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Boulder City Council elections- which candidates are pro access?

Original Post
Mark E Dixon · · Possunt, nec posse videntur · Joined Nov 2007 · Points: 974

Anybody know which candidates are in favor of access and which ones are against? The article in the Daily Camera is careful not to name any names.
dailycamera.com/guest-opini…
I've heard that Shoemaker and Byrnes are the two good guys (guess where my prejudice lies!) but I'm not really sure where to look to get the facts.

brenta · · Boulder, CO · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 75

Andrew Shoemaker gets my vote. Mark Oveson hit the nail on the head with his article. The process that led to the creation of the conservation area is an important precedent that we, as climbers, should not forget.

OSMP has consistently tried to restrict access to the largest extent it could get away with. In that, it has been in unison with numerous members of City Council.

If you need a refresher on how much climbers count in their decisions, look up the literature on OSMP's site. Politicians respond to votes, and that's why, while I support 2E, 2H, and the like, I'm going to vote against 2C.

Mark E Dixon · · Possunt, nec posse videntur · Joined Nov 2007 · Points: 974
brenta wrote:Andrew Shoemaker gets my vote. Mark Oveson hit the nail on the head with his article. The process that led to the creation of the conservation area is an important precedent that we, as climbers, should not forget. OSMP has consistently tried to restrict access to the largest extent it could get away with. In that, it has been in unison with numerous members of City Council. If you need a refresher on how much climbers count in their decisions, look up the literature on OSMP's site. Politicians respond to votes, and that's why, while I support 2E, 2H, and the like, I'm going to vote against 2C.
Which one is 2C again?

Am I right in thinking that it is better to ONLY vote for the good guys, even if it means not using all your votes?

What do you think of Ed Byrne?

I wish Christian Griffith had done better when he ran a few years ago. He would have been great on the Council.
brenta · · Boulder, CO · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 75
Mark E Dixon wrote: Which one is 2C again? Am I right in thinking that it is better to ONLY vote for the good guys, even if it means not using all your votes? What do you think of Ed Byrne? I wish Christian Griffith had done better when he ran a few years ago. He would have been great on the Council.
2C is the one extending the current 0.33 percent tax that goes to OSMP beyond 2018 and in perpetuity. OSMP would get 0.22 percent until 2035 and 0.10 percent thereafter. For the casual reader, it may be worth noting that this is 0.33 out of the 0.88 percent that OSMP currently gets. So, they are certainly not going to starve.

Ed Byrne seems a reasonable guy. He supports 2C, but that would not prevent me from voting him. I'm still trying to better figure out what he stands for.

Finally, I agree that voting someone just because you have five votes to cast is the wrong thing to do.
Mark Hammond · · Eldorado Springs, CO · Joined Oct 2006 · Points: 466

It can be extremely important not to vote for those who don't support access, as it could mean that your top choices lose and we lose access.
Consider this simple scenario. Note that the following is theoretical.
You get 5 votes. There are 5 seats open.
There are 7 candidates, 2 pro access, 5 con.
There are 1000 voters, 500 pro access, 500 con. (We wish.)
The 500 con vote for the 5 con candidates and they each have 500 votes.
The 500 pro access voters vote for the 2 pro access candidates and they each have 500 votes.
So far, so good?
But now you (and the other 499) use your other 3 votes to vote for con candidates.
They all end up with more than 500 votes and your 2 pro access candidates lose.
A thousand permutations of the above exist, but the bottom line is that you should only vote for those who views you support.

Peter Beal · · Boulder Colorado · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 1,825

For more on Andrew Shoemaker and Ed Byrne, read this:
mountainsandwater.com/2013/…

George Bracksieck · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2008 · Points: 3,393

I agree that Boulder residents interested in climbing access should vote ONLY for Andrew Shoemaker and Ed Byrne for city council. They should also vote for 2C, because the funds are used mainly to acquire land and prevent housing and commercial development on those lands. Climbers should be grateful that the Flatirons and Mickey Maus aren't on private land and that houses aren't swarming all the way up to (or past) most of the mountain fronts above Boulder.

brenta · · Boulder, CO · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 75

I'm certainly grateful to those who promoted the creation of what is nowadays Boulder's Open Space. It doesn't follow that I should then support a program that is trying to deny access to that space.

A program that, even without the funds 2C would grant it, would continue to count on about $15M a year to play Monopoly near the Kansas border. OSMP's acquisition plan, approved last year and available from OSMP's site, has identified no needs for the Mountain Parks.

Eric and Lucie · · Boulder, CO · Joined Oct 2004 · Points: 140

+1

fossana · · leeds, ut · Joined Apr 2006 · Points: 13,318
George Bracksieck wrote:I agree that Boulder residents interested in climbing access should vote ONLY for Andrew Shoemaker and Ed Byrne for city council.
I give these two guys credit for attending a Boulder trail running sponsored event despite the fact they spent the bulk of their time talking about their past history with the US Pro Cycling Challenge and a skiing program. We need all the help we can get to regain OSMP climbing access.
Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Colorado
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