Caucus is coming up on March 4th.  Since the precincts were renumbered many Republicans will have to figure out their new caucus meeting locations.  Caucus locations used to also be voting locations, but mail-in ballots have evidently made polling places obsolete, at least for the time being.

So, caucus meetings are the last remaining face-to-face official political event for the small minority of average voters who don’t operate the machineries of the political parties, but who like to get out one evening every two years and do something political.

After the last Colorado governor’s race and the guy who Republicans now dare-not-speak-his-name, the near loss of Republican majority party status in the state, the experience of being had by the Democrat “Blueprint,” and the effect of new-media sunshine in that at any instant a broadcast publication on social media could launch from any room, there’s definitely a caution in the air.  Speakers are more careful about creating an inconvenient sound bite.  Some seem less spontaneous and more scripted.

With the exposure of the Left’s Blueprint for Colorado and the revelation that large sums of money wait in the wings to exploit any spinnable factoid for political advantage, a certain amount of caution is warranted.  A couple candidates are taking it to the point of closing off debate forums entirely, under the theory that the reality of their meaning will be spun by adverse political and media forces no matter what they say, so they’re just not going to say anything.

This represents an imposed caucus disempowerment.  Caucuses can’t function without discussable content.

I’m sure that once the candidates get into true two-party debates and the playing field is levelled, political disclosures will come fast and furious from all sides.

Also, consider that the historical manipulability of candidate selections by caucus party insiders may have run its course to some extent.  Technological evolution forces adaptations.  If the cloaks and cloak rooms of the past no longer shelter participants from scrutiny, then those folks must adapt to operate in a new reality.

The right questions directed toward leadership can bring out some good analysis if the leaders are honest with themselves and with their audiences.  Candor is always appreciated and I’m seeing much more of it.  Those speakers uncomfortable with candor may stand out more.  Must not make eye contact, must not.  .  .  Too much!  But it’s all good fun, at least until the polls close and you find out what harmful edicts the opposition will be shoving down your throat for the next two years.  Hopefully the tide will turn this year and we won’t experience those revelations once again.

Elbert County Republicans have never advanced caucus resolutions to the state party for further action.  Either they just never got around to it, or perhaps the resolutions were never sufficiently cleaned up to make them worth advancing.  This year could be different.

Caucuses have a right to pass resolutions for consideration at the County Assembly on March 29th.  In the past those resolutions have not been rationalized at the assembly.  Conflicting resolutions were allowed to stand, and the whole resolutions business came at the end of the assembly day when everyone was tired and disinterested.  The necessary assembly discussions did not occur.

This year, resolutions are scheduled for assembly discussion and approval, in detail, from 10:00 – 12:00 a.m., prior to commencement of the remaining assembly business.  This opportunity should give Elbert County Republicans a chance to pass a set of harmonized, non-contradictory resolutions that can be sent up the party chain of command.

More importantly, out of this process, resolutions concerning local matters should carry more persuasive weight with county leadership.

If you don’t like how much of our local media constantly push an opposition agenda designed to shift  debate to the left, the Republican caucus resolution process presents a great opportunity to voice some leadership direction to Elbert County in an authoritative manner.   Republican caucus attendees, who show up to act in the capacity of representing the big majority of Elbert County voters, should bring that language to their caucuses.   Don’t waste the opportunity!  Make those resolutions persuasively, get them passed, debate them at the county assembly on the 29th, and give some real direction to this county.

Republicans can stop reacting to the leftist juggernaut and get out in front of it.  We have the tools and we have the numbers, if we’d just use them.

(click map to enlarge)

Republican Caucus Meeting locations – Tuesday March 4, 2014, 7:00 P.M.

• Precincts 1-5 at Running Creek Elementary
• Precincts 6-10 at Singing Hills Elementary
• Precinct 11 at Elbert School
• Precinct 12 at Sun Country
• Precincts 13-14 at Kiowa School
• Precinct 15 at Simla School

RE:

Post by Brooks Imperial.

Duvall complaint against Rowland

Looks like Democrats politicking through the justice system once again.

B_Imperial

In law school you learn that the English language can be used to construct a persuasive case for ANY position whatsoever.  Leaving aside the philosophical question this raises about the existence of objective truth, it at least leads one to a healthy skepticism about political statements.  The fact is, most aren’t worth the paper – or pixels – they’re printed on. [Read more…]

The Left says, “Do what we say, or terrible and awful [hyperbolic] things will happen.”

Children will spontaneously combust.  The earth will cease to support human life.  Total Hollywood stuff – looks flashy and sells well.   The more extreme, the better it sells.

The Right responds, “When we do what you say, bad things happen in reality.”

Things get more expensive, people lose choices in the market, regulators get more power – bad, but kind of boring things.  There’s no flash in these outcomes, little screen potential.  They just slowly grind us down, take away our options, make things more expensive, and cause our freedoms to evaporate.  It’s a slower process, not the stuff of big budget disaster films.

The Right is generally correct.  But the Left has a bag of saleable images, so they have market share. [Read more…]

From the Denver Post tonight, “in an e-mail statement sent out after Romney’s rally, Obama campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith said, “The Mitt Romney we saw tonight in Colorado was dour, defensive, and dishonest …”

Yeah right.

I met former Boulder County Republican Party Chairwoman Marty Neilson, now head of CUT, and her colleague/chauffeuse LeMoine, at the Paul Ryan rally yesterday.  They really know how to work a rope line!

————————————————————————————-

As a member of a family whose roots in Elbert County date back nearly 140 years, it saddens me to witness the transformation of the county from its rich rural ranching history to an increasingly urbanized populace with corresponding philosophies more attuned to the Denver-Boulder demographic axis.  Perhaps the changes were inevitable considering the influx of people from urban centers from other states relocating to our wonderful corner of the world.  Over the long haul however, I believe this has led to a creeping, corrosive effect upon Elbert County’s traditional agriculture-oriented culture.

With the election of the two new county commissioners, what can we now expect?  If we can use as a guide, the friction-interface between the outgoing commissioners and the newly elected individuals over the last several years, I believe that we can expect the emergence of more stringent and restrictive policies geared more toward satisfying the urban lifestyle.  This may appear as new policies discouraging the development of the county’s oil and gas resources, ever more restrictive use of water for agricultural purposes (read greener lawns in the northwest part and drier pastures in the rest of the county).  Certainly not the least of the policies may be the imposition of higher taxes.

Through the late 1950’s and 1960’s, I had the privilege of serving as the only resident veterinarian in Elbert County.  And as a result of that experience even today, nearly sixty years later, I value my relationships with my clientele at that time with their basic decency and honesty, as being my most treasured memories.  While some of the children and grandchildren of my clients from that era are still ranching in the county, I fear that the remnants of that shining phase of the county’s history may be gone forever.

Sincerely,

Marvin O. Maul, DVM
8320 Ashford Court
Colorado Springs, CO  80920
(719) 593-1290

Nothing to see hear.  Move along.  These are not the Droids you’re looking for.

ECL (0) ~ Reality (1)

From:    Cherie Radeker
Sent:    Wednesday, July 11, 2012 2:10 PM
To:    Brooks Imperial
Cc:    Karen Shipper; Bill Harris, Del Schwab, John Shipper
Subject:    FW: 2012 Primary Official Results
Attachments:    2012 Official Primary Results.pdf

Hello Mr. Imperial:

I have attached the Primary Election Results for your review.  I have reviewed these with a few folks and my concern is….there was an error with respect to counting of the ballots.   I was hoping you can review them and give me your opinion.

On or about June 27th a plethora of phone calls received from Citizens of Elbert County voicing their issues and concerns of which were brought to the attention to the Secretary of State, Elections Division, Wayne Munster.  Pursuant to a phone conversation with Wayne Munster, the Secretary of the State’s office received many calls (25) as well and were planning to perform an audit.  On that date, Mr. Munster stated he would contact Del Schwab, Nancy Harris and myself so that we may be present during the audit.  Mr. Munster stated, the SOS believes in transparency and would make sure to contact this office prior to making arrangements for the audit.

On or about July 10th, during a meeting with the Secretary of the State  at their office, with Mr. Munster, the Secretary of the State himself, Scott Gessler and a few other SOS employees’, it was reiterated on or about July 5th, Mr. Munster and another SOS employee came to the Clerk and Recorders Office, Elections Dept., to perform the aforementioned audit.  To my surprise, none of the above parties were contacted.  During the meeting on July 10th, Mr. Munster stated he had never said he would contact anyone!  Mr. Munster’s statement is not true, he did.  After listening to the concerns, Mr. Gessler stated he will “look into” certain matters reiterated.

There have been reports of alleged mis-conduct during the course of the election process to include but not limited to, training, seals, etc.  If indeed there was a mistake or error made, the citizens of Elbert County have a right to be informed.  On behalf of the many citizens who have called, I am asking for everyone’s assistance to make sure their Constitutional Rights were not misrepresented.

Everyone I speak to is saying, their “gut” tells them something is wrong if something is wrong!

Thank you for your valued time.

From: elbertteaparty@gmail.com
To: elbertteaparty@gmail.com
Subj: ELBERT COUNTY WATER NEEDS OUR ATTENTION

ELBERT COUNTY WATER NEEDS US NOW!

We all remember last August when we discovered that the current Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) appeared to be headed toward approving a Water plan for one Karl Nyquist that would have granted him statewide authority and that we believed and now know was a serious threat to our county water resources.   We all remember how it took 1,200 of us showing up at that historic BOCC meeting to stop that threat.   We all remember that this BOCC, under public pressure, then implemented a one-year moratorium on making water decisions, a moratorium now set to expire next month in August 2012. 

Following that, the current BOCC selected individuals and put together a Water Task Force to study Elbert County water issues and to report back to this BOCC with recommendations for future decisions about our water resources.   This Task Force has been meeting, and to date has not allowed any public comment or input into their meetings or procedures.

We all know that the primary election is over, and that two of the current sitting Commissioner will be leaving office in January of 2013.  We all know that the one remaining sitting Commissioner made it quite clear last year that he supported passing the plan at that time, and was very vocal in stating his intent and support for the applicant.

We have been told that on July 12, 2012, the Water Task Force is presenting their recommendations to the current Board of County Commissioners in a meeting that must be open to the public.   Our work is not done, and our presence and our voice in critical water decisions affecting every resident of Elbert County must be heard again.   We do not know what the recommendations will be, we do not know what, if any plans the current BOCC have in making binding water decisions before the board changes in January.   We are waiting for official confirmation of this meeting with the required legal public posting, which traditionally the BOCC does at least 24 hours in advance. 

But we do know, that this issue, and the potential impact on our county is a very serious matter and requires that every one of us stands up, listens and participates to continue protecting our water resources.  

We need a showing of citizens at this upcoming meeting that again sends the message that you are still our elected officials and we expect you to hear our voices.  We need everyone to tell your neighbors, your friends, your email contacts that we must all show up at this meeting like we did last August.  I will notify everyone the moment this meeting is confirmed, but we all need to mark our calendars now and plan on being at this meeting the evening of Thursday, July 12, 2012. 

 PLEASE HELP US PROTECT OUR WATER RESOURCES IN ELBERT COUNTY AND JOIN WITH OTHER CITIZENS AT THIS IMPORTANT MEETING

 ELBERT COUNTY WATER TASK FORCE MEETING

(Elbert County Board of County Commissioners)

THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2012

7:00 P.M.

Location:  Presumed to be Exhibit Hall, Kiowa Fairgrounds

(more information to follow)

 Robert Rowland, Republican Candidate for Elbert County Commissioner, District 1

ElbertCommissioner1@gmail.com

303-601-7608

 

Received from Mrs. Shipper:

“The Task Force has no designs on water, neither do the Commissioners. And last August NOTHING HAPPENED. And with or without the crowd nothing would have happened.  The Nyquist project didn’t pass the feasibility bar. So John and Del would have voted no.  Thus, Nyquist simply withdrew — end of story.

So the Task Force had a chance to get organized, the Commissioners put in place a one year moratorium on water projects. Nevertheless, Mr R must create a crisis.

I understand this meeting was announced at the previous meeting. Nothing is being hidden.”

——————————————————————————————–

B_Imperial

For the last several months, I noted how the “public comments” section of BOCC meetings had been abused for electioneering and politicking by challenger candidates and their supporters.  I was a little surprised to find proof of that practice in today’s public comments segment.

Now that the election is over in their favor, it appears the utility of their basket of complaints is exhausted.

B_Imperial