The Nov. 2 election is chock full of controversial ballot measures and hotly contested races, and we are proud to bring you Boulder Weekly’s analysis and endorsements in our annual VOTE edition.
From tax-cutting measures and another effort to make abortion illegal to wild races for governor and U.S. Senate, the state’s election landscape isn’t dull.
Locally, we are voting on tax measures at the county and municipal levels that deal with a host of issues, including open space, Boulder’s Xcel franchise fee, human services, hotels and height limits on solar panels. Even tiny Jamestown has a couple of questions on the ballot, including one related to medical marijuana.
We also get to elect a slew of local leaders at the county level, including a commissioner, the clerk and recorder, the treasurer, the coroner and the assessor.
Finally, there are proposed tax increases for school districts and fire districts.
It is a very full ballot, and, as always, it is your opportunity to have your say in how your government is run. As far as we’re concerned, you lose your right to complain about the way things are if you don’t exercise your right to vote.
As for our endorsements, we were disappointed to find that we endorsed a slate made up entirely of Democrats. We try to evaluate individuals on their merits, not their politics. We tried our best to find some Republicans and independents to endorse. But with everyone on the right wearing their anger on their sleeves and trying to Tea Party harder than the competition, we had no choice but to go with Democrats.
At the heart of the issue are tax cuts.
When a Republican or Libertarian calls for more tax cuts in a state that has already seen millions of dollars slashed (and more to come), it strikes us as a bit unrealistic and even dangerous.
While it may seem tempting to keep a little more money in your pocket, it would be irresponsible to do so in a state where TABOR has left local governments starved of revenue for even the most basic programs. Though the right pretends that government is the enemy, it is government that plows the snow off our streets, puts out fires and protects us from crime.
See our 2010 ballot picks here
See our choices for governor, Senate and the House here.
We suggest that you check out www.voteboulder.org for information about your voter registration, mail ballots, assigned polling places and early voting locations.
We hope you find this edition of the paper useful. We encourage everyone who is registered to vote to make full use of that privilege.
