by Editorial Board | Aug 23, 2024 | Editorials
Editorial —
Senator Barbara Kirkmeyer
Philip Anschutz
Governor Jared Polis
Colorado Governor Jared Polis has called another special session to address the problems with extraordinarily high property taxes caused by the elimination of the Gallagher Amendment to the State Constitution in 2020. The Gallagher Amendment was originally adopted in 1982 and froze the homeowner real property tax rate at 7.15%.
The repeal of the Gallagher Amendment was backed by chambers of commerce, business groups, and Colorado Concern, a consortium of wealthy businessmen. The repeal was passed by a 58% to 42% margin. Then came the sticker shock to homeowners.
Polis, afraid of political backlash, called a special season of the state legislature in 2023 to address the issue. But the session granted only short-term minimal relief to homeowners while robbing taxpayers of state Tabor refunds to benefit low-income taxpayers. Republicans like State Senator (and moral reprobate) Barbara Kirkmeyer celebrated that con job on homeowners along with Democrat legislators.
This is one of the times the business class is in sync with the governmental entities which have become bloated with tax revenues as a result of the repeal of the Gallagher Amendment.
Advance Colorado, a political advocacy group funded by Phil Anschutz, proposed, to control the anger of the homeowners, two ballot issues that would address the problem, but that is little more than a ruse to make sure the business and governmental classes control the process.
The governor has now called a second special session for August 26 which has been preceded by a negotiation between the different sides. With Advance Colorado on the side of homeowners and Colorado Concern on the side of businesses.
But it is really a negotiation between Phil Anschutz and Phil Anschutz. The billionaire is a prominent member of Colorado Concern and the main donor of Advance Colorado.
By the time you read this editorial the special session will be over, and you will be able to assess how screwed over the average homeowner was. Of course, it could be that that problem has been solved and homeowners having prevailed with a fair solution. It could happen even if it has almost never happened in Colorado history in similar circumstances. There is always a first time! We wait with bated breath.
— Editorial Board
by Editorial Board | Jul 18, 2024 | Editorials
Editorial —
BS Busted: Lawmakers used budget stabilization or “BS” to withhold millions of dollars from schools to pay for Colorado’s state budget. School supporters have forced the state to begin fully funding K-12 schools with the 2024-25 school year starting Aug. 15.
It’s been a tough, and traumatic 10 years for Denver Public Schools (DPS). Resource officers in-and-out of schools, shootings, suicide threats, plus struggling to keep teachers. And who can forget the dysfunctional School Board during the years Tay Anderson was Vice President, with allegations of misconduct, and censured by fellow board members.
During the same time span Colorado’s politicians — claiming to be big-hearted, benevolent, and sympathetic — told parents they “truly cared about education.” They avowed, and maintained they were “on the front line helping to secure funds for schools.” That’s in spite of the fact the state’s school funding has ranked in the bottom third nationwide for decades.
Call it political tears, politics, and money, or more accurately, worthless “BS!” It’s recently come to light that since 2009-10 the state’s lawmakers — both Democrats and Republicans — created the budget stabilization or “BS factor” — allowing lawmakers to withhold millions of dollars from public schools each year to balance the state budget. The honest, indisputable truth is that from 2009-10 through the just wrapped-up 2023-24 school year, our state government swindled a staggering $38.1 billion in school funds to pay for Colorado’s state budget!
That includes funds for the 76,157 Denver Public Schools (DPS) students that were enrolled in the 2023-24 school year.
Despite years of criticism from parents and educators, plus legal challenges in the courts — the Colorado Supreme Court voted 4 to 3 to uphold the state’s use of the BS factor in Sept. 2015 — nothing had changed through the just closed 2023-24 school year. An entire generation of Denver students never had the opportunity to learn in a fully-funded classroom. Lack of sufficient funding resulted in underpaid teachers, overcrowded classrooms, and limited access to extracurricular activities, and mental health services.
Stolen student funds — all that dough meant to educate our kids — was instead used to pay the staggering 99,222 state workers employed by the state’s executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The cumulative growth rate of Colorado state government has increased by 20.3% in the last 10 years.
Yes, families and their kids were robbed by politicians to pay the people who work for politicians. Selfish, self-seeking, simply unacceptable. Beyond “hoggish,’ it’s wretched, rotten, and second-rate, even for politicians. Is it any wonder that Coloradans are growing increasingly pessimistic about our state government?
Through dedication, determination, spunk, and steadfastness, school supporters have finally forced lawmakers to stop the swindle. The state will begin “fully funding” K-12 schools with the 2024-25 school year that starts Aug. 15.
Abolishing the BS Factor will increase school district budgets to more than $400 per student. Even with the funding uplift, today’s education dollars won’t go nearly as far as they did 14 years ago when the thievery started. Colorado’s school funding ranks in the bottom third nationwide, and per-pupil spending was already below the national average before politicians created the BS Factor to pickpocket kids.
When the 2024-25 school year starts this month, the additional money could result in smaller class sizes, and revive programs such as art classes. In addition to providing students with higher-quality education, added funds may also improve pay for teachers and staff.
Eliminating the BS Factor is a crucial step to ensuring that DPS schools have the resources to provide students with the education they need. But don’t get unduly psyched up. When adjusted for inflation, spending for schools will be about the same as it was in 1989. Denver Public Schools will net about $14 million. DPS Chief of Finance Chuck Carpenter acknowledges the increase is encouraging and will give the district a shot in the arm. Nevertheless, he calculates it will equal about $174 per student or 1% of the district’s $1.4 billion budget.
Reckless, rash, imprudent, and irresponsible, state politician’s use of the BS factor to rip-off school funds exposes the vulnerability of public schools to fraud. Straight from the shoulder, the ethically and morally wrong scheme, scam, and swindle was and is deceit and deception at its nastiest. Albeit, regrettably successful. Parents and educators must create/construct a system of oversight to spot, address, and stop future attempts by state lawmakers to siphon-off school funds for political purposes. What’s at stake in future oversight: Theft of funds from our public schools not only harms students, but also undermines public confidence in our public education system.
— Editorial Board
by Editorial Board | Jun 20, 2024 | Editorials
RTD is famous for getting state, federal and local entities to spend ever increasing amounts of money to fund bus and light rail projects that people do not want to utilize. The latest and greatest project is the East Colfax Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). The project runs 9.9 miles from Union Station in downtown Denver to the R Colfax Station in Aurora.
It will put a center running lane dedicated to bus lines while cutting back automobile lanes. It will have 26 outdoor stations along the way. In 2022 it was estimated the cost would be a quarter billion dollars that the federal and state governments and the two municipalities involved are funding.
By making automobile traffic even more inconvenient on East Colfax, RTD hopes that will result in increased bus usage. The alternative of course is that people simply avoid East Colfax all together thereby having a disastrous affect on all the businesses along East Colfax and congesting traffic on such streets as 13th, 14th, and 17th Avenues.
Will it be the Lady or the Tiger? Betting that RTD knows what it is doing has not been a good wager over the decades.
Andy Bosselman wrote in 5280 Magazine an enlightening three-part article “RTD is in Crisis — What Went Wrong.”
It can’t be said that RTD rushed into this project with work on the matter starting in 2008. The basic problem is that Denver wants people living in and travelling to the city to give up the automobile and take public transportation. But the pesky residents and visitors don’t seem to want to comply. Ridership for the buses and light rail has been steadily decreasing while operating costs have risen.
The East Colfax BRT is different than most other RTD projects. For example, RTD’s B Line project which was supposed to get residents to use RTD vans up and down Colorado Boulevard and to and from Cherry Creek Shopping center was an expensive flop but it did not cause any business in the affected area to fail. If East Colfax BRT causes residents to avoid East Colfax it will destroy scores of businesses along the road to fail.
Here’s hoping that RTD finally has gotten one right for the sake of East Colfax businesses if no one else.
— Editorial Board
by Editorial Board | May 20, 2024 | Editorials
Editorial —
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston held an outdoor press conference by Union Station. He correctly noted that Denver, to be a successful vibrant city, must have a successful vibrant downtown, and for Colorado to succeed it needs a successful City and County of Denver. He also noted that Denver needs to break out of the area’s post-COVID “doom loop” that other cities like San Francisco are experiencing.
The trouble he has is that his solution of using an obscure special taxing authority — the Denver Downtown Development Authority (DDA) — to raise a half billion dollars to invest in downtown won’t work because of what the mayor will use the money for. The mayor is lying to you when he says he doesn’t know what the money will be used for. He indicates the “campaign will start with a conversation with downtown residents.” He has even set up a website, Denvergov.org/DDA, “where every Denverite can chime in with their hopes and dreams for what they want from the downtown.”
What a bunch of “malarkey” as President Biden would say. Luckily citizens have become a great deal wiser over the last few years that they cannot just count on what the government and politicians say is true. Rest assured every penny of that half billion “free money “ has already been spoken for.
The mayor will announce that what Denverites really want is for existing high rise office buildings to be retrofitted as personal residences. Of course, the mayor cannot be that brutally frank so it will be closer to what the mayor sheepishly said he maybe, sort of likes: “more childcare centers, commercial-to-residential conversions, and affordable housing.”
Yes of course, we need more childcare centers in the one place in Denver where there are almost no children. Downtown is inhabited by young two income couples with no children and older citizens whose children have left home so they decided to move to downtown Denver. The mayor also would like to have more “affordable housing” in the most expensive place to live in Denver. Really? No problem. He just declared 10% of the converted units must be “affordable” however he may define that term.
That leaves you with “commercial-to-residential conversions.” Anybody who has looked at such conversions states that they would be incredibly expensive and better to tear down the existing office towers and build new apartment houses and condominiums.
But you are failing to see who this is intended to benefit. Denver has a 30% vacancy rate and many properties have gone back to the regional banks that overly invested in office buildings and some properties owned by Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS) that are in the same position. The banks have written off the loans and the REITS their investments. But they are both unwilling to expend any more money on the properties. That is where DDAs come in. They give free money to the property owners for the overly expensive conversions and now the properties will actually be worth something.
Even better, the Biden Administration knows it can’t let the regional banks go belly up so it has massive amounts of money in the form of federal grants for “commercial-to-residential” grants.
But if nothing is ever paid back who loses? Well, of course you do. The money that goes in the Tax Increment Financing is money that would otherwise go to the general fund of the city as well as to the Denver Public Schools. The schools just increase your mill levies as back fill and the city either cuts services sometime in the future or raises taxes sometime in the future but that is for your kids to worry about if they still want to live in Denver.
It is a great rob Peter (Denverites in the future) to pay today Paul (the banks and the REITS). Luckily no other media outlet in the Denver market other than the Chronicle will tell you this and the scheme will merrily be approved by the Denver City Council and the people voting in the future DDA. They have nothing to lose, only you, and you don’t get to vote on the matter. What a wonderful world.
— Editorial Board
by Editorial Board | Apr 19, 2024 | Editorials
Editorial —
Senator Lisa Cutter
Representative Lorena Garcia
Representative Tammy Story
There is no more contentious issue in the country than the schooling of children. Public school union teachers are one of the most important cogs in the Democrat coalition with funds for Democrat candidates from dues and volunteers for their campaigns. The teacher unions have become more and more radicalized over the years.
The “Red for Ed” movement among unionized teachers has spread across America starting in Chicago, and spreading all the way to states such as West Virginia, Arizona, and Oklahoma. The color “red” in this instance does not refer to Republicans but the earlier association with socialists/communists.
Conversely, educated during the COVID-19 pandemic, parents were shocked by what was being taught to their children and began pushing back. The fight was ratcheted up over the trans issues and in particular the position by some public schools that they would not notify parents while their children were given puberty blockers or beginning to transition from one sex to another.
Wealthy parents who could afford to send to private schools did so to escape the unionized teachers and other parents began homeschooling their children. Parents also began embracing the movement started in the 1990s of “charter” schools which are publicly funded but run by parents or even companies.
Unionized teachers uniformly dislike charter schools and do what they can to destroy them. Not a single charter school in Colorado has unionized teachers. That is where the Polis caper begins.
Democrat Representatives Lorena Garcia, Tammy Story, and Senator Lisa Cutter introduced HB24-1363 they said to reform and update the provisions for charter schools. They claimed to want to make charter schools more transparent and provide them with the same high standards as neighborhood public schools.
It drew high levels of support from a “who’s who” of progressive groups including the League of Women Voters, Colorado PTA, Colorado Working Families Party, Colorado Teachers Association, American Federation of Teachers Colorado, Servicios Sigue, Latino Education Coalition, Colorado Democratic Education Initiative, Advocates for Public Education, and Advocacy Denver.
No one supporting charter schools was fooled. American Federation for Children said that “30 years of charter school work could be undone.” Local charter groups said charter schools in Colorado “will suffer death by a thousand cuts.”
It would seem with strong support from Democrat groups and the state legislature having Democrat super majorities the legislation could not fail to pass.
Governor Jared Polis
But that was the big con. It was never intended to pass. No bill is introduced by Democrats that is not pre-approved by Governor Polis. He, in turn, has great aspirations to run for U.S. President with cross party appeal. He has almost comically labeled himself to be a small “l” libertarian. In his five years as governor, he has done nothing that did not mark him as a far-left politician.
Now was the time for the charter school caper. A true Sister Souljah moment.
When Polis first ran for governor in 2018, he claimed to be a strong charter supporter, having helped start one in Boulder, and appointed pro charter and even Republicans to his education team in 2018.
So why didn’t Polis tell the three legislators that they could not introduce the legislation. That would not work because he would not have gotten credit for killing anti charter school legislation backed by many progressive groups. Alternatively, he could have waited to veto the legislation but by then numerous people would have become attached to the legislation and a veto would ruffle feathers.
So after being introduced and sent to a committee, Polis announced his opposition to the cheering adulation of pro charter advocates. The bill was then killed in committee by a 7 to 3 vote. Polis was a hero to people that normally dislike him and his status as a possible presidential candidate with broad support enhanced.
It is said that most people can be fooled most of the time and Governor Polis has proved that he is very adept at doing so.
— Editorial Board
by Editorial Board | Mar 18, 2024 | Editorials
Editorial —
The residents of the Queen City of the Plains are facing a Brave New World with our indomitable Mayor Mike Johnston at the helm of our ship of state. The helmsman has spent the first few months of his term finding sites for his homeless micro-communities and recently began opening them over the strenuous objections of the affected residents.
The largest homeless ‘micro-community’ has just opened in Overland Park, the future homes of 47 homeless people and if all goes well, expanded to 120 units.
The assurances of government have not impressed Craig Arfsten the head of “Safe and Clean Denver.” Arfsten told the Denver Gazette: “Today may be a win for the mayor, but it’s not for the residents of the Overland Park neighborhood. Yes, the pallet sheds are in place, but the safeguards to protect the surrounding neighborhood are not.”
Of course, it has been quite a while since a mayor of Denver has actually cared what the residents think or want. The problems of the 4,000 plus homeless facing Mayor Johnston seem almost quaint when compared to the avalanche of 40,00 penniless “newcomers” descending into Denver from the Texas border thanks to the Governor of Texas and the federal government.
Johnston’s largess to the newcomers is two weeks of shelter and food and then they are supposed to be kicked to the curb. It is not clear what they are to do after that. Johnston has tried to move the newcomers to Denver into neighboring municipalities but other than Lakewood, the surrounding cities don’t seem very accommodating to the project.
Across Denver some of the newcomers are appearing as squeegee men who will clean your car windshield whether you want them to or not. The last time squeegee men were prominent in America was in New York City under Mayor David Dinkins in the early 1990s. They were credited with helping to get Dinkens thrown out of office in favor of Rudy Giuliani in 1993.
Denver’s newcomer squeegee men do not appear to be a danger to our new progressive Mayor. To help pay for the newcomers’ cost to the city Johnston closed Motor Vehicle Offices and recreation centers every other week. This effort of course greatly inconvenienced many residents, but we know that Denverites are gluttons for punishment.
As more newcomers arrive from the Texas border we suggest Johnston start closing down garbage pickup followed by providing water only on alternative days. As a sociological experiment Denverites need to find out exactly how much punishment they can handle until they finally rise in revolt. Based on what has happened over the last 13 years, residents can undergo a great deal more punishment and we trust in Mayor Johnston to ladle it out in hefty doses.
— Editorial Board
