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August 19, 2013 11:48 AM UTC

Weld County Takes Silly Secession Sideshow To The Ballot

  • 17 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

ncflag

FOX 31's Thomas Hendrick:

The Greeley Tribune reported commissioners unanimously voted in favor of placing a 51st state initiate on the ballot.

The initiative reads: “Shall the Board of County Commissioners of Weld County, in concert with the county commissioners of other Colorado counties, pursue becoming the 51st state of the United States of America?”

Weld County has had a series of meetings talking about seceding from Colorado in recent months. Commissioners have cited a feeling that northeastern Colorado counties are ignored by the state legislature…

Liberals have mocked the move on blogs and on Twitter, where some tossed around new names for a separate, northern Colorado state: “Weldistan”, “Tancredonia” and “Fracktopia.”

“It’s embarrassing for them, and it’s embarrassing for the people they represent,” Jason Bane, the founder of the blog ColoradoPols, told FOX31 Denver. “They complain that the legislature didn’t listen to them — they DID listen to them, but in a Democracy, there are lots of other people who have viewpoints, and they don’t all throw a tantrum just because a vote doesn’t go their way.”

As we've said before, conflicts between urban and rural areas of the state are nothing new. But pursuit of a totally unworkable "solution," if anything, debases what may be legitimate complaints about rural priorities in state government. We've always felt that this secession business was solely meant to provide political visibility to otherwise obscure county-level politicians, but it's fascinating to see their inability to tell, as many of us have explained to our young children, good "attention" from bad.

Bottom line: making a joke of your grievances rarely solves them.

Comments

17 thoughts on “Weld County Takes Silly Secession Sideshow To The Ballot

    1. Yep.  Generates lots of money and it can be the cynical grown ups' little secret that there is no chance of the passing of this initiative, if it passes, leading to a new state. Zero. Zilch. We'll be ice skating in hell first.

      Those behind this bit of performance art have no respect for the intelligence of the people they hope to exploit. Kind of like the search for successful fraudulent voters. Who cares if the number found equals the number of elves found in our backyards? As long as you can get well meaning people to buy the "protecting fair elections" crap, it's all good. Same here.

      1. Seriously, a unanimous vote by the BOCC?  There wasn't a single one of them that took pause?  I mean, wasn't there thousands hundreds as many as 100 concerned citizens in each of the four county community meetings?

  1. The idea that the Weld County Board of County Commissioners is standing-up for rural Colorado isn't credible.

    First, a few facts. Weld County's estimated population at the moment is 263,691. 72% of that number are listed as urban dwellers and 28% as rural.

    http://www.city-data.com/county/Weld_County-CO.html

    Besides the urban/rural populaiton split, at least four of the Denver metropolitan area suburbs are now located, in part, in Weld County, including Longmont, Northglenn, Brighton and Thornton. In other words, Weld County is directly connected to the metropolitan area and is becoming more so each year as those suburbs grow and as the formerly small towns in Weld County, including Dacono, Erie, Firestone, Ft. Lupton, Frederick, Johnstown, Mead and Milliken grow toward each other and the Denver suburbs. Weld County is more connected to urban Colorado than ever before and in ways and culture and economically that go far beyond geographic connections. Most of the towns listed in the previous sentence are bedroom communities for Denver, Boulder and Longmont, as well as, Larimer County to the north. I find it hard to believe very many of that 72% (or for that matter the 28% who are rural) are in favor of forming a new state.

    http://www.upstatecolorado.org

    Weld County commissioners should review who their constituents really are and what kind of views they hold. At present they appear to be representing only a tiny part of their constituency, fueled by Republican ideology formulated around "god, guns, gays and abortion." Recent political history has established that isn't a winning formula.

  2. Normal Weld folk have jobs, family and hobbies, therefore do NOT have time to constantly pull their legislators ear.

    The losers that run Weld politics have none of the aforementioned or at least place no priority on the important things of life. Seriously, Weld district captains and other Weld political busy bodies are certifiable schizophrenic crybabies looking for power. I have spent years getting to know some of these folks, there are some real crazy’s. Sad part is they put on a darn good act. It is not until you really get to know them that you fully understand the depth and complexity of their mental illness.  Sure they show up at political functions, shaven and showered, maybe even a tie, and then they put on a salient front. Speak with them more than a few times a year and you will learn how crazy they are. These people are not Libertarians, Republicans, Democrats, or real Christians. They are nothing more than a giant contradictory mess looking for an argument and some power…

    Conway and the other commissioners need to start listening to the silent majority rather than the whackadoos. Don’t you commissioners have some weeds to pull and some potholes to fill, that is all I see here in Weld…

     

  3. I have a legal question.  Does a county ballot measure have to have a "blue book"

    analysis that would show both sides of the issue, including projected costs of the proposal?  We have that "blue book" in Denver, but I don't know if that is a state-wide mandate, or up to the locals. 

    1. It appears that the local munis can write their own requirements and procedures with a few limitations imposed from above. The chances of this getting a fair write-up in Weld are probably few, assuming the county publishes a blue book.

        1. That probably falls under "limitations imposed from above". They're allowed to set the terms for getting things on the ballot, timing, etc. but they can't require more than 10% of the population to sign petitions, and they still have to follow basic election procedures outlined by the state.  Blue book requirements are defined in state law only for state level I&R, in the same section that says municipalities can set their own rules…

  4. We have our own Whackadoos here in Mesa County. The Mesa County Patriots are all over this story, complete with maps that include Mesa and Delta Counties as part of the 51st State.

  5. Am commenting here because I'm still getting the offline message on newer threads. Just wondering if that's what others are still experiencing.  

  6. From the 51st State Initiative: "Logan County is a YES! Welcome on board Logan County. You've become the sixth County to refer the 51st State question to the ballot! Thanks to Commissioner Gene Meisner, Commissioner Rock Samber, and Commissioner Dave Donaldson for your leadership on this issue. For Liberty!"

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