The first General Election debate for Governor (and U.S. Senate) will be held tomorrow at the Club 20 annual event in Grand Junction. For Republican Bob Beauprez, it will also mean a return to the question of (eek!) Referendum A.
Referendum A is a 2003 ballot measure, endorsed by Beauprez, that aimed to divert a sizable chunk of Western Colorado water supplies to the Front Range of Colorado at a massive cost of $2 billion (the equivalent of $2 billion in 2003 would be…probably a lot in 2014. We're not going to look that up.) Now, there are couple of things for the uninitiated to understand about Referendum A before we proceed:
First of all, Referendum A was a stupid idea. Anyone who tells you otherwise is someone you don't need to be having conversations with any longer. Referendum A sought a ridiculous amount of money in order to maybe build some unspecified water projects that would take water from the Western Slope and pipe it to the Denver Metro area. Voters thought it was stupid, too. Referendum A was defeated by a 2-to-1 margin; there wasn't a county in Colorado that approved of Referendum A.
That such a bad idea would be so soundly rejected by Colorado voters created a lot of questions for politicians who supported the measure and campaigned for its passage. Several years later, in 2010, longtime Denver Post columnist Ed Quillen wondered if there was a Referendum A curse taking down Republican politicians who once supported the idea. Beauprez didn't lose the race for Governor in 2006 because of his prior support for Ref. A, but it didn't help his case with rural Colorado voters who will forever be angry at anyone who supported the water measure.
Which leads us back to Saturday's Club 20 debate. The anti-Beauprez group Making Colorado Great sent out a press release today (full text after the jump) as a reminder that Beauprez was a supporter of Ref. A. Ordinarily it wouldn't seem particularly important to bring up a 2003 ballot measure at a debate for Governor, but Beauprez's presence as the GOP nominee makes it relevant again; he is one of the few remaining Ref. A supporters who is still kicking around public office, and this debate is in the heart of the Western Slope community that fought against Ref. A more than a decade ago.
Like it or not, the question still matters for Beauprez because water rights are such a critical issue in most of Colorado.
Call for Bob Beauprez to Apologize for his efforts to Steal Water from Colorado’s Western Slope
Notable West Slope Coloradans Opposed to Ref A Cited
Grand Junction — One day before the first scheduled gubernatorial debate of the Colorado election season, Making Colorado Great demanded that Bob Beauprez apologize to the citizens of the Western Slope for supporting a “water grab” measure that could have devastated the Western Slope by diverting precious water resources to the Front Range.
“We call on Bob Beauprez to apologize for his support of Referendum A, the water grab measure that would have devastated the Western Slope,” stated Michael Huttner, spokesman for Making Colorado Great.
"As a farmer who has lived on the western slope for many years, I am against efforts to divert our water to the Front Range and will never forget those who tried to take our water like Bob Beauprez in his support of Referendum A," stated Brooke Webb, Owner of Mesa Park Vineyards in Mesa County, Colorado.
In 2003, Beauprez supported Referendum A, an initiative to spend $2 billion on water projects. The plan, which did not pass in a single one of Colorado’s 64 counties, was seen by western Coloradans as another attempt to steal water from their area and divert it to the quickly growing Front Range. (AP September 10, 2006; AP June 3, 2004; Denver Post, October 17, 2006)
“As Bob Beauprez stands on stage in Grand Junction, we are anxious to hear whether he apologizes to the Western Slope for supporting an effort to steal their water,” added Huttner.
Beauprez is scheduled to attend this first debate at the Club 20 Debate in Grand Junction at 5:30 Saturday night, September 6. Making Colorado Great will be in attendance to ensure that Beauprez doesn’t mislead people about his record.
Notable Coloradans on Referendum A:
Former Western Slope Congressman Scott McInnis:
"Referendum A will create a $2 billion pot of money, with the imprimatur of the state of Colorado, that can be used to hire the best water lawyers and engineers to buy water rights and divert water from the Western Slope and rural areas." (http://www.edquillen.com/
eq2003/20030722p.html, Denver Post, July 22, 2003; August 3, 2003; July 22, 2003)
Former Grand Junction Representative Matt Smith:
“Approving Referendum A would be like handing a blank check to state authorities to build water projects that could dip into Western Slope water to benefit Front Range developments." (atters.org/research/2006/08/
29/daily-sentinel-omitted- beauprezs-support-of-ref/ 140357, Rocky Mountain News, September 7, 2003) The late Denver Post columnist Ed Quillen of Salida:
Some time ago, I wrote that Bill Ritter is one Democrat who could make me vote for a Republican. But the Republicans nominated Bob Beauprez, who seems to be quite disconnected from the Colorado that you and I live in. Remember Referendum A from 2003, which would have allowed the state to issue up to $2 billion in bonds to finance unspecified water projects? The measure that was defeated in every one of our 64 counties? A substantial majority of Coloradans opposed it, but Beauprez was for it. (“Beauprez is making Ritter look good,” Denver Post, October 22, 2006, http://www.denverpost.com/
perspective/ci_4525461)
You must be logged in to post a comment.
BY: ParkHill
IN: BREAKING: Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters Gets 9 Years
BY: ParkHill
IN: BREAKING: Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters Gets 9 Years
BY: kwtree
IN: BREAKING: Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters Gets 9 Years
BY: Meiner49er
IN: Calvarese Punches Boebert Hard On Burn Pit Vote
BY: ParkHill
IN: Thursday Open Thread
BY: MartinMark
IN: BREAKING: Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters Gets 9 Years
BY: NOV GOP meltdown
IN: BREAKING: Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters Gets 9 Years
BY: Windsor_scott
IN: BREAKING: Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters Gets 9 Years
BY: NOV GOP meltdown
IN: Thursday Open Thread
BY: Colorado Pols
IN: BREAKING: Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters Gets 9 Years
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay in the loop with regular updates!
The West Slope Hasn't Forgotten, But Just In Case:
Mr. Beauprez not only supported Ref. A in 2003 which would have, if passed, diverted West Slope water to the Denver area but in 2006 when he ran against Bill Ritter, Mr. Beauprez gave a speech during the general election campaign in Montrose on the subject of water. He told his West Slope audience that he had never been in favor of and would never be in favor of diverting their water to the East Slope. There were two very big problems with his statement. Coloradopols has pointed out one of them – Ref A and the other one was the fact Beauprez had recently (in 2005 or 2006) submitted written testimony to the House Interior Committee in Washington, DC stating that he favored trans basin diversion of water in Colorado because it was necessary for the needs of the metro Denver area and other cities along the Front Range. No matter what Beauprez says tomorrow night, the fact remains that when asked in policy arenas, he has always favored diverting West Slope water to the Front Range.
No biggie. Like all sleazy GOTPers this year, he'll simply claim he (pick one):
A. Changed His Mind
B. Had an Epiphany
C. Saw the Light
D. Evolved
E. Further researced the issue and saw the error of his ways
F. Realized the only way he.could even possibly win was by pretending to adopt a phony, transparent, 180-degree turnaround stance on any given issue (personhood/abortion/birth control, immigration, clean energy, West Slope water, et al) for political expeidency, which he then intends to abandon completely and immediately upon taking office.
Likely answer from BothWays: A through E
The truth, which shall ever remain unspoken by the candidate: F
Water Grab
WalcherBeauprezOh goody. Another opportunity for weird little modster to post his dead horsie?
Maybe after Both Ways explaiuns his position(s) on Ref A, we can move on to the main course, his positions on C & D which gave him his moniker.