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Friday, July 14, 2006
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Here's a primer on split estates from Colorado Confidential. From the article, "In Colorado, as in most resource-rich states, the mineral interests may be 'split' or 'severed' from the surface interests. This situation results in a 'split estate' where the surface owner does not own the underground oil and gas reserves. Both the surface land and the mineral interests are considered property rights, however, currently oil and gas interests are allowed to drill and gain access to the oil and gas reserves at the expense of individuals, agricultural producers, businesses and local governments that are surface owners.
"In 1997, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that both estates must exercise their rights in a manner consistent with the other - meaning that neither the surface owner nor the mineral rights owner had a property right that was dominant over the other (Gerrity Oil & Gas Corp. v. Magness, 946 P2d 913 Colo. 1997). Before this 1997 ruling, the 'dominant' status of the mineral rights created a cavalier and, at times, an arrogant attitude on the part of many oil and gas producers when dealing with surface owners."
Take time to read the whole article.
Category: Denver November 2006 Election
7:15:09 AM 
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Things are heating up around the task force that is charged with looking at the City's accounting and financial accounting functions, according to the Rocky Mountain News. From the article, "Denver City Auditor Dennis Gallagher and a task force that is studying the city's fiscal structure clashed again Thursday over a proposal that would strip his office of payroll and accounting duties. Gallagher did not attend the next to last meeting of the 10-member task force, which was appointed by Mayor John Hickenlooper in March. However, he sent his top deputies along with a letter accusing the panel of having 'a serious misunderstanding' of the auditor's role...
"The panel is moving toward a set of recommendations that would create a chief financial officer as a Cabinet- level officer who would answer directly to the mayor. The CFO would have central authority over the fiscal responsibilities that are currently spread throughout several departments. The panel also wants to create an audit committee chaired by the auditor and consisting of two appointees each by the auditor, the mayor and the City Council. The panel is tentatively scheduled to hold its final meeting on July 20 to discuss the city's budget reserve policies."
Denver voters may get a chance to change the city charter this fall to implement the task force recommendations.
Category: Denver November 2006 Election
6:52:44 AM
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From today's Denver Post: "Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter announced Thursday that he has raised more than $2 million for his campaign, including $121,000 in the past two weeks. The deadline for reporting the fundraising data to the Colorado secretary of state's office is next week, but the Ritter campaign made the announcement early to trumpet its success. John Marshall, spokesman for the Republican candidate, U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez, replied that he's 'glad to hear (Ritter) finally got over the $2 million mark.' The Beauprez campaign, which passed the $2 million mark during the last reporting period, plans to release its financial information next week."
The Denver Post is reporting that Bob Beauprez is claiming that Bill Ritter favors amnesty for illegal aliens. From the article, "He defined amnesty as 'people getting to stay here and getting to butt in line' for citizenship. But Ritter said he favors the same approach as Republican President Bush, granting illegal immigrants guest-worker status and that 'to get in line to become citizens, they have to get in the back of the line.'[...]
"For his part, Ritter said, the state has done what it can do on immigration reform and should urge the federal government to act. If Beauprez thinks immigration is such an urgent issue, Ritter said, the congressman from the 7th District should urge U.S. House leaders to act on reform now. But like his Republican leadership, Beauprez is 'not making those demands because he has a hope that it's this wedge issue that will drive his base.' The next governor, Ritter said, should lean on the federal government for enforcement. As Denver district attorney, he said, he urged federal immigration officials to deport illegal immigrants convicted of felonies but was told they lacked the resources to do so."
Category: Denver November 2006 Election
6:27:08 AM
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© Copyright 2006 John Orr.
Last update: 9/14/06; 1:50:21 PM.
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