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June 29, 2007 07:47 PM UTC

Weissman Considering Commissioner Run

  • 12 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols



John Fryar of The Longmont Times Call Gazette Journal News Post reports that Democratic State Rep. Paul Weissmann is considering a run for Boulder County Commissioner:

As many as six other eastern Boulder County Democrats, though, are still courting their county party’s vacancy committee members for support and votes next Monday night, when that panel meets to fill the seat opened by County Commissioner Tom Mayer’s death Friday.


State Rep. Weissmann said in a Tuesday night e-mail that he’d talk with his wife about the possibility of adding his name to that list as he drives back to Louisville from their ninth wedding anniversary vacation to North Dakota and Montana.


“I am very familiar with the area that Tom focused on while a commissioner, human services,” Weissmann wrote. “My legislative experience in that area helps.”


Weissmann said he’ll probably have made a decision by today about whether to seek the Boulder County Democratic Party vacancy committee’s appointment.


While mostly irrelevant to those of you who don’t live in Boulder County, Weissmann’s potential move to the Commissioner’s seat would create a void at the State House. Democrats are losing the bulk of their most experienced lawmakers on the House side in 2008, and Weissmann would be on the short list for leadership were he to remain.


Republican Sen. Steve Johnson has also said that he will run for Larimer County Commissioner next year and give up his Senate seat, which would leave the GOP without one of its most experienced lawmakers.


Johnson has indicated that the chance to earn a decent salary is at least part of the consideration for running for Commissioner (legislators make only $32,000). It’s long past time that we raised salaries for legislators to a decent amount in order to draw from a strong pool of potential leaders, but it may be politically impossible.

Kevin McCasky

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12 thoughts on “Weissman Considering Commissioner Run”

  1. Weissman will win.

    This leaves another void in the State House Leadership.

    Weissman likely would have been the Majority Leader or Asst. Majority Leader next session.

    His house district is not 100% safe either. The GOP will be out to recruit a strong candidate now that Paul is out of the way

  2. Will there be a quorum for the vacancy committee?  July 2 has to be one of the worst days to hold a meeting requiring a quorum.  I will be out of town, and so will my house leader.

        1. I forgot County Commissioners would be under county rules and not the state ones.

          Too bad, it is a good way to avoid the quorum problem.

          Another suggestion: if a quorum is not met, those people who are there should still take a vote so to give the Gov. some guidance on the wishes of the local Dems when he makes his decision who to appoint.

          We did this in SD32 when Dan Grossman quit early. It was not as big of an issues because the replacement Senator was only going to serve for a few weeks before the newly elected one took office. The vacancy committee did not achieve a quorum so we took a vote anyway and unanimously selected Grossman’s aide, Donna Johnson, to fill the gap. That information was sent to the Governor’s office by Chris Romer (the Sen-Elect) and Dan Grossman (hte out-going Senator). Then-Gov. Bill Owens honored the wishes of the committee members who were there and appointed Donna to fill rest of Dan’s term.

        2. I just read the Boulder County Rules and their rules specifically say proxies are allowed for county-wide vacancy committee votes (unless forbidden by state law – which they are not – I checked that too).

          It’s not my county so I’m not going to get into a bitch-fight over this, but if quorum is a concern, proxies is a way to get there.

          In answer to the question about how to get a proxy. First you have to convince the party to accept them then have them e-mail one to you. You have to find another member of the vacancy committee to carry it for you. You can either leave it open for that person to cast your vote the way they want to; or you can specify your vote should go for a particular candidate. If you direct how your vote is to be cast, the person has no choice they must cast your vote the way you wanted.

          Hope this helps

  3. This will be the third legislator to leave early to enjoy the perks of a higher salary, is that correct?

    Lame reason to leave office early, IMO.

    Increase the salary of our state legislators.  $32,000/year is a joke and anyone working under the dome knows it. When we start losing legislators like Johnson and Weissman, we lose the experience necessary for balance during session.

    1. Kevin Lundberg would be eligible to run in the vacancy committee to replace Johnson. If Johnson does not quit until after the two-year point of his term, then Lundberg (assuming he wins the vacancy) could potentionally be in the legislature another 10 years. EEEEEW!

      1. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the intent of a vacancy committee to decide a replacement for a deceased/ill legislator, not one who wants to increase his/her earning potential?

  5. Cindy Domenico, previously the Boulder County Assessor.

    According to the RMN today:

    The results of the 81 votes cast were announced at county Democratic headquarters near downtown Boulder:

    Domenico, 47 votes.

    State Rep. Paul Weissmann, D-Louisville, 19 votes.

    Pete Salas, diversity liaison for Boulder County, 13 votes.

    Gladys Forshee, former Superior town clerk, two votes.

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