(D) J. Hickenlooper*
(D) Julie Gonzales
(R) Janak Joshi
80%
40%
20%
(D) Jena Griswold
(D) M. Dougherty
(D) Hetal Doshi
50%
40%↓
30%
(D) Jeff Bridges
(D) Brianna Titone
(R) Kevin Grantham
50%↑
40%↓
30%
(D) Diana DeGette*
(D) Wanda James
(D) Milat Kiros
80%
20%
10%↓
(D) Joe Neguse*
(R) Somebody
90%
2%
(R) Jeff Hurd*
(D) Alex Kelloff
(R) H. Scheppelman
60%↓
40%↓
30%↑
(R) Lauren Boebert*
(D) E. Laubacher
(D) Trisha Calvarese
90%
30%↑
20%
(R) Jeff Crank*
(D) Jessica Killin
55%↓
45%↑
(D) Jason Crow*
(R) Somebody
90%
2%
(D) B. Pettersen*
(R) Somebody
90%
2%
(R) Gabe Evans*
(D) Shannon Bird
(D) Manny Rutinel
45%↓
30%
30%
DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
80%
20%
DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
95%
5%
(Yeah, but did he pinky-swear? – promoted by Colorado Pols) Secretary of State Scott Gessler said a lot of interesting things during his speech at Colorado Christian University last week, but reporters should circle back and ask about a story Gessler told about the last legislative session. We know that Gessler made a lot of references to voter fraud […]
( – promoted by Colorado Pols) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/… A lawsuit was filed today to prevent the use of disproportionate policing to suppress Occupy Denver. The news outlets will discuss the conduct, but I thought I would take a little time to explain what the first amendment means and how and when it can be limited. […]
( – promoted by Colorado Pols) Another attempt at passing a personhood amendment, defining zygotes as people, would almost certainly fail if it makes the Colorado ballot next year, given that it’s gone down decisively twice in a row. So journalists covering the announcement today of efforts put the measure on the ballot shouldn’t get […]
Governor John Hickenlooper has appointed Irene Griego to the University of Colorado Board of Regents in CD-7. Griego replaces Monisha Merchant, who resigned last month to take a job in the office of Sen. Michael Bennet. Full press release after the jump. Gov. Hickenlooper appoints University of Colorado Regent DENVER - Friday, Nov. 19, 2011 […]
Like many, we’ve been keeping a keen eye on Kyle Clark’s reporting on Jeffco’s so-called “Bridge to Nowhere,” a rarely used pedestrian bridge at Wadsworth Boulevard and Bowles Avenue in south Jeffco.
It’s a story with legs, so to speak. In fact, taxpayers (aided by Clark and 9News) have raised such a stir that even Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has had to defend the use of federal funds on the project.
From 9News:
9Wants to Know asked U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood about the project during a recent interview opportunity provided by White House officials.
LaHood bristled at the suggestion that federal funds were being spent on expensive and unnecessary projects.
“These are hard earned tax dollars and we take serious our responsibility to make sure that the money that we allocate is spent correctly on projects that people want in their communities,” LaHood said.
LaHood’s staff subsequently reached out to 9Wants to Know for more information on the pedestrian bridge project but then did not respond to multiple phone calls offering additional information and seeking comment on federal involvement in the project
The real story here – given Jeffco’s rather unique history of commissioner corruption – isn’t that the commissioners wasted millions of tax dollars on a useless bridge. It’s who convinced them to make that decision.
With a $1.5 million contract awarded to build the bridge, we’re pretty sure Muller Engineering knows the answer. Somebody within the Jefferson County government needs to provide a (real) answer as well.
Clark agrees:
Bauer said an engineering study was done to determine projected usage of the bridge. In emails to concerned taxpayers, Bauer cited the study’s projection of 100 pedestrians/bicyclists per day, not mentioning that the figure was for the year 2030.
The study was conducted by Muller Engineering of Lakewood. In one internal email, Jeffco Transportation and Engineering Director Kevin French says Muller “milked” the project for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
County records indicate that Muller was awarded about $1.6 million in contracts for the entire Wadsworth-Bowles intersection improvement project that, including the pedestrian bridge, totaled $8 to $9 million.
Additionally, two Muller employees are listed on the membership roster of a steering committee that recommended building the bridge. Muller president Robert Carlson denied that his employees were on the steering committee but could not explain why the names of two Muller engineers appear on a steering committee list provided by the county.
In a written statement, Carlson denied “milking” the project for money, as suggested by French.
“Muller Engineering’s involvement in the pedestrian bridge project on Wadsworth Boulevard north of Bowles Avenue came as a result of Jefferson County contracting Muller to provide a feasibility study for the bridge,” Carlson said. “At no time was it Muller’s position to be an advocate for the bridge.”
The final paragraph of the Muller study used to justify the building of the bridge reads in part that the bridge “will provide a viable and desirable transportation enhancement.”
Reached via telephone and asked whether that summary constituted advocacy for the bridge, Carlson hung up the phone
Jeffco’s Transportation and Engineering Director Kevin French best encapsulates the whole situation in noting that that Muller was “milking” the project.
But who helped Muller “milk” the county, and why? Two Muller employees sitting on the committee that ultimately recommended the bridge certainly raises questions about conflicts-of-interest. But considering the historic relationship county commissioners have had with interested third parties when it comes time to divvy out county funds, we’re sure Clark and his team at 9News will start focusing on the conversations Muller had with the Board of Commissioners at the time the bridge was approved.
With former Commissioner Kevin McCasky already having to answer uncomfortable questions about the Jefferson Economic Council and Faye Griffin facing re-election next year, neither could be thrilled that this story is starting to turn heads nationally.
The thing is, though, taxpayers really hate when their money gets wasted. Somebody’s going to have to explain why Muller was awarded such a lucrative contract despite the county’s financial woes. When that explanation is unearthed, we wouldn’t be surprised if it’s just the latest scandal to rock county politics here in Jeffco.
It’s a shocking story, but it’s not surprising. Welcome to Jefferson County.
We’ve been asking you every couple of months for nearly a year now to give us your opinion on who you think will end up as the Republican nominee for President. We last polled on Tuesday, giving us five different snapshots of how Colorado Pols readers view the GOP field. With that data in-hand, we […]
UPDATE: FOX 31’s Eli Stokols: House Democrats will meet at 9 a.m. this Friday to elect Pace’s successor. Among the likely candidates, JBC member Mark Ferrandino of Denver, and Dickie Lee Hullinghorst of Boulder, Rep. Claire Levy of Boulder and Rep. Nancy Todd of Aurora. Sources close to House Democrats indicate that Ferrandino may be […]
(This merits a “just…wow” – promoted by Colorado Pols) My search for an explanation from Scott Gessler about why he’s been telling the media there’s actual “fraud” in Colorado elections bore fruit last night, when I asked him directly about his allegations. I respect Gessler for answering my question, even though a crowd of people […]
Polsters who work with ( or want to) Labor here in CO… There is a great Labor New Media BootCamp being put on by NOI – Last day to apply is the 18th – Limited scholarships are available, and preference will be given to persons currently unemployed who wish to seek work in Labor organizing. […]
How about that foreign policy debate last night? CNN’s Peter Hamby recaps: Perry answered several questions with confidence. He drove the discussion on foreign aid commitments when he said he would zero out all foreign aid and start again from scratch, including close ally Israel. Plus, he stole the show when he made a discussion […]
We highly recommend you check out 9News’ Kyle Clark’s two pieces on Jeffco’s “Bridge to Nowhere” for examples of truly great investigative reporting.
Clark centers his story on the pedestrian bridge located at Wadsworth Boulevard and Bowles Avenue in South Jeffco, which links Southwest Plaza and Bowles Crossing shopping centers. We’ve seen that bridge before, but we’ve never seen anybody actually use it. Neither mall is really vibrant, and we have a creeping suspicion that the bridge will remain standing much longer than the shipping centers it links.
The most bizarre aspect of this story, though, is that Jefferson County can’t even justify the $3 million they spent on the bridge. At least, they can’t justify it privately.
From 9News:
As Jefferson County publicly defended a $3 million pedestrian bridge at Wadsworth Boulevard and Bowles Avenue as a “lasting asset,” the county’s engineer on the project privately acknowledged it was expensive and unnecessary, 9Wants to Know has learned.
Internal emails obtained by 9Wants to Know using Colorado Open Records Act show county officials struggling to justify the pedestrian bridge, completed in the spring of 2011 using a combination of federal and local tax dollars.
The bridge spanning Wadsworth just north of Bowles, connects two aging shopping malls, Southwest Plaza and Bowles Crossing. Some citizens, including resident Gary Michelson, have dubbed it: “The Bridge To, And From, Nowhere.”
When Michelson wrote to county leaders calling the bridge a “terrible waste of funds,” he received a stock answer from project engineer Brad Bauer that was similar to the two-page defense of the project sent to other concerned citizens. In one such response, Bauer writes the bridge will be a “lasting asset” that will “significantly improve the pedestrian safety at the intersection.”
That is not what the county’s point-man on the project was saying behind the scenes.
After an email exchange with Michelson, Bauer emailed his supervisor on June 22 saying he was “having a hard time coming up with any good response,” adding that he could agree with Michelson’s points about “the bridge being an expensive unnecessary expense.”
Just to make it clear: the liaison for the project is unable to respond to constituent complaints about the bridge, because he agrees with them.
Clark interviews Kevin French, with Jeffco’s Transportation and Engineering Department, and French is about as eloquent as Rick Perry in his most recent debate performance. You really have to watch the interview to get the full effect, but French doesn’t really answer any of Clark’s questions. When asked how French’s department can justify, well, their justification of the bridge to concerned taxpayers, French responds “it’s the best we have.” That’s the answer he finally comes to, at least, after first responding that he “wasn’t sure he had a good answer to that.” If you’re a big fan of deer caught in headlights, it’s a must watch.
This is one of the most asinine government decisions we’ve ever seen, and that’s saying something for Jefferson County. $3 million for a bridge? The August 2009 resolution which Clark discusses is even worse: then Commissioners Kevin McCasky and Kathy Hartman voted for it, as did current Commissioner Faye Griffin. They approved an “expenditure of an amount not to exceed $376,600.00 to Muller Engineering Company, Inc. for final design, and additional services as needed.”
Nearly $400,000 for the “final design,” huh? 400 grand for a couple of drawings of a bridge? We assume the “additional services as needed” are in case Muller Engineering ran out of graph paper or erasers.
This is an important story for champions of good, transparent government, of course. But it also carries with it political implications. The folks in south Jeffco – those who see this bridge during their daily commutes – historically support the election of Republicans to the Board of Commissioners. But this same bridge, this “monument of government waste,” was approved with the votes of Republicans Kevin McCasky and Faye Griffin. If the vote on this bridge was before 2008’s election, we’re not sure if McCasky could’ve recovered.
Texas Governor Rick Perry made an all-time flub in last night’s GOP Presidential debate, which you can view here. His inability to recall one of the three federal agencies that he himself has pledged to disband if elected President (the answer to his own question was “Department of Energy”) was the most egregious example yet […]
Republican Scott Tipton got elected to Congress in 2010 in part by saying pretty much whatever the hell he wanted to say without any real eyebrow raising from GOP supporters. But since he hasn’t been able to come close to accomplishing, well, anything he promised, the right-wing and Tea Party factions of the GOP are […]
One result from last night’s off-year elections around the country we’ll be talking about in the coming months was the successful recall of Arizona state Sen. Russell Pearce, the chief architect of that state’s controversial anti-immigration law SB-1070. Reuters: A powerful Republican state Senate leader who championed Arizona’s controversial crackdown on illegal immigrants lost his […]
(It’s too bad this “conversation” is fictional. Romney and Buck really need to have it. – promoted by Colorado Pols) The following fictitious conversation between GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney and failed Colorado Senate candidate Ken Buck illustrates the questions reporters should ask Romney, now that he’s told Fox News that he “absolutely” would have signed […]
UPDATE: FOX 31’s Eli Stokols: The State’s auditing office gave preliminary approval to the request, but the audit committee had to approve it to let it move forward. On a 4-4 party-line vote Monday, the audit request failed with all four Republican committee members — state Sens. Scott Renfroe of Greeley and Steve King of […]
New York Times: Sharon Bialek, accompanied by the celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred, became the first woman to publicly accuse the presidential candidate of sexual harassment, saying that she wants to “give a voice” to other women who might have been harassed by Mr. Cain during his tenure at the association. “I want you, Mr. Cain, […]
You may have noticed that The Denver Post’s op-ed columnists Mike Littwin and Vincent Carroll have written a flurry of blog posts recently. Well, that is, if you call Littwin’s four posts since Oct. 28 a flurry, which I would, given that Littwin wrote six blog posts this year prior to Oct. 28. Littwin jump […]
(Delegitimizing the press makes everything else easy – promoted by Colorado Pols) When a public figure attacks journalism, reporters should see it as an opportunity to help people understand what reporters do and why they should continue to exist. I mean, if journalists don’t defend themselves, who will? Academics? Maybe, but who cares? And if only the […]
As noted in the Colorado Statesman late last week: Texas Gov. Rick Perry recently announced key members of his Colorado leadership team. U.S. Congressman Mike Coffman will serve as the state chair, with House Majority Leader Amy Stephens and state Rep. Larry Liston serving as state co-chairs. Liston will also serve as the Perry state […]
(We call this phenomenon “GOP amnesia” – promoted by Colorado Pols) In its coverage of the release of Hickenlooper’s proposed state budget, The Denver Post predicted a partisan battle in the state legislature next year over Hick’s proposal to suspend Senior Homestead Exemption, which gives some seniors a property-tax break and costs the state around […]
That according to Ed News Colorado this weekend, noted for the record: Dougco Republican Party chairman Mark Baisley sent an email Thursday notifying party volunteers that they’ll be calling on behalf of Jefferson County school board candidates Preston Branaugh and Jim Powers until Tuesday. “Thank you for all of the phone calls that you have […]
That according to Ed News Colorado this weekend, noted for the record:
Dougco Republican Party chairman Mark Baisley sent an email Thursday notifying party volunteers that they’ll be calling on behalf of Jefferson County school board candidates Preston Branaugh and Jim Powers until Tuesday.
“Thank you for all of the phone calls that you have been making to get the vote out. The returns reported by the Douglas County Clerks office show that we are well ahead,” he wrote.
“We are shifting our focus to help our Republican friends in Jefferson County with their races. If you sign in to the website to make more calls, please note the change in the script, as we will be calling Jefferson County residents from now until November 1. Thanks!” [Pols emphasis]
A copy of the email was forwarded to Education News Colorado and others. Jeffco school board candidates Lesley Dahlkemper and Jill Fellman, Branaugh and Powers’ opponents, cited it Friday on their Facebook pages…
In 2009, Dougco’s Republican Party actively endorsed a four-member slate of conservatives in the non-partisan board races. The slate was elected and, 18 months later, the Dougco school board unanimously approved the state’s first district-run voucher pilot.
So when Jeffco’s Republican Party decided this year to actively promote conservative school board candidates Branaugh and Powers, also known as “the dads,” the two were repeatedly questioned about their positions on vouchers.
Their responses, particularly in early candidate forums, were not definitive.
Throughout this school board campaign in Jefferson County, the issue that the two openly partisan Republican candidates have been dogged by, but refused to get “mired in,” is the question of religious school vouchers–like they tried to institute in Douglas County after the conservative taker of that school board in 2009, now stalled in court with an injunction preventing them from going forward. A long and costly legal battle, pitting Douglas County public schools and religious school advocates against the constitutional prohibition on public funding for religious education–a battle these ideologues have been waiting for–is about to get underway.
Jefferson County is not Douglas County, but it is the state’s largest school district. And if the Douglas County GOP is helping now, the next logical question is whether Jefferson County has something to offer in return later. Given “The Dads'” vague answers to the question of support for DougCo-style private school vouchers, perhaps defraying legal expenses?
We know a lot of people on both sides of the aisle who hope not.
Not with a bang but with characteristically timid whimper, the 2011 election cycle in Jeffco is coming to a close. With it ends one of the least captivating political narratives in recent memory: few voters are really paying attention and even fewer offices are really contested.
Still, 2011’s municipal cycle will likely launch and further a few political careers in Jeffco, so we’ve included our take on all the municipal races below.
Arvada
Mayor: We expect City Councilman Marc Williams will cruise to election as Mayor tomorrow evening. Williams has been active on Council since he was first elected over a decade ago, and his opponents haven’t really made the case – or even tried to make the case – that Williams shouldn’t be the next Mayor.
District 2: Although candidate Cody McNutt has run a pretty visible campaign – complete with a visibly poor yard sign – incumbent Mark McGoff remains popular in much of the city as a whole. We expect McGoff’s higher name ID and record of community involvement will be enough to carry him to a second term. That said, if there’s any single “outsider” candidate who could beat their incumbent opponent this cycle, McNutt would be the guy. That is, only if voters haven’t seen his really creepy YouTube videos.
At-Large: Cell phone repair guru Bob Fifer has run an impressive campaign. He’s done everything a candidate in his position needs to do, garnering endorsements from around the county and connecting with high-profile Arvada activists. His opponent Ed Tomlinson has remained all but invisible, so there’s no reason to think that Fifer won’t pull off a win.
AP reports: Republican Attorney General John Suthers says he opposes the [upcoming 2012 ballot] proposal to make pot legal for recreational use. Suthers has criticized the head of the state’s medical marijuana enforcement agency for appearing to take a stand on local marijuana initiatives up for a vote Tuesday. Suthers called the letter from Dan […]
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