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Friday Letters: 2C thoughts, county race opinions, Boebert supporters and opponents and more

Yes on 2C

On July 1, 1977 my parents, siblings and I moved to Glenwood Springs. Glenwood has been an awesome place to raise our children and grandchildren.

I imagine 10 years from now where a majority of the Glenwood workforce travels to work from New Castle, Silt, Rifle, Parachute and west. 

Imagine city water, sewer, electric and parks employees living outside Glenwood. Imagine school teachers, nurses, police and fire employees living outside Glenwood. Imagine most of Glenwood’s tourist and service industry employees living outside Glenwood.



Does that sound like a community you want to live in? Not “no,” but “heck no.”

Glenwood Question 2C is not about the current City Council. It is not about growth, and 2C is not about the fact that tourists pay the tax. It is about the Glenwood Springs community caring about the workforce that makes Glenwood an awesome place to live.



Mark Gould, Glenwood Springs

Another 2C thought

I am not sure how I feel about the 2.5% lodging tax. I do agree workforce housing is needed, but what I am worried about is how the city goes about accomplishing that with this money. 

The city’s track record isn’t that promising when it comes to what they consider “affordable housing.” We all remember the apartment complexes that have been approved by city council, and affordable housing was always the promise. 

Well, here are some facts: I personally went to two apartment complexes today to see how affordable they are. The Lofts apartments in the Meadows, one bedrooms start at $1,965 a month and the Altitude Apartments by Walmart start at $1,865. Is there anyone reading this that would consider that affordable? I could not afford that when I had my own business going, so how is someone in the workforce going to afford that? 

In my opinion, affordable housing is $500 to $1,000 a month. And maybe that isn’t possible, just like it is probably not possible to find affordable housing in Manhattan or Hollywood. Glenwood is not an inexpensive place to live. And with these living expenses, hourly pay has not kept up.

I like what RFTA did; buy an existing building for housing. Because with the high cost of building materials you can’t make the numbers work on a new building. So we need more info on how the money will be spent or that it will go to a public vote on how it’s spent. 

Maybe the city should buy the old Safeway building and convert it into apartments.

John Korrie, Glenwood Springs

Rep. Will a rare legislator

It is more rare than you would believe to have a state representative who truly represents his constituency every time he votes. It is even more rare to have a state representative who proactively represents his district and works across this aisle to make sure that happens. 

Perry Will is a rare gem in the Colorado General Assembly, and a breath of fresh air in a typical tumultuous political world.

I am a pharmacist who has spent my career for over 20 years taking care of Coloradans. Importantly, I have closely worked with Perry Will over the past two years in my role as the Executive Director for the Colorado Pharmacists Society. In those two years, Rep. Will advanced legislation that helped pharmacists gain provider status under Medicaid to better assist patients, and worked to make sure that small pharmacies are paid appropriately to sustain their businesses across Colorado. 

Both of these pieces of legislation helped pharmacists statewide, but especially those who run smaller pharmacies in rural areas. Both bills also helped make sure patients in his district, and statewide, have access to important healthcare services.

I have seen Perry Will be a thoughtful representative, and a true bipartisan leader with a proven track record of doing the best thing for the people of House District 57, and all rural Coloradans. From healthcare to agriculture. Rep. Will really takes the time to understand how he can help move important policy forward. Regardless of political party, Colorado at large would be lucky to have a respected, considerate and honorable man such as Perry Will in the legislature for many years to come. 

Please reelect Rep. Perry Will for Colorado House District 57, and your local pharmacists.

Emily Zadvorny, Centennial

Lots at stake in midterm elections

With the midterm election just days ahead, I encourage residents of the Roaring Fork Valley to vote. Non-presidential elections are tremendously important — they lay the foundation on which our laws and regulations stand. They matter.

There are many issues at stake in this 2022 election such as employee housing, education, climate change, economic inequity, immigration policy, abortion and gun control. The magnitude of each issue requires that elected officials be intelligent and informed, have integrity, and hold the highest good of our community and our country as their top priority.

Much has been and will be written about each issue and about each candidate. We’re in the 21st century now, and we need public servants who understand the complex, universal nature of economy, ecology and society. We’ve faced a global pandemic, we are witnessing the possibility of a nuclear catastrophe, and we have an interdependent global economy. We are beyond colonialism.  

America was grounded and founded on separation of church and state. Christian Nationalism (which is actually not Christian — reference: the Bible and the Constitution), violates that constitutional and Biblical principle. We must vote for those who stand against racism, against policies negating/violating women’s or anyone’s rights, and against any policy that harms the ecology of our planet or its inhabitants (again, reference: the Bible and the Constitution). 

In the interconnected/computerized world of 2022, those who serve in government must have local, national and global awareness. Considering the candidates in the upcoming election, I urge you to vote for Michael Bennet and Adam Frisch to represent us nationally, and to elect Ryan Gordon, Becky Moller and Aron Diaz on the local level.  

State offices would be well-served by Democratic candidates Polis, Griswold, Young, Weiser, Plomer, Roberts and Velasco. 

Please vote for these candidates who will give their best to the Roaring Fork Valley, to Colorado, to America, and to each of you in the coming term.

Nancy Gensch, Carbondale

Voting Boebert

Rifle, Colorado, what a special place to live. What a beautiful state. I’m so thankful to be a fourth-generation person growing up on Mamm Creek. 

We owe so much to the men and women (veterans) who fought and died, who gave up so much for all of our freedom. We have the freedom to worship, the freedom to own a gun to protect ourselves, the freedom to vote, and to put up campaign posters.

This said, I was so upset when I saw that someone had not only removed most of Lauren Boebert’s campaign posters lining Railroad Avenue in Rifle, her hometown, but had left one lone poster which they spray painted red, as if they wanted to make some childish point. Someone must have forgotten we still have the freedom of speech. This confirms to me that I am voting for freedom. I am voting for Lauren Boebert.

Donna Casey, Rifle

Votes don’t lie

It’s tough being an incumbent, whether you’re a liberal or claim to be conservative, because your votes on the issues are recorded and unchangeable. 

According to The New American magazine Freedom Index, which tracks the Constitutional voting records of all U.S. Senators and Representatives on key issues, Lauren Boebert failed to achieve 100% during her second six-month period in the 117th Congress with 80% (8/10); however her 100% during the first and third six months have earned her an overall 93%, with only two unconstitutional votes out of 30, which is better than any of her Colorado predecessors in CD3. 

To the armchair critics that denounce Boebert’s bills not being passed, please note the process and the overwhelming number of votes in the House and Senate weighing against her bills, then explain to me how any bill that drains the swamp or elevates the working class can get passed?  

The anti-American voting is the worst I’ve seen in 49 years of observing tallies. The last 18 months of this 117th Congress is horrendous for the 30 votes observed: 35 senators have 0%, Bennet and Hickenlooper scored 7% and 3%, respectively, and don’t tell any of their supporters, but the one bill they both voted for Constitutionally favored fracking.  

The highest Democratic senator was 20%, while the lowest Republican senator was 47%.

Statistically, no Democrat has achieved a fraction of Boebert’s success as the highest Dem in the House would please Putin at 23% and 210 were at 7% or less! So, should we gamble that her opponent Adam Frisch will ignore his party and vote his oath of office any better than 23%, much less exceed Boebert’s 93%?  And some people have the temerity to ask, “What’s wrong in DC?”

It’s amazing how well Boebert has obeyed her oath in office and voted so much more rightly than all those “professional” left/miss-educated political majors! She joins only 24 representatives who attained 93% or better Constitutionally (2021-2022).

Jerry Law, Glenwood Springs

Veterans secured voter rights

We all know veterans. As election day and veterans day approaches let us all remember that these veterans served to protect our core values. 

The right to vote and have your vote counted, the right to practice the religion of your choice free of government interference, the right to exercise freedom of speech, the right to responsible gun ownership and the right to make your own medical decisions free of government interference. 

It is too late to mail your ballot in but you can bring your ballot to one of the many drop boxes around the county. These drop boxes are monitored by 24/7 video cameras to insure the integrity of the election. 

If you do not vote now you may lose your right to vote before the next election. Vote for the candidates and issues of your choice. But vote.

Marty Silverstein, Carbondale

​​GOPer for Diaz

I’m a registered Republican but support Aron Diaz for Garfield County Treasurer.

For one thing, both former county treasurers (Republican Karla Bagley and Democrat Georgia Chamberlain) endorse Diaz.

Among Diaz’s qualifications, he holds a MA in public administration. His opponent’s main qualification seems to be her experience as Garfield County Republican chair, and the fact the three-member Garfield County commissioners appointed her to the Treasurer’s position after Bagley resigned.

Aron Diaz is the most qualified candidate for the Garfield County Treasurer job.

Lynn “Jake” Burton, Glenwood Springs

Harmon for Clerk

I am voting for Jackie Harmon for County Clerk and recorder. She has worked in the clerk’s office for years and knows what the job entails. She doesn’t have the money or political presence her opponent does but she has the experience and knowledge that counts for so much more. 

When Becky Moller was going door to door she commented that the motor vehicle part of the office “can’t be that much.” Every car owner in Garfield County deals with the office at least once a year. That is a lot! 

Jackie knows the staff and the workings of each office throughout the county. She has done so much more than record legal documents for water decisions. 

The County Clerk’s office has always operated on the strength of continuity, on candidates who know the duties of the office, who appreciate the importance of those tasks and who care about the public service they provide. Jackie Harmon is that candidate!

Cheryl Hurst Page, Glenwood Springs

Another for Harmon

Please join me in voting for Jackie Harmon in the upcoming election running for Garfield County Clerk and Recorder. 

As a long time resident of Garfield County, Jackie has shown her diligence as a county employee in the clerk’s office for well over 20 years.

Jackie has worked in all phases of the clerk’s office, and is well-qualified. 

I have known and worked with Jackie for many years and have found her to be a caring, compassionate, intelligent woman, willing to listen to all sides of an issue. 

Her involvement in the community shows that she is a woman of service and integrity, who truly wants the best for Garfield County.

I know she will continue to serve the county with the same passion she exhibits in all of her endeavors. Her record of public service shows she is the best person for the job.

Regina Pretti, Parachute

Don’t be fooled, independents

An opinion column on 10/27/22 by Greg Rippy asked Unaffiliated voters if they would consider voting for the Republicans this election. 

Let’s be clear. They are loud and proud about how they want to end Social Security and Medicare, as well as take away half the population’s freedom to make their own decisions about their bodies. 

The Republicans have also indicated they will take away the freedom of couples to plan their families, and the freedom of any citizen to marry whom they love. They’ll take away the right to read whatever you want. They are banning the teaching of parts of our own history. 

They stand silently by, or worse, make sick jokes about an 82-year-old man attacked in his house with a hammer, in what is now known to be an assassination attempt on a government official. Whether you like Speaker Pelosi or not, this cannot stand. What are we, as a nation, if we let it go, make it “normal” to try to overthrow the government and call it “freedom”? 

Why are they continuing to lie about the 2020 election? There is no proof of any widespread fraud or rigging. So take note, Unaffiliated voters. This is what the Republicans want you to vote for. They call it ” freedom.” It is, instead, the exact opposite.

Gay More, Glenwood Springs

Vote against the ‘big lie’

I agree with the letter from Dave Malehorn concerning Greg Rippy’s recent column. I am an unaffiliated voter, although I have been registered as both a Democrat and Republican in the past. Politicians from either party can have some influence on the economy, but remember this is a “free” market and those forces have far more impact than ideology. 

The economy will recover, as it always has. For me the primary concern is our democracy. I usually vote a mixed ballot, for both Democrats and Republicans, but not this time. I cannot vote for any Republican who does not publicly and loudly denounce the “Big Lie” of Trump and those, such as our so-called representative, Ms. Boebert. 

I am aghast when I see our local political representatives even embrace her. Trump and his co-conspiracy fantasy supporters are by far and away this country’s biggest problem. Joe O’Dea is the only Republican I’ve seen publicly denounce Trump and his vile threats to America. 

We as a country need to recognize and reject the con being perpetrated by Trump and his gaggle of true believers. Republicans like Liz Cheney are the true patriots, the true Republicans, not the Trumpublican RINOs. 

Vote for democracy this election, even if it is for someone you’d rather not. Hold your nose and do the right thing. Our nation’s future depends on it.

Ken Neubecker, Glenwood Springs

Defeat liquor sales questions

Once again, small locally owned Colorado liquor stores are under attack by big corporations. Three initiatives have made the ballot, all of which threaten the livelihood of our local independent businesses.

Propositions 124, 125 and 126 will be detrimental to our local liquor stores while paving the way for out-of-state, multi-billion-dollar corporations to make a big cash grab from our communities. These giants have already spent $18 million advertising. 

Prop 124 seeks to increase and eventually remove the cap on retail liquor store licenses, allowing a single owner to operate as many chain locations as they please throughout the state. If passed, this measure will rapidly convert Colorado’s alcohol marketplace from one that currently lifts up small, locally owned retailers, craft brewers, distillers and winemakers to one where most liquor stores would be chains owned by out-of-state corporations.

Prop 125 unfairly converts grocery store and big box licenses to sell beer to allow the sale of both beer and wine — without local and state application processes, without restraints on proximity to schools and churches, without community input on the number of alcohol retailers in the neighborhood, without requiring employees to be certified in alcohol safety. 

Prop 126 would allow third-party subcontractors such as DoorDash and Drizly to participate in alcohol delivery services without safety protocols and without consequences if deliveries are made to minors. When this passed in California, DoorDash failed 80% of its safety enforcement checks.

Nearly two-thirds of every dollar spent at small businesses are returned to the local community, whereas two-thirds of every dollar spent at a chain goes out of state. 

These initiatives will hurt Colorado small businesses. They will hurt our communities. They will hurt our local brewers and distillers. Please consider a “no” vote on Propositions 124, 125 and 126.

Scott and Mandy Gauldin, New Castle Liquors

Kevin and Sharon Brady, Cooper Wine & Spirits

Russ Huether, El Jebel Liquors

Reality of Boebert

I just read Deborah Boerner’s (Ridgway) letter to the editor. Although it is very nice, the information is not all accurate. 

Be that as it may, it’s Boebert’s religious comments that are scary for a U.S. Representative. She has stated publicly that the world is ending and get ready for the second coming of Christ: Christianity should run government, not vice versa; and there should not be a separation of church and state. 

I’m sorry, but there is no room for this talk in Congress. Our forefathers purposely left that thinking out of our Constitution. We were not founded as a Christian nation. Boebert needs to keep her religious beliefs to herself. And while she’s at it, fact-check the reality of her accomplishments.

Lon P. Winston, Carbondale

Vote for 2C: Accommodations tax for workforce housing 

If passed, 2C provides needed funding and practical solutions for making housing more affordable for our workforce. 2C is funded by a modest 2.5% lodging tax that will be paid for by those visiting our community, not locals. The investments 2C makes possible are proven, common sense strategies that are working well in other communities and make sense for Glenwood Springs. 

Since 2000, the average sales price for a home in Glenwood has nearly quadrupled to just under $800K, a cost far beyond what most working families can afford.To keep pace with housing costs our median income level today would need to be over $170K per year. That’s $100K higher than the current median income level for a two- person household. If we expect local businesses to absorb that, we can expect to pay more for everything.

2C is a sustainable solution that allows us to invest in practical strategies like incentives for accessory dwelling units (ADUs), motel conversions, public-private partnerships, down payment loans and more. 2C will also allow Glenwood to leverage millions of additional dollars to make a larger impact on our housing needs. 

2C’s modest 2.5% lodging tax brings Glenwood’s lodging tax in line with similar communities like Durango, Gunnison, Grand Junction, Basalt, Silverthorne, Crested Butte, Telluride, Pagosa Springs, Leadville, Fruita and Pueblo (which all have higher lodging taxes than we do).

2C has important protections for how the funds can be used (solely for the Glenwood workforce). An independent board will administer the funds and a 20-year sunset and annual audit provide additional accountability.

2C will not drive new growth in Glenwood Springs. Rather, it gives us more influence over development (which will happen regardless of whether 2C passes), so that more of what is built is truly affordable.

So, we have a choice. We can either allow this challenge to continue to spiral out of control, or we can take proactive steps as a community to remedy the situation.

Learn more at yes2cglenwood.org.

Yes for Workforce Housing Committee, Glenwood Springs


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