STANDARD BLADE B R I G H T O N
SERVING THE COMMUNITY SINCE 1903
75cI
VOLUME 117
Issue 46
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2021
Brighton’s mayor’s race heading for a runoff
Colo. measure to raise pot tax for education fails Proposition 119 split high-profile Democrats BY DANIEL DUCASSI THE COLORADO SUN
Colorado voters rejected a proposal to increase taxes on recreational marijuana to pay for out-of-school support services for students like tutoring and therapy. Supporters of Proposition 119 admitted defeat at about 8:30 p.m. election night, Nov. 2. With nearly 1.4 million ballots counted as of late Nov. 3, the measure was failing with 54.4% rejecting the initiative and 46% in support, about a 120,000-vote deficit. The mood at the Maven Hotel in downtown Denver, where about 50 supporters for Proposition 119 held the official Yes on 119 watch party, was hopeful around 7 p.m. on election night as attendees sipped drinks and nibbled on hors d’oeuvres while watching early results trickle in. But the mood began to fade after 8 p.m. as the measure looked increasingly unlikely to succeed. Few supporters remained by 8:30 p.m. Judy Solano, a Democratic former state representative and retired school teacher who helped lead the opposition, said she was “thrilled that the voters were smart enough to realize that creating a huge new bureaucracy to take care of one issue in education… would have been a very expensive and unnecessary thing to do.” She thinks voters “saw through” supporters’ arguments and decided “we have to properly fund our schools before we do anything else.” Members of Colorado’s cannabis industry were also celebrating. “Despite being significantly outspent by proponents, Colorado voters still soundly rejected using cannabis as a piggy bank for out-of-state special interest projects,” said Peter Marcus, spokesman for Boulder-based cannabis company Terrapin Care Station, which worked with opponents of
Voters turn down marijuana tax, unseat one school board incumbent BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
OBITUARIES LOCAL CALENDAR SPORTS LEGALS CLASSIFIEDS
SEE POT TAX, P4
SEE RUNOFF, P4
PHOTO BY KEVIN J. BEATY/DENVERITE
the measure on its defeat. “We can’t balance the state budget and education on the backs of cannabis consumers; we need long-term solutions that address structural deficiencies.” Supporters of the measure were disappointed. “The significant gap in achievement between students from wealthy families and their lowincome peers has been an unfortunate educational outcome in Colorado for years — and tonight’s results mean it will likely continue to get worse before it gets better,” Curtis Hubbard, a spokesman for the Yes on Prop. 119 committee, said in a statement. “Access to affordable, quality after-school education services is not a possibility for many families living in Colorado — and we will work with anyone who has a better idea on how to tackle the problem.” Josh Penry, a Republican former state senator and consultant to the Yes on Prop. 119 campaign, attributed the loss to opposition on both sides of the aisle, with Democrats and Republicans both finding elements of the measure to dislike. “Base Democrats rallied against the school choice elements, base Republicans objected to the tax increase, and in an electorate dominated by voters over the age
Follow us at: facebook.com/brightonblade
Contact us at 303-566-4100 INSIDE THIS ISSUE
60, there just weren’t enough parents and voters in the middle to get us to 50% plus 1,” Penry said. Supporters of Proposition 119 had said the program would give kids from lower income families a chance to access tutoring and enrichment programs, helping those kids catch up academically to more privileged peers and start to regain ground they lost during the pandemic. The measure enjoyed bipartisan support, including from high-profile Colorado Democrats like Gov. Jared Polis, former Gov. Bill Ritter, former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, former U.S. Sen. Mark Udall and state Sen. Rhonda Fields. Republican former Gov. Bill Owens was a supporter, as was GOP state Sen. Bob Gardner, of Colorado Springs. “The hours our children spend after school are a critical time, and Proposition 119 will allow more kids to benefit from after-school learning activities — from tutoring to music and art,” Polis said in a statement. But the measure also faced bipartisan opposition. State Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Denver Democrat, and Senate Minority Leader Chris Holbert, a Douglas County
Brighton Mayor Greg Mills and Laurie Lozano Maier are heading for a runoff election Dec. 7. City council firmed up the date during a special meeting Nov. 4. Neither candidate received a majority of votes, which makes the recall election mandatory, according to the city charter. Mills led with 47 Mills percent of the vote. Maier had 35 percent, and Wayne Scott had 18 percent, based on the unofficial results posted to the Colorado Secretary of State’s website Nov. 4. There will be two desLozano ignated drop-off points Maier for the runoff election. One is at Brighton City Hall, 500 S. Fourth Ave. (until 7 p.m. Election DAy), and the other is at the Eagle View Adult Center, 1150 Prairie Center Parkway from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Election Day. Johnston Voters returned Councilors Matt Johnston and Ann Tadeo to the dais, plus they elected former Mayor Jan Pawlowski and newcomer Peter Padilla.
Marijuana at a Denver grow facility.
LOCAL
2 • Digging into the 3 science of death 7 17 • Page 3 19 22
SPORTS • Brighton ousted from playoffs by Fruita
• Page 17
WWW.THEBRIGHTONSTANDARDBLADE.COM
