All sales of gas-powered home lawn mowers, trimmers and leaf blowers would be banned in metro Denver beginning in 2025 to attack severe ozone pollution, according to draft policies circulating at the Regional Air Quality Council and targeted for a vote by statewide authorities later this year. 

The most likely proposals would also ban summer use of existing gas-powered lawn equipment by big institutional users such as schools or parks and maintenance crews beginning in 2025, and by commercial users a year after that. 

Emissions from gas-powered lawn equipment make up a surprisingly high portion of chemicals that bake into summer ozone under Colorado’s hot sun. California already has a sales ban, beginning in 2024. Various Colorado local governments have offered incentives to turn in gas equipment for voucher discounts to buy new electric gear, but a full sales ban and summer-use ban is a big trial balloon the RAQC is floating in early working group drafts.

Read the full story at ColoradoSun.com.

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State legislators have introduced a bill that would create a water-testing program at mobile home parks, addressing residents’ long-standing concerns about water quality.

House Bill 1257, which is sponsored by District 57 Rep. Elizabeth Velasco, D-Garfield County, would require the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to create a water-testing program that covers all mobile home parks in the state by 2028. If the testing finds a water-quality issue, the park owner must come up with a remediation plan and not pass the cost of fixing the problem on to the residents. 

The testing results would be made available to park residents and the public in English, Spanish and other languages. The bill would also require park owners to identify the water source and establish a grant program to help park owners pay for remediation options such as infrastructure upgrades. 

The bill was introduced March 26, and its other sponsors are Rep. Andrew Boesenecker, D- Larimer County, and Sen. Lisa Cutter, D-Jefferson County.

Velasco, who said she lived in mobile home parks growing up, said she has heard complaints from residents about discolored water that stains clothes, smells and tastes bad, causes skin rashes, and breaks appliances. But often, those complaints go unaddressed because the water may still meet the standards of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Safe Drinking Water Act. 

“The odor, the taste, the color, those are secondary traits of the water, according to these regulations,” Velasco said. “These issues are in low-income communities, majority people of color. These issues are not happening to wealthy families.”

Water quality in mobile home parks is an environmental-justice issue for the Latino community. According to the Colorado Latino Climate Justice Policy Handbook, nearly 20% of Latino households live in mobile homes. And according to survey results in the 2022 Colorado Latino Policy Agenda, 41% of mobile home residents said they do not trust or drink the water in their homes. Eighty percent of survey respondents said they support new regulations requiring that mobile home parks provide their residents with clean drinking water. 

Beatriz Soto is executive director of Protegete, a Latino-led environmental initiative of Conservation Colorado that developed the climate justice handbook. Conservation Colorado supports the bill. Soto, who also lived in mobile home parks in the Roaring Fork valley, said for years she has heard the same complaints Velasco did about water quality, so she knew it was a top priority for the Latino community. The survey results confirmed the anecdotes.

“This is not just little things we are hearing here and there in the community; this is a bigger issue,” Soto said. “When you work two jobs and you have to drive two hours to work and you come home and have to go to a laundromat because you can’t wash your clothes at your residence, there’s a real cumulative impact of living under those conditions.” 

The Aspen-to-Parachute region has 55 parks, which combined have about 3,000 homes and 15,000 to 20,000 residents. Mobile home parks are some of the last neighborhoods of nonsubsidized affordable housing left in the state and provide crucial worker housing, especially in rural and resort areas. 

Residents have complained about the water quality in some parks for years, but agencies have lacked the regulatory authority to enforce improvements. Recently, residents in parks near Durango and in Summit County have lacked running water for weeks at a time.

Voces Unidas de las Montanas, a Latino-led advocacy nonprofit that is based in Colorado’s central mountains and works in the Roaring Fork Valley, is one of the organizations leading Clean Water for All Colorado, a committee that helped to craft the legislation. 

“Many of us who grew up in mobile home parks, myself included, have always known and normalized buying bottled water from the store, and it’s because we don’t trust our water,” said Alex Sanchez, president and CEO of Voces Unidas. “Many residents have been complaining and calling for action for decades, and no one has answered their call.” 

Sanchez said the bill is his organization’s No. 1 legislative priority this session.

Rocky Mountain Home Association and Colorado Manufactured Housing Coalition oppose the bill. Tawny Peyton, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Home Association, said the mobile home park industry has been bombarded with sweeping law changes in recent years, causing confusion and additional operation and legal costs. Laws enacted in 2019, 2020 and 2022 granted extra protections to mobile home park residents. 

“The Rocky Mountain Home Association is concerned with the entire bill,” Peyton said in an email. “Why is the mobile home park industry being singly targeted with this legislation? Industry was not made aware that mobile home park water quality was such an issue that a 23-page bill was warranted.”

Bill proponents acknowledge that the issue may take years to get resolved and that new regulations would be just the first step toward gathering data and assessing the problem. 

“This is just a first stab at trying to resolve this issue,” Soto said. “This is establishing a framework to start testing and get all the information and documenting all the water sources for mobile home parks to determine what is the problem.”

House Bill 1257 is scheduled for a hearing by the Transportation, Housing and Local Government Committee on Wednesday.

Aspen Journalism covers water and rivers in collaboration with the Glenwood Springs Post Independent and The Aspen Times. For more, go to www.aspenjournalism.org. 

The current Colorado House District 57 representative and two west-Garfield County communities would be drawn out of the northwestern Colorado legislative district under the current proposal before the state’s Independent Redistricting Commission.

The Commission on June 29 released the preliminary state House, Senate and Congressional district maps that are to be reviewed over the next several months, including opportunities for public input.

As currently drawn, though, state Rep. Perry Will, R-New Castle, would no longer reside in House District 57, which he now represents.

Will lives on rural Garfield Creek Road south of New Castle.

As currently configured, that area, along with the population centers of Rifle and Silt, would become part of a swath of south-central Garfield County proposed to be moved into the House District 55, along with the rural portions of Mesa County and the northern reaches of Delta County.

District 57 would continue to include the remainder of Garfield County, including the population centers of Parachute-Battlement Mesa, New Castle, Glenwood Springs and Carbondale, plus all of Rio Blanco, Moffat and Routt counties, including Steamboat Springs.

“Changes in population necessitated the splitting of some counties,” explained Jeremiah Berry, a member of the Legislative Legal Services staff who is the managing attorney for the Independent Redistricting Commission.

In order to gain population in District 55, the section of Garfield County was needed to meet the goal of having equal population in each of the state legislative districts, he said.

State legislative and Congressional districts are redrawn every 10 years in conjunction with the federal census. Colorado voters in 2018 approved state Constitutional Amendments Y and Z, which set up the nonpartisan Independent Redistricting Commission.

According to the commission’s rules, new districts cannot be drawn for the purpose of protecting incumbent legislators or declared candidates for specific seats in the Colorado General Assembly or Congress.

According to the rules, the districts must:

• Have equal population, as required by the U.S. Constitution, with a population deviation of no more than 5% between the most populous and the least populous district in each chamber

• Be composed of contiguous geographic areas

• Comply with the federal “Voting Rights Act of 1965,” as amended

• Preserve whole communities of interest and whole political subdivisions, such as counties, cities and towns; however, a division of a county, city, city and county, or town is permitted where a community of interest’s legislative issues are more essential to the fair and effective representation of residents of the district. When the commission divides a county, city, city and county, or town, it shall minimize the number of divisions of that county, city, city and county, or town.

• Be as compact as is reasonably possible

• Maximize the number of politically competitive districts

The commission is now launching a series of presentations and public hearings across the state on the proposed new state legislative and congressional districts. A virtual hearing was held on Tuesday, and in-person hearings begin later this week.

The first Western Slope hearing is slated for 7 p.m. July 23 in Steamboat Springs, followed by an 11 a.m. July 24 hearing in Craig. The commission will be in Carbondale at 11 a.m. July 31.

Rep. Will was not immediately available for comment Tuesday on the prospect of being drawn out of HD 57.

Garfield County commissioners briefly addressed some concerns about the state redistricting during their regular meeting Tuesday. Commissioners passed a resolution urging the commission to ensure Colorado has two distinct rural congressional districts, preserving the Western Slope and the Eastern Plains as a whole.

“It looks like that’s the direction they’re going, but you never know until it’s done,” Commissioner Tom Jankovsky said of the proposed new 3rd Congressional District on the Western Slope.

The commissioners may want to weigh in on the state redistricting, as well, he said.

“After the roadshow of public hearings concludes, and once Colorado receives the census redistricting data (after Aug. 16), staff will refine the maps and present revisions to the commissions for consideration and approval,” according to a June 29 press release from the Redistricting Commission.

Written public comments will still be taken after that time, as well.

After adopting final state senate and state congressional maps, the commission will submit maps to the Colorado Supreme Court for review and approval.

Senior Reporter/Managing Editor John Stroud can be reached at 970-384-9160 or jstroud@postindependent.com.

Garfield County commissioners are offering their unanimous support for two pieces of legislation and a petition for a hearing on a third being put forth by Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo.

The Board of County Commissioners on Monday signed letters of support for Boebert’s bill seeking to halt President Joe Biden’s 30×30 climate action plan.

Called the “30×30 Termination Act,” and referring to the Biden plan as a “land grab,” the Rifle Republican and freshman 3rd Congressional District representative is trying to build support in the House to stop the effort.

In addition, commissioners on Monday also agreed to sign letters in support of Boebert’s alternative American Infrastructure Modernization (AIM) Act, and a discharge petition to move her Protecting American Energy Jobs Act to the House floor.

Commissioner Mike Samson of Rifle said he recently met with ranchers and other landowners as part of a visit to the Cortez area, where he said there is significant concern over the 30×30 plan.

“They’re very concerned that this could put into wilderness 30% of the land,” Samson said. “This just would wreak terrible havoc on the western United States.”

The plan, put forth by the Biden administration earlier this year, establishes a goal to conserve 30% of the nation’s land and water by the year 2030. It’s part of a broader effort to rein in resource extraction and other land and water uses that emit greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change.

County commissioners said they agree with Boebert’s “land grab” assessment; at least until there’s more clarity about what the president means by land and water conservation, Commissioner Tom Jankovsky said.

“Nobody has addressed the definition of what conservation is,” he said, reiterating that 62% of the land in Garfield County is already controlled by the federal government as public land through the Bureau of Land Management or U.S. Forest Service.

The commissioners have already passed their own resolution in opposition to the 30×30 plan. Commission Chairman John Martin said the plan impacts private as well as public lands, with its push for more conservation easements.

“The third party holder on those conservation easements is the federal government,” he said.

Supporters of the 30×30 plan have said it’s a bold step in the global effort to address climate change, and that the 30% goal could include a variety of conservation measures, not just the most-restrictive wilderness protections.

Meanwhile, Boebert’s proposed AIM Act has been offered up in response to the Biden administration’s more than $2 trillion American Jobs Plan, which focuses on rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure.

However, Boebert has been critical of the plan’s broad definition of infrastructure and its corporate tax funding structure. She says it does little to modernize the nation’s infrastructure, such as surface transportation, airports and shipping ports.

Her proposal would repurpose up to $650 billion in unallocated COVID stimulus funds for state-level grants to pay for infrastructure projects across the country.

“I strongly support this bill, and I think this can be done without new tax increases,” Jankovsky said. “It’s a much cleaner bill, and it gets right to the purpose of infrastructure improvements.”

Lastly, the commissioners agreed to support a “discharge petition” to have the Protecting American Energy Jobs Act put forth by Boebert and U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, formally considered by the House.

The measure would nullify a series of Biden executive orders upon taking office in January that Boebert has referred to as “job killers.” They included the permit revocation for the Keystone XL Pipeline and moratoriums on energy leasing on public lands.

“This is overreach that prevents American energy production, and shuts down development of our natural resources,” Samson said.

Senior Reporter/Managing Editor John Stroud can be reached at 970-384-9160 or jstroud@postindependent.com.

Mayor Jonathan Godes reflected on his experience of being the victim of a low-level crime during a discussion on a proposed justice reform legislation during Thursday night’s council meeting.

“I was a victim of crime recently, my van was stolen. It was resolved very quickly, easily,” Godes said.

The city council deliberated whether or not to send a letter of opposition to their state representatives who will be voting on the bill during the 2021 legislative session in Denver.

“We have great law enforcement officers, but I’ve got to say when the (district attorney) called me to say we caught the guy red handed, in my mind it was like grand theft auto. They said let’s just let this guy off, he’s a transient he won’t come back.”

Godes said as the victim in this case, he felt the man who stole his van shouldn’t be let off so easily.

“That said, he was a transient who struggled with mental illness and he did go away,” Godes said.

The man was released from custody on a personal recognizance bond after telling the judge he wouldn’t be able to afford bond.

“I wasn’t happy with that, but that’s why you don’t let victims write the laws on specific thing,” Godes said.

“Was justice served for me? Probably not, but at the end of the day do I want someone with mental illness who has a supportive family back in Kansas City to get support over my lust for revenge?”

Godes suggested that no action be taken by the council.

Glenwood Springs Police Chief Joseph Deras requested the council to send a letter to legislators formally opposing the bill, noting that it would be symbolic at the very least.

Deras said it was also his role to inform the council of pending legislation and changes to law that will have an impact on the local community.

Councilor Charlie Wilman, who also works as an attorney, said the bill would cost municipalities more money.

“It actually costs more money because you can’t issue the bench warrant unit they fail to appear three times, and you have to send a police officer out there to issue the bench warrant,” Wilman said.

“They don’t treat these secondary citations as anything important. As a lawyer, my view is that it interferes in the efficient administration of justice.”

Councilor Tony Hershey said he believes that the bill will pass in some form, regardless of whether letters are sent in opposition of it.

“During COVID, there’s nothing easier than showing up in court. But people still fail to appear, and that just slows down the administrative justice,” Hershey said.

“We don’t know the final form of the bill.”

Deras said people in the community have been assaulted and the person who assaulted them has returned, such was the case when a man was charged with assaulting a business owner downtown, who was arrested then immediately released due to COVID policy changes.

Sean Hurt, 37, was charged with misdemeanor assault which is not considered to be at a level that would classify as a violent crime. Hurt was arrested for harassment and resisting arrest after being involved in another incident involving a business downtown.

“What arrests are typically designed to do is interrupt the cycle of violence or crime pattern,” Deras said. “Really what’s happened here these bills have been designed to favor the defendant and not so much the victim in these crimes.”

Councilor Shelley Kaup echoed Deras’ comments, saying that it appears that the legislation goes too far.

“It’s not the answer that we need or the answer that works for our community,” Kaup said.

Councilors Ingrid Wussow and Paula Stepp said they feel the information they have been provided on the legislation is only the tip of the iceberg and would like to hear more from supporters of the bill about what it would accomplish.

A motion to not send a letter failed 3-4, with Godes, Wussow and Stepp voting aye.

Stepp then reversed her position and said she’d vote yes to send a letter for the sake of public safety.

Council members Kaup, Hershey, Davis and Stepp voted aye.

The motion to send a letter in opposition to District 8 Sen. Bob Rankin and District 57 Rep. Perry Will passed on a 5-2 vote.

The two Republican state legislators represent Garfield County.

A fiscal analysis by the Colorado Legislative Council Staff estimates that the bill would cost the Colorado State Judicial Department $51,107.

“This bill is expected to result in an overall cost savings to local governments; however, costs will both increase and decrease,” the document states.

Cost savings is expected to be seen for county jails, but costs would increase for district attorney offices and county and municipal courts.

“The bill’s potential to create additional hearings will impact district attorney office workload, as well as revenue and costs in the Denver County Court, which is managed and funded by the City and County of Denver, and municipal courts,” the document states.

“Local law enforcement agencies may have additional costs to train officers on the new procedures created by the bill.”

Reporter Shannon Marvel can be reached at 605-350-8355 or smarvel@postindependent.com.

Editor’s note: This story was first published by the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.

And the hits keep on coming.

No matter what newly minted Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., says or does, whether one finds it appropriate or not, there’s someone, somewhere who will attack the Republican congresswoman for saying or doing it.

It doesn’t stop either, and oftentimes, it’s downright nasty.

Last fall, candidate Boebert was the subject of attack ads that included old arrest photos posted on billboards. Now, the billboards instead call for Boebert to be expelled from her position.

But what her opponents don’t seem to understand is that to Boebert’s fans, the more they attack the freshman lawmaker, the more emboldened she — and they — become. All it does is get her supporters to rally behind the Silt Republican, her allies and some political observers say.

“She will have a very solid majority that will stick with her,” said longtime GOP political consultant and former Colorado Republican Party Chairman Dick Wadhams. “I wish she would tone down some of her tweets, but the base that loves her, and will support her regardless what the scenario is, they do like it and they do believe in her.”

RISING STAR

Those observers say that Boebert, who did not respond to requests for comment on this article, knew exactly what she was doing when she first entered the race to defeat 10-year incumbent Scott Tipton in the GOP primary last summer. And, they say, she knows what she’s doing now, at least politically.

She played to Republican base beliefs, used conservative talk radio expertly and continues to taunt her opponents and feed fresh fodder to her supporters on social media, and doing so in former President Donald Trump-like fashion, several times a day.

She does it with a savvy that few anticipated or can compete with, Wadhams and others said.

In that way, she’s nearly fulfilled her first campaign promise, to be the conservative version of her arch rival: AOC, also known as U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, an outspoken New York Democrat.

Like Boebert when it comes to defending conservative issues in her first months in office, Ocasio-Cortez, too, quickly became a national hit to her party in pushing liberal ideals during her first congressional term in 2019.

Like Boebert, Ocasio-Cortez came from humble beginnings, working as a waitress (Boebert owns Shooter’s Grill restaurant in Rifle) before running for office for the first time. She, too, defeated a congressional veteran, former U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley, in a Democratic primary.

And like Boebert, Ocasio-Cortez became a frequent guest on numerous cable news programs and talk shows that had some calling her the new face of the Democratic Party.

Boebert is quickly becoming that for the Republican Party, said Floyd Ciruli, a University of Denver public opinion and foreign policy professor, who also is director of DU’s Crossley Center for Public Opinion Research.

“She is now a national media star, a national fundraising star, and she will have the full backing of most Republicans who both want to save the seat and those who are of the Trump ilk,” Ciruli said. “There may be some Republicans that are simply put off by her, particularly if she does something more rash than she’s done, but I don’t think there’s anything she’s done so far that is, well, let’s just say that if I put her on a rating with (U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor) Greene, she’s less radical.”

The thing about all this, Wadhams and Ciruli say, is that either the Democrats don’t care how negative they go against Boebert in their attempts to unseat her, or they just don’t have enough arrows in their quiver to do anything else.

At some point, their tactics will reach a point of diminishing returns, if it hasn’t already, they said, adding that the more Democrats point out what they believe are Boebert’s character flaws, the more her supporters see the opposite in her.

“Does it hurt her? Probably not, and I think the Democrats overestimate their ability to make that an issue,” added Wadhams. “I don’t think a lot of Democrats fundamentally understand the culturally conservative nature of the district.”

MEAT AND BACON

That may be partly because Democrats in the conservative-leaning 3rd Congressional District aren’t like other Democrats, the two men said. They are more akin to blue collar voters in Michigan, Wisconsin or Pennsylvania than they are to East Coast — or even Denver — Democrats.

The more left those Front Range Democrats push the state with their agenda, the more right 3rd CD voters will go, particularly when it comes to such things as gun regulations, land and agricultural issues or energy production. So-called liberal voters in the district tend to side with conservatives on those matters, Wadhams and Ciruli said.

Last year’s referendum to reintroduce wolves to the Western Slope is one example. Another is a proposed 2022 ballot measure that would impose stricter laws concerning animal cruelty, also known as the Pause Act, particularly when it comes to how livestock are raised and slaughtered.

“The MeatOut resolution and this proposition that may be going onto the ballot to ban a bunch of procedures that farmers and ranchers rely on to make their living, every time that happens it tends to define Democrats as generally out of touch with the cultural background of the 3rd CD,” Wadhams said. “Democrats continue to give the image they’re just moving headlong to the left. I don’t think they have any idea just how much damage they do to their brand outside the Denver metro area when they do this kind of stuff.”

The concept of “bringing home the bacon” in judging a lawmaker’s worth is no longer defined by how many federal dollars they can divert to their home districts.

“Bringing home the bacon, that’s sort of our (political) theory, to us older guys,” Ciruli said. “Ask (former U.S. Sen.) Cory Gardner about bringing home the bacon. He brought home so much bacon, it was unbelievable. Today, the bacon is symbolic. It’s more like, are you out fighting for me? Did you take on (former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke) on guns? She’s scored a lot of points on all of that, and she’s good at it. She gets right up to the lights. She knows how to get on TV.”

REDISTRICTING

Currently, a handful of Democratic candidates have announced plans to seek their party’s nomination to challenge Boebert in 2022. More may come and go after the state’s new Congressional Redistricting Commission redraws district lines when they finally get U.S. Census data later this year.

Because Colorado’s population has greatly increased over the past decade, the state is expected to gain an eighth congressional seat. That means district lines, particularly for the expansive 3rd CD, could be dramatically altered.

Currently, party affiliation in the district favors Republicans by about 5 percentage points, about the same margin that Boebert won last fall. It either will remain about the same, become more competitive or turn into a relatively safe seat for Republicans.

As a result, some candidates may choose not to announce until that is known, such as Senate President Leroy Garcia, a Pueblo Democrat who is considered by some, including Wadhams and Ciruli, as offering the Dems their best chance at winning the seat.

About half a dozen have already announced their bids, including two of Garcia’s colleagues in the Colorado Legislature: Sen. Kerry Donovan, D-Vail, and Rep. Donald Valdez, whose already earned the endorsement of two Democratic Pueblo County commissioners.

For now, Donovan is considered the Democratic frontrunner, but her problem is that while the vast majority of her Senate district is in the 3rd, she lives in Vail, which isn’t (although her family’s ranch where she also works is in Wolcott, which is in the district).

That may change with redistricting, but it won’t help her win support from Pueblo, a Democratic stronghold that has voted conservative in recent years. Boebert, for example, only lost that county by about half a percentage point.

For a Democrat to take the district, winning Pueblo by a much wider margin is a must, and that’s assuming Pueblo still is in the district by next year’s elections.

Garcia, who hasn’t yet revealed his future political plans, said that Pueblo voters are just like many others in the 3rd CD, they have an independent mindset and prefer candidates who are genuine, and have a clear idea of what they want to accomplish.

Garcia, who is term limited and can’t run for his state Senate seat again, said that partly explains why Tipton repeatedly won Pueblo, but is uncertain voters there, or anywhere else in the district, will continue to buy what Boebert is selling if she doesn’t show she’s doing things to address her constituents’ chief concerns.

“There’s something to be said about someone who’s willing to fight, but there’s also something to be said about someone who understands when you should fight,” Garcia said. “As a Marine who served in Iraq in 2003, I’m always fascinated by some of her rhetoric about freedom and defending and the Constitution. She wants to portray herself as having that good fight, but I would say it’s just a tweet, it’s just a Facebook post. You’re not having a real fight. You’re not actually representing your constituents. You’re just tweeting.”

ON DEAF EARS

Despite long-established political thinking that holds that while negative campaigning can motivate a candidate’s political base, it tends to alienate centrists and moderate voters, particularly if it goes on for too long.

Despite that, several groups that have already lined up to attack Boebert whenever and wherever possible show no signs of stopping.

In addition to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Colorado Turnout Project, Rural Colorado United and the Brady PAC have all lined up to join the fight to unseat Boebert, and none of them are waiting for next year’s election to start.

Brian Lemek, executive director the Brady PAC, a sister organization of Brady, a national group dedicated to the enactment of laws to reduce gun violence, doesn’t buy into a premise that too much negative campaigning against Boebert might backfire and help her get re-elected.

That group, like the others, plan to make unseating Boebert their top priority in the 2022 races.

“The more we reveal and shed light on her efforts to grow her own personal brand versus being a good legislator for her constituents in Colorado (3rd CD), the more people will be aware that this woman is out for herself, she is not out for us,” Lemek said. “What is she doing on our key issues for the district? You can look, and not even that hard, and see nothing. We just reveal the truth. We trust Colorado 3 constituents to make their own decisions.”

Mesa County Commissioner Janet Rowland, who started supporting Boebert since before she first announced her congressional bid in 2019, said that negative tactic absolutely will backfire.

Currently, Rowland is part of a local effort that is trying to defuse the political vitriol that has grown exponentially nationwide, much of which she says is a direct result of social media and users’ proclivity to spread negative comments, oftentimes without having command of all the facts.

When it comes to Boebert, Rowland says most people just haven’t taken the time to get to know her and fully understand what she stands for, but instead listen to their own echo chambers that reverberate only the messages they want to hear.

“It usually comes from people who have never met her, so they have this perception of who she is and what she believes and the type of person she is, and they look for things that will prove their belief, instead of taking things on face value,” Rowland said.

“When you know someone personally, and you hear some outrageous claims about them, you tend to give them the benefit of the doubt,” she added. “When you don’t know a person, and when you don’t make any attempt to know that person, if you have a negative concept about that person, you just run with it whether they are true or not.”

Regardless, get ready for more, because both sides are just clearing their throats.

Garfield County commissioners are likely to weigh in once again on federal lands policy, following the recent flurry of executive orders by President Joe Biden furthering his administration’s climate crisis plan goals.

A temporary ban on oil and gas leasing on federal lands is a chief concern given Garfield County’s reliance on tax revenues from that industry, commissioners said.

Beyond that, the lofty land conservation goals included in the plan are worrisome, as well, commissioners said during their regular meeting earlier this week.

“More than 450 different governments and individuals signed on to support this, and we need that many to say they don’t support it,” Commissioner Tom Jankovsky said.

“This just continues to take Western counties to their knees, where we won’t have economic development … from use of our public lands,” he said.

Biden’s “30×30” plan aimed at conserving 30% of the nation’s lands by the year 2030 has other impacts beyond restrictions on energy development, all three commissioners concurred.

“This is a political promise done by the Biden administration for the environmental groups,” Commissioner John Martin said. “They are holding the president to his promise … and that’s what we will be up against … we’ll have no fossil fuels whatsoever.”

So far, there are no federal dollars allocated to try to achieve the land conservation goals, Jankovsky offered.

“To take 30% of our public lands and basically sterilize them by not having them available for logging, minerals, roads, recreation … I just can’t go along with that,” Jankovsky said.

He added that it’s unclear whether cattle grazing would be protected under the plan, and even the move to place conservation easements on private land is concerning.

“These conservation easements could go against the economic goals of the county, if they involve resource lands and you can’t get to those minerals,” he said, suggesting maybe county approval of conservation easements be required through land-use codes.

Area conservation groups have been among the supporters of the new president’s conservation and climate protection goals.

“President Biden’s inspiring 30×30 pledge willsupport additional protected lands and waters across Colorado and centers environmental justice in our most at-risk communities,” said Will Roush, executive director for the Carbondale-based Wilderness Workshop.

“We’re also excited to continue advocating for permanent protections of the Thompson Divide through the CORE Act under the current administration,” Roush said of the proposed legislation that was just reintroduced Wednesday by Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, both of Colorado.

County commissioners directed Deputy County Manager Fred Jarman to draw up a resolution for consideration in the near future stating the county’s opposition to the 30×30 plan.

Commissioner Mike Samson said Garfield County’s resolution could be used as a boilerplate for other Western United States counties and municipalities with similar concerns to issue statements, as well.

jstroud@postindependent.com

Garfield County commissioners, while decrying the violent actions at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, offered no criticism Monday of Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., for statements some say helped incite the insurrection.

Debbie Bruell of Carbondale asked the commissioners during their regular meeting Monday if they would join other elected leaders from the 3rd Congressional District in holding Boebert accountable for statements she made before, during and after the Capitol riots.

Bruell, a member of the county Democratic Party Central Committee, said she was addressing the commissioners simply as a constituent.

However, she referred to a Jan. 12 letter signed by 68 elected officials in Boebert’s district calling for a Congressional investigation into the freshman congresswoman’s association with right-wing militant groups.

Bruell said some of those same groups had known ties to the Capitol violence.

The letter cites Boebert’s statements on the floor of the U.S. House as the Capitol was being breached by violent supporters of former President Donald Trump, and in social media posts, calling her actions “irresponsible and reprehensible.”

“Whether or not you condemn Rep. Boebert’s actions, this does continue to matter. This issue is not over,” Bruell said.

Boebert has denied any association with the groups that stormed the Capitol, and has condemned the actions by some of the protesters that day.

She said her “Today is 1776” tweet the morning of the Jan. 6 congressional vote accepting the Electoral College vote confirming Democrat Joe Biden as President, which she opposed, was not intended to prompt the violence that occurred.

“For the three of you to remain silent on this issue is an indication that you support Rep. Boebert and find nothing wrong with her statements surrounding the insurrection,” Bruell added.

Commissioner Tom Jankovsky, who spoke at a Freedom Rally Saturday organized by the conservative group Stay Free Colorado, said he opposes all forms of violence, regardless of political motivation.

“I’m opposed to all violence, and that includes not only the violence at the Capitol, but all the violence that happened all summer,” he said of riots associated with some of the Black Lives Matter rallies across the country.

“There’s a way for us to protest and talk, and that is peacefully,” he said, pointing to the Saturday rally in Glenwood Springs and Sheriff Lou Vallario’s comments supporting free speech and freedom of assembly.

“But the sheriff also said, as soon as somebody breaks one window or starts to destroy property, he will step in and arrest people according to the law,” Jankovsky said.

Jankovsky said he paid little attention to what Boebert, or any of the national elected officials, were saying during or after the incident in Washington, D.C.

“I’m a local politician, elected to deal with local issues,” he said.

Commission Chairman John Martin seconded that.

“Ms. Boebert is an elected official, and if she says something she has to stand up and take credit or the criticism for it, just as I do,” Martin said, adding he also disapproves of the violent actions that occurred. “I’m not judging any of the elected officials in Congress, because it’s a total mess in Congress right now.

“I’ll just pay attention to what’s going on in Glenwood Springs, Garfield County, Carbondale … that’s what I was elected to do.”

jstroud@postindependent.com

Glenwood Springs restaurant owner Ricardo “Ricky” Rodriguez made it official Wednesday that he intends to challenge Glenwood City Councilor Shelley Kaup for an At-Large seat in the April 6 City Council election.

Rodriguez was busy Wednesday gathering a few more signatures of registered voters in Glenwood Springs to make his candidacy official, after falling just short of the required number of valid signatures on his candidate petition submitted Monday.

He technically has until Feb. 2 to cure his nominating petition, and said late Wednesday that he had already turned in the remaining signatures he needed.

“Glenwood is my home,” Rodriguez said in a written statement, noting that his parents immigrated from Mexico and “brought me up with the values of hard work, loyalty and commitment to my community.”

Rodriguez was born in Glenwood Springs, which inspired the name of his Native Son restaurant and bar in downtown Glenwood that replaced his former venture, the Loyal Bros. Lounge, in spring 2018.

“I grew up watching the American dream come to life through the incredible example of my mom and dad,” Rodriguez said. “When they became citizens of this country, the vision of unlimited opportunity through hard work was afforded to me and my siblings. I am forever grateful.”

Rodriguez, 41, has been an outspoken critic of some of the city’s policies related to what he says were sometimes onerous restrictions imposed on restaurants and other businesses in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Currently, we are lacking a voice who can speak up for small business owners, for our thriving Latino community and for a younger, more diverse generation that is growing up here in our valley,” Rodriguez said. “I know we are ready for a new generation of leadership …

“I believe my life experiences and success as a business owner through challenging and nearly impossible circumstances will serve to help our community thrive in this post-pandemic era,” he said. “I believe we can work together to create more choices and options that will bring the prosperity Glenwood needs to thrive once again.”

Kaup, who is seeking reelection to another four-year term after being elected in 2017 to one of two At-Large City Council seats, said she looks forward to hearing from voters about what matters most to them, and what they expect from city leaders.

“I always expected this would be a contested race,” Kaup said. “I look forward to the election and the campaign, and I think it’s a great time to have conversations in the community.”

Kaup noted in her own reelection bid announcement Jan. 14 that the city has done its best to support local businesses while protecting public health.

“This year has certainly been a challenge for small businesses, and I believe the city has done all that we can to find that balance and keep businesses and the community healthy, and help them thrive,” she said.

“I’ve also been a small business owner in this community for many years and I recognize the challenges,” said Kaup, who ran an engineering business for many years and has recently worked as a building sustainability and energy efficiency consultant.

“My husband and I raised a family here, so I know the struggles of young people trying to live and succeed here,” she said. “And, I will continue to be a strong advocate in our outreach to people of all colors and backgrounds as we seek to have more community interaction and engagement by everyone.”

Ward seats to go uncontested

While the At-Large seat will be contested in the April 6 election, the Wards 2 and 5 seats — held respectively by Ingrid Wussow and Jonathan Godes — that are also up for election, will go uncontested.

Godes, who for the past two years has served as the council-appointed mayor, said he was surprised to hear no other candidates put in for the south Glenwood ward seat.

“In general, I don’t think that uncontested elections are great, but it’s nice to not have to run a campaign,” Godes said. “Overall, I think the community seems to feel that we are working hard to understand the issues and reflect the will of our citizens.

“While Shelley, Ingrid and I don’t always get it ‘right,’ and while we don’t always agree with each other, we respect each other, the staff and the process. I think that the people appreciate that,” Godes said.

Wussow, who was appointed to the vacant Ward 2 seat last fall to represent the West Glenwood area, said she, too, was expecting a challenge.

“Truthfully, for the purposes of a democratic, fair election, it’s nice to have a choice,” she said. “But I’m honored in this situation to be able to continue representing Ward 2.”

jstroud@postindependent.com

There will be at least one contested race for Glenwood Springs City Council in the April 6 election.

Native Son Restaurant and Bar owner Ricky Rodriguez was the only non-incumbent candidate to submit his petition by the Monday deadline. He intends to run for the At-Large seat against incumbent Shelley Kaup.

Rodriguez was not immediately available for comment on Tuesday, but indicated in a text message that he plans to make a formal announcement about his City Council bid on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, unless a write-in candidate emerges in the next few days, it appears Ward 5 Councilor and current Mayor Jonathan Godes and recently appointed Ward 2 Councilor Ingrid Wussow will be running unopposed.

According to city of Glenwood Springs Public Information Officer Hannah Klausman, no other candidate petitions were received by the 5 p.m. Monday deadline.

Kaup announced her bid for reelection on Jan. 14, while Godes and Wussow made their intentions known a few days later.

Rodriguez has been an often-outspoken critic of the city’s COVID-19 response and restrictions on restaurants and other businesses over the past year, including the city’s downtown mask requirement. Recently, he penned a guest column that ran in the Post Independent addressing some of those concerns.

jstroud@postindependent.com