Bull retires from Cherry Creek Schools
Cherry Creek Schools Superintendent Harry Bull will step down at the end of this schoolyear after more than three decades working the district in various capacities. He announced his intentions Jan. 8 at a meeting of the Board of Education, saying he
planned to spend more time with his children and address health concerns. Dr. Bull was appointed superintendent in 2013 after serving in roles as teacher, dean, principal and administrator. In 2017, he was named both Superintendent of the
S O U T H
Year by the Colorado Association of School Executives and Man of the Year by The Villager. The board is expected to move quickly to decide on a process for selecting Bull’s replacement.
M E T R O
“I’ve been blessed to serve as the superintendent of the Cherry Creek School District, an organization that’s taught me the true meaning of excellence. To say my departure will be bittersweet is a vast understatement,” Bull told the board.
VOLUME 36 • NUMBER 8 • JANUARY 11, 2018
Since 1982
www.villagerpublishing.com
TheVillagerNewspaper
@VillagerDenver
State Treasurer Walker Stapleton banking on gubernatorial win Greenwood Village-based candidate dismisses ‘dynasty’ label, sets sights on Jared Polis
T
o hear Walker Stapleton tell it, there is a lot of hogwash in the race for governor. When it comes to charges that the Bushfamily cousin and great-grandson to a Denver mayor and airport honoree is a “dynasty” candidate, the Colorado state treasurer bristles. “I think labels are hogwash and a bunch of political bull that don’t mean anything,” he said. “I also happen to be related to Chris Stapleton, the country music performer who sells out Red Rocks. Just because he’s my second cousin doesn’t mean that I sing like him.” As for complaints about a controversial “independent expenditure committee” he coordinated prior to officially becoming a gubernatorial candidate, Stapleton again calls critics to task. “That’s a lot of political hogwash,” he said to those who think the candidate may have bended the spirit of campaign-finance laws. “It’s going to take a lot of money to beat [perceived Democratic frontrunner] Jared Polis. I’m committed to raising the resources necessary. Jared Polis, to me, is the threat that matters to Colorado.” Stapleton, 43, a Greenwood Village resident, was considered by many an undeclared candidate in name only last September when the two-term treasurer finally jumped into the official Republican primary as a fundraising behemoth. The sitting treasurer, however, makes no bones about the need to raise money—and a lot of it—and the fact that he is the only Republican in the race who has won statewide office twice, a claim worthy of note in a state that has been reluctant to elect GOP governors in recent years. “I think Republicans have done a good job of shooting
State Treasurer Walker Stapleton, a Greenwood Villager and a Republican primary candidate for governor, spends a moment at Red Rocks. Although his cousin—not George W. Bush—has been known to sell out the venue, Stapleton says he is sticking to politics. Courtesy of Stapleton for Colorado
Continued on page 2
Coffman rebukes Sessions on marijuana enforcement policy U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Aurora, responded swiftly last week to the announcement by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions that the Justice Department would be rescinding the Obamaera policy that effectively
allowed states to legalize marijuana without federal intervention. In a Jan. 4 press announcement, Coffman urged Sessions to read the Commerce Clause in the U.S. Constitution, which limits the power of the federal government to regulate interstate and intrastate
commerce. “The decision that was made to legalize marijuana in Colorado was made by the voters of Colorado and only applies within the boundaries of our state,” Coffman wrote in his statement. “Colorado had every right to legalize marijuana and I will do everything I can to protect that right against the power of an overreaching federal government.” J a s o n Crow, a Democratic- primary candidate in
Coffman’s 6th Cong ressional District, issued a statement urging Coffman to take his words a step further by introducing legislation to prevent Sessions from rescinding the enforcement policy. U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colorado, has likewise called Sessions to task for his announcement, citing the attorney general’s Senate confirmation testimony, in which Sessions said he had no intention of changing policy as it pertained
voter-approved legalized marijuana in the states. Although Colorado, California and other states have legalized marijuana at the state level, the plant is still listed as illegal under the federal Controlled Substances Act. During the 2016 presidential race, President Trump said he favored medicinal use of marijuana and said the recreational question should be left to individual states.