Soapbox

I have spent a lot of time contemplating what made the Durango Fire Protection District pursue the purchase of the 9-R Administration property, and the series of events that has led to that situation. DFPD did not get what it wanted in the past, a location for new facilities. This was apparently decided against by a few people, a select minority.

Now, the DFPD board and the Fire Chief are mad, disappointed and determined to find a location no matter what, even if residents who all support their mission and work get thrown under the bus. This creates a situation that causes distrust, disappointment and division. I care about this matter in so many ways, and I write this letter to illuminate what I see is at stake and what is to gain.

I encourage DFPD to apply pressure on the City and pursue its goal without taking the residents as hostages and using them and the downtown they hold dear as bargaining chips.

Relationships are priceless and delicate, and the relationships between fire, emergency and law enforcement personnel with residents are trustworthy. Everybody must, under all circumstances, strive to keep it that way as we have a common goal: community through safety, civility and health.

We will only reach well-informed decisions by having adult and inclusive conversations without guilt, blame, shame and ego. I encourage DFPD to slow down the process and assess the unwanted consequences that relocating to the 9-R site automatically expose the DFPD workers and the Durango residents to, things that can be avoided through such a conversation.

I do not know a single person who is against DFPD getting new and optimal facilities; I am willing to bet that all residents want that.

The location, however, is not a great choice, which has become evident per a petition that has gathered more than 1,000 signatures in less than two weeks. The petition, calling for inclusion and due process, was signed or supported by former and current firefighters, EMT personnel, nurses and doctors, carpenters, electricians, teachers, farmers and children – you name it, all walks of life.

I’m convinced that thousands of citizens will support a move for DFPD to find another more appropriate site without the problems and impacts of the currently proposed site. I believe the public will be there when it is time to firmly support the elected officials who will be tasked with the decision to find you that new location.

The citizens do not want to be left out of the process – they want to make this happen with decisionmakers and want to feel proud of having been a part of supporting DFPD and its needs.

Durango Mayor Kim Baxter has made it clear that she is more than willing to talk with DFPD about alternative sites. Now citizens are waiting for DFPD to accept the invitation, one that gives the district a chance to start fresh, include the general public and move forward with integrity with all parties involved.

If DFPD makes the choice to do so, I know many highly esteemed community members who would be more than willing to facilitate and broker any such meetings.

In closing, I feel the need to say that I witnessed a DFPD board member say: “But why are people so against the fire department?” That is not the case. The resistance DFPD is experiencing is one of demand for accountability and mutual respect. Citizens must be able to debate and contest law enforcement and fire/safety entities’ opinions and plans in the public space without fear of repercussions and shame. Otherwise, I do believe that the idea of freedom and democracy crumbles. – Lars Hansen, Durango

Unlike the end of 2020, I’m not looking forward to the New Year. It has been one year since the Jan. 6 coup attempt instigated by Donald Trump. That started months before the election with his bogus and undocumented claims of ballot fraud.

After the election came all those court challenges, all dismissed for lack of evidence, and his recorded effort to badger an elected official in Georgia to “find” enough votes for Trump to win. Wouldn’t that be solicitation to commit election fraud?

Then House Republicans, with very few exceptions, supported his effort to throw out the certified Electoral College votes that declared Joe Biden the winner. The Jan. 6 coup attempt wasn’t just the rioters who forced their way into the U.S. Capitol.

But as the months have passed, the GOP coup collaborators have been busy trying to rewrite the reality of what happened back then – that it was no big deal. They want us to believe it wasn’t a violent coup attempt with threats to kill Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, or defenders who thought they were about to die. It was freedom-loving patriots exercising their First Amendment freedom of speech and their outrage at the theft of the 2020 election, thus helping to perpetuate the Big Lie with new lies. Or the alternative lie, that it was Antifa.

Trump continues to promote his lie that he won by a landslide and the election was stolen from him. In all this time, he has shown zero evidence, although some of his supporters have put out some seriously bizarre conspiracy theories on how it was done.

The only real documentation is that Trump has a long history as a habitual liar. But a majority of Republicans apparently believe Trump’s election lie. And there’s a good chance the GOP will take back control of Congress this fall. Will that spell the end of democracy as we know it?

The GOP has played a long game since at least 2000 to create single-party rule state by state until they are ready to turn the entire country. They’ve done that with political gerrymandering and various forms of voter suppression. Since Trump’s loss, GOP-controlled legislatures have further suppressed voting, especially targeting urban precincts that tend to vote for Democrats.

They’ve criminalized innocent minor mistakes by voters. Will those prosecutions vary according to the hapless voter’s party registration? GOP controlled legislatures have criminalized minor mistakes by those processing ballots, those helping poorly informed voters to register, or those providing food or water to voters standing in long lines (probably after polling places have been consolidated in urban minority precincts).

If all that fails to turn election results to the GOP, Red state legislators are claiming the right to overturn results, including the Electoral College in 2024, that don’t go their way. With that, our democracy is gone.

Anyone who wants to keep our democracy will need to be very engaged this year. – Carole McWilliams, Bayfield

(Advertise in the Telegraph.)

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Stop killing wolves

Several months ago, it was reported a family of wolves were spotted in northern Colorado, which was exciting since the state just voted to introduce wolves. But now, there’s only one lone wolf left. What happened? I assume hunters killed the family, just as the slaughter of wolves happening now in Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and other Western states.

Wolves were an endangered species when Trump delisted them, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is behind the slaughter, using methods of the 1800s by killing pups in dens, dynamiting dens, snares and aerial shooting. This is against the mission of Fish and Wildlife, which is to protect wildlife for the benefit of people, not just extreme hunters. This is wrong and Fish and Wildlife needs to be stopped.

When an endangered species is delisted, this should not give the OK to kill 95% of the population, which is the goal of these states, yet it goes on with the Biden administration doing little. Wolves are keystone species, essential to the health of any ecosystem. So contact the Biden administration and Fish and Wildlife to stop this killing of magnificent, intelligent creatures with complex social lives. And donate to Defenders of Wildlife where you can get a toy wolf as a Christmas gift when you donate, or other organizations: Environmental Action, Western Environmental Law Center, Friends of Animals and others.

Also, news of the presence of endangered animals, such as a wolf family, should never be publicized. – Margaret Mayer, Durango

End the filibuster

In November 2020, millions of voters like me went to the polls and cast a ballot for Joe Biden. Now, with a relentless GOP attack on our voting rights underway, I’m asking President Biden to deliver on his promises.

It’s time for Biden to go further than talking about supporting voting rights legislation. We need him to come out and fully support ending the filibuster so the Senate can finally pass voting rights legislation, like the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

With the filibuster intact, these bills have no chance of passing. Senate Republicans blocked the Freedom to Vote Act from even coming to a debate! We need the president to use his power of office to pressure the Senate to end the filibuster and clear a path for voting rights.

We can’t out-organize voter suppression. History will remember how President Biden handles these attacks on our right to vote. I’m urging him to do the right thing.

– Donald Wiseman, Bayfield