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Elections that matter

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Public Notices

Public Notices

While national politics tend to get more of our attention — just read last week’s column — I have to say as a journalist, I have always loved covering the local elections. Decades ago as a young journalist, I started covering school boards, town councils and county commissions.

e education was invaluable because it did not take a lot of time for me to realize that while national political topics are talked about, griped about and get the mainstream media’s main attention — It’s the local races that mean more to our daily lives.

What does that mean?

For starters, once we became homeowners, my husband and I got a crash course in where property taxes go. Why our assessed value means anything — especially this year in Colorado.

When we started having children and growing our family — we quickly learned why the quality in a local school district matters and why we should be concerned about what teachers are paid.

At the city council level — it’s not just about taxes. ese elected boards have a hand in our everyday lives. What speed limit should you be traveling on that street? Well — it’s your local elected leaders who get to decide.

Which roadways are in shambles and should be repaired? Well — it’s that local elected board who hears from sta and decides whether or not to pay millions toward xing it.

Should that massive mulitiuse development be built on neighboring land? Again, it is the local elected board that decides to give it a thumbs up or a thumbs down. Although, personal interjection here, from Arizona to Colorado I have always been a bit surprised on how easily most of these projects get a thumbs up even

From The Editor

when there is not enough water to support such a plan, but that’s a column for another day.

Our school boards are becoming more and more political with each election cycle. ese are the elected boards where I am the most concerned. As politics seeps into our classrooms and we start wondering why. Again, it’s that local elected board setting the tone and establishing policy.

Most of the school districts have candidates running in the November election in Douglas and Arapahoe counties. Even if you do not have children — you should be paying attention to who is running and who are the most reasonable candidates.

e o -year elections are the ones where we are not deciding who gets to be president, we are deciding who gets to set tone, pace and cost of our everyday lives. Voter turnout for elections such as the one coming up on Nov. 7 should get way more turnout than they tend to get.

Besides electing who will represent us — we often are asked to consider tax increases. Douglas County School District has approved asking again this November for more money. More may do so.

In Parker — residents will be asked to make changes to the town charter. While that may seem vague — these are governing policies that residents have an o cial say in. A resident’s vote does matter.

ese are the elections that matter and need our attention — I would say now more than ever.

elma Grimes is the south metro editor for Colorado Community Media.

Letter To The Editor

Not so sure about override e mill levy override proposed by Dougco Schools Superintendent Erin Kane is not about teacher salaries but to mask the real reason why Dougco teachers are reportedly leaving in droves. e Dougco political climate has not been teacher-friendly for years. is feud came to a head during the 2020 COVID pandemic with teachers and medical professionals being portrayed as the bad guys over masking, vaccinating students and many other community health concerns. One prominent Republican politician from Parker went as far as doxxing the names and addresses of employees of Tri-County Health which may have contributed to the ring of Tri-County by Dougco commissioners.

I have paid Dougco property taxes for 47 years without having a student in the district and have always supported our schools. With a 50% property tax increase in 2024, and the “double whammy” mill levy override proposed by Superintendent Kane, I may be forced to vote against the override which would be a rst for me. e mill levy override and my $1,669.85 property tax contribution to Dougco schools would be better spent on a recall petition of the entire Dougco school board.

Roy Legg Highlands Ranch

Look

At Charter Facts

e article by the superintendent of Douglas County Schools revealed the problems of funding our schools and how Douglas County falls short of other districts. One factor that was omitted from her point of view was how our local money is funding out-of-district students in our schools, especially charter schools. Charters enroll over 70% of out-of-district students who receive our local funds and at times trump our students from enrolling into a charter. What is the total costs that Douglas County taxpayers are giving these out-of-district students? If these students are coming from districts that have more MLO money, maybe one solution is to have them bring their MLO funds with them, freeing up our local money to improve our local schools. Maybe another solution is to prioritize our students rst in enrolling into a charter school and not let a sibling of a current enrolled out-ofdistrict student trump our student. I believe School of Choice Laws state if room is available and not for outof-district students over in-district students. How many Douglas County parents attempted to enroll their child into a charter and were denied due to lack of room?

Dave Usechek

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