Denver's 2024 Ballot Issues

This year there are 14 state ballot issues and 11 Denver ballot issues. This post addresses the Denver ballot issues with brief summaries and my recommendations. A previous separate post will addressed the 14 Colorado ballot issues.

While I am a Democratic Party precinct organizer, these opinions are purely my own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Democratic Party of Colorado or of Denver.

* Referred Denver ballot issue 2Q - increases sales taxes by 0.34 percentage points to raise $70 million a year for Denver Health.

Yes. Denver health is a critical cornerstone of our health care system and a Level One trauma center that needs more funding to function.

* Referred Denver ballot issue 2R - increases sales taxes by 0.5 percentage points to raise $100 million a year for affordable housing for low and middle class families with rental assistance and first time home buyer assistance.

Weak yes. Unaffordable housing is a huge problem in Denver. Subsidies are probably not the optimal solution (relaxing land use regulation is the most important step that can be taken), but it would still make a big difference to many people who are struggling right now.

* Referred Denver Ballot Issue 2S - creates a Mayoral cabinet agency of Human Rights and Community Partnerships.

Yes. This shouldn't require a vote of the people, and the Mayor and City Council want it. This housekeeping measure should be approved.

* Referred Denver Ballot Issue 2T - allows lawful permanent residents who aren't U.S. citizens to be police officers and firefighters.

Yes. There is no legitimate reason to exclude people from these positions simply because they are immigrants. The U.S. has a long and storied history of immigrant law enforcement officers and firefighters.

* Referred Denver Ballot Issue 2U - Allows most non-managerial Denver employees to unionize, bargain collectively, and strike (but prohibits strikes by police officers, sheriffs, and firefighters who already have collective bargaining rights and are prohibited from striking, and prohibits strikes by certain county court and Denver Water employees).

Yes. These employees should not be prohibited from having unions because they work for a local government instead of a private sector firm.

* Referred Denver Ballot Issue 2V - Allows for binding arbitration in lieu of an advisory fact-finding process when an impasse occurs between the City and Firefighters during collective bargaining.

No. Arbitration is a horribly bad way to resolve disputes, and is even worse in a situation like this one where it is entirely unprincipled.

* Referred Denver Ballot Issue 2W - Replaces salary setting for elected officials in the City and County by the city council for the post-election set of elected officials with a one time set of salaries adjusted for inflation over time.

No. Salaries for elected officials should not run on autopilot. The existing system works fine.

* Initiated Denver Ordinance 308 -  prohibiting the manufacture, distribution, display, sale, or trade of certain animal fur products in the City beginning July 1, 2025.

No. Animal fur products are no worse than eating meat. They should not be banned.

* Initiated Denver Ordinance 309 - Prohibiting slaughter houses in the City.

No. There is nothing wrong with eating meat and slaughter houses are a necessary part of a society that eats meat.

* Referred Denver School Board Issue 4A - Allows the school board to borrow up to $975 million financed with existing property taxes for capital improvements to school buildings.

Yes. Denver's K-12 students deserve to go to buildings that are modern and don't need major deferred maintenance, particularly to the extent that this can be achieved without raising taxes.

* Referred Regional Transportation District Ballot Issue 7A - Debruces RTD sales tax reveues.

Yes. This measure simply allows RTD to keep all of its existing sales tax revenues, even if they increase.

About Mayor Hancock

Denver's outgoing Mayor Hancock started out on a promising note, but Denver needs to new blood, including a new Mayor who will be selected in this June's municipal runoff election. For whatever the reason was Hancock's has really stumbled on multiple fronts, especially in the second half or so of his service. 

There are the corruption issues. But also there has just been a decline in bread and butter management of things from trash collection to contract management in connection with DIA to continued weak building code/zoning administration (especially in terms of just having the staff and processes that are capable of getting it done in a timely and careful fashion), to stumbling in terms of getting the police to behave, to failing to build a cohesive relationship with city council. 

His handling of the pandemic wasn't horrible but wasn't exemplary (like the liquor store closing fiasco, that at least he didn't dig in his heels about, and poor communications about what the city would do next or was doing in the present), and he's been a follower tugged in one direction and then the next without the leadership we need on homelessness. His handling of just defeated Denver ballot issue 2O, and the Park Hill golf course issue more generally, has not been politically astute. 

Yes, we're spoiled by having had a string of very good mayors from Pena to Webb to Hickenlooper who were supported by other good city level elected officials. Yes, the latest rounds of land use reforms have been a net improvements and some issues like drainage in North Denver have finally gotten addressed. Yes, we haven't had to deal with the clusterf**k that GOP controlled places have seen. Yes, he's done a decent job responding to the migrant influx of the last six months or so. 

No, his service as a whole has not been a total failure. But, he's run out of steam overall and the quality of his service has discernibly slipped. Four more years of Hancock would have been worse than his last four years. Term limits have been a good thing in this case.

Age And Voting

The chart below shows voting turnout by age in Denver's municipal election. It isn't terribly atypical but it a deep problem with our electoral system that drives bad policy choices in our society.

The current (2022/2023) age breakdown in the City and County of Denver is as follows:

So, matching the brackets above to those in the voter turnout chart (with linear interpolation of the 15-19 age group):

Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is In Denver Politics

It will soon be a matter of public record anyway, but I have made donations to each of the candidates and issue committees that I have endorsed in Denver's 2023 municipal election.

Denver 2023 Municipal Election Endorsements

Ballots in Denver's 2023 municipal elections will hit mailboxes in a few days.

Each Denver voter has nine votes to cast in five candidate contests (one or two of which are uncontested depending upon your city council district) and three local ballot issues in this spring's Denver Municipal election. 

All of the races are non-partisan, so there is no party preference cue. The winners serve four year terms. Many of the races have no incumbent due to term limits.

The race for city council at large will be concluded in the first round with the candidate receiving the most votes winning. 

In the races for Mayor, Auditor, Clerk & Recorder, and in City Council District races, a candidate who fails to receive a majority of the votes cast (which could theoretically happen even in uncontested races if there are two strong write in candidates), the race goes to a runoff election of the top two candidates in the first round.

There are 58 candidates in all running for city offices in Denver this year including candidates in uncontested races. There are 17 candidates for mayor, 2 for auditor, and 9 for city council at large, but the race for clerk and recorder is uncontested. There are 11 city council district races, 8 of which are contested and 3 of which are uncontested. There are 26 city council candidates running for the 8 contested city council district seats (including 5 candidates in my city council district number 7). 

There are so many candidates in addition to the three ballot issues that I don't have time to spell out in detail the pros and cons of each candidate in a timely manner. So, instead, here are my Denver Municipal election endorsements with brief comments on why I like my choices:

Mayor: Leslie Herod

Herod is a seasoned politician who has represented Denver well in the state legislature, who is familiar with Denver, and is one of only three Mayor candidates to consistently vote in almost all recent elections. Her positions on the issues (e.g. housing and homelessness) are solid. 

Denver Mayor (a position whose incumbent serves more people than the entire state of Wyoming or the District of Columbia) is not a job for a novice.

Auditor: Erik J. Clarke

Clarke is running against incumbent Timothy M. O'Brien. While O'Brien has done an adequate enough job, he has not been sufficiently pro-active to address looming problems that came to pass in management of Denver's supervisory role in DIA, in its waste management system, and in identifying corruption issues in the police department and in the Hancock administration that were ultimately flagged by Hancock's political opponents instead. Clarke would provide a fresh, more pro-active individual, in this trouble shooting role with no strong political ties to established interests.

Clerk & Recorder (unopposed): Paul D. Lopez

Lopez has done an better than adequate job and there is no reason to run a write in campaign against him.

City Council At Large (vote for two): Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez and Penfield Tate

Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez appears to be just right on all of the issues. Penfield Tate (whose mayoral ambitions I have previously supported) is a level headed elder statesman of Denver local politics with the patience and depth of knowledge demonstrated by his long service on the Denver Water Board to handle the often highly technical or history laden issues that Denver city government faces.

City Council District 7: Adam Estroff

Estroff's YIMBY political philosophy is what Denver's land use and affordable housing problems need right now.

Ballot Issue 2M (Housekeeping charter amendment re zoning case procedure to move to ordinance): Yes.

This is a vanilla house keeping measure that fixes charter provisions that are broken in light of new developments, that also removes minutia that doesn't belong in the city charter from that document so it is more easily kept up to date without voter input going forward.

Ballot Issue 2N (Standing to protest zoning limited to property owners ans other housekeeping changes regarding the city council's role in the zoning process): Yes

This clarifying measure will prevent future litigation over ambiguities in the city charter in the manner that they are likely to be resolved anyway.

Ballot Issue 2O (Disregard Park Hill Golf Course conservation easement, contrary to voter action in previous municipal election, to allow for a planned mix use development of part of the former golf course): No. 

All other things being equal, I would favor a mixed use development of the former Park Hill golf course. But this land is subject to a conservation easement that the city thinks it can and should ignore because it has an arguable technical drafting glitch. Two ballot issues addressing the Park Hill conservation easement (proposing essentially opposite resolutions of the issues) were put to voters in the last municipal election and voters soundly supported honoring the conservation easement for the former golf course and against mixed use development for the property. In this context, I can't support ballot issue 2O.

The Long Ballot

Every voter in the City and County of Denver will vote on 56 to 58 matters in the November 2022 election: 2 federal offices (U.S. Senate and U.S. House), 7-8 partisan state offices, 29 judicial retention elections, 11 state ballot measures, 7 Denver ballot measures, and in some cases one non-partisan RTD director office.

There will be 6 more non-partisan positions for each Denver voters to consider in this spring: the Mayor, the Clerk and Recorder, the City Auditor, two city council members at large, and a district level city council member.

Thankfully, voters are spared non-partisan local school board and RTD district elections in this election cycle.

This ignores runoff elections in the municipal elections and primary elections and caucuses in the partisan races for the midterm elections.

Expecting voters to consider 62-64 different decisions in a six month period is unreasonable and reduces the quality of democratic participation. This should be reformed.

Denver and Colorado 2021 Election Results

It is early yet, but most of the Denver School Board and ballot issue results aren't close.

Denver Public Schools Board Seats

In the Denver School Board race Scott Esserman, the teacher's union supported candidate, will easily win first place in the "at large" race, Carrie A. Olsen, the incumbent Board President, will easily win re-election in District 3, and Michelle Quattlebaum, also supported by the teacher's union, will have a secure win in District 4. I endorsed both the District 3 and District 4 winners, and as it happens, ended up voting for Esserman in the end for the "at large" race as well although I was torn between the two front runners in that race.

But, District 2 between teacher's union supported Xochitl "Sochi" Gaytan and reformer supported Karolina Villagrana is down to the wire: 41 votes out of 7,009 favor Gaytan right now, with many more votes to be counted. I endorsed Villagrana in that race, but it will hardly be a tragedy for the Denver Public Schools if Gaytan wins instead and there are still votes left to count.

Denver Ballot Issues

On Denver specific ballot issues, voters are lining up perfectly with my recommendations.

Five municipal bond authorizations were on the ballot (2A, 2B, 2C, 2D and 2E). Four of them 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D are passing by large margins. But 2E to finance a $190 million overhaul of the National Western Stock Show complex faces an overwhelming defeat.

2F which would have repealed a group housing ordinance passed by the city to allow more unrelated people to live together and open more zones to nursing homes, group homes, and homeless shelters is trailing by 2-1 margins. Issue 303 which would have allowed private citizens to quickly evict homeless people from city property (in a manner contrary to a binding court order) and would have limited the city's ability to establish homeless camps, was defeated.

2G which would give the Independent Police Monitor more authority, and 2H which would push the municipal election date from May to April since the current date violated state and federal law are passing easily.

Issue 300 which would tax marijuana for non-medical COVID prevent measure research was defeated.

Issues 301 and 302 pertained to the Park Hill Golf Course. Issue 301 honored a conservation easement for the property despite a loophole in it, and kept the Park Hill Golf Course as a park or open space. Issue 302 which would have allowed housing developments there was defeated. 

Issue 304 which would have cut $50 million a year of sale tax revenue each year without replacing it, forcibly denting the City budget was also soundly defeated.

State Ballot Issues 

City and County of Denver voters also rejected all three state ballot issues (in line with my endorsements): 78 requiring legislative approval of non-tax revenue spending otherwise allocated to the Governor, 119 raising marijuana taxes for after school program vouchers, and 120 permanently reducing property taxes that the legislature mostly reduced temporarily already, were all disfavored in Denver, but we'll have to see the statewide counts to know if these measures pass overall or not.

So far, all three measures are heading to defeat statewide by substantial margins as well. Amendment 78, as a state constitutional amendment, required a 55% majority to pass.

Denver Ballot Issues 2021 And Colorado State Ballot Issues In 2021

Ballots are just starting to arrive at people's homes in Denver, Colorado this week for the 2021 general election, for which ballots must be returned by November 2, 2021. 

Your ballot can be mailed back if you complete it soon enough and pay for postage, or it can be dropped at any of numerous, conveniently located Denver ballot drop boxes around the City for free at any time before the end of the day on Tuesday, November 2, 2021.

The ballot in Denver will have three statewide ballot issues and thirteen City and County ballot issues.

The ballot in Denver will also have four Denver Public Schools school board elections which make up about half of the DPS school board: an "at large" director election with five candidates seeking one seat, and DPS School Board district director elections in three Districts (Districts 2, 3 and 4 with two, two and four candidates running in each respectively). I personally only vote in the "at large" race because my district had a vote for school board director for a four year term two years ago when the other half of the current DPS school board was elected. My analysis of the Denver Public Schools school board races will be saved for another possible future post.

Any given voter in Denver will thus have either seventeen or eighteen decisions to make on their ballot. Long ballots like these, even in off years, are a systemic problem with Colorado's political system that should be reformed. But that is a matter for another day in another post.

This is based largely on official voter information pamphlets for the measures and casual awareness of local news coverage of the issues. If you want a second opinion you have review a Denver Post voter's guide on the same issues.

Executive Summary

If you are in a rush, and you trust me, here are my recommendations on the sixteen ballot issues voters have to consider in the City and County of Denver, Colorado this year.

Vote No on all three state ballot issues (Amendment 78, Proposition 119 and Proposition 120).

Vote No on the following six local Denver ballot issues: 

2E, 2F, 300, 302, 303 and 304.

Vote Yes on the following seven local Denver ballot issues: 

2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2G, 2H, and 301.

State Ballot Issues

Amendment 78

Amendment 78 would require the approval of the state legislature, following a public hearing, to spend state money that comes from sources other than legislative appropriations, like lawsuit settlement proceeds and certain federal grants. It is a response to conservative dissatisfaction with the fact the Governor Polis, a Democrat, was able to decide how to spend emergency COVID grants from the federal government.

You should vote No on Amendment 78, a change to the state constitution. 

The reality is that these kinds of funds may not be available at all unless the executive branch can actively negotiate where they will be going (e.g. class action lawsuit settlements earmarked for particular purposes), or need to be spent quickly (e.g. disaster and pandemic relief funds) to have the desired effect. Colorado's legislature is in session for only four months each year, so in order to get quick action, the wait to spend emergency funds could easily be as much as nine to ten months, unless an expensive special session of the legislature is called for what is usually, relative to the size of the state budget, a fairly small amount of money.

The reason for voter input in TABOR ballot issues is to give the public a say on spending that they are paying for, this justification isn't present, however, for Amendment 78 funds.

Proposition 119

This initiative would increase retail marijuana sales taxes from 15% to 20% (phased in over three years) raising an estimated $137.6 million to fund grants for tutoring and other after school education programs in a way independently of existing school boards and higher educational programs. The priority for the programs would be for lower income families.

You should vote No on Proposition 119.

Like most complex ballot issues, it isn't very well drafted or thought out, relative to comparable initiative of the state legislature.

This is a major new regressive tax the strengthens the incentive to move marijuana to the black market. It creates a new bureaucracy independent of the State Board of Education and Colorado Department of Education to run this program rather than working with existing educators. It doesn't have a clear focus or buy-in from educations whom it is supposed to support. While supporting kids learning is a worthy cause, this leaves open lots of room for dubious programs when other public needs are more worthy of taxpayer financed spending.

Proposition 120

The state legislature temporary reduced for 2022 and 2023, real property tax rates by 9% on all forms of real estate covered by Proposition 120 except multifamily apartment buildings and hotels.

Proposition 120 would make those reductions permanent and would also lower property taxes by 9% on multifamily apartment buildings and hotels.

Proposition 120 would significantly and permanently reduce funding for public schools and would also significantly reduce revenue for public schools, only some of which wouldn't be restored by state funding. It would also reduce the availability of homestead property tax exemptions for senior citizens and disabled veterans. The reduction would be about $46 million statewide in 2022, about $50 million in 2023, and more in subsequent years.

The ballot language doesn't reflect the impact of significantly changed state laws since it was proposed.

Denver Ballot Issues

Issues 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D and 2E

Denver ballot issues 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D and 2E are requests from the City and County of Denver government seek voter permission to issue new municipal bonds, financed with existing taxes, to replace prior municipal bonds that have been paid off, for particular major capital expenditures broken into five subcategories (A-E). Some of these expenditures are for repairs and renovations of existing infrastructure. Some are for new projects.

In substance, the City is asking voters if they favor the major spending commitment that each of the five measures calls for on the merits as a good or a bad way to spend money. 

Issue 2A would devote $104 million to capital expenditures on various cultural facilities in the City.

Issue 2B would devote $39 million to capital expenditures on homeless shelters.

Issue 2C would devote $63 million to capital expenditures for pedestrian and bicycle transportation infrastructure and to improving a Morrison Corridor Art District in West Denver.

Issue 2D would devote $54 million to capital expenditures for park and recreation facilities.

Issue 2E would devote $190 million to a major expansion and overhaul of the National Western Stock Show Complex in North Denver (basically the "county fair grounds" for the City and County of Denver).

Vote Yes on Denver ballot issues 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D because the amount of spending on these capital improvements are things that the City needs. 

Vote No on Denver ballot issue 2E because the very large amount of money that the City proposed to devote to a major expansion and overhaul of the National Western Stock Show complex isn't consistent with the City's needs.

Issue 2F

Issue 2F is a proposal to repeal the Group Living Ordinance recently adopted Denver's City Council. 

This would substantially reduce the number of unrelated people who can live in various kinds of housing (disallowing homes where roommates rent rooms in a larger home in many cases) and would also greatly restrict the geographic areas where nursing homes, group homes for foster children, women's shelters, and other kinds of temporary housing can be located.

Vote No on Denver ballot issue 2F which would make housing less affordable and increase homelessness in Denver. The fears stoked by its opponents that higher population density in neighborhoods destroys those neighborhoods are absurdly exaggerated. 

Issue 2G

The City has an Independent Monitor's Office to review misconduct allegations directed at Denver's law enforcement agencies, but it doesn't have enough authority to be effective. For example, it doesn't have the authority to hire lawyers to analyze claims of police misconduct. Issue 2G would give the Independent Monitor's Office the authority it needs, such as the authority to hire lawyers and experts, to more effectively carry out its mission of monitoring Denver's law enforcement agencies.

Vote Yes on Denver ballot issue 2G.

Issue 2H

Denver's City Charter contains timelines for municipal elections which violate state and federal laws related to military and overseas voting. Issue 2H would bring the Denver City Charter in compliance with state and federal law by moving its municipal election date a month earlier from May to April. If Issue 2H isn't passed, a court would probably order Denver to change its election date anyway.

This is basically an uncontroversial "housekeeping" amendment to the City Charter, although it also has the side effect of making it much easier to college students to vote in municipal elections.

Vote Yes on Denver ballot issue 2H.

Issue 300

Issue 300 would impose a 1.5% sales tax on retail marijuana sales, in addition to existing marijuana retail sales taxes which are 10.3% now in Denver. It would use the money raised (about $7 million per year) to fund non-medicinal COVID countermeasures research (e.g. research on the effectiveness of masks and social distancing) which is already being done by other public and private agencies with public health responsibilities.

This ballot issue is ill-conceived. It supports funding for programs that Denver is ill-suited to conduct and isn't supported by the proposed grant recipients. Others are already doing the same research this issue authorizes funding with better protocols associated with being in the public health research business, so the results will be obsolete if the research is conducted. It is also a regressive tax and proposes spending on purposes that aren't as great a priority for tax funding as other more urgent needs.

Issues 301 and 302

These issues are related to the future use of the former Park Hill Golf Course. The City of Denver was recently given a conservation easement when the golf course (owned by a private non-profit) was closed that was intended to preserve the use of the course for open space and parks. But the conservation easement had an unintended loophole that allows the City to authorize real estate development on the former Park Hill Golf Course instead (with a significant share of affordable housing) and the City is poised to allow that now.

Issue 301 would require a citywide ballot issue to approve discontinuing the Park Hill Golf Course conservation easement, and also requiring a vote of the people to discontinue any other conservation easements or develop municipal parks in the future.

Issue 302 would allow the former Park Hill Golf Course to be redeveloped, would allow other property with flawed conservation easements in favor of the City to be redeveloped in the future, and would require a vote of the people to discontinue well drafted conservation easements or develop municipal parks in the future. 

Issue 302 was proposed by the real estate developers seeking to redevelop Park Hill Golf Course as a "dirty trick" to confuse voters into thinking that they were protecting parks and open space when they are really authorizing real estate development on the Park Hill Golf Course despite the intent of the conservation easement that was granted to the City to disallow that use.

While I recognize the City's urgent need for new affordable housing developments, the City's conduct in brazenly abrogating what was intended to be a conservation easement that prohibited that which it recently was given in good faith, and the dirty tricks used by the developers in proposing Issue 302 make the right choice more clear.

Vote Yes on Issue 301. Vote No on Issue 302.

Issue  303.

Issue 303 directs the City to vigorously enforce the City's controversial anti-homeless person camping ban, deputizes private individuals to do so if the City doesn't act in just a couple of days or so, and prohibits the City from establishing more than four authorized camping locations in the City for homeless people which must meet fairly high standards for public facilities on site if it does so.

Basically, Issue 303 seeks to punish people harshly for being homeless and occupying public property as a result, even if the City wants to do so, or wants to establish interim solutions like designating City owner property that isn't fully developed as a long term RV park type facility.

It was proposed by the chair of the Denver County GOP.

Vote No on Issue 303.

Issue 304.

Issue 304 permanently reduces Denver's sales tax rate from 4.81% to 4.5% for ordinary retail sales. The ballot issue is ambiguously worded so it isn't clear if it would also reduce the City's short term car rental sales tax rate of 7.25%, the City's 10.31% sale tax on retail marijuana sales, or if it would increase the City's 4.0% sales tax rate on non-grocery store food and beverages.

It would reduce the City's tax revenues by an estimated $48 million to $55 million per year, without providing an alternative revenue source, which would force dramatic cuts in essential municipal services and functions.

Modestly reducing Denver sales tax rates and creating a legal nightmare to figure out what the poorly worded ballot issue really means, in order to cripple the function of the City and County of Denver's government is not good policy.

It was proposed by the chair of the Denver County GOP.

Vote No on Issue 304.

Denver Ballot Issues For 2020 In A Nutshell

Here are thumbnail summarizes of the ballot issues in the City and County of Denver in 2020 with my recommendations.

DENVER BALLOT ISSUES

No. 2A - increase sales tax by 0.25% for climate change and jobs programs. Good idea but mushy, with regressive funding source.

Yes. 2B - increase sales tax by 0.25% for homelessness programs. Urgently needed.

Yes 2C - allows city council to hire lawyers for itself without mayor's approval. Denver has a very strong mayor and very weak city council. 2C, 2E and 2G are a package that levels the playing field to a more typical balance.

Yes. 2D - creates advisory board for a new city department like other city departments have. Basically just updates the City org chart consistently with a detail overlooked in forming a new city department last year.

Yes. 2E - requires city council to approve top level appointments by the Mayor. See 2C.

Yes. 2F - housekeeping cleanup of city charter language. No brainer.

Yes. 2G - allows city council to propose spending not initiated by Mayor. See 2C.

Yes. 2H - repeals obsolete ban on city provided WiFi and telecom services previously required by state law. Doesn't actually provide those services without further action. No brainer.

Yes 2I - gives elected county clerk one or two more political appoints outside civil service system than he has now. If we're going to have an elected city clerk he ought to be able to hire and fire his chief deputy and his three department heads.

No. 2J - legalizes pit bulls with regulation. Pit bulls disproportionately kill kids and harm people.

DENVER PUBLIC SCHOOLS BALLOT ISSUES

Yes. 4A - authorizes $51 per year for median priced home in Denver in property taxes to provide $32 million for Denver Public Schools to invest in mental health services, special education, and nursing support amid the pandemic, and $15 million designated for employee pay (including raising the minimum wage for support staff to $14.77 an hour and cost of living increases for teachers). Colorado ranks 50th in the nation in teacher pay relative to cost of living and Denver doesn't have recommended number of counselors and school nurses despite having much higher than average need.

Yes. 4B - authorizes Denver Public Schools to issue new bonds for repairs and capital improvements, serviced by existing mill levies, to replace old bonds that have been paid off. Just continues the status quo.

Issue 300 Motives

Issue 300 in Denver, called the right to survive, would end the use of many tactics currently used by Denver law enforcement to address the "nuisance" created by homeless camps and other conduct driven by homelessness in the City, especially by repealing the controversial Camping Ordinance. The official summary of the measure states:

I wrote most of the material below in response to a Facebook post severely criticizing the opponents of Issue 300, condemning them, among other things as Trumpists (I have made editorial changes not indicated and added new paragraph breaks which you can't easily make in Facebook comments):

I wouldn't be as quick to to demonize [the opponents of Issue 300].  

I definitely agree that many people who are opposed to 300 are afraid of the homeless (and more particularly afraid of the subset of the homeless who used to be known as "vagrants" as opposed to other populations that are technically homeless like couch surfing single moms), and especially the homeless who are struggling with drug addiction and alcoholism.  

This doesn't come from nowhere. Usually it comes from frightening personal encounters in which they find needles or human feces strewn on their property or in a park, or are on the receiving end of rude comments or gestures, or are faced with an aggressive panhandling request. And, nobody thinks that leaving dirty needles around, pooping in public, or being rude and aggressive are appropriate behaviors.  

The anti-300 folks don't want to undermine anything that tries to reduce this unpleasantness.  

The pro-300 people don't like the status quo either but think that an incarceration and criminal justice based solution does more harm than good, and pushes for alternative solutions (some of which are really harm reduction strategies rather than true solutions) like supervised injection sites, more public toilets, housing first, wider access to drug and alcohol treatment, etc.  

The kind of lack of knowledge of what policy responses (to what is universally acknowledged to be a problem) work is different and much less blameworthy than the kind of lack of knowledge of what is obvious or can be learned with brief inspection that we usually call ignorance.  

The selfish focus on eliminating a problem in so far as it affects the person making the decision personally, in lieu of the more empathetic approach that really thinks hard about how a "solution" to the bad conditions that the homeless are in will affect the homeless themselves, is driven a lot by fear and by insecurity. You fear what you have a harder time avoiding and escaping or addressing personally more than you do situations you can easily leave or that you can easily fix. Empathy is, to some extent, a form of privilege.

While I completely agree with you that drug addiction and alcoholism are more similar to non-problematic substance use than most people realize, and is less voluntary than most people realize, these are not at all obvious realities, and almost everyone involved (including the people who have drug addictions or are alcoholic) agrees that drug addiction and alcoholism (which definitely are an important contributor to the situation of many people who are vagrant), are problems even though they aren't (as many people who don't understand this well believe them to be), problems that are easily solved by just deciding to do so.  

In general, the idea behind 300, which is that the best shouldn't be the enemy of the good (or that there are gray areas between a totally free ability to choose one's own actions and a complete lack of ability to control one's own actions), is a very challenging idea for lots of people who are generally people of good will to get their arms around.

Denver Citizen Initiatives In 2019

Five citizen initiatives were proposed for the May 7, 2019 City and County of Denver ballot. 

One appears to have been withdrawn (Denver Airport Minimum Wage Initiative). One appears to lack sufficient signatures (Denver Internet Initiative). This seems to leave three issues, only two of which matter:

* Denver Right to Survive Initiative (Issue 300):

* Psilocybin Initiative (make enforcement of "magic mushroom" drug violations against persons at least 21 years old Denver's lowest law enforcement priority).

* Let Denver Vote Initiative (require a popular vote for Denver to support an Olympics bid). This is virtually a moot point, as we have been passed over already for the Olympics in 2030 in favor of Utah.

The Timeline

• April 15: Ballots begin mailing to active voters
• April 15: 22-day residency deadline
• April 15: Drop-boxes open across the City
• April 29: Vote Centers open
• May 7: Election Day
  • Vote Centers open 7am - 7pm
  • Ballots must be received by 7pm
• June 4: Run-Off Election (single member district candidate races only).
  • Vote Centers open 7am - 7pm
  • Ballots must be received by 7pm 

What Does Colorado Get Right In Electoral And Legislativel Politics?

Good Colorado Electoral And Legislative Politics Practices.

1.  No one who has completed their felony criminal sentence, or who is serving a misdemeanor criminal sentence, is disenfranchised.

2. Voter ID need not be presented to vote, at least, if you receive a mail-in ballot.

3. Eligible voters may register to vote right up until election day.

4. Every voter gets a mail-in ballot. This is particularly helpful because Colorado usually has quite long ballots.

5. There are numerous conveniently located, postage free, drop boxes and vote centers in Colorado, but ballots must be received by election day, so vote counting is not unduly delayed.

6. Mail-in ballots have a tracking code that can be used to confirm that election administration officials have received your ballot.

7. Advocates for political parties, candidates and issues can get regularly updated lists of who has voted and who has not to assist them in getting out the vote once ballots have been distributed.

8. Campaign finance disclosures are required quite comprehensively in non-federal races and have data that can be accessed and searched over the Internet.

9. Colorado uses paper ballots that can be recounted or audited, by hand, if necessary.

10. You have a roughly two week window in which to vote, and a statutory right to time off to cast a ballot in person if you need to do so.

11. Numerous salient ballot issues encourage high turnout even if a particular voter's candidate races are not close. The government's to which the ballot initiatives pertain circulate "blue books" with detailed information including fiscal impact estimates and pros and cons submitted by advocates of, and opponents of, the measures. Proposed constitutional amendments, charter amendments, statutes, and ordinances can be placed on the ballot with citizen initiatives that aren't so onerous that there aren't many on the ballot every year. Governments must also refer any of their own proposed constitutional amendments, chart amendments, tax increases, spending limit increases, and issuances of government debt backed by taxpayer funds to voters.

12. Reasonable term limits (12 years in any given legislative position, 8 years for most executive branch posts) are an important fact that prevents incumbency advantages from being too great and contribute strongly to Colorado have one of the highest percentages of female legislators in the nation.

13. If there is a vacancy in the state legislature, the vacancy is filled by a committee of that member's political party. So, parties have an incentive to police misconduct and scandals in their own party to have strong incumbents for the next election, while scandal is not a tool that is useful to change the partisan power balance put in place by the voters.

14. Going forward, Congressional redistricting and state legislative redistricting will be conducted by a bipartisan commission with meaningful guidelines intended to reduce gerrymandering.

15. Strict ethics rules prohibit public officials including elected officials at every level from receiving gifts, and impose civil fines that make sanctioning people for violations easier without the full range of pro-defendant protections that apply to criminal prosecutions, and ethics violations can be reported by private citizens without being screened by a partisan elected official. The Board that administers the ethics law is independent of the partisan elected Secretary of State's office.

16. Colorado requires a 55% majority, rather than a bare majority of the votes cast, to adopt proposed constitutional amendments.

17. While Colorado's Taxpayer's Bill of Rights is nothing to write home about and ill designed, the requirement the new taxes and increased spending receive voter approval effectively defuses "tax and spend" attacks on Democratic political candidates and liberal candidates generally in non-partisan races, at every level of government, since any proposed tax increases must be voter approved.

18. Colorado uses Congressional district boundaries for the state board of education and the CU-Regents, reducing the number of districts that have to be drawn when redistricting comes around.

19. While it is very difficult to recall candidates in statewide offices, it isn't impossible, and it can be fairly easy to do in local governments following low turnout local elections, for example, to municipal, county and school board posts.

20. Voters in the Denver metro area elect a non-partisan Regional Transportation District board. Likewise, District attorneys are elected from regional judicial districts rather than from every county.

21. A non-partisan legislative branch agency determines the estimated fiscal impact of all proposed legislation and helps legislators (most of whom are non-lawyers) with the drafting of bills to be introduced.

22. Many special districts (e.g. the Denver Water Board and the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District) have appointed board of directors rather than elected boards of directors, shortening the ballot in the case of races where candidates could be hard to evaluate. Their taxing and borrowing decisions, however, must still receive voter approval.

23. The Governor's power to pardon is not significantly limited.

24. A judges in the state except municipal judges and judges on the Denver County Court are appointed by the Governor from three top applicants selected on a merit basis by a blue ribbon commission.

25. There is a mandatory retirement age for state judges.

26. Municipal courts have very limited jurisdiction and there are only two specialized courts that are not divisions of another court (the Denver Probate Court and the Denver Juvenile Court).

Additional Things That Denver Does Right

1. Denver candidate elections are conducted in May of odd numbered years, so that these races aren't drowned out by general election race media coverage and voter attention.

2. School board elections in Denver and every other school district in the state are conducted in odd numbered years in November on a staggered non-partisan basis where the races are not competing with other races for media coverage and voter attention.

3. All Denver candidate races are non-partisan, which is particularly appropriate in a city with one dominant party, because it gives everyone in the city a say on who is elected.

4. In Denver, in a single member electoral districts, it takes a majority of the vote to be elected in the first round. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote there is a runoff election about a month later. This prevents minor candidates from acting as spoilers for candidates they are most similar to. This is not yet the law in state elections, however.

5. Denver has a consolidated city and county government that reduces jurisdictional issues and makes for simpler elections and clearer accountability. The City and County government has a city council with a mix of single member and at large city council seats, a Mayor, an Auditor, an a Clerk and Recorder who are elected. It also, within the state election system has a partisan elected District Attorney who prosecutes crimes.  All of these posts have term limits.

6. Denver does not elect its coroner, engineer, assessor, treasurer, surveyor or sheriff, as other counties in Colorado do.

7. Denver's county court and municipal court are consolidated and have a single set of judges appointed by the Mayor from a list of three top candidates selected based on merit by a blue ribbon committee.

(Moderate) Colorado Process Changes Still Called For.

Majority Voting and Runoff Election Requirements

1. Candidates in all federal, state and local single candidate districts should have to face a runoff election in between the top two candidates if a majority of voters do not support a candidate in the first round.

Bipartisan Election Administration

2. The election administration functions of the Secretary of State should be run by a bipartisan appointed state board of elections rather than a partisan elected official, i.e. Secretary of State, and the non-electoral functions of the Secretary of State should be that responsibility of an appointed official.

3. The election administration functions of the county clerk and recorder (a partisan elected official) should be run by a bipartisan appointed county board of elections, and the other responsibilities of the county clerk and recorder should be carried out by an appointed official.

Shortening The Ballot

4. The state treasurer should be appointed rather than elected.

5. The coroner's office should be a state office, rather than a county office, and should be an appointed position.

6. County treasurers, county assessors, county engineers, and county surveyors should be appointed offices rather than partisan elected officials, and the size of a county commission should be increased from three to five, at least, in all reasonably high population counties.

7. The CU-Regents should either be appointed, or elected by constituencies of the University such as alumni.

8. The state board of education should be appointed.

9. Judicial retention elections for trial judges should be placed on the ballot only when a judicial performance review committee has not unanimously recommended the judge's retention, no retention election petition (which a fairly modest number of required signatures) is filed, and no board of county commissioners (or legislative body of a city and county government, in a county over which the judge had jurisdiction requests it. Judicial retention elections for appellate judges should be placed on the ballot only when a judicial performance committee has not unanimously recommended the judge's retention, no retention election petition (with a fairly modest number of required signatures) is filed, and neither house of the state general assembly requests it. In other words, only actually controversial judicial retention elections should be presented to voters.

10. The shortening the ballot reforms would leave at the following partisan elected official in the state for each voter (excluding non-partisan special districts and municipal offices): a Governor-Lieutenant Governor ticket, an Attorney-General, a State Senator, a State Representative, a District Attorney, county commissioners, and a county sheriff. It would also significantly reduce the number of judicial retention elections on the ballot.

Court Structure

11. Transfer all municipal court jurisdiction to county courts and eliminate mayoral appointment of county court judges in Denver, so that there would be no separate municipal courts.

12. Discontinue the Denver Juvenile Court and Denver Probate Court and replace them with divisions within District Court.

13. Require all judges to be lawyers.

14. Transfer a significant share of cases currently handled by C.A.R. 21 to the Court of Appeals.

15. Publish and allow attorneys' to cite to all court opinions, rather than having many unpublished court decisions.

2017 Denver Election Results

All of the ballot issues facing Denver voters in 2017, including Issue 300, the Green Roofs initiative, a long list of bond measures, and a name change for a Denver government department all passed.

Issue 300, an initiated ordinance won 52% of the vote. Referenda 2A to 2H each got more than two-thirds of the vote.

In the four Denver school board races the outcomes were as follows:

"Reformer" Barbara O'Brian won re-election in the at large race with 42% of the vote in a three way contest against a teacher's union backed candidate, Robert Speth, and another challenger, Julie Banuelos.

In District 2, incumbent "reformer" Angela Cobian defeated Xochitl "Sochi" Gaytan with 54% of the vote.

In District 3,  Carrie A. Olson, backed by the teacher's union, defeated incumbent "reformer" Mike Johnson with 52% of the vote.

In District 4, Jennifer Bacon, backed by the teacher's union, defeated incumbent "reformer" Rachele Espiritu and Tay Anderson, a teenager who just graduated from high school, with 43% of the vote in the three way race.

Denver's Municipal Runoff Elections End Today At 7 p.m.

Ballots must be received by the City and County of Denver in each of its four city council district runoff elections by 7 p.m. today.  Winners from the first round and this round of the election will be sworn in next month.

UPDATE;  Results here.  I doubt that there will be a flip in any of the four races from the 8:30 p.m. results which would include almost all votes cast before today and probably most of the votes cast this morning.  Districts 7 and 11 aren't close at all.  Districts 2 and 10 each have more than a 150 vote spread, which is several percentage points, with no reason to think that votes cast at the last minute will skew one way or the other.

SECOND UPDATE;  There were no last minute flips before the unofficial results were released.  For what it is worth, Greco, the candidate that I had supported in the runoff election for District 7, where I live, lost soundly in the runoff - capturing most of the West side of the District, but falling behind on the East side of the district which has higher voter turnout.

District 2 in Southwest Denver, which is historically often the source of a sole Republican on the City Council, saw Flynn, a Democrat endorsed by former Democratic officeholders from the area defeat Kidd, a former unsuccessful Republican candidate, as Democratic closed ranks in this officially non-partisan race around the Democrat.

But, in District 10, former Republican Wayne New defeated Democrat Anna Jones (again, in what is officially a non-partisan race).  This arguably makes Wayne New the most conservative individual on City Council, although ironically, he was challenging Jones from an anti-developer direction, arguing that she was to friendly to big development projects while serving on the planning and zoning board.

I Voted (Again)

I live in a Denver City Council District that had a runoff election this year (District 7).  Ballots went out about a week ago by mail, and must be received back by June 2, 2015 at 7 p.m.

My wife and I got ours in last night.  The runoff election ballot is much easier to deal with as there is only one seat at issue with just two candidates, both of whom have bombarded us with fliers.

Denver Municipal Election Results

The results of the Denver Municipal Election will be available at the Denver Clerk and Recorder's election result webpage, sometime in the next few minutes (since the polls close at 7 p.m.).  Since the ballots are short, computer scanned, and were mostly turned in long before elections day, the initial preliminary results may be decisive.  (Data on incumbency from here).

There are 351,520 active registered voters in Denver, and probably about 20% of them voted.  So far, 69,338 votes have been reported. which will not include all votes cast today, but probably will include all votes cast yesterday and probably some votes cast this morning.

The twelve first round winners:

The clear first round winners, including four new faces, are:

Michael Hancock (Mayor) (incumbent) (4 candidate race 79.98%)

Timothy O'Brien (Auditor) (open seat) (2 candidate race 54.02%)
Precinct by precinct results shown here.

Debra Johnson (Clerk and Recorder) (incumbent) (2 candidate race 84.09%)

Debbie Ortega (City Council at Large) (incumbent) (5 candidate race vote for two)

Robin Kneich (City Council at Large) (incumbent) (5 candidate race vote for two)

Rafeal Espinoza (City Council District 1) (defeating the incumbent in a 2 candidate race 66.8%)

Paul Lopez (City Council District 3) (incumbent) (unopposed)

Kendra Black (City Council District 4) (open seat) (3 candidate race 57.38%)
Precinct by precinct results here.

Mary Beth Susman (City Council District 5) (incumbent) (unopposed)

Paul Kashman (City Council District 6) (open seat) (2 candidate race 54.66%)
Precinct by precinct results here.

Christopher Herndon (City Council District 8) (incumbent) (unopposed)

Albus Brooks (City Council District 9) (incumbent) (3 candidate race; 67.14%)

As used above, "unopposed" means "unopposed" by non-write in candidates.  The runner up in the at large city council race, Jeffery Washington, trailed by 16,998 votes out of 98,670 cast (two per voter) in that race.

The four June runoff elections:

The runoffs will be in the following four open City Council District races (with the candidate winning the most votes listed firs and the number of candidates referring only to non-write in candidates):

City Council District 2:  John Kidd 34.8% v. Kevin Flynn 22.41% (out of 5 candidates)
** Gap to third place 256 votes from 5,753 votes reported so far.
Precinct by precinct winners shown here.

City Council District 7: Jolon Clark 27.07% v. Anne McGihon 16.5% (out of 9 candidates)
** Gap to third place 84 votes from from 5,504 votes reported so far.
Precinct by precinct winners shown here.

City Council District 10: Wayne New 37.36% v. Anna Jones 32.58% (out of 5 candidates)
** Gap to third place 1,076 votes from 7,904 votes reported so far.
Precinct by precinct winners shown here.

City Council District 11: Stacie Gillmore 38.18% v. Sean Bradley 23.53% (out of 5 candidates)
** Gap to third place 73 votes from 3,085 votes reported so far.
Precinct by precinct winners shown here.

Turnout is likely to be lower in each of these districts than it was in the first round, based upon historical experience.

Denver Municipal Election Ballots Due Today At 7 p.m.

* Ballots in Denver's Municipal Election this year must be received by 7 p.m. today.  It is too late to drop them in the mail, but you can drop them at one of many locations around the city.

Many ballots, including the ones distributed to my wife and I have a misprint saying that they are due in June.

DISREGARD THIS JUNE DEADLINE STATEMENT PRINTED ON THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR YOUR BALLOT.  THIS IS A MISPRINT AND IF YOU DON'T VOTE BY 7 P.M. TODAY, YOUR VOTE WILL NOT BE COUNTED.

* In other Colorado political news, tomorrow is the last day of the 2015 legislative session, one in which Republicans have controlled the state senate and Democrats have controlled the state house.

As a result of the partisan split of control, many bills, even bills with broad bipartisan support in the third reading vote in the house where the bills were introduced, are being killed in the other house in a tit-for-tat that has been aptly described as mutual assured destruction.  The number of bills passed by the legislature this year may hit an all time low.

Tomorrow Is The Last Day To Vote In Denver's Municipal Elections

All ballots must be received tomorrow, May 5, 2015 by 7 p.m. to count in the first round of Denver's municipal election.  It is too late to count on a ballot dropped in the mail reaching its destination on time, but there are many dropoff locations around the city.  There is no "in person" voting in this year's Denver municipal election.

There are no ballot issues in this year's election.

* Incumbent Mayor Michael Hancock is opposed only by three nuisance candidates who have raised no money and not mounted serious campaigns who appear on the ballot, and three write-in candidates.

* Incumbent Clerk and Recorder Debra Johnson faces opposition from Joan Poston, a microbiologist who hopes to bring her technical savvy to the position.  Johnson is the front runner in the race.

* The city auditor's race pits former state auditor Timothy O'Brien against term limited City Councilman Chris Nevitt.  Nevitt is the front runner in the race and has raised about $293,000 v. about $41,000 for O'Brien in campaign contributions.

* A field of five candidates are pursuing two City Council at large seats which will go to the the top two vote getters.  The incumbents are Robin Kneich and Debbie Ortega.  There are three challengers: Kayvan Kalatbari, a pizza and marijuana businessman, is the only challenger that has raised significant campaign funds (although less than the two incumbents).  Jose Silva is running with a particular focus on police conduct reforms.  Jeffery Washington, an African-American Republican, is running on a fiscal responsibility platform.  Neither Silva nor Washington have raised even $5,000 in campaign contributions.

The real drama in this race will be to see if Kayvan Kalabari unseats either of the incumbents.

There is no realistic chance that any of the five offices above (Mayor, Clerk and Recorder, Auditor and City Council at Large) will be filled in runoff elections.

* There are eleven single member city council district races.  To win in the first round, a candidate must receive a majority of the voters cast in the race; otherwise the top two candidates face off in a runoff election in June.  There could be as many as six runoff elections in June, if no candidate in races with three or more candidates secured a majority in the first round.  The other five city council district races will definitely be resolved in the first round.

In Council District 1, Espinoza faces Shepard and the two candidate race means that one of them will win in the first round.  Espinoza has raised about $35,000.  Shepard has raised almost $99,000.

In Council District 2, five candidates on the ballot and a write in candidate are seeking the office.

In Council District 3, Paul Lopez faces only a write-in candidate and is a shoe in to win.

In Council District 4, three candidates are on the ballot.

In Council District 5, Mary Beth Susman is unopposed.

In Council District 6, Kashman and Adams are facing off for the open seat in a close race including the Washington Park neighborhood.  Adams, a former state legislator leads in fundraising, although both have raised substantial amounts of campaign cash, but Kashman has his history of former owner and editor of the Washington Park Profile newspaper which has covered municipal issues for decades.  This race will be decided in the first round.

In Council District 7, there are nine candidates seeking the open seat left by Chris Nevitt who stepped down because he was term limited.  Anne McGihon, former state house representative for a substantial part of the district, is the strong front runner based on in house polling, despite being only on a par in fundraising with several of the stronger competing candidates.

In Council District 8, Christopher Herndon is unopposed.

In Council District 9, three candidates are on the ballot.

In Council District 10, five candidates are on the ballot.

In Council District 11, five candidates are on the ballot.

I voted.

I voted today in Denver's 2015 municipal elections.  NOTWITHSTANDING A TYPO ON MANY BALLOTS, they are due MAY 5 NOT IN JUNE.

There were no ballot issues.  There were citywide elections for Mayor (with a strong incumbent Mayor Hancock and a few weak challengers running), Auditor (an open seat with two strong candidates running), Clerk and Recorder (with a strong incumbent and a weak challenger running), and city council at large (vote for two, with two incumbents running, but a large field including a number of other strong candidates).

The Denver Post article on the City Council at large race was very helpful.

There were also races in each single member city council district, of which there are many, a great number of which are flooded with candidates because term limits have left the seats open.

In all, I cast votes for six different candidates.  This took a fair amount of research (the seats are officially non-partisan, so there are few easy hints about how to vote), which I owe a post for the world on, but may or may not have time to actually write.

In all races except city council at large, if no candidate receives a majority, the top two candidates will face off in a run off election for which ballots are due in June.

Most of the candidates were very underwhelming on the issues.

Vote Yes on Denver Ballot Issue 2A

Vote Now!

I filled out my mail in ballot today, and will drop it off at a 24 hour drop box (all of which have been open since October 15, 2014 in Denver), today or tomorrow.

If you vote by mail in Colorado, you should have your ballot for the 2014 general election by now.  If you don't, take action to make sure that you can vote.  Due to recent legislative changes, it is easier than every to vote, and the register to vote close to the election, than ever before in Colorado.

Previous Posts In This Series

In previous posts, I've discussed Colorado's four state ballot issues:

* Amendment 67 (personhood - vote no);
* Amendment 68 (horsetrack casino gambling - vote yes);
* Proposition 104 (restrictions on collective bargaining with school boards - vote no); and
* Proposition 105 (labeling genetically modified food - vote no).

I have also written about Colorado's judicial retention elections in 2014.

I've also discussed the importance of electing Democrats this year in Colorado.  Once again, Colorado is a critical swing state in both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House races, in addition to having a very close Governor's race underway.

In particular, the performance of incumbent Colorado state treasurer Walker Stapleton has been dismal.  (Incumbent  Republican Secretary of State Scott Gessler's performance has also been dismal, but he isn't running for re-election.)

Referred Measure 2A

Denver's Preschool Program, which was improved in 2006, provides access to high quality preschool for all Denver 4 year olds and is financed with a 0.12% sales tax (12 cents per 100 dollars).  The program will end in 2016 if not reauthorized.  Referred measure 2A will reauthorize the program and increase the sale tax amount to 0.15% (15 cents per 100 dollars) from 0.12%.

Also on the ballot is the City and County of Denver, Colorado is local referred measure 2A.  This ballot measure reauthorizes and expands Denver's Preschool Program.

Why Should You Vote Yes on Referred Measure 2A in Denver?

One of Mayor Hickenlooper's initiatives in Denver, before he became Colorado's Governor, was to subsidize preschool education, which is much more costly than K-12 education which is supported by state and school district tax dollars.

Preschool programs are more effective, by far, improving the lifetime academic performance of low income, black and Hispanic children relative to their middle class and affluent peers, than any other form of education spending.  2013 and 2014 Denver Preschool Program students did better than their peers who didn't attend a DPP program on their third-grade reading TCAP tests.

Participation in a preschool program also significantly reduces the likelihood that a child will be abused or neglected.  And, a parent's ability to put a child in preschool at an affordable price greatly increases the economic well being of low income and middle class families, both because it reduces the amount of money that must be devoted to child care, and because it makes it possible for a parent to obtain at least part-time employment where it would otherwise have been very difficult.

Denver's economic well being is well served by having all children (or at least as many as possible) whose parents want to be able to place them in preschool programs do so.  The preschool program in Denver has generally been a great success.  This is an investment in children that is well worth it.

The United States has a social welfare system and economy that produces epic rates of poverty for children, while almost no senior citizens, and a far smaller proportion of adults are destitute.  Poverty rates are particularly high for children of preschool age.  So, preschool subsidies are also justified in terms of relative demographic justice.

Vote Yes on Denver Referred Measure 2A.  This funds a preschool program that works and provides exceptionally great rewards compared to other public spending programs.