Childcare access shouldn’t depend on luck

When I learned I was pregnant with my first child, I called every childcare provider I could find and got on every list in our community. I soon learned that, at six weeks pregnant, I was too late — there were hundreds of families ahead of me in line. One place told me there was a three-year waitlist for their infant room. I would have had to get on these waitlists before I was pregnant, before I was married, even before I knew I would be living in this community.

Eleven months later, when I returned to work after maternity leave, my baby still wasn’t enrolled in full-time care. Like so many families, we pieced it together — we made it work. It was another added stress in an already stressful time. I was finally able to find a full-time spot, but it prolonged my daily commute by an hour. This is a common story in our community; the high cost and scarce spots are a strain on so many working parents. Finally, we found a wonderful place a lot closer (but only because I happened to overhear another mom in a coffee shop talking about a new childcare center opening up).

Childcare access shouldn’t hinge on luck or chance or privilege. Every parent in our community should be able to find and choose the childcare option that works best for them. And every childcare environment — be it a licensed facility, a home-based childcare, or a family member, friend or neighbor — should have the resources needed to provide young children with the best early experiences.

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Children’s early years set the stage for the rest of their lives, and ensuring children in our communities have access to developmentally supportive childcare supports resilience and future school success, and builds a stronger community for all of us.

I am voting yes on 7A because it will support families, and it will support the early childhood workers who are some of the most important people in a young child’s life. Let’s make sure we take care of them as they care for our children.

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Sally Boughton, New Castle

Vote for Tammy Nimmo

I’m writing to encourage voters to choose Tamara “Tammy” Nimmo for the Roaring Fork School District Board of Education.

When I brought my twins to kindergarten orientation at Crystal River Elementary School in 2023, Tammy was among the first to welcome me. As PTO president, she assured me that my children would be in very good hands and walked me through how I could support the school with PTO.

For years, Tammy has led CRES fundraisers, organized impactful staff appreciation efforts, asked thoughtful questions during school accountability meetings and successfully worked to increase parental involvement. I’ve even seen her don a sweaty Ram character suit to cheer on kids running laps — this woman will do whatever it takes to support our public schools.

Tammy loves this community more than anyone I know, and she shows it by serving with humility and dedication. We will be lucky to have her on the school board. Vote for Tammy.

Kassidy Birdsong, New Castle

Who’s unreliable?

If I hear one more time that renewable energy can’t meet our nation’s power needs because it’s unreliable, I’m going to pitch a fit. Yes, the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow, but with battery storage, the juice can keep right on flowing.

As for reliability, let’s look at Xcel Energy’s Comanche 3 coal plant in Pueblo, the state’s largest power source and greenhouse gas emitter. It had 138 days of unplanned outages for parts in the two years starting in August 2023.

Comanche 3 was a lemon from the get-go. It fired up in 2010, a year late, and was down 91 days in its first decade. Unlike renewables, fossil fuel plants don’t come back quickly after outages. Do you call that reliable?

Now, Pueblo County is asking the Trump administration to intervene and postpone Comanche 3’s planned 2030 shutdown date, presumably to meet future energy demands of data centers and electric vehicle charging. But current data shows global renewable production is exceeding demand. In the first half of this year, solar energy has increased 31%, wind 7.7%, while demand has fallen slightly.

For the benefit of you deniers out there, let’s not even mention climate change. I know you love to consider finances — and renewables are way cheaper. The fuels for fossil fuel plants, coal and methane gas, are very expensive, and wind and solar are free.

Fred Malo Jr., Carbondale

Don’t normalize dictatorship

Can life feel normal under a dictator? Many Germans, in Hitler’s rise to power, ignored the increasing brutality and repression of others as long as it didn’t affect them personally. While we need to still have fun and socialize with friends and neighbors, we can’t allow ourselves to normalize what is happening.

We have a president who ignores court rulings, sends the military against U.S. citizens and lives in a paranoid state unrelated to reality. While his popularity is underwater, he still retains about 40% approval. The good news is that only 27% strongly approve, while 47% strongly disapprove. Speak out and move that disapproval even higher.

Red or blue, don’t let this administration turn us against each other. Instead, let’s stand together for the foundations of democracy — our Constitution, separation of powers and free speech. We can be tough without turning a blind eye to an administration that is ignoring our freedoms and our rule of law.

Please join the resistance at a rally and march in Glenwood Springs sponsored by Mountain Action Indivisible from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Oct. 18, at Bethel Plaza (under the bridge) in Glenwood Springs.

Phi Filerman, Carbondale

Stand strong against partisanship

On Tuesday, Oct. 7, I attended the Roaring Fork School District School Board Candidate Forum, and I felt a bit ashamed when Kathryn Kuhlenberg, the incumbent and clearly the strongest candidate on the stage, said very specifically that she did not want a partisan race. She wants this race to be about the good of the students and families. While all candidates claimed the same, I have my doubts that all candidates want this.

I internalized this and even slept on it. I believe that a nonpartisan race is what Tammy Nimmo and Kathryn truly want, but I also believe that partisanship is sitting with them at the table, funded by out-of-state organizations, and is energetically running to beat them. I believe that, for the sake of the children, the partisanship — MAGA ideology — must be exposed and fought head-on.

In last night’s forum, the MAGA candidates (yes, I’m going to use that term) soft-walked their previous campaign-killing words about concealed carry, backed off some but did not abandon it. They could not hold back their disdain for DEI, alleging that schools focus on DEI and not individual children’s needs. They could not stifle their lack of empathy for families struggling with LGBTQ issues when referring to school “gender policy.”

I understand the desire to run a clean, fair and friendly campaign — it’s a small valley. But remember Kamala? To Kathryn and Tammy, keep being who you are and focusing on what is best for the children and our schools.

You see, many of us are upset and defeated to the core by recent political events. The fight is no longer in Washington — it is in our communities. Our frustration must now turn into action. We are not powerless here. We have the conviction, the intellect and the resources to protect our schools and families from MAGA influence. It is not a time for shame; it is a time for strength.

Susan Sullivan, Carbondale

Support candidates who see every student

I am Nikole Simecek, and I am a graduate of Basalt High School and a current educator in the Roaring Fork School District. I am writing to express my views on school safety and its relationship to our school board election.

On Oct. 7, the Basalt Education Foundation held a forum for the school board candidates. One of the questions was regarding school safety. Two candidates, Elizabeth Taylor and Jodi Barr, expressed concerns about school safety from both internal and external threats, citing internal threats as gender and sexuality education, and external threats as gun violence and general school safety, with solutions ranging from curricula transparency to arming teachers, closing campuses, decreasing focus on DEI and focusing on wellness education.

My opinion, as someone who is inside our schools every single day, is that these solutions are not realistic or beneficial to students. Arming teachers may feel like a threat to some of our most vulnerable populations and increases the probability of gun-related violence simply by proximity. Removing gender and sexuality education may cause students to feel unwelcome and unseen in their classrooms. Decreasing DEI practices is directly correlated to decreasing equity.

The stated goal of these solutions from Elizabeth and Jodi was to decrease student anxiety and increase educational outcomes. The research, however, says that educational outcomes increase when students feel safe, seen, respected, cared for and are taught equitably.

Jodi said that we should treat all students the exact same way regardless of race, language or culture. I can tell you from firsthand experience that if that’s how we treat our students, our students lose.

Our strength in the RFSD is that we see each student for who they are and what they can bring to the table — and that is a beautiful idea and a worthy goal. I believe that Tamara “Tammy” Nimmo and Kathryn Kuhlenberg see that in our schools and will continue advocating for our students, which is why they have my vote for school board.

Nikole Simecek, Carbondale