November 15, 2011 01:06 AM UTC

Why Are Longmont Politics So Crazy, You Ask?

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• by: Colorado Pols

The city of Longmont has featured very lively municipal elections for the past couple of cycles–first there was the 2009 takeover of that city’s government by Republicans non-partisans out for revenge over a development battle between the city and LifeBridge Church. This year, fights over city council races and the narrow defeat of conservative Mayor Bryan Baum were highlights in another very tense and acrimonious season.

There’s more than meets the eye here: in both 2009 and 2011, a “grassroots” group called Western Tradition Partnership has been heavily involved in spending on Longmont municipal races. Western Tradition Partnership, formerly represented by now-Secretary of State Scott Gessler, played in campaigns against Democrats at the legislative level infamously all over the state, as well as gaspatch local races like Garfield County. In 2009, they waged a successful and nasty personal campaign against the opponent of conservative up-and-comer Katie Witt in Longmont.

So what’s Western Tradition Partnership, a political hit group closely tied to the oil and gas industry, bothering in Longmont city government elections for, you ask? As the Longmont Times-Call reports today, that would be the same interest they always have. The kind of thing that becomes public with clockwork predictability right after the election is over.

Oil and gas drilling, one of the main topics for the night’s study session, is somewhat controversial. During last week’s public comment time, five residents asked the council to find some alternative to a proposed multi-platform drilling site near Union Reservoir…

Anadarko Petroleum has hired the Cougar Land Company to do a 150-square-mile “seismic survey” to search for other possible deposits. The survey extends from East County Line Road east to Platteville, including some city-owned land.

Both proposals are being reviewed by the city’s water board, parks and recreation board, and the Board of Environmental Affairs. The TOP proposal is expected to reach the planning commission for a public hearing by early 2012. Its ruling can be appealed to the City Council…

Public works director Dale Rademacher said the city’s power to regulate drilling generally stems from negotiated conditions — how the roads will be maintained, what kind of cleanup will be done and so on — and zoning rules. Some Front Range communities have been looking at tightening those rules and studying how far they can go before bumping up against state requirements.

“The ultimate question is whether or not it’s being challenged through the court system,” Rademacher said.

And with that, Western Tradition Partnership’s generous spending in Longmont races suddenly makes sense! It’s worth nothing that they appear to have been at least partly successful: although Mayor Baum was replaced with a less oil industry-friendly figure in Dennis Coombs, two other city council incumbents were defeated–at least one of these defeats partly attributable to WTP involvement. While the city can’t stop the drilling from going forward in absolute terms, they have a great deal of flexibility to negotiate for better terms and protections. Or, they can make things really easy–and cheaper–on the oil companies who want to fracture drill under Longmont’s Union Reservoir and elsewhere around town.

Anyway, there’s a hearing tomorrow as the Times-Call reports–we might know soon how good of an investment Western Tradition Partnership’s campaign in Longmont has been.