United States Senator
* Mark Udall
Cory Gardner
Gaylon Kent
Raúl Acosta
Bill Hammons
Steve Shogan
Mark Udall has done a lot of things right in the six years since he was elected to the U.S. Senate. He crafted the “Not My Boss’s Business Act” in response to the Supreme Court decision on Hobby Lobby’s case against paying for certain forms of birth control to say that women should continue to have access to affordable contraception. He’s working on equal treatment for LGBT service members and immigrants, and has pushed for the federal government to provide benefits to legally married same-sex couples. He’s worked to address wildfires and bark beetle infestation. On the mixed-reviewed health care reforms, he continues to say that increasing the number of Coloradans with health insurance has been a positive step, and efforts should continue to keep insurances costs down while maintaining consumer choice and reasonable changes for businesses. He’s served on a presidential commission to help reduce the national debt. He’s pushed back against the National Security Association’s monitoring programs of U.S. citizens, and introduced bills to reduce the collection of phone records, lay out safeguards for warrantless wiretapping and create an advocate for privacy rights in cases that come before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
Though we consider his policies on promoting renewable energy disappointing at best and his pressure to increase the speed at which natural gas reserves are accessed and exported alarming, in the interest of keeping that progressive voice in our nation’s capital, Boulder Weekly endorses a vote for Mark Udall for Senate.
Representative to the 114th United States Congress – District 2
* Jared Polis
George Leing
We’ve repeatedly reported the disappointment with which many Front Range residents responded to the move to drop the anti-fracking ballot initiatives from the ballot this November, but the fact remains that Rep. Jared Polis has made an effort to support communities that have an interest in protecting themselves from oil and gas development and has been in the past, whatever his investments and however the compromises may have moved him since, a proponent for some forms of local control of fracking. At the very least he has argued for increased setbacks from homes. Because he still supports oil and gas extraction, and we would prefer to endorse candidates who demonstrated a record for voting and acting on behalf of a planet that has few short years left to wait before we have reached a point from which there will be no return, we’ve added an asterisk to our endorsement.
We’ll note here that Polis has been an advocate for small businesses, equal rights for LGBT community members and immigration reform, funding for education and protecting wild lands.
Polis’s opponent, George Leing, argues for healthcare reforms that could undermine the advances made by the Affordable Care Act. He opposes a national gun registry and other laws that would translate to increased gun control. Though he wants to see renewable energy incorporated in the energy portfolio in a way in which it will stand on its own, he also promotes the development of natural resources, including natural gas, and signed on to support the defeat of the fracking ban in Loveland.
Representative to the 114th United States Congress – District 4
Vic Meyers
Ken Buck
Jess Loban
Grant Doherty
Though registered as the Democratic candidate, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the official campaign arm of the Democratic Party of the U.S. House, hasn’t returned Vic Meyers’ phone calls, Meyers says. So he argues that a vote for him is a vote against the established system.
“It won’t just be Vic Meyers coming to Washington, it’s the hundreds of thousands of people in the 4th Congressional District saying they’re not putting up with this anymore,” he says.
Meyers, a military veteran, is campaigning on a platform that prioritizes economic recovery, particularly for Colorado’s Main Streets and investment in infrastructure. On social issues, he’s solidly progressive — supporting equal rights for all citizens, including LGBT community members and their right to marry; saying passing the DREAM Act is the least we can do in terms of immigration reform; and calling the president’s proposed $10.10 an hour for a living wagedisappointingly low.
Coming from the district that will represent Weld County, where oil and gas development is widespread and visible, he’s campaigning on an approach to energy that supports the utilization of oil and gas resources, but he says Coloradans deserve the right to decide how much of that development they want in their communities. He supports local control movements such as Longmont’s ban on fracking within city limits.
He says that campaigning on a promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act, as his opponent has, ignores the fact that health care reform has seen 32,000 previously uninsured people in District 4 get health insurance and saved them millions of dollars in health care costs.
Ken Buck, the Republican candidate, has been Weld County’s district attorney since 2004 and ran against Sen. Michael Bennett for the U.S. Senate in 2010. Buck has a reputation for being tough on immigration, arguing for strengthened borders and increased verification of legal residency to work. He supports giving more control to individuals and local communities in making decisions about health care and education. His policy on energy is to develop domestic resources including oil and natural gas, approve the Keystone XL Pipeline and eliminate the renewable energy standard.
Loban, the Libertarian candidate, says at the top of his list is eliminating excess federal spending and reducing the national debt. A veteran, he suggests freeing up veterans to take their benefits to doctors of their choice, reducing wait times and travel time.
BW is endorsing Meyers for the U.S. House seat representing District 4.
Governor/Lieutenant Governor
Bob Beauprez/Jill Repella
John Hickenlooper/Joe Garcia
Harry Hempy/Scott Olson
Matthew Hess/Brandon Young
Mike Dunafon/Robin Roberts
Paul Noel Fiorino/Charles George Whitley
Few races illustrate so poignantly how the lines have blurred between our two major parties, leaving two candidates whose differences, in terms of the actual policies they can pass, are negligible. Bob Beauprez, the staunch Republican, the small business and lifetime Boulder County resident, has made enough statements that simply can’t be reconciled with a progressive agenda — his comment equating IUDs to abortions is just the latest of these — as to make an endorsement for him impossible.
But likewise this paper cannot, in good conscience, not even faced with all the arguments of pragmatism and the multitude of benefits brought on by having a Democrat in the governor’s mansion, endorse John Hickenlooper.
Because what, really, has Hickenlooper accomplished in office? He was against the legalization of marijuana and voters passed it anyway. He’s made no move on gay marriage and that issue has simply circumvented his desk. He attempted to gather support for Amendment 66 to increase funding for K-12 education and it was met with a dismal reception at last year’s ballot box. He managed to put his signature on a bill that allows undocumented students in-state tuition at public universities, many of which are still so expensive because higher education funding has been so deeply cut in recent years as to make that little more than a gesture.
His signature accomplishment is the creation of an oil and gas task force he says represents the people as well as oil and gas interests, but fails to bring the view hundreds of thousands of Colorado residents have expressed — an interest in local control over oil and gas development in their communities — to the table.
Many of the rest of the accomplishments his campaign touts, such as job creation and a pro-business environment, a trade agreement with Mexico and increased efficiency in government offices, could just as easily have come from a conservative in office. Even seemingly conservation-minded achievements, like protecting the sage grouse, are pro-oil and gas industry and ranching movements masquerading as support for the environment.
It’s a net-gain of zero. Beauprez himself, in a meeting with Boulder Weekly earlier this summer, acknowledged that the governor’s position in Colorado is one that calls on leadership and vision more than policymaking. Hickenlooper’s executive actions since taking office have primarily been to declare disasters in response to wildfires and floods and establish taskforces or other advisory boards.
The hope is that Colorado’s House and Senate will see legislators who can collaborate and enact real change — but given the hostile climate that saw state legislators recalled after efforts to increase gun control and have seen other bills gutted in the name of making them safe for all parties involved, even that’s unlikely.
It’s a time when real leadership is needed, and we are sorry to report we don’t see that in any of the candidates on the ballot for governor.
In this race in particular we looked for a realistic third option.
Unaffiliated candidate Mike Dunafon could be fun. Libertarian Matthew Hess, with his belief that the government should be extracted from everything — education, healthcare and, while you’re at it, get rid of federal income taxes, too — would likely find himself so entangled in red tape as to make for an amusing game of cat’s cradle.
Not one of them looks like the kind of leader who can incite the level of change this state, like this country, desperately needs.
We had hoped to see a more optimistic outlook for Hempy, and polls at one point showed drawing close to 5 percent of the vote. It now appears he’s only at 3 percent, less than a third of the 10 percent of the vote needed to secure major party status in the state for the Green Party.
It’s tough to get excited about a candidate who’s platform hinges on election reform, however dire the need for it may appear right now. Hempy argues that party platforms have been abandoned in the name of getting behind candidates who fundraise well. He wants to make it easier to run for office, host public debates that include all candidates (despite inquiries, he’s been excluded from the Beauprez- Hickenlooper debates) and implement a multiple choice voting system. He does say basic human rights to clean air and water should supersede oil and gas development, and he’d work for regulations that require all oil and gas development to cease any harmful emissions.
Simply to cast a vote in favor of a candidate deeply invested in walking away from a two-party system, to put support behind the movement that says these nearly indistinguishable Democratic and Republican candidates are not enough options for Colorado, Boulder Weekly endorses a vote for Hempy for governor.
Secretary of State
Joe Neguse
Wayne Williams
Amanda Campbell
Dave Schambach
Democrat Joe Neguse argues the Secretary of State’s office, which oversees elections and official filings for businesses, should do all it can to make elections as accessible and easy for as many voters as possible. Republican Wayne Williams favors careful exercise of electoral privilege.
Neguse supports the election reforms passed in 2013 that extend voter registration through Election Day and required mail-in ballots be sent to all voters as progress toward better, more accessible elections. Williams worries they’ve loosened the system’s requirements in ways that open it up to fraud and says voters should have a choice in whether their ballots reach them at home, where family members, unions or coworkers could pressure them in how to vote.
As El Paso’s clerk and recorder, Williams has increased the number of 24-hour drop-off locations and worked with Black and Latino coalitions to make sure minority groups had voting locations convenient for them. He touts overseeing the complex recall election of Colorado State Senator John Morse among his accomplishments. His work to run an election amid the Waldo Canyon Fire has also been commended.
For his interest in increased accessibility, transparency and streamlining the system by which small businesses are created, Boulder Weekly endorses Joe Neguse for Secretary of State.
State Treasurer
Elizabeth “Betsy” Markey
Walker Stapleton
David Jurist
The duties of the Colorado State Treasurer’s office include investing Colorado’s tax dollars, overseeing the unclaimed property division and serving on the board of the Public Employee Retirement Association (PERA).
The incumbent, Walker Stapleton (R), has a fairly reasonable and forward-looking approach to reforming PERA, which is going to be an enormous issue for Colorado in the future.
The program is already $26 billion in debt. He won a half-percent reduction in the projected return (from 8 to 7.5 percent) and even sued the PERA board in 2011 to get the information he said he needed to make good decisions.
His opponent Elizabeth Helen “Betsy” Markey (D) worked in the U.S. Treasury office, and has the endorsement of two former Colorado Treasurers. She is the former U.S. Representative for Colorado’s 4th Congressional District.
Stapleton supports the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) and Markey is in favor of continuing to reform it.
Markey’s platform seems dependent on reasons why Stapleton isn’t good for the job and offers few solutions to the problems Stapleton has been actively dealing with. We’ll stick with Stapleton.
State Attorney General
Cynthia Coffman
Don Quick
David Williams
While an attorney general’s primary function is to uphold the law of the state, we believe there is room for activism in the position, so we asked the candidates how they would handle a number of issues that are important to Boulder County constituents.
Each candidate stated that regulations on fracking is an issue best dictated at the state level. Both Democratic candidate Don Quick and Republican candidate Cynthia Coffman (who is currently the deputy attorney general under John Suthers) said they were glad that four fracking-related measures were dropped from this November’s ballot, and both are interested in seeing what Governor John Hickenlooper’s newly created 21-member oil and gas task force come up with.
The candidates separate themselves more on social issues like same-sex marriage. The current AG’s office sued Boulder County Clerk and Recorder Hillary Hall in July for issuing same-sex marriage licenses. Coffman says that her office had to take action against Hall because of the stay put in place by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
While Williams says he doesn’t believe it’s the government’s job to sanction consensual relationships between adults, he too would have defended Colorado’s definition of marriage and ordered Hall to stop issuing licenses.
Quick, however, says he wouldn’t have sued Boulder’s clerk over the issue.
“In the last six months alone we’ve seen the attorney general of Colorado continue to defend the same-sex marriage ban after there were 27 decisions in a row that said it was unconstitutional, including two decisions out of a state and federal court here in Colorado,” Quick says. “The reason we have a constitution is that the majority doesn’t get to repeatedly vote on the rights of the minorities. That’s the whole reason we have equal protection under the law.”
Quick continues to draw our support with his attention to environmental crime, something he’s well versed in since establishing Colorado’s Environmental Crimes Prosecution Unit while working under former state attorney general Ken Salazar.
While we disagree that stepping back from the anti-fracking ballot initiatives was the best move, we feel that Quick stands out against Coffman and Williams on some issues we feel strongly about. Quick gets our nod.
Regent of the University of Colorado – Congressional District 2
Kim McGahey
Linda Shoemaker
Daniel Ong
This seat is one of three that could turn to Democrats this year, which would put a Democratic majority on the long Republican-dominated university board just as the president and several of the chancellors approach the possibility of retirement.
Democrat Linda Shoemaker says she would like to see the University of Colorado campuses, particularly Boulder’s, become more welcoming to a diverse student body, a college education for an in-state student become more affordable and Board of Regents meetings accomplish more in public than they do in private. She’d like to bring her background in fundraising to draw increased scholarship and research funds to the university. Measures that could reduce expenses for students, like competency exams, should also be considered.
“It’s cheaper for Colorado parents to send their students to Wyoming or New Mexico, and that’s a travesty,” she told Boulder Weekly.
Kim McGahey, the Republican candidate, says he’s interested in shifting the focus for the university.
“The pervasive ideology in most colleges these days is a liberal mentality that shows students that they don’t need to think … and I think that’s short-sighted because I don’t think that prepares them to be successful in the world,” McGahey says.
He says the university should be more focused on cutting its budget, and weaning students off loans subsidized by taxpayers.
On the topic of Title IX complaints (CU is one of 55 universities under investigation for mishandling Title IX requirements), Shoemaker says there’s a need to set a higher standard for preventing and handling cases of sexual assault, as well as addressing the broader issues of harassment and discrimination faced by students as well as staff and faculty. McGahey says laws offer sufficient protection and the university and its staff should not get involved.
BW endorses Linda Shoemaker for the University of Colorado Board of Regents.
Colorado State Senator – District 16
Tim Neville
Jeanne Nicholson
During her time at the statehouse, Jeanne Nicholson (D-Black Hawk) sponsored and passed 68 pieces of legislation, nearly all of which gained bipartisan support. Nicholson says she is a champion of the environment, particularly water rights. Nicholson supports natural gas as a bridge fuel, but says that renewable energy needs to play a much larger role in the state’s energy, and soon.
“We still need to rely on fossil fuels but we need to phase out of fossil fuel use and into more renewable energy,” says Nicholson. She adds that it is the state’s decision, not local communities, if fracking should be allowed, but the health and safety of citizens should be assured.
Tim Neville (R) is a former smallbusiness owner who served one year in the state Senate in 2012 after narrowly winning a run-off election for a vacated seat. Neville is a pro-gun rights advocate, calling the Second Amendment, a “bulwark against tyranny.” During his brief Senate stint, Neville introduced a bill to allow citizens to carry concealed weapons without a permit.
Neville is also strongly pro-life and opposed to gay marriage, going so far as to send out an automated phone message to a neighboring district’s constituents, warning that their representative was the deciding vote on “bringing homosexual marriage to Colorado,” according to The Denver Post.
Concerning the economy, Neville favors low regulation and low taxes and believes that unions are detrimental to worker’s rights.
Our endorsement goes to Nicholson.
State Rep District 10
Dickey Lee Hullinghorst
Dickey Lee Hullinghorst is the majority leader of the Colorado House of Representatives. She has a proven track record, and we have endorsed her before. She has shown dedication to issues like public education, closing corporate loopholes, protecting women’s rights to choose, civil unions and passing a DREAM-like act for undocumented immigrants who were brought here as youngsters and graduated from high school. She is pro-business and has been on many boards.
It’s also worth noting that Hullinghorst worked very hard to reach a legislative compromise that would have pulled the anti-fracking measures from the ballot this year. She’s running unopposed.
State Representative — District 11
Charlie Plagainos
Jonathan Singer
Bill Gibson
We endorsed Jonathan Singer in 2012 and will do so again this year.
We asked the candidates about their thoughts on fracking, given Longmont’s clear-anti fracking position, and thoughts on the dropped anti-fracking ballot measures.
“I think honestly, those measures were a small drop in the bucket compared to what my constituents really want,” Singer says. “At the same time, I also understood the political reality of a resounding loss on those issues without taking the time to educate the entire Front Range, the entire state of Colorado, about the issue. It would have potentially set us back even further.”
Republican candidate Charlie Plagainos says no one in academia or government can come up with an argument against fracking.
“There’s no mass groups of people coming down with strange diseases,” Plagainos says.
Libertarian candidate Bill Gibson says he is concerned most with property rights, both for mineral owners and those who are affected by fracking, and says that local bans do nothing to compensate mineral owners when they are denied access to what is rightfully theirs.
For efforts to listen to his constituences, our endorsement goes to Singer.
State Rep District 12
Mike Foote
When he ran in 2012, Mike Foote said he wanted to be elected to the state Legislature to help improve the economy, education, health care and the environment. He said he was “willing to work with everyone to solve our problems.” Boulder Weekly endorsed him then and we will endorse him again.
Colorado House of Representatives – District 13
Michael James Hocevar
KC Becker
Democrat KC Becker was elected to the state House of Representatives in 2013 by a special committee tasked with filling a vacated seat. Becker served previously as a Boulder City Councilwoman from 2009-13.
Michael James Hocevar (R) has not served public office but has worked as a campaign volunteer for Republicans Paul Cornelison and Adam Ochs.
Becker says she’s most proud of legislation she’s worked on to support Colorado’s waterways, which called for conserving water.
“We are going to be facing a water shortage in this state accounting for population growth and we have got to figure out what the plan, as a state, is,” says Becker.
Becker acknowledges that environmental issues are important to everyone in District 13, which encompasses a large geographical area. She supports natural gas extraction and supported legislative reform to regulate fracking instead of the ballot initiatives that were ultimately pulled.
Hocevar, on the other side, is focused on securing individual liberties. Some of those issues include pro-gun laws, which Hocevar says are important to upholding the Colorado statute that defines all males between 18 and 45 as members of the state militia. Hocevar also says it is not the role of the government to determine personal decisions like reproductive rights and abortion.
“No society can survive without moral governance, however, it is not the government’s job, necessarily, to supply the moral leadership,” says Hocevar.
Becker says she has the experience and skills necessary to operate effectively at the statehouse.
“I think it’s really important for any legislator to think about what it does take to get something done and how to work with your colleagues both in your own caucus and across the aisle,” says Becker.
Our endorsement goes to Becker.
State Representative – District 33
Marijo Tinlin
Dianne Primavera
Carter Reid
Incumbent Dianne Primavera (D-Broomfield) has been an advocate for small businesses, education, health care and transportation, and has been honored by several prominent women’s organizations, especially for her sponsorship of a bill that anonomized addresses to protect victims of domestic violence from stalkers.
Her main opponent, Republican Marijo Tinlin, has focused more on the sort of divisive social issues that have mired government in dysfunction.
It is the opinion of Boulder Weekly that Dianne Primavera will better serve the residents of District 33 and the state of Colorado.
District O Regional Transportation District Director
Elizabeth Adams
Chuck Sisk
Former Louisville mayor Chuck Sisk was appointed in 2013 to fill the District O slot for RTD vacated by John Tayer. He made it clear from the outset that he planned to run again because the problems that he wanted to solve would take more time.
“I’m looking to RTD to fulfill our role as stewards and deliver the promise made in 2004 to deliver the system,” Sisk told Boulder Weekly.
Sisk has also built a reputation for himself as someone who helps bridge divides and build the sorts of coalitions that will be required for RTD to fulfill its promises.
It is the opinion of Boulder Weekly that Chusk Sisk is the stronger candidate in this race.
County Commissioner – District 3
Cindy Domenico
Randy Luallin
Kai Abelkis
Randy Luallin, the Libertarian candidate for the seat, and Kai Abelkis, who is running as an unaffiliated candidate, have some good ideas for the county and would bring sensibilities that could benefit any county office. The argument both of them have made about how county commissioners are elected — that because of the county’s strong Democratic leanings, the caucus of 300 that meets to determine the Democratic candidates early in the year essentially makes the choice for the county’s 300,000 residents — has merit to it. But making a valid point about the political process isn’t the determining factor in a campaign. So while Luallin is clearly dedicated to finding a position of leadership in Boulder County — this is his sixth run for county commissioner — and Abelkis has a great investment in the human interest aspects of the position, those don’t outshine a candidate with a demonstrated ability to work among the many organizations that the county organizes and strive to get things done efficiently and in a cost-effective manner.
Cindy Dominico’s background and experience with the county, her immersion in the ongoing work of getting the county built back after the 2013 flood, and her stance on oil and gas development in Boulder County — which is to extend the moratorium while research continues — make her what BW believes to be the right person to continue to hold this seat on the board of county commissioners.
Boulder County Clerk and Recorder
Hillary Hall
Ralph Shnelvar
Hillary Hall, Ralph Shnelvar and Boulder Weekly have some history. In September 2012, BW began to investigate the possibility that Boulder County ballots could be traced back to the voter via a system of unique serial numbers.
In October 2012, Hall refused to grant election integrity activists, including BW staff and Ralph Shnelvar, access to the ballot-printing facility to observe the handling of ballots.
When asked recently about the incident, Hall told BW she felt she’d already addressed this issue.
“When people wanted these changes implemented, we were already full into the printing process, and in 2013 we set it up ahead of time with our vendor, if we had watchers that wanted to come, they were more than welcome to do so, and they were more than welcome to do so this election,” Hall says. “We have not received any requests since we opened that process up.”
Hall maintains that it was very unlikely that Boulder County ballots could have been traced back to the voter, but activists were able to show that Boulder County ballots could be traced back to voters (BW editor Joel Dyer was able to do so).
Shnelvar admits beyond this issue (albeit a rather large issue), he and Hall aren’t very different, though he says he wouldn’t have stopped issuing same-sex marriage licenses even after the state attorney general sued the county clerk.
Shnelvar gets our endorsement.
County Treasurer
Paul Weissmann
Democrat Paul Weissmann is running for County Treasurer unopposed to replace incumbent Bob Hullinghorst, who is being term-limited out of office.
Weissmann, who had a reputation as something of a fixer in the state legislature, wants to use the opportunity of being treasurer to find ways that different boards and agencies within the county can better cooperate and be more effective. We endorse his effort.
Boulder County Assessor
Jerry M. Roberts
In more than 30 years of experience in the Boulder County Assessor’s Office, Jerry Roberts has held nearly every position in the department.
The assessor’s office primarily determines property values and factors into disputes regarding such. It also helps determine zoning areas (residential, industrial, etc.) Roberts also oversees the valuation of damages to property caused by natural disasters, such as the 2013 flood or previous wildfires.
Roberts’ work in the department has earned him and the office numerous state, national and industry awards. Roberts has our endorsement for county assessor.
County Sheriff
Joseph K. Pelle
Joseph Pelle has always been about common sense. He was one of only 10 sheriffs (out of 64) in Colorado who did not join the lawsuit over gun restrictions following mass shootings in 2013. After the 2009 ban on texting while driving, Pelle said deputies would concentrate on the “culture of bad driving” rather than texting. Pelle called the watered-down law a “feel-good” law. His ban on fires and fireworks during the 2012 season was smart, though not particularly popular. He and his office also did commendable work following the floods in 2013 and have been invited to speak with other emergency management offices around the country about Boulder’s model.
He’s running unopposed, but he’s a strong candidate and worth the vote.
County Surveyor
Lee Stadele
Lee Stadele has more than 31 years of uninterrupted experience surveying Boulder County, owning and operating his own company, Flagstaff Surveying, since 1992. His firm has more than 450 survey plats filed with Boulder County.
Stadele also has the endorsements of the previous two county surveyors, Jason Emery (who will be leaving the office due to term limitations) and William Stengel.
The County Surveyor reviews all the subdivision plat maps, attends meetings with other elected officials to create land policy, works to get historic maps filed with the Land Use Department and seeks to improve survey monuments. Stadele’s wealth of experience and easygoing demeanor make him a good fit for the position.
Boulder County Coroner
Emma Hall
Incumbent County Coroner Emma Hall has taken some heat (mostly from her opponent in the Democratic primary, Deron Dempsey) for several issues, including delayed autopsy results, creating a poor work environment and a decline in organ donations (per the Mountain Lions Eye Bank). Hall says she didn’t become a coroner for the politics of it and says that when she got into office, it was in such disarray that it took time to organize it. Delayed autopsy results are only delayed relative to past results, which were incomplete and hastily done, Hall says, and that doing them the right way takes time.
In May, Boulder Weekly looked into the coroner’s office after hearing comments from employees within the department that Hall was difficult to work with, as was the medical examiner in charge of autopsies. Several people in the room during one examination with the examiner, Michael Arnall, said the careless way he treated a deceased infant made them sick.
Arnall was put on leave from Boulder County and continued work in Adams County. Hall says he has not returned.
Though she is unopposed, Hall says she knows Boulder is a participatory community and that her job performance won’t be judged in an unopposed election, but by her work in the coroner’s office.
Hall, who says she wanted to be a coroner ever since she witnessed a death investigation near her family’s ranch at four years old, is suitable to handle the roughly 200 cases the coroner’s office receives each year.
City of Louisville City Council Person Ward I
Chris Leh
Cory Nickerson
Susan Honstein
While Susan Honstein demonstrates a great interest in communicating and collaborating to keep people connected with Louisville while the city continues to grow, and Cory Nickerson brings a deep investment in Louisville’s youngest residents and innovative ideas for development, Louisville City Council candidate Chris Leh demonstrates the clearest objectives for the council and a list of tasks to achieve those ends.
His priorities include acquiring and protecting open space around Louisville, adding stoplights at intersections that have demonstrated a need for them for safety and to Highway 42 to slow traffic through town, and balancing the vision of development with maintaining the small-town character.
“I love Louisville, I love the town and want to keep the wonderful parts there and want to make sure it can be sustained economically in the future,” Leh says.
For his concrete ideas for Louisville’s future and deep knowledge of its past, Boulder Weekly endorses Chris Leh for Louisville City Council.
Town of Superior – Mayor
Clint Folsom
Gladys Forshee
The town of Superior is at a turning point, with Town Center, an in-progress major development project with major implications on Superior’s tax base and its general character.
“We have very little left to develop. So we have to be careful in how we do that, in order to sustain our tax base to maintain the parks and amenities,” says Clint Folsom.
Folsom’s opponent, Gladys Forshee, says she is only running to call attention to a bureaucratic misstep: that when Superior moved its elections to November from April, it skipped over the extra seven months for those currently in office. It is her opinion that the election she is a candidate for should not even be happening and needs to go back to court.
It is the opinion of Boulder Weekly that the town of Superior would be better served by a candidate that actually wants to be mayor, not just call attention to a cause. That candidate is Clint Folsom.
Town of Superior – Trustee
Sandy Pennington
Rita Dozal
Anthony Stewart
Colleen Callin
Chris Hanson
The candidates running for Trustee share similar values and competency for navigating the challenges Superior faces, but the challenges are compounded by so many seats opening up at once, which runs the risk of the election purging institutional knowledge.
That’s why Boulder Weekly believes that incumbents Sandy Pennington and Chris Hanson should be retained in their positions, and why longtime community activist Rita Dozal should be added to the board as well.
Respond: [email protected]
