April 27, 2009 07:41 PM UTC

BREAKING: Gwyn Green Retiring, Will Resign

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: Green’s resignation email to constituents after the jump

Democrats are dropping like flies…

Democrat Gwyn Green (HD-23) has resigned her seat in the state house effective June 1. Green had one more term left to run for, but had been rumored to be interested in stepping aside for a long time because of her age and health.

House District 23 is a probable top target in 2010 for both Democrats and Republicans. Likely replacements are activist Max Tyler or Golden Mayor Jacob Smith, with Tyler as the odds-on favorite. Although, strange things happen in vacancy committees, so who the hell knows?

I love being the State House Representative from House District 23…the best House District in the world…and yet today, I must announce my resignation from this position, effective June 1, 2009.

           My heart is filled with deep affection for my constituents, who five years ago elected me to this position, and returned me for three terms.  I feel the deepest privilege to be called by them to represent their needs, their hopes, in this august body.

           I also feel so honored and so humble to stand up with you, my colleagues.  Among this gathering of public servants, I have come to know great people, people like our former Speaker Andrew Romanoff and former Majority Leader Alice Madden, people like former Senate President Joan Fitzgerald, people like our present Speaker Terrance Carroll, who rose up from neighborhoods of poverty to his present position, and like our Majority Leader Paul Weissmann, a man of deep dedication and resolve, who stands firm for his beliefs…I regard them with deep respect and affection.

           Nor can I forget the Minority Leader, Mike May.  Representative May, your loyalty and dedication to your party has won you my admiration and respect.

           I have found friends and those to honor among both parties…people like Representative Merrifield, Representative Primavera, Representative Pommer, Representative Nikkel whose flute playing has soothed my soul many mornings!  Representative Looper, Representative Middleton, and of course, Representative McFadyen – it is an honor to serve with you!

           I honestly don’t know how I am going to leave you.  My love for my party goes deep, deep enough that I walked with fractures in my feet to keep this seat, deep enough that I have both sacrificed for her and exulted with her.  When I watch and experience the work you have all done, I am so very proud to be called a Democrat.

           Democrats stand up for the vulnerable in our society: the poor; children, especially children who are abused or neglected or sent to prison as adults; the mentally ill and cognitively impaired; the unemployed; the frail elderly and the uninsured.  We know that we are not responsible for these populations, but that government – good government – is responsible to these populations.  These responsibilities are essential functions of government.

           So is education an essential function of government and an essential guarantee of our democracy.  Those who would tyrannize us would always seek to take away our education.  So do not listen to those who would privatize higher education and make it available only for the wealthy, the privileged class, which would then find it too easy to create an oligarchy.

           I have fought hard for these who need our help the most. My deepest dream of removing the statute of limitations for those abused as children, and unmasking their predators, so as to protect children today, has been unmet.  You will need to meet that need, colleagues.  Justice cries out for it.

           But my legislation has made the state safer for children, through laws passed requiring the department of education to share background checks on school employees with any school district who might be hiring those employees, to the same law preventing predators in schools from ever returning to that setting, through another law requiring sexual predators be assessed by the courts to determine if they meet criteria for violent sexual predators, and for raising the age limit to enter common law marriages, and, this year, bipartisan legislation to establish the Kayla Sealy DeMars Drivers Safety Act. And  I am especially proud of legislation which makes Colorado happier for children, through a pilot program giving audio textbooks to dyslexic kids and of my legislation establishing a task force to work towards an Adult Abuse Registry for Disabled Adults.

           But it all distills down to you, my colleagues.  It truly breaks my heart to leave you.  I will miss you, I will laugh at my memories, I will carry you in my heart.

           And I would not leave you should my health insistently demand I do so.  It is time to leave you and let someone who has the health and the stamina to fill this seat, such an important seat for my district.   There are so many good leaders in my district who could bring so much to this body.  It is time to have them called forth.

           A few short weeks ago, I had to miss an Awards Ceremony for my nine year old grandson, Ethan, because of my responsibilities here.  I consistently have to miss my grandson Cullen’s lacrosse games.  Now, though I will miss you, I will be able to attend my grandchildren’s Awards ceremonies, attend their sports, see their plays, and spend more time with them, with my children and with my husband.  I will enjoy that immensely, as I enjoy them!  I thank all of them for their understanding, and for making my time here possible.  

Thank you again for the privilege of being here, among the greats and among such dedicated public servants.  And as Bob Hope said, thanks for the memories!

 – Representative Gwyn Green

   Monday, April 27, 2009