This guide was compiled as a resource for others. Feel free to jump in with your own thoughts and ideas on each issue in the comments section. Obviously, this is all subjective stuff, and follow your own opinions on everything.

This guide is also restricted to the Fort Collins ballot, but please comment on issues germaine to your area.

If you want to check endorsements, this is your site.

Federal Offices

Only one decision here, and that’s for a state representative. If you’re in district 4, that means it’s your opportunity to kick out Marilyn Musgrave. Musgrave has been in lock-step with our worst president in recent memory, and has made a career out of hating homosexuals and supporting the war despite all common sense. Let’s put the more progressive and level headed Angie Paccione into office, here. Plus, it’s an opportunity for the Dems to take a seat in the House and possibly take over the house. We could use some non-GOP branches of government, don’t you think?

State Offices

Last election, the state government in Colorado went left, thanks to the efforts of some very solid Democratic candidates. Their term has been successful, so far, and we’ve seen some real economic growth under the new government. Our goal here is to keep voting in people who know what they’re doing and can continue to push for reasonable growth and economic expansion, without undermining necessary services and environmental concerns.

Governor/Lt. Governor: Bill Ritter & Barbara O’Brien

Ritter is hip to the need to expand transportation options in Colorado. Where Beauprez is only interested in increasing funding for highways, Ritter wants to push more over rail and look at other alternatives. That alone gives me his vote. He’s also very interested in leverage oil and gas income to build up infrastructure without raising taxes, increasing education funding, and helping small businesses sustain our economic development (in stark contrast to Gov. Owens’ plans to-date of giving massive hand-outs to big corporations who then pretty much decimate the workforce as soon as their stock dips). I think he’s got the right ideas for Colorado.

Secretary of State: Ken Gordon

Ken’s opposed to un-auditable electronic voting machines, and has worked already to pass laws to ensure that they’re reliable. Sweet. That gets my vote, because most politicos are sleeping through that issue, and it’s one of the main responsibilities of our secretary of state. He’s also been in the CO legislature for 14 years and has never taken PAC money. That’s just the kind of independence I’d like to promote.

State Treasurer: Cary Kennedy

Kennedy has experience and education in managing money and large public organizations. That’s what the treasurer does, so…

Attorney General: John Suthers

First off, the Libertarian is out. I do NOT want a Lib. handling criminal law. Sorry. As for the remainder, we have Suthers, who was appointed by Owens after Salazar got elected to the Senate, and O’Brien, who’s an accomplished civil attorney, but has little experience in criminal law or public organizations. Suthers has done an adequate job so far, and with the right governor running the show, would probably be pretty good, and he certainly has the right background for the job.

Board of Education, District 4: Tom Griggs

Schaffer, Grigg’s opponent, has a rep for being highly political and combative. He has worked within the education board to reshape policies handed down for their enforcement. Sorry, man, that’s not your job. Griggs isn’t a shining star, himself, but he’s got experience as a professor at CSU, and has strong ties with teachers. If he can extend his purview to pay as much attention to the students as he does to the educators, I think he could be quite successful.

Regent of University of Colorado at Large: ???

I have no fucking clue. What does this person even do? Endorsements are pretty split on this post, even across those papers that I trust, so I don’t have any idea. Might just vote independent as a knee-jerk reaction.

State Representative (district 52): John Kefalas

I have received one piece of junk mail every day from some crazy ass PAC called “All Children Matter.” These things have all been about how John Kefalas wants to change the constutition to give voting rights to felons (umm, the constitution doesn’t restrict them from voting, actually) and about how Kefalas chose to not pay taxes. For the junk mail, alone, I would vote for Kefalas, but there’s more. See, John’s a bit of a hippie and an idealist. He didn’t pay taxes, because he didn’t want to support wars that America was engaged in at the time. So, instead, he sent a letter to the IRS informing them that his tax revenue would be donated to peaceful non-profits instead. (Eventually the IRS hit him up for back taxes, of course, plus penalties.) In my mind, this makes him a man of ideals, and I think that’s just fine in the state house. It’s not like he’s in a position to set federal tax policy, anyhow!

That said, McCluskey has done a good job in his two years in the house, and has proven to be an effective and bi-partisan lawmaker. It’s actually pretty hard to go wrong here.

But, oh, the junk mail. I want to punish him for that!

County Offices

County Comissioner (district 1): Gerry Horak

Rennels, the incumbent, has pulled off some nice economic development projects during her term. However, her challenger, Horak, rightly points out that she’s only concentrated on our business development, to the exclusion of building up new water projects and environmental controls. Horak’s got good ideas about how to restrict the budget for county projects, and also how the county can assist with thorny issues like Ft. Collins’ SW annexation project. Rennels has proven herself capable, but hardly a leader. I think Horak deserves a chance to do better.

Clerk and Recorder: Scott Doyle

He’s done a good job so far. Let’s retain him.

County Assessor: Barbara Liebler

Steve Miller, it seems, is corrupt as the day is long. During his previous stints as assessor, he used his power to gain kickbacks after lowering taxes on properties, and also engaged in “sex acts” in the workplace. Niiiice. His only credible opponent, Barbara Liebler, has the chops to do a good job and plenty of experience in the business world. Go Barb!

Other County Offices

They’re running unopposed. Let it ride, or write in someone fun.

Judiciary

Everyone: Retain

I’m no expert in this stuff, and I always defer to the opinion of the state bar association. For the Larimer County judges, it’s retain down the line.

State of Colorado Initiatives

This is an interesting one. Due to various reasons, which could either be that voters are fed up with a slow lawmaking process or that they’re trying to work around the normal lawmaking process, there’s a shitload of weird amendments to the state constitution on the ballot.

In general, I am opposed to these amendments, because they are matters of law and statutes, and are generally inappropriate to put into the constitution. As a result, I am opposed to most all of these amendments on the simple ground that it’s the wrong way to get the laws to change.

There’s also some other good stuff in there, which is worth reading thoroughly and looking over well before you make a decision.

Amendment 38: No

This is the amendment even its mother couldn’t love. Everybody is against it. It expands petition rights, changes some statutes, and generally clutters up the law. Bleah.

Amendment 39: No

This is an amendment to the constitution declaring that 65% of a school’s budget has to “reach the classroom.” Whether or not that makes fiscal sense (it doesn’t — the 65% number is totally made up, and is hardly a useful metric), the constitution is an asinine place for budget allocations.

Amendment 40: No

This is a bullshit response to supposed “activist judges.” I, personally, don’t believe in activist judges; there’s just good judges and bad judges. Vote the bad ones out, keep the good ones, and keep the judiciary independent.

The judiciary is supposed to be fairly apolitical. If there are term limits, then the governing party de jour will be appointing a whole shitload of judges, and thereby make the whole process much more political. If the judiciary becomes more politicized (as it certainly has at the federal level), we’re going to see even more “activist” judges, as defined as judges who do whatever the person who appointed them says. Not good, not good at all. This amendment must die!

Amendment 41: No

This is a tricky one. The amendment restricts government representatives from accepting gifts, much as they’re restricted at the federal level. I think that’s a good idea, but there’s already a number of state and local statutes that control this behavior. I’m unconvinced that a constitutional amendment is appropriate or necessary in this case.

Amendment 42: No

Raise the minimum wage? Sure! In the constitution? Don’t be an ass. Elect state representatives who will push a minimum wage hike through, if that’s important to you. The constitution isn’t the right method to make the change.

Amendment 43: Hell no!

This is the gays can’t marry amendment. Nope, nope, nope.

Amendment 44: No (much as I’d like to vote yes)

This would de-criminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana. I support the thought, but it doesn’t belong in the constitution.

Referendum E: Yes

This is a property tax exemption for certain disabled seniors and veterans. Makes sense to me.

Referendum F: No

This proposal has huge holes in it, and will really muddy up recall procedures. Try again next time.

Referendum G: Yes

Cleans up outdated text in the constitution. Let’s tidy it up.

Referendum H: No

This is an interesting take on the immigration thing: Deny tax benefits to companies who hire illegals. On the other hand, it would be impossible to enforce. I really think immigration is a federal issue, and should be solved at that level, anyhow.

Referendum I: Yes

Domestic partnerships for gays? I’m for it. Anything that creates a stable family environment is good for society. As much as “separate but equal” keeps running through my head when I hear about domestic partnerships, I’d rather take that small step forward now and keep working for proper equality.

Referendum J: No

Will they never give up? This is the son of the amendment to send 65% of school funding to the classroom. I’m all for accountability for how our educations are funded, but somebody decided 65% sounded good, and they did zero research into how that would affect the schools. Bad plan.

Referendum K: No

Again, states taking on federal issues. This is suggesting that Colorado sue the federal government over their failure to enforce existing immigration laws. Don’t we have better things to do than penalize brown people right now? Not a state problem, anyhow, and a dumb idea.

Larimer County

Referred Issue 1A: No

While I’m all for funding alternative sentencing and work programs, I’d rather not build more jails. They’re trying to make everyone happy by locking up more folks and fewer folks at the same time. I think we need to stop filling our jails and coming up with better methods of treatment, and I’m not interested in funding both.

City of Ft. Collins

Referred Issue 2E (truck route): Yes

Voting “yes” repeals an earlier vote that insisted we study a truck bypass route to get long-haul trucks out of Fort Collins. However, we’re now out of funds to BUILD the bypass route, and the study is hopelessly mired in nonsense. Let’s stop throwing money at something we can’t build, anyhow, and get on with our life.

Referred Issue 5C (library district): Yes

The libraries are serving a larger population but have seen no increase in funding. This bill will not only grant them the funding they need, but also give the library more discretion in how the money is spent. Ft. Collins has great libraries, and I’d like to see them continue to expand to serve the community. As the internet becomes more vital to everyone, the libraries will need the flexibility to provide online services to populations who don’t have their own access, as well as continue to provide the services they’re already known for.