September 05, 2014 02:22 PM UTC

Bob Beauprez Returns to Face Referendum A

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• by: Colorado Pols

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)