six local judge retention questions. If a judge is removed by a majority “No” vote, a bipartisan commission submits candidates to Governor Jared Polis and his staff, and someone new is appointed.

This year, we recommend all judges on the ballot be retained. BW recommendations are based on the information provided in the 2020 State Ballot Information Booklet (the Blue Book), authored by the Colorado Office of Judicial Performance Evaluation (COPJE) and our research into the judges’ previous evaluations and written opinions.

COUNTY OFFICES COUNTY COMMISSIONER — DISTRICT 1 Cinda Lou Kochen (R) Claire Levy (D)

County Commissioners have a role in developing many of the policies that shape the culture of a community: zoning regulations, property tax assessment and collection, funding for law enforcement programs and judicial administration as well as subsidized housing, not to mention maintaining I

roads, bridges and parks. In recent years, Boulder County Commissioners have helped keep oil and gas extraction operations off County lands through moratoriums; they’ve considered public health Claire Levy by banning GMOs on County-owned lands; they’ve fought against Denver Water as it tried to push an expansion of Gross Reservoir through without public comment or local review by the Commissioners; and they’ve focused on sustainability by proposing a new composting facility south of Longmont.

County Commissioner is a tough job that requires deep and broad knowledge on a number of complex topics. We think Claire Levy is up to the task.

Levy has more than 25 years of experience serving Boulder County as a volunteer, legislator, policy advocate and community activist. She spent three terms serving House District 13 (Boulder and other counties) in the Colorado legislature. She currently serves on the board of Boulder Housing Partners and on the statewide Access to Justice Commission.

Levy believes people are currently looking toward local government to take responsibility for the environment, income inequality and racial justice, so these are her main areas of focus.

Where housing is concerned, Levy admits that municipalities are in the driver’s seat, but she would like to see the Boulder County Commissioners work with municipalities to create better inclusionary housing ordinances.

She also says the county can be “helpful directly in preserving mobile home communities in unincorporated Boulder County.”

As a commissioner, Levy would like to ensure that County land use policies aren’t limiting the possibility to site and develop solar gardens: “The small scale delivery we need to be able to move to renewable energy.” She would also like to move the County’s vehicle fleet to electric.

While Levy admits that “the source of income inequality is a lot of policies that are completely beyond the control of the county, like weakened unions and strengthened corporate power,” she believes the county can help with its contracting policies and favoring union shops when it does capital construction. She wants the county to look at creating a countyVOTE 2020 from Page 16

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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wide minimum wage that’s higher than the state requires.

COUNTY COMMISSIONER — DISTRICT 2 Marta Loachamin (D) James T. Crowder (R)

We endorse Marta Loachamin for County Commissioner District 2 — as do a slew of other progressive politicians from Boulder County, including all the current County Commissioners. Marta’s key policy foci include accessible housing, community and environmental health, expanded economic opportunity, mitigating climate change, ensuring social justice, and prudent stewardship and resources management.

Loachamin has wide experience: As a real estate agent, she’s been a member of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals for numerous years; she’s served on the City of Longmont Multicultural Action Committee (LMAC) Advisory Board for almost a decade in various capacities; she’s been a teacher Marta Loachamin in both the St. Vrain School District and overseas; as a single mother she worked her way through CU-Boulder while raising her children and simultaneously advocating for CU to create its Ethnic Studies Department (which it did in 1996); she’s worked with Boulder County’s Latino Chamber of Commerce to support Latinx-led small businesses, particularly those helmed by women.

While this will be Loachamin’s first time as an elected official, we believe her experience more than qualifies her for the job. She maintains a strong stance on protecting Boulder County residents from oil and gas extraction, providing economic opportunities for every resident regardless of race, sex or financial means, and listening to constituents about complex issues like land management and zoning.

CITY OF LOUISVILLE CITY — COUNCIL WARD 3 Kyle Brown (uncontested)

While Kyle Brown is running uncontested for the Ward 3 seat on Louisville’s City Council, his track record from his previous year on Council (he was appointed in 2019 to fill a vacancy) makes it easy to endorse him — plus, he’s a Louisville native, and now raising his family in the city.

He’s voted to protect open space and prevent herbicide use on it; supported 16

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a grant program to help cash-strapped local businesses pull through the pandemic; and championed creating a fund in the City’s budget for renewable energy credits (though Council declined to pursue this idea).

Brown hopes to continue to focus on economic vitality and on environmental sustainability. While Brown has already acknowledged the importance of supporting businesses during the pandemic, he wants to see the City bolster its efforts to help individuals Kyle Brown who are struggling to make ends meet. Brown wants to see Louisville “make strong efforts to increase the amount of affordable housing, making the community truly accessible to people regardless of income,” while also considering how much growth current residents are comfortable with.

TOWN OF SUPERIOR TRUSTEES

(Vote for no more than three) Gladys M. Forshee Chris Ochs Mark Lacis Tim Howard Paige Henchen Kevin Ryan

Superior residents can select three trustees this year; we like current Trustees Mark Lacis and Kevin Ryan, and health care investment banker Tim Howard.

Development has always been a hot topic for residents of this foursquare-mile town. They’ve waited eight years for the completion of the Downtown Superior project — with commercial, residential and hotel space — which was slated to enter its final phase of development this summer before the pandemic put it on hold.

Then there’s the Superior Marketplace, a concreteheavy shopping plaza Mark Lacis that many feel could be redeveloped to better use the space.

One of those people is Mayor Pro Tem Mark Lacis. Lacis, a business attorney and chief operating officer for a firm in Denver, says that the Superior Marketplace is a prime opportunity for the Trustees to work with developers to “deliver a new residential component.” Lacis recently worked with the Trustees to develop a draft for Superior’s first affordable housing ordinance. If approved, the ordinance would require new developOCTOBER 8, 2020

ers to make 10% of their residential units affordable; Lacis would like to see that number increase to 15%. He believes the Superior Marketplace could “move the needle” on addressing Superior’s lack of affordable housing.

Lacis has also been proactive in keeping oil and gas extraction out of Superior, testifying at the state capitol against a proposed 32-well extraction operation on the so-called CenturyLink property.

Kevin Ryan says it’s “unacceptable that Superior is throwing up a goose egg” on affordable housing. He’s happy the Town is considering an ordinance, but would like to see new developers have to commit to at least 12% affordable units. Like Lacis, he’s also been active in fighting against oil and gas extraction in Superior. Ryan would like Superior to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2030, starting with relatively simple moves like transitioning the City’s fleet of cars to electric. But the biggest concern for Ryan is Superior’s economic development, as the pandemic has shaken up business as we’ve known it. He’s hoping to get a Tim Howard line item in next year’s budget for a full-time economic development advisor who can help the city understand its business needs.

Tim Howard believes that over the next few years Superior will be facing “significant challenges” in both economic development and climate change mitigation.

Howard believes that 10% affordable housing is too low a goal for new development, and would like the city to start at 15% and raise that to 20% over a five-year period. (What sets Howard apart from Paige Henchen, another well-informed progressive candidate, is his dismissal of in-lieu fees that would allow developers to pass on building affordable housing by paying money that would go into a Kevin Ryan housing trust fund to finance affordable housing developed off-site. We feel these fees can allow for affordable housing to be concentrated in one part of the city, as opposed to spreading affordable housing throughout.)

Howard wants to continue to support small businesses through continued and expanded Town-funded grant programs (Superior already awarded grants to businesses with storefronts; Howard hopes to extend this to even

smaller businesses that may be working out of home offices), and wants to see the Town sign on to Sierra Club’s Ready for 100 campaign to move Superior to 100% renewable energy sources by 2025.

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

BALLOT MEASURES — STATE AMENDMENT B (REPEAL GALLAGHER AMENDMENT) Yes/For No/Against

Whether you’re new to Colorado or been here your entire life, Amendment B, which asks voters to repeal the Gallagher Amendment, is probably a little confusing.

Gallagher, originally put into the state’s constitution by voters in 1982, was made significantly more complicated by the addition of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), which voters passed a decade later. Gallagher was originally designed to shift the tax burden from residential property owners to non-residential business, commercial and production landowners, by setting the proportion of state property-tax collections at 45% for residential and 55% for commerial. Since, residential property rates have grown much faster than commercial ones over time, so the proportions are now skewed, resulting in less property tax revenue for local governments and requiring the state to essentially backfill funding for public services, like education, to make up the difference.

In addition, the decline in property tax revenue has also decreased funding to local fire jurisdictions and rural health care, especially important as we face the imminent threat of increased wildfires due to climate change and a global public health pandemic.

Amendment B hopes to address these budget shortfalls by fixing the current assessment rates for both residential and commercial properties at their current rates (7.15% and 29% respectively) in an effort to stymie further reductions in property tax revenue expected in the next few years if the Gallagher Amendment is left in place.

This measure does not include a replacement plan and the legislature would be free to decrease either the residential or commercial property tax rates in the future, although any increase to property taxes would have to go to the voters under TABOR. While we hope this explainer has helped ease some confusion around the Gallagher Amendment, we also hope you will vote to repeal it. The see VOTE 2020 Page 18

OF COUNTY 2020 WINNER

OF COUNTY 2020 WRITE-IN

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state’s budget has been hamstrung by the interaction of the Gallagher Amendment and TABOR for decades and since ridding Colorado of TABOR has proven all but politically impossible, we can at least stop some of the bleeding by repealing the Gallagher Amendment. If you’re a property owner, your taxes will most likely go up under this repeal, seeing as it only freezes your tax rate, not your property value. If you’re a renter, it is possible these increased taxes could cause your rent to go up in future years as well, and that’s unfortunate. Some also worry that commercial interests will now lobby the state legislature to reduce their tax rate by arguing it’s necessary for economic development given the hardships of the pandemic.

There’s bipartisan support both for and against this measure: Prominent Boulder County Democrat and former state senator Ron Stewart, for example is one of the main writers of the original Gallagher Amendment and is against the repeal, as is former state senator Dennis Gallagher himself.

Whereas former Republican U.S. Senator and past President of the University of Colorado Hank Brown, as well as former Colorado GOP Chairman Dick Wadhams support the repeal. Amendment B was referred to the ballot by a legislative vote of 79 to 20, meaning about half of elected Republicans support it.

Colorado continues to rank in the bottom third of states for per pupil spending and teacher compensation.

Fire districts across Colorado are facing staffing cuts even as some of the state’s largest wildfires continue to burn. Repealing the Gallagher Amendment will allow local communities to better fund their local school and fire districts, taking some of that burden off the state’s general fund, freeing up resources to address other education and transportation funding constrained by TABOR. AMENDMENT C (CONDUCT OF CHARITABLE GAMING) Yes/For No/Against

Amendment C was referred to voters with nearly unanimous support in the state legislature and would allow more charities to offer raffle games, pull-tabs and bingo to fund their charitable endeavors. It would do so by allowing charities in existence for three years to get a license to offer such games (currently, the requirement is five years). It would also allow these organizations to hire someone at min18

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imum wage to run these games, thus not relying on volunteers. There’s no downside to this — more charities can raise more funds and more people get paid for their work. Vote yes.

AMENDMENT 76 (CITIZEN QUALIFICATION OF VOTERS) Yes/For No/Against

While it may seem rather innocuous, passing this amendment would change language in the Colorado Constitution to specify that “only” U.S. citizens age 18 or older can vote in Colorado elections, whereas it currently states that “every” U.S. citizen age 18 or older can vote. So what’s wrong with that?

First, it’s part of a nationwide effort to do the same to state constitutions across the country, backed by an obscure political nonprofit Citizen Voters, Inc., that isn’t required to disclose its funding sources. In Florida, the group has already poured $8.3 million into a similar effort. In Colorado, the issues committee behind Amendment 76, Colorado Citizens Voters, is funded almost entirely by the Florida-based Citizen Voters, Inc., which has contributed more than $1.3 million to help pass the measure here.

And if that isn’t concerning enough, groups like the ACLU of Colorado, the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC), One Colorado and even the Colorado Educators Association oppose it, arguing that it’s rooted in anti-immigrant fervor and could confuse and discourage naturalized U.S. citizens from voting. It’s true, there are about a dozen jurisdictions that currently allow noncitizens to participate in local elections — like those with children voting for school board members in San Francisco — which proponents argue is why immigrant advocate groups oppose the measure. But seeing as federal law prohibits noncitizens from voting in national elections and Colorado already has a voter citizenship requirement, this change seems wholly unnecessary.

There’s also nothing in the language of the amendment that directs implementation, which raises serious questions. Could this disenfranchise Colorado youth voters, who just last year gained the right to vote in primaries at 17, if they will turn 18 by the time of the general election? Could it be interpreted by the courts as a requirement to provide proof of citizenship to vote, forcing the state to enact voter ID laws which are known OCTOBER 8, 2020

to lead to voter suppression? Could that threaten Colorado’s vote-by-mail system?

Data clearly shows that voter fraud is rare in the U.S., and noncitizen voting rarer still. Colorado has one of the most secure and accessible election systems in the country under the current constitutional language and we see no reason to change that. Vote no.

AMENDMENT 77 (LOCAL VOTER APPROVAL OF CASINO BET LIMITS AND GAMES IN BLACK HAWK, CENTRAL CITY AND CRIPPLE CREEK) Yes/For No/Against

Voters across the state will be asked to allow the residents of Black Hawk, Central City and Cripple Creek — where in-person gambling is legal in Colorado — to decide their own betting limits and allowable games. The state constitution currently limits the types of games allowed in Colorado’s casinos to slot machines, blackjack, poker, roulette and craps. If passed, local voters will be able to hold special elections to increase betting limits (currently at $100) and add more games. We think the residents of Colorado’s casino towns ought to make this decision for themselves.

Vote yes.

PROPOSITION EE (TAXES ON NICOTINE PRODUCTS) Yes/For No/Against

BW has long held the belief that sin taxes, or taxes levied based on certain behaviors, unfairly burden a portion of the population in order to benefit the entire community. It’s no different with Prop EE. This measure proposes to increase the tax rate between now and 2027 to 62% for tobacco and nicotine products.

Currently, tobacco (cigarettes, cigars and snuff ) is taxed at 40%, while nicotine (including vaping products) isn’t taxed at all. Additionally, it sets a minimum after-tax floor price on cigarettes at $7 a pack, making taxes on cigarettes proportionally more expensive than both alcohol and marijuana. Expected revenue from the new taxes ($175.6 million in 2021-22 and $275.9 million by 2027) will be split between preschool programs, rural schools, K-12 education, housing development and eviction legal assistance.

It’s clear the state is in need of additional revenue streams, but this isn’t the way to do it. Nationwide tobacco tax revenue has been steadily declining, and the funds raised from this measure would be a stop gap solution, not an effective long-term fiscal I

strategy. While we support some sort of tax and regulation on other nicotine and vaping products, this particular measure casts too wide a net, with the potential to hit the working class and low-income populations the hardest.

According to the CDC, there are three times as many everyday smokers who make less than $35,000 a year as those who earn more than $100,000.

Addressing the state’s budget shortfalls shouldn’t be the burden of a segment of the population. If we want to address public health concerns of smoking and vaping, as we should in the middle of a global respiratory pandemic, a sin tax isn’t the way to do it. Vote no.

PROPOSITION 113 (ADOPT AGREEMENT TO ELECT U.S. PRESIDENT BY NATIONAL POPULAR VOTE) Yes/For No/Against

We all know the story: in 2016 Donald Trump became president despite the fact that Hillary Clinton won the national popular vote by almost 3 million votes. It was an historic margin on all accounts and only the fifth time in history that the winner of the presidency did not win the national popular vote. But according to U.S. election law, the national popular vote doesn’t determine presidential elections, the Electoral College does, as each state is allocated a certain number of electors who in turn cast their votes for the winner of their state’s popular vote.

Proposition 113 seeks to change that. If passed, it would commit Colorado’s electors to cast their Electoral College votes for the winner of the national popular vote, regardless of which candidate wins the majority support in Colorado. This would only go into effect once enough states have signed onto the National Popular Vote (NPV) Interstate Compact, to ensure the majority of the country’s electors do the same. It would not abolish the Electoral College, as some have advocated, but rather circumvents it, changing the way the electors are used under the states’ rights section of the Constitution, which guarantees their exclusive authority to allocate the electors in the way they see fit, as confirmed by the Supreme Court. This is also a referendum vote, brought to this year’s ballots by citizens who disagreed with state legislators, who passed the NPV bill during the 2019 legislative session, and Governor Jared Polis, who signed it into law the same year.

The national NPV movement has been around since the 2000 election, when Al Gore won the popular vote, BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

but George H. W. Bush had more Electoral College votes. In Colorado, it was first introduced in 2006, and it’s taken years of persuasion to pass in the state legislature. Proponents say NPV will right the balance, as currently entire elections hinge on just a handful of ever-changing swing states, giving the issues that matter in those places outsized influence in candidates’ campaigns. Plus, election interference by foreign powers, especially through social media misinformation campaigns, would be much more difficult as it would have to focus on half of the entire country’s voting population and not just tens of thousands in particular states. In the end, they say, the NPV would ensure that every citizen’s vote counts equally regardless of factors that have traditionally been used by candidates to gain support such as rural versus urban, ethnicity and race, and in which state voters reside.

Opponents of the measure, however, argue that the NPV would actually dilute the Colorado vote by promising our Electoral College votes to the winner of the national majority, rather than our state’s majority. They say it’s not about the rural-urban or partisanship divide, but rather about Colorado as a whole having a say in national politics.

Plus, elections are run completely differently in each of the 50 states, which could have massive implications.

What’s more, NPV has only been passed in states led by Democratic governors, and the most populous states on the coasts could determine entire elections, with a complete disregard for citizens in the middle, such as Coloradans.

This is a hard one for us at BW. We recognize that all of the elected officials we’ve endorsed in the past voted for and passed this legislation at the State House last year. It’s also endorsed by a handful of organizations we generally agree with like the ACLU of Colorado, One Colorado and the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC).

And yet something about it doesn’t quite sit right with us.

If the 20th century has shown us anything, it’s that our presidential electoral process is outdated and needs updating. But this is too important of a change to make for our electoral process to be handled by a patchwork of laws in individual states. Ultimately, we think the change needs to come at the federal level for the federal electoral process and would be better served by going through a U.S. Constitutional amendment process, no matter how difficult that may be.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

PROPOSITION 114 (REINTRODUCTION AND MANAGEMENT OF GRAY WOLVES) Yes/For No/Against

As one of the first species to be listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), gray wolves were all but extinct from the continental U.S. by mid-20th century. However, recovery efforts in other states, including Colorado’s northern neighbors Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, have proven successful, even if the species only inhabits 20% of its historic range. This measure would require CPW to develop a management plan for gray wolves in Colorado in order to start reintroducing the species west of the Continental Divide by Dec. 31, 2023. If passed, under state statute the CPW commission would have to hold statewide hearings to consider scientific, economic and social impacts, elicit periodic public input, as well as the use of state funds to compensate livestock owners for losses should gray wolves attack their animals. It’s expected to cost the state anywhere from $300,000 in 2021-22 up to $800,000 by 2023-24, with funding coming primarily from hunting and fishing licenses but could include appropriations from the state legislature.

Known as a keystone predator, wolves lead to healthier overall ecosystems, and if reintroduced could help restore the ecological landscape and long-term resilience of Western lands.

If passed, the reintroduction plan would have to be approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which currently manages the recovery of the species. (Under the Trump administration, the agency recently announced its intent to delist the species despite widespread opposition from conservationists.) As you can imagine, the main opposition to this measure comes from livestock owners, farmers and trade associations related to both groups, as well as the oil and gas industry.

A ballot measure may not be the best way to achieve reintroduction, but given the historic reluctance of both the CPW commission and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to undertake such a plan, it may be the only way forward. And despite claims that gray wolves are coming back to the state on their own, as some wolves including a cub have been sighted in the far northwestern region of the state this year, it’s a far cry from a self-sustain-

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ing population. We understand gray wolves may threaten livestock and the special interests of landowners; however, wolves were here first, they should be reintroduced and it’s time we learned how to coexist with the species, as we all will benefit from a healthier and more robust ecosystem.

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PROPOSITION 115 (PROHIBIT ABORTIONS AFTER 22 WEEKS) Yes/For No/Against

If passed, Prop. 115 would ban abortions in Colorado after 22 weeks, unless the mother’s life is “physically threatened, but not solely by a psychological or emotional condition.” A medical provider who violates the ban would have their license stripped for three years and face a fine up to $5,000. Colorado is one of only seven states to not restrict abortions after a given point in pregnancy. Predictably, a cavalcade of pro-life groups support the measure, while groups like the ACLU and Planned Parenthood oppose it.

We strongly agree with those who argue against it. There are no exceptions in this for victims of rape or incest, and no exceptions if a fetus is found to be nonviable after 22 weeks (that is, if it has some fatal abnormality). It would be inhumane to force a woman to carry a nonviable fetus to full-term.

Women should dictate the course of their pregnancies, not the government — it’s their right. And in a time when Roe v. Wade may be threatened, we must fight for women’s reproductive rights every chance we get.

PROPOSITION 116 (STATE INCOME TAX RATE REDUCTION) Yes/For No/Against

This proposal would decrease the state individual and corporate income tax rate from 4.63% to 4.55%, starting with 2020 tax filings. If passed, the average Coloradan (who earns roughly $52,000 a year) would see an annual savings of $40 on their state income tax bill, while someone who makes $1 million a year will save $800. As such, the state would see a 1.2% decrease (equal to $154 million) to the general fund in 2021-22.

A petition for a progressive graduated tax rate, as employed by most states, failed to make the Colorado ballot this year, and many see this initiative as a response to that effort. We already don’t have enough money to adequately fund our roads and schools and with $3.3 billion in funding cuts 20

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due to the economic fallout of the pandemic, now is not the time to further reduce state revenue.

Furthermore, this measure is backed

by Unite for Colorado, an issues committee with deep ties to the Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity with support from the Independence Institute. While proponents argue the decrease is warranted given increased state revenue from recently closed tax loopholes and the 2017 federal tax cuts, which increased state income taxes, it’s clear that this measure will only further hamper the state’s budget and its ability to provide essential public services, with minimal savings for the average Coloradan. Vote no.

PROPOSITION 117 (VOTER APPROVAL FOR CERTAIN NEW STATE ENTERPRISES) Yes/For No/Against

Currently, certain quasi-governmental entities that operate like businesses or “state enterprises” are exempt from TABOR spending caps by charging user fees rather than using tax revenue. Think state parks, universities and public water utilities, as well as toll roads, municipal airports and the state’s hospital provider fee enterprise fund, which helps compensate hospitals for caring for uninsured and Medicaid patients without using monies from the general fund. This measure would require voter approval for such state enterprises that collect more than $100 million in fees in the first five years (or $20 million a year). It would only apply to the creation of new enterprises and not retroactively apply to existing agencies.

Creating such enterprises has certainly expanded in the years since TABOR was passed, mostly in an effort by lawmakers to boost spending for public services without increasing taxes. But we’re OK with that given TABOR constraints. Supporters argue that voters want more control over the state’s fiscal policy, but it’s clear that, if passed, this will further restrict the state budget even when we’re already seeing deep cuts due to the coronavirus pandemic. Plus, this measure was put on the ballot with more than $1 million support from Unite for Colorado, an issues committee with deep ties to the Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity. No thanks.

PROPOSITION 118 (PAID FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE INSURANCE PROGRAM) Yes/For No/Against

This will create a statewide and state-run insurance program for paid BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

BALLOT MEASURES — LOCAL CITY OF LOUISVILLE BALLOT ISSUE 2A (SINGLEUSE PLASTIC BAG TAX) Yes/For No/Against

This measure would impose a 25-cent tax on every single-use bag (paper or plastic) distributed at a retailer in Louisville. The bag tax BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

would go into effect Jan. 1, 2022.

The City of Louisville estimates that local businesses distribute an approximate 4.5 million single-use bags — that’s 25 tons — per year. BW endorses a yes vote on this measure because we believe a tax on single-use bags could help reduce this number and further the City’s sustainability goals (laid out in the City’s Sustainability Action Plan, adopted in 2016).The tax would be applied to all paper and plastic disposable bags.

Exemptions include package bulk items, frozen foods, meat or fish, flowers or plants, unwrapped prepared foods or bakery goods, newspaper bags and dry cleaning bags. Customers using federal or state food assistance programs (such as WIC or SNAP) would be exempt.

While the proposed ballot language would authorize City Council to adjust the amount of the disposal bag tax or the retailers it applies to without going back to voters for approval (currently drafted to apply to all retailers), the tax could not exceed 25 cents.

CITY OF BOULDER BALLOT ISSUE 2B (NO EVICTIONS WITHOUT REPRESENTATION) Yes/For No/Against

Less than 2% of renters in Boulder who are brought to eviction court have the time or money to get a lawyer. On the flip side, 88% of landlords have representation in such proceedings. It’s a discrepancy community organizers for No Evictions Without Representation (NEWR) saw long before they started circulating a petition to get a ballot issue before voters that would address the problem. If passed, 2B would put a $75 per unit/ per year on landlords who rent in Boulder. It’ll raise $1.7 million in its first year, and that money will ensure every renter has legal representation in eviction court, and it’ll set up a rental assistance fund to help people a few bucks short of their rent payment avoid going to court in the first place.

Opponents, which include the Boulder Area Rental Housing Association (BARHA), say the amount raised is more than is necessary. Todd Ulrich, board president of BARHA, says the group, and its landlord members, is not necessarily opposed to the outcomes of the ballot measure, just the methodology of it — that is, the amount of the tax versus the need. Too, Ulrich says, most eviction cases go to court for nonpayment of rent, which representation would be

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family and medical leave that will allow employees to take up to 12 weeks off, keep their job and benefits, and receive 90% of their salary up to $1,100 a week based on their average weekly wage in taxable income. Employees around the state will qualify for the birth or adoption of a child, for the care for self or family member (defined as someone with a significant personal bond) with a serious health condition, and for circumstances related to a family member’s active military service, as well as safe leave for domestic violence, sexual assault or abuse and stalking.

Beginning in 2023, both employers and employees will pay into the program, each initially contributing 0.45% of the employees’ weekly taxable income; unless the company has fewer than 10 employees in which case they are exempt, although the employees could still pay into the program and have access to the benefits, as can gig workers. The program will be administered by a new division within the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment and will be protected from other state uses.

Employees would be able to start accessing the benefit in 2024, and it’s estimated the average Colorado worker will pay between $3.83 and $4.50 per week.

This one is a no-brainer. The state legislature has been considering such an insurance program for years, and this proposal is based off recommendations from a bipartisan legislative task force from 2019. Though there are some business interests who oppose it, arguing it will hurt small businesses (the Colorado Chamber of Commerce), there is no organized opposition against the measure. Plus, a 2019 poll found 64% of Colorado’s small businesses support such a program. Similar programs in other states like California, New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island have proven both successful and solvent, California’s even during the Great Recession.

Approving such an insurance program, especially one that casts such a wide net for personal needs, will benefit Colorado workers and businesses alike.

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VOTE 2020 from Page 21

unlikely to resolve.

But NEWR organizer Ruy Arango says a lawyer can get a stipulation that satisfies both the landlord and tenant, and avoids an eviction ruling, which stays on a person’s record for seven years.

Arango says the ballot issue has gained added importance in light of the pandemic. And this right to representation model works, he says, with eviction rates significantly lowered in cities that have enacted similar programs.

NEWR admits the cost may ultimately be passed onto to renters, but points out that it would be about $6.25 per month/per unit. So even if it were to be passed onto renters, would guaranteed legal representation and a potential for free rental assistance be worth, let’s say, two cups of coffee? We think so. Vote yes on 2B. CITY OF BOULDER BALLOT QUESTION 2C (PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY FRANCHISE/SETTLEMENT WITH XCEL) Yes/For No/Against

Early in 2020, Boulder City Council members Bob Yates and Sam Weaver engaged in talks with Xcel Energy, the city’s primary energy provider, to settle ongoing litigation and negotiate a partnership that would keep Xcel in Boulder, while giving the City some leeway to pursue alternative energy programs.

Over the spring and summer, Xcel and the City reached a settlement agreement. The City Council voted to refer that agreement to voters, which is Ballot Issue 2C. If voters approve 2C, the City will “pause” its creation of a public electric utility (municipalization) and instead enter into a 20-year franchise agreement — a contract that dictates the terms of how two entities will work together — with Xcel; litigation brought by the City to condemn Xcel’s assets in order to determine how much it would cost to purchase them would be settled.

Boulder’s climate goals call for 100% renewable energy by 2030.

Proponents of 2C say Xcel can get to 80% carbon emission reductions by 2030, and with the blessing of Xcel, the City can pursue some to-be-determined alternative energy projects (maybe electric busses, maybe microgrids) that get us to an approximation of 100% renewable energy by 2030.

And if Xcel fails to meet its carbon reduction goals, Boulder could pull out 22

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of the franchise agreement in 2023, 2025 or 2028. The City could also exit the agreement for any reason in 2026, 2031 and 2036. Of course, it would require City Council to vote to do that, or refer an exit to voters, or for citizens to put forth a ballot initiative in those years to force an exit.

All this... for what? Boulder hasn’t had a franchise agreement with Xcel for 10 years as it has pursued the muni. Voters have routinely supported municipalization — six times in 10 years. And we’re not mathematicians, but 80% carbon reduction plus some Xcel-condoned microgrids doesn’t equal 100% renewables. It’s not like we can choose to use just Xcel’s solar and wind power, and not the coal and natural gas it’ll burn as 40% of its portfolio in 2027 (if it meets its goals).

The West has been on fire for months. When ash rains down on your street, when your phone says the air quality is hazardous to your health for the 20th day in a row, do you believe you have a role in fixing the problem? Do you believe climate change has exacerbated these and other natural events?

And do you think a 20-year contract with Xcel that won’t get to 100% renewables is better than a public electric utility that will?

Requests in 2018 for bids from companies that would transition Boulder to a municipal utility indicate that we could reach 100% renewables by 2030, and the cost of that energy could be cheaper than Xcel’s. The City received a second round of bids this summer from renewable companies, which confirmed the promise of those renewable energy options. And that’s just what we know — even better options could yet exist; one need only look around the region to see some renewable energy companies are actually fronting costs to help municipalities make a clean energy transition.

Why stop now? Why hand over leverage in our fight for 100% renewable energy to Xcel stockholders?

We’ll allow that there are smart, wellintentioned people who might really believe the road to the muni is too murky and a partnership with Xcel represents the best, if imperfect, path forward. But municipalization was always going to be messy, and it was also always going to be worth it.

Nothing has changed, except the need for bold climate action, which evidence from the last decade has only see VOTE 2020 Page 25

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KEVIN SIPPLE for COLORADO Common Sense for Colorado

Candidate for Representative – State House District 13 ABOUTKEVIN KEVINSIPPLE SIPPLE ABOUT

Rule of Law:Government Governmentagencies agenciesand andofficials officialsshould should follow follow the Rule of Law: the law, law, not made up.up.

If the government won’t follow BackgroundininBusiness Business -- One One of of founders theirown ownpreferences preferencesororlaws lawsthey’ve they’ve made If the government Background foundersofofEldorado EldoradoArtesian ArtesianSprings, Springs,Inc., thenot their thefollow Laws, why shouldwhy anyone? bottled water company.

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Inc., the bottled water company. into theCounty Boulder CountyHall of Fame Enforcement:I’mI’ma strong a strongsupporter supporterofofLaw LawEnforcement.

Enforcement. in 2010, Hall numerous other community awards.

LawLaw Enforcement: Business of Fame in 2010, numerous other community awards.

Defunding Police supporter is a terribleofidea.

Military: I’mthe a strong the Military and Veteran’s Services.

Expertise with Regulatory Agencies, Including the EPA, FDA, CDPHE Also various Expertise with Regulatory Agencies, Including the EPA, FDA, CDPHE Also Military: I’m a strong supporter of the Military and Veteran’s Services.

Agriculture: I’m a strong supporter of Agriculture.

County and City Agencies including Land Use, Zoning, and Building Departments.

Agriculture: I’m a strong supporter of Agriculture. various County and City Agencies including Land Use, Zoning, and Building Environment: I support maintaining strong enforcement of our Environment: I support maintaining strong enforcement of our environmental Departments.

PUBLIC SERVICE environmental regulations in order toland, keepand our water air, land, and water clean. regulations in order to keep our air, clean.

Volunteer in various Boulder County Agencies. 1992-2002 Placement I support maintaining thetheEndangered Species Act. PUBLIC SERVICE I support maintaining Endangered Species Act. Alternatives Commission, an appointed Board managing seven social services Constitution: a strong Volunteer various to Boulder County together, Agencies.and1992-2002 Placement Constitution:I am I am a strongsupporter supporterofofthe theprotection protection and and enforcement enforcement of our programsindesigned keep families Victim Advocate with the of our Constitutions.

These documents a large the reason our and Alternatives Commission, an appointed Board managing social Constitutions.

These documents are aare large part ofpart the of reason our nation Boulder County Sheriff’s Office 2001 to present, a programseven that provides nation and state are such a good place to live. state are such a good place to live.

Fully support the second amendment. services programs designed to keep families together, and Victim Advocate assistance to victims of crimes, personal tragedies, and natural disasters.

I support thethe development Solar, Hydro, Energy: I support developmentofofallallforms formsofofenergy, energy, Wind, Wind, Solar, with the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office 2001 to present,Member a program Member of Colorado Organization of Victim Assistance. of thethat SuicideEnergy: and and FossilFossil Fuels.Fuels.

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Stronglypersonal supports tragedies, the Taxpayer of Rights. Hydro, more developed. disasters.

Member of Colorado Union of Taxpayers.

WHY I’M RUNNING FOR OFFICE WHY I’M RUNNING OFFICE ISSUESI ISUPPORT SUPPORT Twenty-six years ago whenFOR I entered public service as a volunteer, ISSUES Twenty-eight when satisfaction I entered public as a volunteer, FiscalResponsibility: Responsibility: The The Government Government should the years great ago personal thatservice came from helping I discovered Fiscal shouldspend spendour ourtaxtaxdollars dollarswisely. I discovered the great personal satisfaction that camcing people.

I consider the pursuit I support sensible spending, no new taxes, and not wasting our money on people. I consider the pursuit of public office in the State Legislature an wisely. I support sensible spending, no new taxes, and not wasting our of public to office in the my State Legislature “showboat” projects. projects. opportunity continue public service.an opportunity to continue my public money on “showboat” service.

Why Why Vote Vote for for Me: Me: I believe I believe that that you, you, notnot thethe government, government, areare in in thethe best best position position to to make make decisions decisions about about what what is right is right forfor youyou and and your family. your family.

It’s not the It’s not rolethe of government role of government to dictate to dictate or regulate or regulate anyone’s anyone’s personal personal choices.choices.

If elected, If elected, I pledgeI pledge to do mytobest do my to keep best to alive keep free alive choice, free choice, fairness, fairness, and the andAmerican the American Way.Way.

www.KevinSipple.com BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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made more evident.

Join environmental groups (350 Colorado, Earth Guardians, New Era Colorado, Sierra Club – Indian Peaks, Wild Earth Guardians), dozens of current and former elected officials, and BW, and vote no on 2C. CITY OF BOULDER BALLOT QUESTION 2D (REPURPOSE THE UTILITY OCCUPATION TAX) Yes/For No/Against

If passed, Ballot Issue 2D would take funds gathered under the Utility Occupation Tax that have historically been used to pursue municipalization and redirect them to “fund the City’s efforts to meet its climate, racial equity and energy goals in partnership with Xcel Energy.” The funds would be used to pay for “partnership projects, pilot programs and services.” If 2C doesn’t pass, this ballot issue would be voided. Since we’re endorsing a no vote on 2C, we say vote no on 2D. CITY OF BOULDER BALLOT QUESTION 2E (DIRECT ELECTION OF THE MAYOR THROUGH RANKED-CHOICE VOTING) Yes/For No/Against

If passed, Ballot Issue 2E would allow Boulder voters to decide who the mayor is (as opposed to the current system, in which the mayor is chosen by City Council), and it would do so every two years through a ranked-choice voting (RCV) system.

The RCV system would work like this: Voters rank candidates on the mayoral ballot — instead of selecting just one — according to their preference. In order to be elected mayor, a candidate needs 50% of the vote, so if a majority of voters ranked Candidate A as their preferred choice, Candidate A would be elected. If not, there would be an instant runoff, in which the candidate with the fewest first-place votes (we’ll call them Candidate X) is eliminated from contention, and everyone who listed Candidate X as their first choice would now have their second choice counted in a new tally. If that bumps a candidate over 50% support, then that candidate is elected mayor; if not, the process continues until a candidate reaches 50%.

RCV is gaining popularity across the country. Maine runs its statewide elections via this process, and several states allow their municipalities to use it. In Colorado, Telluride, BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Basalt and Carbondale use RCV. This ballot issue was born out of a citizens’ initiative organized by the group Our Mayor, Our Choice. The plan, says co-organizer Matt Benjamin, is to implement rankedchoice voting for all of City Council, either through a future ballot initiative or via referral from City Council.

Some finer points about this specific RCV system: The mayor would be elected every two years, coinciding with regular City Council elections, starting in 2023. So, you’ll elect four Council members in the traditional manner, and one mayor in the RCV system. The mayor could serve for a maximum of eight years. A current Council member could run for mayor; if they lose, they’d retain their Council seat, and if they win, the fifth-highest vote-getter in the Council elections would take their seat.

This ballot initiative enjoys broad, bipartisan and community support.

We like RCV as a proven way to increase democracy; it’ll strip away power from voting slates that have cropped up in Boulder in recent years, allow voters to select their most preferred candidate and, at the very least, it’ll give voters a say as to who is mayor, which would bring the City in line with almost every other like-sized municipality in the state. Vote yes.

CITY OF BOULDER BALLOT QUESTION 2F (CHARTER AMENDMENT RELATED TO THE BOULDER ARTS COMMISSION) Yes/For No/Against

The Boulder Arts Commission, comprised of five unpaid volunteers appointed by City Council, is tasked with funding arts and art projects in the community. Over the last few years, City Council has increased arts funding, creating more work and requiring more time from those volunteer commissioners — so much work, in fact, that they wrote a letter to Council asking them to consider increasing the size of the Commission from five to seven members. Because the City’s charter limits boards to five members, Council has referred this charter amendment to the voters, and it includes language about the length of terms these new board members would serve. The charter amendment would only apply to the Arts Commission, and the volunteers would still be unpaid and appointed

by Council. More voices in the room I

is a good thing, and lessening the burden these unpaid volunteers take on only makes sense. Vote yes.

CITY OF LONGMONT BALLOT QUESTION 3C (REVENUE BONDS FOR FUNDING WATER SYSTEM IMPROVEMENTS) Yes/For No/Against

This measure asks voters to authorize the City of Longmont to issue up to $80 million in bonds to finance an expansion of the Nelson Flanders Water Plant that will replace the soon-to-be-decommissioned Wade Gaddis Water Plant. The money will also replace aging potable water system infrastructure in the city.

We endorse a yes vote on 3C, as this as an effective way to handle necessary upgrades, both financially and logistically. Bonds are a secure debt instrument used by municipalities for centuries to finance expensive long-term projects, like utility upgrades. Currently, Longmont has a solid A1 credit rating (middle-high, favorable to issuers) and municipal bond interest rates are low, making this a favorable time for the City to pay less than expected to borrow money.

Even better, a yes vote on the measure will not increase water rates for residents — the principal and interest repayment costs of the bonds would be paid from a portion of future revenue from a five-year schedule of water-rate increases that took effect in January 2020 (around 9% for the average user). These funds have already put the City in a favorable place financially to begin necessary water system upgrades.

CITY OF LONGMONT BALLOT QUESTION 3D (CHARTER AMENDMENT TO ALLOW FOR 30-YEAR LEASES) Yes/For No/Against

Logmont’s city charter sets cityowned property leases at 20 years.

Ballot Issue 3D wants to increase that term to 30 years, matching standard mortgage terms, and falling in line with leasing terms set by surrounding municipalities, like Boulder.

This is the second time the City has brought this resolution before voters. While BW endorsed a no vote on this last year, the pandemic has shifted our perspective. We believe allowing the City to offer 30-year leases could act as an economic driver in coming years — a particularly attractive incentive as municipalities look to bolster OCTOBER 8, 2020

economies post-pandemic. A standard 30-year lease is necessary to build large-scale projects that could deeply enrich Longmont, like a performing arts complex or convention center.

And yes, this could add some affordable housing to Longmont without an overwhelming population increase.

SUNSHINE FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT BALLOT ISSUE 6A Yes/For No/Against

This gives the Sunshine Fire Protection District the ability to raise or lower its current and all future general mill levies only if there are changes in the method of calculating assessed valuation on or after Nov. 3, 2020 — to the extent that the actual tax revenues generated match the amount of tax revenues that would have been generated had the Gallagher Amendment not forced a change in the residential assessed valuation percentage. Ballot Issue 6A allows Sunshine Fire Protection District the ability to increase mill levies should they need to generate more money through taxation. Vote yes.

BASELINE WATER DISTRICT BALLOT ISSUE 6B Yes/For No/Against

If approved, terms limits for board members of the Baseline Water District (BWD) would be eliminated.

While we assume it’s no walk in the park to find the right person to join the BWD Board, we also know that allowing the wrong person in can make life worse. We, too, would love to see a good director stay as long as they wanted, but term limits are our best tool in the fight against despotism.

ST. VRAIN AND LEFT HAND WATER CONSERVANCY DISTRICT BALLOT ISSUE 7A Yes/For No/Against

St. Vrain and Left Hand Water Conservancy wants to increase district taxes by an additional tax levy of 1.25 mills (approximately $9 in 2021 for every $100,000 in residential home valuation) for the next 10 years. The district plans to use the generated revenue ($3,337,003) to implement its water plan: protecting water quality, maintaining healthy rivers and creeks, conserving drinking water and protecting forests. An appointed board of local residents will oversee how the money is used and will be subject to annual independent audits.

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events

events

BY BOULDER WEEKLY STAFF

If your organization is planning an event of any kind, please email Caitlin at crockett@boulderweekly.com.

CHAUTAUQUA@HOME FALL VIRTUAL SERIES. Oct. 6-Dec. 14, chautauqua. com. Tickets on sale now.

The Colorado Chautauqua has announced the second round of its Chautauqua@Home virtual programming season, featuring Chautauqua’s popular Silent Film Series, in addition to a Coloradothemed dance film and Jeff & Paige’s Chautauqua Halloween for children and families.

Oct. 14: National Geographic Atlas of the National Parks (Jon Waterman) Oct. 23: Jeff & Paige’s Halloween Special Nov. 6: Tour de Force (film) in partnership with Sans Souci

LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD — A PANEL DISCUSSION ON THE IMPORTANCE OF VOTING.

5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9, streaming live from Facebook and StreamYard.

Boulder City Council member Junie Joseph is hosting a community discussion on the importance of voting in these divisive times, and addressing some of the reasons why we choose to vote. Guest panelists include: Rosevel PierreLouis, head of Office for Bangassou MINUSCA; Nicole Hensel, executive director at New Era Colorado; Howard Chou, first vice chair for the Colorado Democratic Party; and Molly Fitzpatrick, Boulder County clerk and recorder.

COUNCIL MEMBER JUNIE JOSEPH

Festival of Dance Cinema Nov. 13: The Kid and Mighty Like A Moose (silent films with accompaniment) Nov. 20: The Mark of Zorro (silent film with accompaniment) Nov. 27: Lady Windermere’s Fan (silent film with accompaniment) Nov. 30: Space Series: RST: Humanity’s Next Great Leap (Sheldon Drobot) Dec. 4: The General (silent film with accompaniment) Dec. 7: Space Series: Mysteries Cassini Did Not Solve (Larry Esposito) Dec. 14: Space Series: The Search for Life Beyond Earth (Brian Hynek)

MELANIE YAZZIE

VIRTUAL PROFESSIONAL ARTIST FORUM IN CELEBRATION OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE’S DAY.

10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 9 via Zoom, bouldercountyarts.org. Free and open to the public. RSVP required to Lauren Click, clickl@boulderlibrary.org.

Join printmaker, painter, sculptor and CU-Boulder professor Melanie Yazzie in this special Indigenous People’s Day Professional Artist Forum. Yazzie’s work draws upon her rich Diné (Navajo) cultural heritage. Her work follows the Diné dictum “walk in beauty.” In March, her sculpture “Strength from Within” was added to the City of Boulder’s public art collection and remains on view at the southwest corner of Pearl and 16th streets. Come to this artist forum to hear from Yazzie about her artistic practice, commune with fellow artists, and learn about resources and opportunities.

100 YEARS OF ‘NOTORIOUS’ WOMEN: VOTING RIGHTS AND EQUAL RIGHTS.

5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14. RSVP and watch live at colorado.edu/cwa.

Leading scholars and practitioners of women’s voting rights throughout history will discuss the evolution and current state of women’s right to vote and how the votes of women affect women’s policy priorities.

Free and open to all. Should you require communication assistance, please email cwapress@colorado.edu. Presented in partnership with the CU-Boulder LeRoy Keller Center for the Study of the First Amendment and the Boulder Jewish Community Center.

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OCTOBER 8, 2020

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

MUSIC

New local music plus live and virtual shows

AUGUSTUS — COLOR TV AND TALL TALES.

Boulder-based indie rock quartet Augustus is dropping a new record on Oct. 9. Color TV and Tall Tales is a microcosm of Colorado’s robust music scene: recorded at Daymoon Studios in Denver with appearances by Tyler Imbrogno of Eldren and Nate Cook of the Yawpers. The album — the band’s fifth — is yet another evolution for these classic rock torchbearers, showcasing the group’s ability to weave together hazy psychedelia, crunchy Americana and lo-fi indie rock. Visit Augustus.live for more.

BOULDER BACH FESTIVAL’S 40TH SEASON: ‘BEYOND THE SCREEN.’

Oct. 8-22, boulderbachfestival.org. Subscription: $175 per adult.

Boulder Bach Festival’s (BFF) 40th Season, Beyond The Screen, offers four Colorado Concert films — in autumn, winter, spring and summer. Early subscribers will receive a studio-recorded lecture with performances tracing the history of plucked instruments from northern Africa to western Europe. Early subscribers will also receive a commemorative book featuring 40 years of BBF program book-cover art, plus music director Zachary Carrettin’s recording of the Bach Cello Suites 1, 2 and 3. BBF subscribers will receive their own password and a link to view directly online.

4:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 11, Dairy Arts Center parking lot, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder, thedairy.org. Tickets are $25 per person at EventBrite.

Head to the back of the Dairy Arts Center on Oct. 11 for a live performance by the Altius Quartet. Through the evolving art of chamber music, Altius performs and elevates music by living composers. Concessions including wine and beer will be available for credit card purchase only.

ART

BOULDER BOOK STORE PRESENTS: MYSTERY AUTHORS PANEL.

5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8 via Zoom, boulderbookstore.net. Tickets are $5 for the access link to this virtual event.

Mystery authors Scott Graham (Mesa Verde Victim), Cynthia Kuhn (The Study of Secrets), Margaret Mizushima (Hanging Falls), Debra H. Goldstein (Three Treats Too Many), and Becky Clark (Foul Play on Words) will speak about their new books in this virtual event.

PAM HOUSTON AND AMY IRVINE — ‘AIR MAIL.’

5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 13, Boulder Book Store, 1107 Pearl St., Boulder.

Tickets are $15.95 on Eventbrite. Houston and Irvine will sign books in front of the store before their talk, starting at 3 p.m., weather permitting.

When the state of Colorado ordered its residents to shelter in place in response to the spread of coronavirus, writers Pam Houston and Amy Irvine — who had never met — began a correspondence based on their shared devotion to the rugged, windswept mountains that surround their homes, one on either side of the Continental Divide. As the numbers of infected and dead rose and the nation split dangerously over the crisis, Houston and Irvine found their letters to one another nearly as necessary as breath. Part tribute to wilderness, part indictment against tyranny and greed, Air Mail: Letters of Politics, Pandemics, and Place reveals the evolution of a friendship that galvanizes as it chronicles a strange new world.

to william

BACKPORCH SERIES PRESENTS ALTIUS QUARTET.

ART

words

JOHN PADGETT VIA FLICKR

by greg alston Faulkner, you fucker you came on to me with your words and your prose and the things you could see and i’m beholden, Man and what can i do wondering who i am and who the fuck were you

FIREHOUSE ART CENTER’S DIA DE LOS MUERTOS EXHIBIT OPENING CELEBRATION.

Oct. 9, Roosevelt Park, 700 Longs Peak Ave., Longmont, firehouseart.org.

Opening Celebration (Oct. 9): The Firehouse opens its Día de los Muertos celebration with an invocation at Roosevelt Park led by Grupo Azteca Tlahuitzcalli. Then at 6:30 p.m., gigantes, traditional giant puppets made by local artists, will depart from Roosevelt Park with the Aztec Dancers at the lead.

Revelers will dance with the gigantes, from the park through downtown Longmont to the steps of the Firehouse, where guests are invited to meet ofrenda (altar) artists and bid in a catrina (skeleton) painting auction. These paintings were created by local community artists and will support future Firehouse Art Center programs, exhibits and events. Guests will be allowed entry based on capacity.

The exhibit (Oct. 8-Nov. 8, Firehouse Art Center, 667 Fourth Ave., Longmont): Curator and artist Grace Gutierrez, a Longmont native, recognizes the importance of learning local history. Researching significant events addressed in the exhibition, she asked four Colorado based Latinx artists — Cal Duran, Javier Flores, Adrian Raya and Ramon Trujillo — to create three Día de los Muertos altars to celebrate the lives and legacies of local Latinx individuals we have lost.

The Catrinas (Oct. 8-Nov. 8, Firehouse Art Center, 667 Fourth Ave., Longmont): More than 20 catrinas (skeletons) were painted by local artists to support the Firehouse Art Center’s programming, events and exhibits. They will be displayed in the Longmont Public Library and at the Firehouse.

All catrinas will be available for online bidding from Oct. 9 at noon through Oct. 11 at 5 p.m. Proceeds from the catrinas auction will support and sustain the Firehouse Art Center’s outreach programs and exhibits. see EVENTS Page 28

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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OCTOBER 8, 2020

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EVENTS from Page 27

HOMEVIEWING ‘Pierrot le fou’

by Michael J. Casey THE CRITERION COLLECTION

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Dr. Lowell Steinberg 303-447-8470

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OCTOBER 8, 2020

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t’s the story of boy meets girl, but it’s all mixed up. He’s Ferdinand (JeanPaul Belmondo), a married man with kids. She is Marianne (Anna Karina), the babysitter. But they are not strangers; they’ve known each other for years: Four by his estimate, five-and-a-half by hers. He spends the night and finds a dead body in her apartment, and it’s two for the road: Bye-bye, Paris, hello, south of France. She sings, they quarrel with gas station attendants like Laurel and Hardy, they ditch one car and steal another — but no matter where they turn, they’re always trapped by something. Often each other. In the end, they die, but not in the way you think they do.

Welcome to Pierrot le fou, filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard’s 10th film in five years. It all began in 1960 with his debut, Breathless — the movie that rewrote the playbook. The following year he met Karina and cast her in his sophomore effort, Le petit soldat. They married a year later, and three more collaborations followed: A Woman is a Woman, My Life to Live and A Band of Outsiders. Along the way, they got pregnant but lost the child. The marriage fell apart. Two days after filing for divorce, they made Alphaville, a stark black and white sci-fi take on dystopia. If you thought the climactic fight in Marriage Story was soft, try Alphaville on for size.

But Godard and Karina still had something left in the tank. If love could fuel their films, surely the absence could as well. The result: Pierrot le fou, a philosophical adventure story shot in anamorphic widescreen and Eastman color. It’s glorious. If Alphaville is Godard and Karina’s funeral, Pierrot le fou is the wake.

Years later, one of Godard’s collaborators, Jean-Pierre Gorin, called the movie “a musical comedy with knives.” Gorin nails it. The film is beauty, whimsy and magic all wrapped around a sour center. It’s like listening to your parents quarrel — only lovers could use such language. And when the movie concludes with a camera pan out to sea (the lovers on the run have run out of room), you don’t want it to end. It would be lovely if it didn’t, but it must. The opening credits tipped us off: An accumulation of colorful letters. First comes A, then comes more until all the names are spelled. Then, the letters drop off until all that remains are two Os staring back at us. Then one. Then none.

Back in print, Pierrot le fou is one of those films that must come with tricky licensing history. Thankfully it’s back for home purchase and in a beautiful 2K restoration to boot. Criterion’s Blu-ray/DVD release comes with all the usual bells and whistles: interviews with Belmondo, Godard and Karina, a video essay from Gorin, a documentary from Luc Lagier and an essay from Godard scholar and New Yorker critic Richard Brody.

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

LIBRA

SEPT. 23-OCT. 22: Libran author Ursula K.

BY ROB BREZSNY ARIES

MARCH 21-APRIL 19: “A person’s best ally is some-

one who takes care of herself,” says actress Susan Clark. I heartily agree. The people with whom you can cultivate the most resilient bonds and most interesting synergy are those who have a high degree of selfsufficiency — those who take rigorous responsibility for themselves and treat themselves with tender compassion. In the coming weeks, Aries, I think it’s especially important for you to emphasize relationships with allies who fit that description. Bonus! Their exemplary self-care will influence you to vigorously attend to your own self-care.

TAURUS

APRIL 20-MAY 20: According to my reading of the

astrological potentials, the coming weeks will be an excellent time for you to take a vacation in reverse.

What’s that? It’s when you devote yourself to renewing and reinvigorating your relationship with the work you love. You intensify your excitement for the vocation or job or long-term quest that teaches you important life lessons. You apply yourself with sublime enthusiasm to honing the discipline you need to fulfill the assignments you came to Earth to accomplish.

GEMINI

MAY 21-JUNE 20: “If you’re not having fun you’re

doing something wrong,” said comedian Groucho Marx. He was exaggerating so as to drive home his humorous point, but his idea contains some truth — and will be especially applicable to you in the immediate future. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you have a temporary exemption from feeling frantically dour and unpleasantly dutiful. As crazy as the world is right now, you have a cosmic mandate to enjoy more playtime and amusement than usual. The rest of us are depending on you to provide us with doses of casual cheer.

CANCER

JUNE 21-JULY 22: “Leave the door open for the unknown,

the door into the dark,” writes Cancerian author Rebecca Solnit, adding, “That’s where the most important things come from.” I think this is good advice for you in the coming weeks. What exactly does it mean?

How and why should you do what she advises? My first suggestion is to reframe your conception of the unknown and the dark. Imagine them as the source of everything new; as the place from which the future comes; as the origin of creative changes. Then instruct your imagination to be adventurous as it explores brewing possibilities in the dark and the unknown.

LEO

JULY 23-AUG. 22: “If something comes to life in others

because of you, then you have made an approach to immortality,” wrote author Norman Cousins. Whether or not you believe the “immortality” part of his formulation, I’m sure you understand how fabulous it is when you help activate beauty and vitality in someone. You may even feel that inspiring people to unleash their dormant potential is one of the most noble pleasures possible. I bring these thoughts to your attention, Leo, because I suspect that you now have exceptional power to perform services like these for your allies, friends and loved ones. I dare you to make it one of your top priorities.

VIRGO

AUG. 23-SEPT. 22: “The messiah will come when we don’t

need him any more,” said author Franz Kafka. In that spirit, and in alignment with current astrological omens, I will tell you that the precise help you wish you could attract into your life will show up as soon as you make initial efforts to provide that help to yourself. Here are some additional nuances: The gift or blessing you think you need most will be offered to you by fate once you begin giving that gift or blessing to yourself. A rescuer will arrive not too long after you take steps to rescue yourself. You’ll finally figure out how to make practical use of a key lesson as you’re teaching that lesson to someone you care for.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Le Guin said that we don’t just naturally know how to create our destinies. It takes research and hard work. “All of us have to learn how to invent our lives, make them up, imagine them,” she wrote. “We need to be taught these skills; we need guides to show us how. If we don’t, our lives get made up for us by other people.” I bring this to your attention, Libra, because the coming weeks will be an excellent time to upgrade and refine your mastery of these essential powers.

What can you do to enhance your capacity to invent your life? Which teachers and information sources might be helpful?

SCORPIO

OCT. 23-NOV. 21: In 1984, hip hop group Run-DMC

was the first to achieve a gold record in their genre, meaning they sold more than 500,000 albums. Their next album sold over a million. They were pioneers.

In 1986, legendary producer Rick Rubin encouraged them to do a remake of “Walk This Way,” a song by the hard rock band Aerosmith. The members of Run-DMC didn’t want to do it; they felt the tune was in a genre too unlike their own. But Rubin eventually convinced them, and the cross-pollination was phenomenally successful. The Run-DMC-meets-Aerosmith collaboration launched a new genre that sold very well. The song was later voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In this spirit, and in accordance with current cosmic rhythms, I urge you to try a bold hybrid or two yourself, Scorpio: blends of elements or influences that may seem a bit improbable. They could ultimately yield big dividends.

Schedule an appointment with yourself today

SAGITTARIUS

NOV. 22-DEC. 21: You Sagittarians periodically go

through phases when you specialize in stirring up fresh intuitions. I mean, you’re always one of the zodiac’s Intuition Champions, but during these special times, your flow becomes an overflow. You have a knack for seeking and finding visions of the interesting future; you get excited by possibilities that are on the frontiers of your confidence. From what I can tell, your life in recent weeks has been bringing you these delights — and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

Take maximum advantage. Aggressively gather in the gifts being offered by your inner teacher.

We’re here so you can Live and Die Your Values.

CAPRICORN

DEC. 22-JAN. 19: Calling on my expert knowledge of

healing language and imaginative psychology, I have formulated a mantra for you to use in the next six weeks. I suggest you say it five times after you wake up, and again at midday, and before dinner, and before sleep. It should help keep you intimately aligned with the dynamic groove that the cosmos will be conspiring to provide for you. For best results, picture yourself as glowing inside with the qualities named in the mantra. Here it is: StrongBrightFree, ClearBoldBrisk DeepNimbleKind, AdroitSteadyWarm.

AQUARIUS

JAN. 20-FEB. 18: The Grammy Museum in Los Angeles

features displays that extol the musicians who’ve won Grammy Awards over the years. A few years ago, a distinctly unfamous musician named Paz Dylan made professional-looking fake posters touting his own magnificent accomplishments, and managed to sneakily hang them on the museum walls. They remained there for a month before anyone noticed. I’m going to encourage you to engage in similar gamesmanship in the coming weeks, Aquarius. It’ll be a favorable time to use ingenuity and unconventional approaches to boost your confidence and enhance your reputation.

Seth

Karen

Dan

PISCES

FEB. 19-MARCH 20: “Relationships never stop being a work

in progress,” writes author Nora Roberts. That’s bad news and good news. It’s bad news because even for the most loving bond, you must tirelessly persist in the challenging task of reinventing the ways the two of you fit together. It’s good news because few activities can make you more emotionally intelligent and soulfully wise than continually reinventing the ways the two of you fit together. I bring these thoughts to your attention because the coming weeks will be a fertile time for such daunting and rewarding work.

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THE CRITERION COLLECTION

The high cost of being on top It’s a cursed life for ‘The Gunfighter’

by Michael J. Casey

T 4 weeks of Holiday Gift Market!

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OCTOBER 8, 2020

all and lean, Jimmy Ringo’s come to town. His pants ON THE BILL: On are ill-fitting and his jacket is a little shabby. His Oct. 20, The mustache is dumpy and that bowl cut sure isn’t makCriterion Collection releases ing the women swoon. But the men are in awe. a 4K restoration of “Hiya, Jimmy,” a man standing outside the ‘The Gunfighter’ on saloon says.

Blu-ray and DVD. “Hiya, old-timer,” Jimmy answers. Jimmy doesn’t know Special features include archival interwho the stranger is, but the stranger sure knows who Jimmy views with Henry Ringo is. Everyone in the saloon does — including the punk King and Barbara kid with two six-shooters. Jimmy’s a legend: The fastest gun McLean, a video essay from J.E. in the West. And there’s no better way to make your bones Smyth, and a written than by taking down the best. But, as the kid soon learns, essay from K. Austin Jimmy’s legend ain’t a misnomer. Another town and another Collins. one gunned down by Jimmy Ringo.

Americans have a love affair with guns. Though the right to bear arms comes second in the Constitution, it’s first in American hearts.

Americans also love playing king of the hill. To be the best, you got to beat the best, and in The Gunfighter, Jimmy Ringo (Gregory Peck) is the best.

Too bad the cost is so high.

When 20th Century Fox released The Gunfighter in 1950, Peck was a heartthrob with movies like The Yearling and Twelve O’Clock High in his rearview mirror. If director Henry King wanted to make Jimmy Ringo a hero, a quick shave and a costume change would have whipped a frumpy and weathered Peck into a handsome gunslinger. That might have helped the initial box office some, but it would have harmed the movie. The Gunfighter’s reputation has built over the years, and many consider it to be among the best westerns of the 1950s — a decade replete with magnificent westerns. But, the public’s appetite for the genre has diminished in past decades. True, it’s hard to look past the jingoism and the extermination associated with Manifest Destiny, but the America you see in westerns isn’t that different from the America you see today. (There are an awful lot of parallels between frontier mob justice and today’s cancel culture.) And as many prepare to take up arms in preparation for the November election, regardless of the outcome, there is a sense that the West never died; it’s just been dormant.

Feeling scared? Thinking about buying a gun? Watch The Gunfighter first. There’s no peace in Jimmy’s eyes, nothing relaxed in his posture. Security is a fantasy. Jimmy can’t even enjoy a quiet drink or a good steak without looking over his shoulder.

Everywhere he turns, another is waiting to take his place. Sleep is hard to come by.

Sanctuary is even harder.

Directed by King, a no-nonsense filmmaker who looked for truth in every movie, The Gunfighter is top-shelf material thanks to Barbara McLean, Fox’s top cutter, whose ability to shape a film extended well beyond the editor’s room. Her modernist style strips The Gunfighter clean of myth-making, leaving only a smoking gun, sunken eyes and one more funeral for the masses.

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

BY DAN SAVAGE

Dear Dan: My name is a variation on “John Smith.” I met a woman and she liked me but then she did a cheapo background check on me and found a “John Smith” who had committed felonies — including assaulting a high school principal — and ended things with me. I am not that “John Smith” and I am innocent of these crimes!

She had every reason to trust me: We met at my house and she viewed the premises without incident. What do I do?

—Not That Guy

Dear Dan: I was dumped in August by a guy I was seeing for 10 months. He told me that he wants to work on himself and “needs to be selfish” right now. Since then, we have spoken every day, shared numerous dinners and gone on hikes.

Our friendship is killing me. With him I hold it together. Away from him I cry all the time. I’ve started seeing a therapist and I’m on medication. I’m trying to be Dear NTG: You had this woman over mature about the breakup and match his to yours, NTG, and she viewed the premlevel of “coolness” but it’s destroying me.

My friends tell me that I should stay away ises without incident. OK... so you didn’t rape or kill her when she dropped in and from him, allow some time to pass and reassess. But the thought of losing him is that speaks well to the absolute bare fucking minimum of your almost as bad as the ROMAN ROBINSON character. But it doesn’t thought of keeping him in obligate her to keep seeing my life. you. If you can prove you’re —Simply Heartbroken not John Smith, High And Talking To Ex Really School Principal Assaulter, Extending Depression and she doesn’t care, NTG, P.S. I should also menthen there’s some other tion that I ended a 10-year reason she doesn’t want to relationship for the opporsee you again. (Was there tunity to date him. a MAGA hat on the premises?) But whatever her real Dear SHATTERED: reason is/real reasons are, “Hey, Dan, what I’m doing you’ve been given a “no.” is making me miserable — And like everyone else, NTG, you have to should I stop?” take “no” for an answer even when it Yes, SHATTERED, you should stop. feels unfair or arbitrary.

Your friends are giving you excellent advice: stay away from this guy for at Dear Dan: I’ve been with my boyleast a year — don’t talk on the phone friend for almost five years and every(with him), don’t share meals (with him), thing is amazing except that he sees his don’t go on hikes (with him) — and then ex-girlfriend when I’m not around. He see how you feel after you’ve talked, says she wants to meet me but he never shared meals and gone on hikes with wants to meet up with her when I’m with other people. It’s always nice when exes him. Their “dates” are becoming more freare friends, MTP, but it’s not an easy quent. She’s a single mom and he has pivot and it can’t be executed instantly. expressed to me that he wants to be in And transition to friendship is always her son’s life. My feelings of discomfort much harder for the person who was dumped — because of course it is — and are escalating and I’m having trouble believing him when he says he wants me it’s even harder when a selfish dumper to meet her. When I bring this up, he gets accepts or demands the kind of attention angry and says I’m being too emotional. and emotional support from the dumpee Am I being a crazy jealous girlfriend? I that the dumper is no longer entitled to. need some help. I want to be a better P.S. If you ended a 10-year relationperson. Should I reach out to his ex-girlship to date someone — if you ended it friend directly since my boyfriend refuses for a romantic prospect, not a romantic to make it happen? Or do I bail on the certainty (and there’s no such thing as a relationship? I feel that uncomfortable. romantic certainty) — then that 10-year —Ex-Girlfriend Looms Over relationship needed to end. If your exEverything boyfriend implored you to end that 10-year relationship and 10 months later Dear EGLOM: Bail. dumped you to “work on himself” and then did everything in his power to keep Send questions to mail@savagelove. you all to himself even after dumping you, then that “friendship” needs to end too. At net, follow Dan on Twitter @fakedansavage and visit ITMFA.org. least for the time being.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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OCTOBER 8, 2020

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Old whiskey on a cool night

Drink this: Green Mountain Beer Company’s Whiskey Barrel-Aged Rauch Bock THE 2020 VERSION of the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) is underway, which means if you haven’t picked up your GABF passport yet, you still can (greatamericanbeerfestival.com/passport/) and partake in a week’s worth of free and discounted beer from participating breweries. There are plenty to choose from in Boulder County, but if you’ve frequented GABF in the past, then you know the festival is not about the familiar; it’s about the discoveries. So, in that spirit, head down to Lakewood’s Green Mountain Beer Company and give the Whiskey BarrelAged Rauch Bock a quaff. It’s a strong lager — made stronger from time in the barrel — brewed with smoked Munich malts. The char is present, but not overpowering, and the smoke exhibits notes of sweet tobacco and barbecue. The flavor is even better: Smooth caramel, candied almonds and a little bite of oaky vanillin. That might give the impression of a dessert beer, but Green Mountain’s Rauch Bock is light in the mouth and finishes as clean as a good lager should. It’s a beaut, but it’s available only to passport holders. And while you’re at it, pick up the official GABF 2020 Brewnited glass (this will certainly be a GABF to remember).

BOULDER WEEKLY

OH CAN CURED make a sandwich. It helps when you have access to top meat, cheese, olive oil and bread, as the artisanal food shop does.

Walk up to its storefront, outdoor, makeshift kiosk (where ordering is pandemic-proof), and select from a roster of rotating sandwiches. We opted for the Lombardy on a recent visit — prosciutto, bufala mozzarella, olive oil, arugula and a romescolike sauce, all on a crusty, glorious baguette. Each ingredient shines — the salty, umami prosciutto, the creamy mozzarella, the bright, herbal olive oil and tangy, peppery greens.

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OCTOBER 8, 2020

IF YOU’RE A whiskey fan, or just interested in culinary history, you might think about reserving a spot at West End Tavern’s “very old whiskey” dinner on Oct. 21.

There, you’ll get to dive into a tasting flight of 21-, 22-, 23-, 24- and 25-year-old Rhetoric whiskey. West End Chef Jeff Whitney will also be serving a five-course tasting menu designed to complement the whiskeys — dishes include a chicory salad with smoked quail, pumpkin and blue crab risotto, and a sticky date cake. All that for $100 a person — if you’ve been around old whiskey, you know that’s worth it for the whiskey alone. Go to thewestendtavern.com and reserve your spot on the pop-up menu.

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OCTOBER 8, 2020

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Know your brew: Crystal Springs Brewing Company’s Naughty Marilyn

MICHAEL J. CASEY

A Belgian-style ale your mother’s gonna love

by Michael J. Casey

A

decade ago, Tom and Kristy Horst started Crystal Springs Brewing Company in their Sunshine Canyon garage on a 20-gallon system. Today they operate two taprooms in Louisville, distribute around the Centennial State and, as of 2019, brew 1,400 barrels of beer a year.

Crystal Springs’ story starts with Tom’s retirement — he taught instrumental music for 28 years at Boulder High School — and with the Horsts suddenly finding themselves empty nesters. What’s a retiree to do? Why not start a brewery?

Tom started homebrewing in the early ’90s — his first was a batch of Rocky Raccoon’s Crystal Honey Lager from Charlie Papazian’s book, The Complete Joy of Homebrewing. Twenty years later, he didn’t have to go much further to start his brewery: Boulder County has a home occupancy law, which meant they could commercially brew out of their garage.

So, Tom fired up the burner and started whipping up batches 20-gallons at a time. They counted North Boulder Liquor, Boulder Wine

Merchant and Liquor Mart as some of their first customers. Then came Pizzeria Locale, for which they developed Summertime Kölsch. The beer took off like a rocket, and the Horsts expanded operations to a two-barrel system.

In 2013, the Horsts acquired their Louisville production brewery/taproom on South Taylor Street.

The following spring, they went from a two-barrel to a 15-barrel system.

The first beer brewed on the new system: Marilyn, a Belgian-style Golden Ale. Tom named the beer after his mom, and the label featured a silhouette graphic based on a photo Tom’s sister found of their mother in a two-piece bathing suit taken in 1942.

Nothing’s easy when you’re putting together a new brewery. While Tom was brewing up that initial batch of Marilyn, the electricians working on the building killed the power and cut the juice to the glycol chiller on the fermenters. When Tom returned the following morning, Marilyn’s temperature was about 80-90 degrees Fahrenheit, when it should have been at 72. Tom sus-

pected the brew was ruined, but rather than dump it; he decided to let the beer finish fermenting. What came out was nothing short of glorious: A cloudy tangerine color with loads of citrus, fruit and spice. And it was big, too: 8.2% ABV, but not boozy. Balanced and sneaky: She’ll come on strong if you’re not paying attention.

It was good, but it wasn’t Marilyn.

Tom needed another name, and there’s a cheeky tradition when it comes to Belgian golden strong ales (see sidebar), so Tom dubbed the new brew Naughty Marilyn. A new label followed suit, and Marilyn donned kneehigh boots. Good, but they needed to drive the naughtiness home. That’s when Kristy suggested the whip.

“Mom wasn’t really excited about that,” Tom said in 2019. “She’s probably the nicest lady you’ve ever met in your life.”

Marilyn Horst passed away on Jan. 18, 2019. She was 94. But her naughty side lives on at Crystal Springs, the company’s second-best seller, right behind Blood Orange Kölsch.

Crystal Springs is one of the 150plus breweries participating in the Great American Beer Festival passport program. Head to either of its Louisville taprooms and get BOGO on all GABF special release beers.

As for Naughty Marilyn, you’ll find it wherever good beer is sold.

The devil’s in the details

P

ale lagers took a while to pierce Belgium’s borders. And when they did in the 1960s, Belgian brewers responded with pale ales. The Flemish aren’t much for being on-trend.

But innovation moves all, and in the 1970s, the Breendonk-based Brouwerij Moortgat took its flagship ale, Victory Ale (brewed to celebrate the end of World War I), from amber to blond, renamed it Duvel (DEW-vul, Flemish for “devil”) and never looked back.

Duvel pours a sparkling golden straw color and kicks up a massive pile of snow-white foam. It fizzes like Champagne the whole way down. Brewed with pilsner malt, Saaz and Styrian Golding hops, and candi sugar, Duvel is light and dry with fruity esters and peppery yeast. It clocks in at 8.5% ABV, but drinks like a session ale. Hence the name: The devil will get you if you’re not careful.

Thanks to Duvel’s popularity — you can easily find it at liquor stores, even on tap at the right places — other brewers have followed suit by giving their Belgian strong ales devilish names: Naughty Marilyn, Delirium Tremens and Lucifer, to name a few. And like the country they hail from, there’s nothing trendy about them — just iconic perfection.

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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OCTOBER 8, 2020

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OCTOBER 8, 2020

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BOULDER WEEKLY

The next few weeks will be critical for the restaurant industry, still ravaged by COVID-19

TAKE OUT CARRY OUT PICK UP TO GO

by Matt Cortina

A

federal jobs report released last month revealed that restaurants, for the seventh month in a row, lead all other sectors in job loss. It’s about $2.3 million restaurant jobs, now, that have been lost in the pan-

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demic.

Meanwhile, the weather’s getting cooler and the thin lifeline that expanded outdoor dining provided restaurants is ending soon — Oct. 31 in Louisville, unless City officials make changes — or has already ended, as in most of Longmont.

Boulder is considering an extension of outdoor dining through the winter, though winter (a notoriously slow time for the industry) and outdoor dining don’t always mix.

So, relief is needed. And the Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC), co-spearheaded by Frasca’s Bobby Stuckey (along with some major players in the international food scene), made major headway recently when they got the Restaurant Revitalization Fund included in the HEROES Act, the U.S. House Democrats’ latest stimulus package.

The bill would provide $120 billion for independent restaurants and bars struggling in the pandemic. That may sound like a lot, but the nationwide restaurant industry generates about six times that annually, and it provides about 11 million jobs. It’s critical, to say the least.

But, of course, there’s a problem in getting this funding to restaurants and their employees: Trump. On Oct. 6 he called for lawmakers to end talks over a stimulus package so they could focus on pushing through a Supreme Court justice... only to reverse course on Oct. 7 and say Congress should pass stand alone bills. And there is one major industry Trump recommended get special funding: no, not restaurants... airlines, again.

It’s unclear if the Restaurant Revitalization Fund will make it in whatever package gets through (if any do, which is a big if), but the game Trump and lawmakers are playing is to the detriment of the everyday people who make up the restaurant industry.

“If Congress and the president walk away from negotiations, even more of our neighborhood restaurants will go out of business,” the IRC wrote on Oct. 6. “We cannot afford five or six more weeks of decreased revenue, more debt and uncertainty about colder weather. ... Helping restaurants is good policy and good politics and our elected officials should get this done.”

It’s common sense to support such a broad industry, which has historically been fractured into thousands of independent restaurants but has quickly coalesced into the IRC. Let’s hope the elevated voice they gained throughout the summer results in relief.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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OCTOBER 8, 2020

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Green incentives for the green industry Boulder County’s energy efficiency assessment lays out how cannabis cultivators can save money and energy

by Will Brendza

E

very morning as Boulder County wakes up, so do many of the county’s cannabis grows.

Between the hours of 8 and 9 a.m., grow room lights snap to life, HVAC systems growl and stir as grow operators trickle in and start their morning walkthroughs.

It’s a routine-enough procedure, but one that puts stress on Boulder County’s energy provider, driving higher emissions while at the same time costing Boulder County’s cannabis growers more than they need to pay.

That’s just one of several big takeaways from a recent assessment of energy use at Boulder County’s cannabis cultivation facilities.

The report, Cannabis Cultivator Energy Efficiency Assessments, was sponsored by Boulder County’s Energy Impact Offset Fund (EIOF), with data compiled and analyzed by Energy Resource Solutions Inc. (ERS), a Massachusetts-based engineering firm that works with utilities, municipalities and large companies to solve energy and resource problems. The report assesses electrical interval data from 14 different cultivation facilities throughout unincorporated Boulder County between July 2019

and February 2020.

Turns out, 66% of unincorporated Boulder County’s grow facilities operate their flower rooms all at once, every morning, according to the assessment.

That slams power provider Xcel with heavy energy demands, making the regional electric grid far more carbon intensive (resulting in higher emissions)

and increasing costs that are passed directly back onto cannabis cultivators.

“The utility rate structures are really designed to encourage businesses to reduce their peak demand,” says Zac Swank, business sustainability coordinator with Partners for a Clean Environment (PACE). “75% of a monthly bill is determined by how much power [a grow] uses in any one- to 15-minute period.”

Staggering the operation of flower

room lighting systems would produce energy cost savings of around 9% for growers, according to the ERS assessment. It’s a simple way for grows to reduce utility bills without reducing the amount of power a facility uses.

Swank admits that adjustment would take some effort on the part of the cultivator to reschedule and reorganize their grow rhythm. But the rewards are increased energy efficiency, greater environmental sustainability and fiscal savings on an extended basis.

“The devil’s in the details,” Swank says.

“Certainly it doesn’t cost capital outlay to be able to make that change and benefit from using opposing flower schedules.”

The assessment is full of similar suggestions for both growers and the County to increase energy efficiency at grow facilities.

The best way to achieve that, ERS reasons, is with financial incentives.

That’s why the assessment urges Boulder County, Xcel, PACE and EIOF to offer even more robust energy offset credits than they already do for cultivators who are making efforts to ramp up energy efficiency.

One such recommendation is for incentivizing growers who switch from UV lighting to LEDs. “Retrofitting existing horticultural fix-

tures with high-performance LED fixtures represents the largest opportunity for energy and demand savings, representing approximately 70% of the identified cost-effective savings opportunities,” the assessment reads.

Of course, replacing a grow’s lighting with brand new LEDs is an expensive upgrade; top-tier LED systems can cost up to four times as much as comparable conventional lighting systems, a fact ERS acknowledges in the assesssment by recommending that PACE and EIOF encourage this upgrade with “special” LED incentives to lower payback periods and drive early adoption of new technology.

“If PACE and EIOF were able to offer a bonus on LED incentives, targeting a three-year simple payback, Boulder County could be positioned for wide-scale adoption of LED technology,” the assessment states.

Other upgrades and procedural modifications range from HVAC upgrades to better managing “photoperiods” (daylength), and even suggesting County-organized cultivator tours of different grows to facilitate cooperation. (The full report can be found on the County’s website.)

The goal of all this, according to Dave Hatchimonji, energy efficiency program manager at Boulder County, is to give Boulder’s cannabis cultivators a leg up on the competition, while at the same time addressing Boulder County’s need to lower carbon emissions from this highenergy industry.

“It’s really an advantageous environment for grows in Boulder County to make efficiency upgrades,” Swank says.

“We’ve worked hard to provide that opportunity to our growers within the county.”

Chart provided by ERS.

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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