Transcript Wheat Ridge
November 28, 2013
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A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourwheatridgenews.com
Jefferson County, Colorado • Volume 30, Issue 23
County eyes open space
Chilly air
PLAN Jeffco hosted meeting looks at next 40 years By Amy Woodward
awoodward@ourcoloradonews.com
Wheat Ridge High School sophomores Kaylee Harvey and Kayla Frye chat and enjoy brisk morning air Friday during their off hour across the street from the school. The Denver metro area saw snowfall Thursday evening last week. Photo by Mikkel Kelly
Jefferson County residents are looking into the future with the help of scientists who revealed current trends that affect open space conservation. PLAN Jeffco, an organization of citizens devoted to open space conservation, met in the main exhibit hall at the Jeffco Fairgrounds Nov. 16 to discuss the next 40 years in Jeffco open space conservation. The discussion was led by eight speakers, experts in fields ranging from Colorado Parks and Wildlife to geophysicists. “This conference is specifically about looking as far out as any of us can,” Amy Ito, park planning and construction manager said. “Many of these themes carry beyond in our case five years, we hope that our vision and some of our goals continue beyond that.” Jefferson County Open Space revises its master plan every five years, with the latest plan released on Tuesday, Nov. 19. It is currently available online at jeffco.us/parks/ about/open-space-master-plan/. The updated master plan includes a mission statement, and eight goals with an annual report that will be released to indicate how the organization is meeting those goals. Citizen feedback is welcome and essential in guiding the master plan. Public comment is open until Dec. 30. In 1972, PLAN Jeffco was established due to the location of the county between downtown Denver and open
County continues on Page 2
Hudak in a crunch: Lawmaker weighing options in recall effort By Vic Vela
vvela@ourcoloradonews.com State Sen. Evie Hudak could be in a lose-lose situation, and she knows it. The Westminster Democrat acknowledges that if organizers behind a recall effort collect enough signatures to force a special election, there is only one sure-fire way that she will remain a senator. “The way I win is if they don’t get enough signatures,” she said during a recent interview with Colorado Community Media. “Other than that, I think you’re right, that I’m in a lose-lose situation if they get enough signatures. People will be angry if I were to resign. People would be angry if I were to be recalled.” Hudak refused to answer affirmatively if she will run in a recall election, if things go that far. “Obviously, people like you have forced me to contemplate,” she said. “The reason I can’t make a decision is because I don’t know if they’re going to have enough signatures. There are a lot of things in play. “Right now, I want to remain a senator. I think I’ve done a good job.”
Hudak was asked whether it would send a bad message if a lawmaker steps aside from office, through the mere threat of a recall — without even fighting back in an election to keep his or her seat. “You’re expressing why it’s so difficult, and why I can’t give you an answer right now,” she said. Organizers have until Dec. 3 to submit 18,962 valid signatures of District 19 voters to the secretary of state’s office. Hudak’s district includes Westminster and Arvada. Hudak has run in tough elections before. She initially won her Senate seat in 2008 with 51 percent of the vote. Last year, Hudak was re-elected by a slim margin of 342 votes over her Republican opponent, and one where a Libertarian candidate received 6.5 percent support. Hudak is the third Democratic lawmaker to be targeted for recall. The other two, former Senate President John Morse of Colorado Springs and Sen. Angela Giron of Pueblo, lost their races. The group that is behind the recall effort, which calls itself Recall Hudak Too, has a laundry list of reasons why she should be recalled. Clearly, though, Hudak is being targeted over her support
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of gun legislation that was signed into law this year, and because she is a vulnerable Democrat whose loss in a special election could flip control in the General Assembly’s upper chamber to the Republicans. That’s why there has been chatter among state politicos that Hudak could end up resigning from office, a move that would allow another Democrat to hold that important seat. “At this time, I have no intention of resigning,” she said. “I hope I won’t have to make that decision.” Mike McAlpine, who is organizing the recall effort, did not respond to multiple requests for comment on this story. Learning from recent recall efforts Hudak and her campaign manager Chris Kennedy say they learned from what happened in Colorado Springs and Pueblo. “I don’t think we knew how serious it was and how capable these guys were,” Kennedy said. He said because of that, the Hudak campaign has sent volunteers door-to-door, as well as positioning volunteers in areas where petition gatherers are attempting to collect signatures. The actions of volunteers on both sides of the recall attempt have been the story within the recall story, as efforts on the part of some groups have stirred controversy. The Democracy Defense Fund, A pro-Hudak group — one that the senator says she is not affiliated with — has directed robocalls that warn District 19 voters that some of the recall petition gatherers have criminal backgrounds.
Chris Leinster of Westminster talks on his smartphone while seeking signatures for a petition to recall Democrat state Sen. Evie Hudak of District 19 on Nov. 1. Recall effort supporters had tables set up on both sides of Wadsworth Boulevard north of West 80th Avenue. People with placards in opposition to the recall stood on the sidewalks near the tables including Arvada’s Nick Dogich, center background, and Liz Geisleman, at right in background. File photo “We’re trying to get the message out, why it would benefit people in the community not to sign the petition,” Cheryl Cheney, a Democracy Defense Fund volunteer said. On the other side, the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners has said it will be giving away an AR-15 rifle, as part of an effort to boost petition volunteer efforts. Cheney called that effort “disgusting” because it is was the weapon of choice in the Aurora Theater and Sandy Hook elementary school mass shootings. “We’re doing whatever we can to get the signatures for recall,” Danielle Thompson, a spokesperson for RMGO said. “It’s not a sensitive issue because the AR-15 is the most popular rifle. That’s
what’s going to turn people out.” All of this will go on for a few more days. In the meantime, Hudak said she appreciates the support she’s been receiving through all of this. “I am just very honored that so many people come to me and tell me that they support me and feel bad that I have to go through this,” she said. “They feel like this is happening to them too, because they were my supporters and they kind of put themselves in my shoes.”
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