Coyote Gulch

Sunday, February 2, 2003

Dennis Gallagher Announces his Candidacy for Denver Auditor
I attended the Gallagher announcement today at the Uptown Tavern on East 17th. Frana Mace introduced some of the political types from around the town and the state.
A former State Auditor Tim(?) O'Brien, who met Gallagher as a student at Regis University, spoke of the Councilman's experience on the Legislative Audit Committee and on City Council Finance Committee. Said O'Brien, "Dennis knows Denver and Dennis knows us."
Gallagher then took the mike and let the faithful know that the theme of the campaign will be "Prudent Stewardship." Said Gallagher, "It's your tax dollars and your trust."
He outlined three key points. The Gallagher Amendment and it's effect on keeping residential property taxes low, the fact that he is returning $30,000 to Denver's General Fund from his City Council budget and that he will be introducing a charter amendment to curtail the high dollar raises for elected officials. He mentioned that, regarding attendance on City Council's Finance Committee, one of his opponents only attended 47% of the time while another only attended 37% of the time. Of the two opponents Gallagher said, "I don't know what they're watching but it's not your money."
Gallagher, who grew up in Denver, thanked his ancestors for moving to Colorado. He termed the state a "kind of paradise."
5:58:52 PM

Broadband at Cost
Here's a great story about a rural electric company providing cable TV and Internet access at cost. The Slashdot link. It should be noted that the electric company is owned by the city of Glascow Kentucky.
Here in Denver the electric utility is Xcel, a huge, multi-state utility. I don't see them doing something similar for their customers. I don't think that the City leadership would ask for this type of service.
Denver could build out a Wi-fi network for peanuts due to all of the buildings that will be wired to fiber currently in the ground and under construction by AT&T. This would be the right thing to do to help eliminate the digital divide but it would put the City into competition with AT&T and Ricochet who're both trying to monetize the last mile. I say build Wi-fi.
5:22:21 PM

Denver Election Commission
DenverGov has a story announcing the new Executive Director. From the article, "For the past nine years, Hatchett has served the citizens of Colorado in state elections and in administration divisions. She has assisted voters, county and municipal clerks, elected officials, candidates and the media in election law. For the past seven years, she has specialized in campaign finance, serving as state trainer for the past six years. Hatchett also has extensive experience in facilitation and management."
8:46:38 AM

Shuttle Disaster
Dave Winer sums up his feelings about the shuttle disaster yesterday.
8:41:51 AM

Denver Municipal Election - Events 2/3-2/9
Dennis Gallagher is announcing his run at Auditor today at 3:30PM to 6:00PM, Uptown Tavern, 538 East 17th Avenue.
Susan Casey, candidate for Mayor, February 5, 2003, 6:00 P.M., Capitol Hill Front Porch Event, Home of Ryan and Stephanie Sabga, no address shown on the website.
Don Mares, candidate for Mayor, has several events scheduled this week, here's the link to the page on his website.
Elizabeth Schlosser, candidate for Mayor, is hosting a "Meet Elizabeth" night for young voters, Wednesday, Feb. 5, Dixon's Downtown Grill, Denver, 1610 16th St., Everyone is welcome to attend.
Ari Zavaras, candidate for Mayor, is holding a $300 plate fundraiser on Friday, February 7th. I didn't see any notice on his website but was notified in e-mail. From the e-mail, "Please RSVP by Friday, January 31, 2003 by calling (303) ARI-2003 / (303) 274-2003 to secure your seats. HURRY RSVP EXTENDED TO WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5th"
Alby Segall, candidate for City Council District 5, has a chat scheduled for tonight, Sunday, February 2, 2003, 8:00-9:00 pm, regarding Transportation and Traffic.
Jim Raughton, candidate for City Council At-Large, will be hosting a Community Meeting on Saturday, February 8, 2003, 1:30-3:30 pm, at the Church of the Holy Redeemer, 2552 Williams.
Staffers and candidates, please e-mail me to let me know about events at jworr@operamail.com.
8:35:34 AM

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