By State Senator Nancy Spence

I’m proud to have endorsed Steve Hogan in the race for Aurora Mayor.

Aurora is a city that’s filled with great potential. Now more than ever it’s important that Aurora elect a Mayor who understands the myriad challenges that go with such possibility. Steve has served a total of 24 years on Aurora City Council, providing leadership on dozens of issues that affect Aurora. There are few public servants today with the institutional memory and appreciation for context than Steve Hogan.

I’ve read Steve’s One Aurora Plan – as thorough and decisive a platform as I have ever seen from any candidate. Whether you agree or disagree with Steve’s positions and solutions for Aurora, you can’t help but admire his depth of experience on a variety of complex issues. His high degree of awareness of every corner of Aurora is remarkable in its specificity. (For what it’s worth, I have assurances that the document was not ghost written by staff, but actually drafted by Steve himself.) Every Aurora voter should take the time to read Steve’s One Aurora Plan here before they vote this November.

Steve Hogan is running for Mayor for the right reasons. He’s pledged to be a full time Mayor for Aurora and he’ll finish his four years in office. You won’t see Steve Hogan running for another office in the middle of his term. Steve puts it best when he says, “Aurora Mayor will be the capstone of my career, not a stepping stone in my career.” Steve is genuinely motivated by love for his hometown, genuine eagerness to contribute, and most of all to preserve for his children and grandchildren the many benefits of living in Aurora.

I join a long list of Colorado leaders – Republicans and Democrats alike – who support Steve Hogan. Leaders like Hank Brown, Bill Owens, former Aurora Mayors Dennis Champine, Paul Tauer and no fewer than ten of Steve’s former colleagues on Aurora City Council, are backing him. He also has the endorsement of twenty-five other current and former elected officials – members of both parties – from around the Metro region. His One Aurora advisory group is comprised of industry leaders, labor officials, neighborhood activists, small business owners and other experts from a wide spectrum of professions.

Like most cities in Colorado, Aurora has a healthy mix of Republicans, Democrats and Unaffiliated voters. Bi-partisanship is essential to making good policy and appealing broadly to a diverse citizenry. Steve’s background working with both sides of the aisle and his commitment to principle make him the best choice for Aurora Mayor.

I’ve been watching Steve’s career for some time. As a member of the Transportation Committee in the Colorado House and Senate for twelve years, I was particularly impressed with his accomplishments as executive director both the E-470 Tollway Authority and the Northwest Parkway. These were complicated projects that required patience, maturity and executive-level diplomacy. Under Steve’s leadership, both of these significant transportation projects were completed on time and on budget. He’s a steady hand who has shown he can forge coalitions, bring the right players to the table, and negotiate the best deal possible.

My endorsement is not something I give lightly. It was after careful consideration of Steve’s record in office, his achievements in the private sector, his character and his work ethic that I decided to endorse him. As a legislator, I look forward to working with Steve on issues that are important to Aurora and the neighboring cities in Senate District 27.

Cities across our great state are tightening their belts, looking for new sources of revenue, trimming their budgets and finding efficiencies – all the while delivering crucial services to their citizens. Aurora is no different. This November it’s voters will be asked whom to trust to lead them. Now is the time for experienced, thoughtful and demonstrated leadership. Steve Hogan is such a leader.  

Jude Sandvall: Aurora can’t afford “business as usual” politics

By Bob Schaffer

Through my years serving the citizens of Colorado, I’ve seen firsthand the devastating effects of over spending, over taxing and over burdening our businesses at every level of government.

Aurora citizens are not immune to these effects, and it’s time to set a new course. That’s why I’m supporting Jude Sandvall for Mayor of Aurora.

I’ve known Jude Sandvall for many years, and I trust that he will bring his business experience, and common-sense conservative principles to lead Aurora forward. He’s not a career politician. Instead, he worked his way through college, started his first business in his 20s, and has grown businesses and created jobs.

Jude has promised the citizens of Aurora he’ll work to strengthen the economy, create jobs, support quality education for all children, and provide accountable leadership.

Jude will govern with conservative values of fiscal discipline. His plans include the implementation of Aurora CMAP, a system shown to create substantial taxpayer savings and accountability. This plan is a positive, limited-government approach that will get Aurora back on track to bringing back shuttered libraries and recreation centers.

I like Jude’s approach to conservative government for Aurora, and he has earned my strong endorsement. Aurora can’t afford “business as usual” politics. Learn more about Jude at www.auroramayor.com

by Richard Lewis

Aurora Resident

President & C.E.O of RTL Networks

2011 9news Leader of the Year

Since meeting Ryan Frazier nearly a decade ago, I have watched as he worked diligently as an at-large member of Aurora City Council. With a proven track record of fiscal prudency, Ryan Frazier has a wealth of military, business and public experience along with many fresh ideas for how to make the City of Aurora a better place to live. I strongly support his candidacy for Mayor of Aurora.

As a business owner and service disabled veteran, I realize that Aurora is a large and diverse city with plenty of room for growth. Ryan Frazier has worked in both small and large businesses and also understands that job creation is essential for our city to thrive. I know that Ryan will continue to be on the front lines to help Aurora attract strong businesses in our city’s interests.

Having proudly served our country in the U.S. Navy for 5 years, Ryan Frazier is the only veteran running for Mayor of Aurora and I believe that his military service has afforded him unique experiences – which will certainly be beneficial to him in his service to the city. Ryan has also come to realize the importance of public safety. Ryan has been a steadfastness supporter of our city’s law enforcement and fire rescue personnel and has publicly stated that he will continue to work with them to make sure they have what they need to protect and serve Aurora.

I have had the privilege of getting to know Ryan beyond his public life and have discovered that even in all of his community work, family is still the most important thing to him. As you get to know Ryan Frazier for yourself he will tell you – as he always tells me – that in the crazy world of politics, his children are what help keep him grounded and give him perspective. I’m sure that we all can agree that all of Aurora’s children deserve a top-notch education – one that will equip them for their future careers. As a co-founder of an Aurora public charter school, Ryan’s deep commitment to education is evident.

Ryan Frazier appeals to a variety of statewide and national audiences with his matchless ambitions and experience. If you have not yet, I hope that all of you get the chance to meet Ryan and to talk to him about his vision for the future of Aurora and about the things that motivate him to serve. Aurora has been looking for a balanced leader who truly understands the range of issues and matters of importance that are unique to the city itself. Ryan Frazier is that leader. I have witnessed his ability to understand and communicate with business leaders while organizing and executing a school supply drive for underprivileged children on the other.

Ryan Frazier represents a new generation and if he is elected Mayor, I know that he will be a strong advocate for the interests of Aurora as well as the rocky mountain region. I hope that you will join me and so many others in supporting Ryan Frazier for Mayor of Aurora, Colorado.

A few weeks ago we published a piece entitled "Old Guard vs. New Guard: The Aurora Mayor's Race Sees A Split In Support." Since that article we've received some, let's call it constructive criticism, from supporters of various candidates. Some took aim at our placing Ryan Frazier in the new guard camp, but putting Jude Sandvall in the old guard. We didn't do that, though the points about Sandvall were well taken, as we were just remarking about the distinct difference in supporters each campaign had. 

To be sure, all three candidates (Steve Hogan, Ryan Frazier, Jude Sandvall) have their own strengths and weaknesses and top notch conservative supporters. In order to give our readers a chance to get a look at each candidate, later today we will be publishing an article from each campaign, arguing to the Peak readership as to why they would make the best next Mayor of Aurora. 

Defector Debbie Stafford wasn't included because, well, she is batshit crazy. Ask anyone down at the Capitol, Republican or Democrat, and if they're being honest they'll tell you she's a few nuts short of a fruitcake. In her kickoff speech she actually implored her supporters to join her in a group hug of Aurora. Apparently this campaign is a bit of a therapeutic process for her.

In requesting the articles, we added a twist to stay with the theme of our original post — we asked each campaign to send an article from their top (unpaid) supporter arguing for their candidacy. No stale talking points we told them. The campaigns were also informed their articles would be posted in the order received.

And we received some telling responses. The most illuminating fact about each campaign's response came more from whom they chose than what they said.

The first response we received was from a supporter of Ryan Frazier. It was written by Richard Lewis, who is an Aurora businessman and the 9News Leader of the Year for 2011. It came promptly and through campaign staff, fitting in line with Frazier's tactic of using a well-oiled campaign machine to take the top spot in the winner-take-all contest.

Lewis focuses strongly on Frazier's attributes as a community leader, helping found a charter school for his children and his ability to communicate and work with both business leaders and the law enforcement community to move Aurora forward. He doesn't spend any time talking about Frazier's issue positions, but rather his personal attributes and unique background that would allow him to be a successful Mayor.

As a businessman, Lewis was the only campaign supporter who is not a politician. It was a clear attempt by the Frazier campaign to keep their focus on the economy and sell their candidate as not just another politician. Having run for a few elected offices in the last couple of years, Frazier will have to work hard to overcome the image of career candidate. 

The second campaign to turn in their article was the Jude Sandvall campaign. We interacted directly with Jude on the article, displaying his hands-on approach to his campaign. Originally he turned in the walk piece that Rep. David Balmer (R-Centennial) was carrying with him when going door-to-door for Sandvall. He informed us he sent that piece along to demonstrate his campaign was focused on grassroots door-to-door campaigning, having knocked on 9,716 doors as of last week. 

But it broke our stale talking points rule, so we requested an article specifically written for our readership. A day later we received an article by former US Congressman Bob Schaffer. He was the only supporter to use the word conservative or point out Sandvall's limited government approach. It's a striking difference. While Schaffer isn't an Aurora resident, which is notable, he is a highly regarded leader among conservatives. It fits right in with Sandvall's campaign approach of winning over the conservative vote through dogged determination and an appeal to conservative governance. 

Last up was an article on Steve Hogan's candidacy. Written by state Senator Nancy Spence (R-Centennial), it focuses on a competancy, cooperation and experience angle. Senator Spence is a long time community leader who is beloved across the ideological spectrum and she emphasizes Hogan's ability to reach across the partisan divide and garner support from Democrats as well as Republicans. 

For Spence, Hogan's years on the city council and his detailed One Aurora governance plan is what makes him the ideal Mayor. It's clear Hogan's campaign is not going after the Tea Party vote, but instead trying to appeal to voters' desire to elect someone with a long and positive relationship with the city. It's not so much an ideological appeal, but one based on putting trust in someone who has been working on issues important to Aurora for many years. 

In a nonpartisan race, Hogan is going for the nonpartisan middle. That may be enough to win the plurality of votes, and in a winner-take-all race that could be an effective strategy.

What the three articles tell us about each campaign comes more from the supporter they chose to make the case than the message itself. Between a business leader, a conservative darling and a long time community leader, each campaign put forward a very different face to represent them. 

In this case, the medium is the message. 

We stand corrected. We got a little ahead of ourselves and predicted the demise of Rollie Heath’s boneheaded tax hike scheme a few months before it will actually happen. We had proclaimed Rollie Heath's tax hike initiative was unlikely to even make the ballot, but with yesterday's announcement that Heath turned in 142,000 signatures for Initiative 25 it is looking likely that the initiative will, in fact, make the ballot.

When we predicted the early demise of Initiative 25 we didn’t realize they were paying Bangladesh garment worker wages for signatures.

To be honest, we might have let the unbelievable unforced errors by Rollie’s Tax Hike team cloud our judgment. We thought there was no way a political operation that kidnaps children for press conferences and tries to sneak political propaganda into back-to-school packets would be able to manage the challenge of signature gathering.

What we should have remembered is that people will sign any petition. Pedestrians on the 16th and Pearl Street Malls have become so accustomed to being harassed by the $8/hour clipboard cavalry that they will sign anything, just out of habit.

But much like Rollie Heath, after today Initiative 25′s best days will be behind it. There is no doubt it will fail.

Nobody votes to raise their taxes in a recession. For the voters that don’t automatically recoil at such economic insanity, independent studies showing up to 119,700 jobs could be lost if it passes will help push Heath’s initiative toward certain defeat.

While Heath hemmed and hawed at the press conference when Joe Hanel of the Durango Herald asked what percent of signatures were gathered by paid canvassers, he ultimately coughed up it was 2/3. We guess it’s probably higher in reality, but regardless it makes the number of signatures gathered only a reflection of the capital expended, not support garnered.  

As previous failed initiatives have demonstrated, signature gathering and vote gathering are two very different beasts.

Just look at a couple of recent examples from the dustbin of failed ballot initiatives, when only 74k, not 86k signatures were required:

• Amendment 52 — Oil and Gas funds (2008): 137,341 (Lost 36-64)
  
• Amendment 61 — State & Local Debt (2010): 138,867 (Lost 27-73)
  
• Amendment 47 — Right to Work (2008): 133,000 (Lost 44-56)
• Amendment 48 — Personhood (2008): 131,000 (Lost 27-73)

One other notable initiative that springs to mind — Amendment 59 from 2008. Despite nearly 20 times the funding Initiative 25 has so far, and the full-on support of then-Speaker Andrew Romanoff, Amendment 59 went down in flames, losing 45-55.

It wasn’t even advertised as a tax increase, and still voters rejected it. More on Amendment 59 in the coming days and weeks.

With all that electoral history going for it, Initiative 25 also suffers from a Governor who has publicly dismissed its chances and open opposition from groups on the left for not going far enough.

We might have gotten the timing wrong, but there is no question Rollie Heath’s tax hike is guaranteed to fail.

It’s just going to take a little longer to die.  

Senate President and CD4 Congressional Candidate Brandon Shaffer is barely into his campaign and already he is being caught lying. In a press release blasting Speaker Frank McNulty for his remarks to the Aging Commission on House Republican's intent to bring back the homestead tax credit for seniors next legislative session, Shaffer's press office included a quote from the nonpartisan Chairwoman that she never made.

The Senate Majority Office press release claimed the Chairwoman had said she allowed McNulty to make his remarks merely out of deference to his position, leaving the impression that McNulty's remarks were not appropriate. 

In fact, no such thing was ever said by the Chairwoman.

Nice going, Brandon. 

The Chairwoman, Vivian Stovall, said this to the Pueblo Chieftain about Shaffer's screw up:

“I did not say that. That is a misinterpretation. The speaker of the House is always welcome, as is any elected official, to attend our meeting. He did not ask us and we did not control the type of thing he was saying. I don’t think it was made up. I think it was an unfortunate misunderstanding and the statement should not have been part of their press release.”

As Senate President, Shaffer is the highest ranking Democrat in the state Senate and the Democrat press office reports directly to him.  

As of Monday at 2 pm the press release still includes the quote from Chairwoman Stovall that she denies making.  

If this is how Shaffer behaves in the state Senate, it is not a good sign for his future in the US Congress. There are already enough Members of Congress who struggle with the truth.

We don’t think voters are in any rush to send another.

Nobody likes being called a racist. People especially don't appreciate it when that epithet is thrown at them with absolutely no cause, other than to score partisan points. And now the targets of that flagrantly false accusation are pushing back.

Last week former Denver Mayor and Reapportionment Commission member, Wellington Webb, accused Republicans of racist intentions on reapportionment based on faulty data.

Reapportionment is the biennial process where state House and Senate lines are redrawn to reflect population changes in the Census. Population counts must include all people, regardless of voting status, causing military members registered to vote in other states, illegal immigrants and prisoners to be included. 

Webb had claimed a map for the metro area state House districts, which was supported by the GOP members and the Unaffiliated Chairman Mario Carerra, purposely put an Arapahoe County prison into HD37 in order to make it a "minority influence district." Nobody had ever called HD37 such a thing, and data supplied by Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson proved the prison population had absolutely zero effect on the percent of minorities in the district. 

When confronted with these facts by The Denver Post's Tim Hoover, Webb refused to back off his allegations that Republicans were using minorities "for political gain." Despite proof that his allegations were baseless, Webb has so far refused to apologize. 

Now the backlash is beginning with legislators reacting furiously to the slanderous accusations.

Senator Greg Brophy (R-Wray), a member of the Congressional redistricting committee, saw Wellington Webb's unfounded attacks as a sign that Democrats were failing to get what they wanted on reapportionment through reasoned argument, causing them to resort to name calling. "When you can't beat them with ideas, call them racists. Typical tactic of the Left," he told the Peak.

Representative Spencer Swalm (R-Centennial), who currently represents HD37, was severely disappointed in the former Mayor's accusations and use of the prison population as a political football. "Wellington Webb, in his unfounded accusations about the reapportionment process concerning convicts housed in Arapahoe County jails, apparently wants the reapportionment process reduced to a mechanical process of counting and dividing people based on the color of their skin-regardless of the content of their character," said Swalm. "The citizens of House District 37 and the state of Colorado deserve better."

Representative Chris Holbert (R-Parker) explicitly called on Webb to apologize for his untruthful and slanderous accusations. Holbert told the Peak he was disappointed Webb thought it necessary to "question the motives of his colleagues, and insult the Arapahoe County Sheriff. We all make mistakes, but if he hasn't done so already, I hope that he will pick up the phone and call Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson to offer an apology."

Normally a quiet and insider baseball-heavy process, Webb's outburst last week has pushed the reapportionment process to the forefront.

Republicans don't take being called racist by a leader in the African American community lightly. It is a serious charge, and one that should never be thrown around simply for petty partisan gain.

If Mayor Webb doesn't correct course soon, he could quickly find himself completely sidelined for the rest of the reapportionment process. 

By Kelly Sloan

It seems now, writing this, that the debt ceiling skirmish has come down to two plans; one each from Republican House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The President, despite his near-daily campaign speeches on national TV, apparently still has no plan.

Senator Reid’s is audacious only in its attempt to lay claim to any actual cuts; nearly half of the proposed CBO-adjusted $2.2 Trillion “cuts” in the Reid plan are attributable to the wind-down of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and represent money that was never scheduled to be spent. It is sort of like saying that I cut my personal spending for August by $450,000 by not buying a vacation home in Miami that I had no intention of buying in the first place.

Perhaps, in order to trim a bit more from the budget, Reid could follow up with a plan that would allow the United States Government to cut another few trillion by simply refusing to purchase Switzerland.

Notably though, however insincere Reid’s proposal otherwise is, it does not include the Democrats rapaciously lusted-over tax hikes either.

The Boehner plan, which comes on the heels of the Senate’s refusal to pass the “Cut, Cap and Balance” proposal that would actually begin to offer a solution to problem, is not perfect. In exchange for a $1 Trillion increase in the debt limit, it calls for a spending cap that would require Congress to spend $1 Trillion less than planned over 10 years. The problem is simply that every congress is sovereign, and therefore not bound in any meaningful way to what a previous congress decrees that it do; and we just do not know what congress will look like 6, 8, or 10 years out.

The second part, which allows the President to request another $1.5 Trillion debt limit increase following acceptance of the recommendations of a bipartisan congressional committee to cut an additional $1.8 Trillion, offers little assurance of the systemic reforms to federal entitlements that are prerequisite to any solution.

For all that, the plan does jam a fragile stick into the gears of federal spending, slowing the exponential rate of government growth witnessed over the past few years. And, critically, it too does not impede economic growth by raising taxes.

The simple fact that neither plan before congress – even the one offered by the Democrat’s – augments the tax burden is a remarkable victory for both the Republicans, and the nation.

Real reform, and a solution to the economic troubles facing the United States, will not, can not, happen absent a conservative Republican takeover of at least the Senate, and most probably the White House as well. As I pointed out after the 2010 elections, the best the GOP can realistically hope for, in the face of a government with such an ideologically dysfunctional economic philosophy, is to keep from compounding the damage.

Mere control of the House is not sufficient to advance any sort of reform-minded agenda. The House Republicans have done exactly what they were given a mandate to do – dig in, hold back the onslaught, and counter attack judiciously, while waiting for reinforcements.

The GOP has successfully held the line on taxes, and that is exactly where the battle needed to focus. As crippling and dangerous as the spending issue is – and that may yet result in a credit downgrade and a host of other economic problems – suppressing desperately needed job growth by raising taxes on the very people who can provide those jobs would only exacerbate an already precarious situation; and ironically keep actual revenues below what would be realized through tax rate cuts.  

In the days leading up to the deadline, Republicans need to guard vigorously against any recidivistic urge on the part of the Democrats to re-introduce tax augmentation to the equation. The next step for Republicans, in the coming months, is to fight for a reduction in the corporate tax rate, at least to a level that is medial to, if not logically below, the rest of the industrialized world. Follow this up with a reduction in the capital gains and dividend rates, to spur investment and get money moving again.

If these measures, coupled with a reasonable attempt at keeping any kind of a leash on spending, can be accomplished, the economy will start to grow, along with jobs. Then, if conservatives can regain some ground in the Senate and retake the Presidency, we can focus on the real cuts and reforms necessary to repair the nation.

In the meantime, Republicans cannot afford to lose political perspective. There is far too much at stake.

UPDATE: The Colorado Statesman piles on Webb.

Former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb has no credibility. None. After blatantly making up facts out of whole cloth in order to falsely accuse Republican Reapportionment Commission members and the Hispanic Unaffiliated Chairman, Mario Carrera, of "using minorities as political pawns," Webb was caught red-handed in his lies. When confronted with his lies, he stuck by his slander, but retreated on the magnitude of his claims.

Despite cold, hard facts proving Webb's slanderous statements had no basis in reality, he tried to "clarify" his comments as merely overblown to an egg-faced and complicit Tim Hoover of The Denver Post:

"I should have said 'hundreds,' not 'thousands,'" said Webb, a Democrat who sits on the Colorado Reapportionment Commission, which is drawing new boundaries for legislative districts.  

But the former mayor, who is still a heavyweight in the African-American community, maintained that Republicans still counted minority inmates for partisan gain.

Hoover had originally printed Webb's claim, without verifying the facts, that the GOP members of the Reapportionment Commission and had used "thousands of black and brown inmates" in an Arapahoe County jail to boost the minority population in a House District 37 to make the district a "minority influence" district.

Not only did no one ever claim HD37 was a "minority influence" district, but the addition of the prison's population did not change the percent of minorities in the district even one half of one percent. 

Reapportionment is the biennial process of drawing state legislative lines to reflect population changes in the census. The population of each of the 100 state House and Senate districts must include the number of people, not voters, meaning prison populations must be included in the count. The Reapportionment Commission is made up of five Democrats, five Republicans, and an Unaffiliated Chairman.

The 65 state House and 35 state Senate districts are broken into seven regions, with the Commission voting on seven state House and seven state State maps to develop new statewide legislative boundaries.  

The Unaffiliated Chairman has sometimes voted for the GOP preferred maps, and other times for the Democrat preferred maps.

Democrat members of the Commission had their preferred maps chosen for every single state Senate district in the state. In drawing those state Senate lines they drew thousands of prison inmates around the state into Senate districts, yet Mayor Webb never accused himself of being complicit in adding prisoners to a district for partisan gain. 

Petty partisans like Webb are incapable of objectivity, or logic and reason it seems based on Webb's inability to admit fault when confronted with reality. 

As a leader in the African American community, when Webb throws out the charge of racism it has significant authority. Hoover knew this and unethically printed the charge without asking Webb to prove any of his allegations.

In refusing to apologize for the damaging and false charge of racism against Republicans, Webb has lost the respect of his fellow Commission members, and now lacks any credibility to get anything done going forward. 

You think Mario Carrera and the others he accused of being racists are going to give one wit what Mayor Sharpton Webb has to say?

We're glad Tim Hoover at least confronted Webb with the facts we published here on the Peak. Hopefully in the future, Hoover will verify provable facts before printing slanderous accusations. After all, isn't it the job of journalists to verify allegations before sharing them with thousands of readers?