Adams County
Republican Assembly

 This is to say THANK YOU to every one of you for your commitment, the time and work it took to ensure success at your location and to make sure that the phone and materials chains came off without a hitch.  In case you have not heard, Adams was (by a long shot!) the first large county to report its straw-poll results.  We have had a thank you for that from State Party and even a "congratulations" from Lynn Bartels at the Denver Post!  It would not have happened without every single caucus leader and caucus manager.

 Many people contributed to the preparations.  We owe them all our thanks.  We especially owe a debt of gratitude to the Caucus Committee.  They worked from Aug or Sept, meeting nearly every week, to design and print the caucus materials, to set up and conduct caucus leader training, and to label, collate and assemble all 245 precinct packets.

The committee:

Grace Heaney, chair; Veda and Dennis Butler; Val Brown; Kirby Dunsmore; Bob McCoy; Peggy Tapey.  One of their number, Hilary House, is also the extremely talented person who designed the two on-line courses (that were taken by more than 350 people!) and learned an entirely new program in order to get the programs on line.

 On the data front, Kim Gillan – the programmer and guru for our new and developing Complete Data Management System — and Bob McCoy put their noses to the grindstone.  Kim has been working on the CDMS for a year, and is now teaching us how to transfer all the caucus information into it.  This will be the first major transfer of event/ experience-based data into the system!

 I wish I could thank by name all the people who worked behind the scenes to make Tuesday night a success.  The list would be long.  I am so proud and appreciative of the number of folks in AdCo Republicans who are stepping up to do the hard jobs involved in political party work.  We are already making a difference.

 My profound thanks.

Patty McCoy

Chair, AdCo Republicans     

Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum upended the race for the Republican nomination Tuesday, winning three states, including Colorado.

Colorado's race see-sawed throughout the night until 11 p.m., when Colorado GOP chairman Ryan Call declared Santorum the winner, beating Mitt Romney 40 percent to 35 percent with 99 percent of precincts reporting.

"This is a major upset," said Denver-based political analyst Floyd Ciruli. "Definitely, there is a new story now."

Even Romney, who easily won Colorado's Republican contest in 2008 with 60 percent of the vote, acknowledged in his speech from the Auraria campus his new challenger.

"This was a good night for Rick Santorum, but I still expect to become the nominee," the former

Massachusetts governor said. "I look forward to the contest to come."

To underscore that it wasn't his night, Romney narrowly avoided an unexpected attack from a spectator trying to throw glitter on him after he went to shake hands with those in the crowd.

Political watchers said they could feel the momentum change with Tuesday's results from across the country, where Santorum, who hadn't won since Iowa's caucuses, handily won the Missouri primary and Minnesota caucuses.

"This harkens back to 2010, when the Tea Party essentially upset the established Republican candidates for the Colorado governor and Senate races, and it clearly demonstrates that the grass roots of the party remains very conservative and is unwilling to unite behind the presumptive front-runner," Ciruli said.

Santorum played it smart, Ciruli said.

While Romney and challenger Newt Gingrich exchanged expensive blows before the Florida primary, Santorum went to Colorado and the Midwest to appeal to the conservative arm in the Republican Party. He targeted the three states that would likely have low turnouts and had large numbers of enthusiastic and conservative voters, Ciruli said.

Santorum spent much of last week in

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum waves to supporters Tuesday night in St. Charles, Mo., as his son John joins the crowd in applauding the former Pennsylvania senator as he headed to victory in three states, including Colorado. (Jeff Roberson, The Associated Press)

Republican-dominated counties in Colorado, urging Tea Party voters to upend Romney's march to the nomination.

"You have a chance here in Colorado to step up and change this race," Santorum said to an audience last week in Lone Tree. "Put a conservative in who has a chance to win."

But does he?

That is the question the Republicans will have to wrestle with, Ciruli said.

While Romney got support from many establishment Republicans in Colorado, such as former Gov. Bill Owens and Attorney General John Suthers, Santorum got support from leaders who are further to the right: former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo and former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton.

"It shows Colorado remains the model out there for the Republicans for the

challenges that they face. They are trying to find a candidate who can appeal to both the conservatives in the party and the independent voters," Ciruli said.

But on Tuesday, it was clear that the contest was between Santorum and Romney in various gymnasiums throughout the state.

Joe Francis, who went to the caucus at Green Mountain Elementary in Lakewood, said he was surprised by the results. Though he supports Ron Paul, he thought Romney would win his Jefferson County precinct. Santorum won.

"It was really unexpected, but it goes to show that you never really know how this will all play out," Francis said.

County district co-chairman Dave Ehler, said he, too, was surprised.

"I had heard something like this

Broomfield Republicans say the Pledge of Allegiance to start the meeting for the Broomfield Republicans Caucus at Broomfield High School on Tuesday. Analysts say Colorado shows the challenge the GOP faces — choosing a candidate who can appeal to moderate and conservative Republicans as well as reach out to unaffiliated voters. (David R. Jennings, The Broomfield Enterprise)

might be happening through the talks, but I didn't think it would happen. It is interesting," Ehler said.

Andrew Thenhaur was so caught up in the event he did not realize his candidate, Santorum, had won.

"You're kidding. Wow. I thought Romney won for sure. Well, now I am really happy," Thenhaur said.

At the meetings Tuesday, participants took "straw polls" to find out who was the preferred candidate.

But the process for assigning delegates doesn't stop tonight.

Attendees at the meetings also elect two precinct committee people and delegates to go to the county assembly in late March.

The final consideration for the Colorado's delegates will be made at the state convention April 14.

Denver

Volunteers count votes for the Republican caucus at the Green Mountain Elementary School gym in Lakewood on Tuesday. Some participants were surprised to hear how voting was turning out. They had assumed Mitt Romney would carry the night in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado, but Rick Santorum won all three. (Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post)

Post reporters Kurtis Lee, Kristen Leigh Painter, Matthew Rodriguez, Ryan Parker and Joe Vaccarelli contributed to this report.

Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 orjpmeyer@denverpost.com

Read more:Rick Santorum wins Colorado Republican caucuses – The Denver Posthttp://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_19914772#ixzz1lrJj11Ho
Read The Denver Post's Terms of Use of its content: http://www.denverpost.com/termsofuse

HERE’S HOW TO FIND

YOUR NEW PRECINCT NUMBER AND

YOUR CAUCUS LOCATION

Go to www.caucus.cologop.org

Follow the step by step instructions.

Voila!!  You’ll find what you need to know.

Once you fill out the form and get your 10 digit precinct number, here's how you break down the digits. The first digit is your CD-number, the next four is your Colorado State Senate district followed by your Colorado State House district, the next two are 01 (meaning Adams County since alphabetically we're the first county in the state), and the last three is your precinct number. If you want to print out your precinct map, go to http://apps.adcogov.org/gis/staticmaps/precinctmaps/precinctmaps.htm   Make sure you attend your precinct caucus on Tuesday, February 7th 

_______________________________________________________

Important Caucus Information:

1)  The straw poll for President is just that – a straw poll.

     Its results do not bind any delegates to the National Convention.

2)  All assembly fees must be paid at the caucus.

Bring either your checkbook (best) or cash.

Fee for County Delegate $20

Fee for County Alternate $15

(You cannot “run for” Alternate.  You run for Delegate, and

Alternates are decided by the number of votes for Delegate.)

Delegates and Alternates for State and Congressional Assemblies

will be elected at the County Assembly.

However, you must declare your intention to run AT YOUR CAUCUS

and you must pay the (non-reimbursable) fee:

Candidate for State Delegate $20

Candidate for Congressional Delegate $10

If elected, you owe no further fees (even tho the state fee, eg, is $60.)

You can run for State and/or Congressional Delegate if you are

EITHER a County Delegate OR a County Alternate.

You have an equal chance of being elected,

but you must be a County Delegate or Alternate in order to run.

For more clarification, if you’ve not already done so, please take our

online caucus training:  http://react.MDL2.com

 Republican Rep. Kevin Priola also is ready with a bill stemming from personal experience. Priola, an off-road-vehicle enthusiast who represents House District 30, wants to allow the titling and plating of such vehicles so they can be used on dirt roads in the wilderness.  As the situation exists now, an off-road vehicle rider can go four or five miles along a permitted trail, then be legally prevented from riding a short distance to the next trail. "It's a real barrier to access," Priola said. "Look at the map. It's almost like a Swiss cheese effect."  "I've personally dealt with this up where I like to go hunting and camping," said Priola, who like many Coloradans was reluctant to give the locations of his favorite getaway spots.  Off-road vehicles would still face restrictions on paved streets and in cities or counties of a certain size, and farmers could still exempt themselves from plating vehicles. But for others, Priola said, his proposal would be a boon to tourists; would make the theft of such vehicles more than just a personal-property case; and would address a basic equity issue.  "We've got a situation where a 1974 Gremlin car can legally drive on mountain dirt roads," he said, "but a brand-new four-wheel-drive ATV with knobby tires, braking, and independent suspension legally can't drive on that same road."

Democratic Sen. Lois Tochtrop is passionate about her consumer-protection bill focused on unscrupulous roofers.  Colorado gets a lot of hailstorms, bringing out "these travelers who come in and promise to fix the roof," said the lawmaker from Senate District 24.  Some roofers promise to pay a homeowner's insurance deductible, then build the deductible into the price, Tochtrop said. "The roofs are often shoddy," she added.  "You don't know where these roofers are and this type of thing," said Tochtrop, who was still ironing out specifics last week.

Republican Rep. Don Beezley of House District 33 wants to see a "parent trigger" for families whose children attend low-performing schools.  Under current law, it takes five years of low rankings before the state board of education will step in to review a school. Beezley's proposal would change that, giving parents the power to hold a vote after three years. If a majority voted to call in the state board, the review would begin then.  The proposal would "give parents a voice" and shed light on the law, he said.

Democratic Rep. Judy Solano, a retired teacher serving House District 31, has a proposal to better serve poor students.  "I have one bill that will be looking at making sure that our most high-risk kids in the lowest-performing schools get the most effective teachers," she said.  A teacher-evaluation law opened the door to Solano's plan, which would tackle the problem of children in high-needs schools being taught by a revolving cast of first-year teachers.  Solano's bill would set up an incentive compensation fund for teachers to work in the neediest schools, and the highest-rated teachers would be offered jobs first.  "If I can get some private support or donations for a compensation fund, that's kind of what I'm looking at," she said. "High-poverty schools often get the short end of the stick."

Democratic Rep. Cherylin Peniston, another former teacher, also is keeping a light on education. "Children are my passion," she said.  Peniston is a member of the legislature's early childhood and school readiness commission. "That commission is about ready to sunset," she said. "I'm carrying a bill to repeal the sunset provision for that bill and also to make it an official interim committee so it has a higher lever of stability and focus."  The move would give the committee more resources and a staff member, raising its profile and bringing in more collaboration from others, Peniston said.  "Our mission is to promote the understanding that early childhood is where we need to concentrate our resources to give kids the kind of start they need so they don't fall behind from the very beginning," she said.  Children who fall behind early in school have a hard time ever catching up, said Peniston, who believes her proposal would help ensure "that we not drop behind in that progress we've made in early childhood and continue pushing forward."

http://www.great8newspapers.com/Articles-Adams-County-News-c-2012-01-12-223477.114125-sub17478.114125-Lawmakers-share-ideas-for-session.html#print

Adams County Commissioner Skip Fischer announced this week that he will not seek reelection for a third term.   One of two commissioners now on the board with ties to the county’s scandalous history, Fischer saw the writing on the wall and will slip into history rather than go down in defeat in November.

As a commissioner representing the county’s District 1, Fischer did manage to avoid many of the scandals that plagued current commissioner Alice Nichol and former commissioner Larry Pace.  Fischer however was intimately involved and voted on many questionable deals that have come to light.

The list of scandals that have disgraced the county in recent years is long and not-so distinguished.  While Nichol and Pace were truly the bad seeds on the board, Fischer found himself caught in the middle.

Fischer was aware of what was going on and he certainly was complicit, casting votes without dissention on many key issues like the no bid contracts received by Quality Paving.  However it is our impression that he wanted to do the right thing but simply did not know how to or did not have the guts to take a stand.

Following on Pace’s loss in November 2010, Erik Hansen assumed a seat on the dais and has been working on pushing through reforms to clean up county government.  The moves are commendable but have been slow to take shape and not as extensive as what they should be – likely due to the old guard Fischer and Nichol still maintaining control.

Fischer’s exit opens the door for Adams Count y voters to continue the process of cleaning up the mess in Brighton and install politicians that are worthy of the office.  Voters will need to be wary of who they cast their vote for as they are plenty of members of the Adams Family waiting in the wings to take Fischer’s place and this cannot be allowed.

Will Alice run?

There has not been any official word as to whether or not disgraced Commissioner Alice Nichol will seek reelection.  The rumor mill has it that she is seriously considering running, apparently thinking that Adams County voters are stupid enough to return the ethically challenged commissioner to office.

Challengers are already lining up to knock Nichol off should she decide to seek a third term.  Hanging over her head as well is an investigation being conducted by the Jefferson County District Attorney’s office into her dealings.

The outcome of the investigation matters little as Nichol’s role has been well documented.  She would do well to step aside and save voters the trouble of kicking her butt out.

http://www.tonysrants.com/thornton/old-regime-county-commissioner-to-leave-office-rather-than-face-voters-again/

At its Annual Meeting last Friday, the TABOR Committee reaffirmed its support for the defense against the ongoing lawsuit, Lobato v. Colorado.  The TABOR Committee has retained pro bono council to file an amicus brief making The TABOR Committee "friends of the court."  Due to a recent ruling by the Court, filing is being held in abeyance.

 “The TABOR Committee is eager to become a part of this very important lawsuit,” declared Penn Pfiffner, a former state legislator who was re-elected Chairman of the TABOR Committee.  “The Directors voted unanimously to vigorously oppose this potentially very damaging case.  It is wrong constitutionally for the judicial branch to take over education funding, and would do great mischief to overturn the voters’ longstandingwishes to control the size of government and its rate of growth.”

 According to the Attorney General’s website, “Plaintiffs argue that K-12 funding is underfunded by $3 billion…”  If they win the case, taxpayer funding K-12 operations would leap annually by that amount.  They also want the state to provide an additional $17 billion for school buildings. “If Plaintiffs were to win, to meet this obligation, the state would either have to raise taxes by at least 50 percent or have to devote 89 percent of the general fund budget to K-12 funding.” (http://www.coloradoattorneygeneral.gov/departments/state_services/education/lobato)

  Of perhaps greater concern was that the state Supreme Court could put itself in a position to determine the outcome even though the state legislature and the voters have determined funding to be adequate.

The timing of an amicus filing has been a major consideration.  The judge in the case recently rejected another group’s amicus filing. The TABOR Committee is following advice of counsel to wait on filing for now.  Matters will be better served to file during the appeals process.

  “The TABOR Committee is watching developments closely,” said Bob Foland, the organization’s ExecutiveDirector.  “  At the appropriate time, we do intend to make our voice heard.”

November 7, 2011

Contact Information

Robert Foland, Executive Director

303-771-4727

ColoradoTABOR@hotmail.com