Coyote Gulch

Sunday, September 7, 2003

2004 Presidential Election
Update:
The Boston Globe is reporting the Dean has a double digit lead in New Hampshire.
AP: "One of the nation's largest unions will wait until November to decide which Democrat to endorse in next year's presidential race. Gerald McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said Friday the most important criteria will be finding the candidate with the best chance of winning the White House." Thanks to the Daily Kos for the link.
The role of the Western U.S. is the subject of this article in the Denver Post [September 7, 2003, "Presidential hopefuls look to West"]. From the article, "The eight states that make up what is known as the interior West - Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming - contain a quarter of the country's land mass. And its population is growing: Colorado grew at a faster rate than any state except Nevada and Arizona and added more people between April 2000 and July 2001 than all but six states, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. But the hard truth is that the region combined only has 40 electoral votes, while California alone has 54. For years, the area has also been edged out by other states whose primaries occur much earlier in the schedule. As a result, issues close to Westerners' hearts - public land management, wildlife, water, energy, farming and forestry - are sometimes given little attention."
Jim Spencer weighs in on the debate in Albuquerque Thursday night in his column in the Denver Post [September 7, 2003, "Democrats low on charisma at N.M. debate"]. Mr. Spencer was unimpressed by the 8 presidential candidates.
9:20:27 AM

Denver Charter Changes for the November 2003 Ballot
Coyote Gulch has already predicted that the charter changes proposed by Mayor Hickenlooper and City Council will pass handily in November. Apparently Mayor Hickenlooper and others, including Councilwoman Kathleen MacKenzie, don't trust my views. A group in support of the charter changes, Smart Growth Inc., filed paperwork with the Denver Election Commission on Friday according to the Rocky Mountain News [September 6, 2003, "Group backs mayor on charter reforms"]. They are going to raise dough in support of the changes. From the article, "Hickenlooper, who catapulted into office using unconventional political strategies, is now forced to rely on a traditional campaign method because state law prohibits the mayor's staff from operating a campaign out of City Hall."
I'm still at a loss as to why the Rocky claims that the Mayor "won a key battle" last month getting the proposal on the ballot. Sheesh, the vote on Council was 13-0 in favor. The employees who spoke at the public hearings, sent e-mail, and otherwise commented, have no power except their vote in November (if they live in Denver). How was that a battle?
8:57:07 AM

Denver November 2003 Ballot
Amendment 33 is attracting support and dough on both sides of the issue according to the Rocky Mountain News [September 6, 2003, "The race is on"]. From the article, "London-based Wembley has been trying to persuade the legislature for years to allow it to have some additional gaming at its facilities in Commerce City, Arapahoe County, Colorado Springs and Pueblo. Each time either the legislature has refused or the governor has vetoed the plan. Tourism interests have been looking for a steady stream of promotion money since the state tax on tourism-related spending ended in 1993. According to state and tourism industry studies, every dollar spent on promotion returns anywhere from $50 to $200 in tourism spending. 'We're not taking sides as far as the casino operators versus the tracks is concerned,' said Pete Meersman, head of the powerful Colorado Restaurant Association. 'What we're taking sides about is we support a permanent funding mechanism to promote tourism. We think this initiative does that.' According to the Colorado Legislative Council, which has performed the only objective analysis on the long-term effects of the proposal, the ballot initiative would provide about $25 million a year to tourism promotion. Tourism groups have been signing up to support the plan. The powerful Colorado Ski Country USA came out in favor of the proposal on Friday. Amendment 33 also would provide about $30 million a year to local parks and recreation, $8 million a year to state parks, $6.1 million a year to Great Outdoors Colorado and $8 million a year to construction needs for poor public schools, according to the legislative council's analysis. And it would produce nearly $59 million for the tracks that house the new gaming, with the lion's share going to Wembley."
Here's an article in support of the ballot amendment from the Rocky [September 6, 2003, "Pro: Big lift or big lie?"]. The Rocky [September 6, 2003, "Con: Ballot issue does more to favor gambling than to support the tourism industry"] also has an article in opposition to Amendment 33.
The Rocky Mountain News editorial staff [September 6, 2003, "Vote 'no' on casino measure"] has come out in opposition to Amendment 33.
Another statewide issue that will appear on the November ballot is Referendum A. It's a proposal to create a funding mechanism for water projects across Colorado. Here's an column from Peter Blake in the Rocky Mountain News [September 6, 2003, "Blake: Diverse, enthusiastic group wants to sink water plan"] explaining some of the issues around the referendum.
Club 20 is opposing Referendum A according to the Rocky Mountain News [September 6, 2003, "Water plan lacks support"]. From the article, "Referendum A would give the state $2 billion in bonding authority for new - and as yet undesignated - water projects. The proposal would make the state responsible for as much as $4 billion in debt if private partners in the future projects failed." Here's the coverage from the Denver Post [September 7, 2003, "Powerful Club 20 joins W. Slope foes of water bond issue"].
Here's a short editorial about the preparation of the Blue Book that the state sends out each election to explain ballot issues from the Rocky Mountain News [September 7, 2003, "A blue book conflict"].
8:06:03 AM

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