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October 30-November 5, 2008
editorial@boulderweekly.com
• Back to Vote 2008 main page
• United States Senator
• U.S. Representative, Congressional Districts 2 and 4
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• State House of Representatives
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State Senate,
District 16
Dan Gibbs
Voters may choose between two candidates — Don Ytterberg or incumbent Dan Gibbs — to represent District 16 in the State Senate. District 16 includes all of Clear Creek, Gilpin, Grand and Summit counties and sections of both Boulder and Jefferson counties.
Democrat Dan Gibbs is the current representative for District 16 and seeks re-election. Prior to his current position, Gibbs spent one term in Colorado’s House of Representatives where he passed several bills, including those that addressed the pine beetle epidemic, public health, the environment and road safety. Gibbs’ focus issues include the environment, transportation, public land usage and education. He is a certified Type II Wildland Firefighter and an organizer of after-school programs in Summit County.
Running against Gibbs is Republican Don Ytterberg. Ytterberg is an experienced Colorado business owner, and seeks to bring his skills in the field to the state senate. If elected, he would like to grow primary jobs. Ytterberg supports drilling and renewable energy, a solution to I-70 traffic snarls and the development of strategic transportation plans, including public-private initiatives. He would like tax incentives to be provided for mitigation against fire potential and encourages state and federal solutions to manage wildland/urban interfaces. Ytterberg believes in the traditional concept of families and properly funded systems for K-12 and higher education.
Boulder Weekly thinks that families come in all shapes and sizes and should be the business of private individuals and not state government busybodies. Further, we’re not impressed by the Republican mantra “drill, drill, drill,” but rather want Colorado to become a pioneer in clean-energy technology. Ytterberg represents leadership of the past; Gibbs will help us build a better future. Vote for Dan Gibbs!
State Senate
District 17
Brandon Shaffer
Voters may choose between two candidates — Brandon C. Shaffer and Katie Witt — to represent the State Senate seat for Colorado’s District 17. District 17 includes areas of east Boulder County, including parts of Longmont, Erie, Lafayette and Louisville.
Democrat Brandon Shaffer was elected to this seat in 2004 and is seeking re-election. Since being elected he has sponsored more than 80 bills that are now law. He believes that the economy is a major issue that Colorado currently faces and would like to create new jobs through continued investment in new-energy economy. For Shaffer, improving our economy also involves creating incentives to help small businesses thrive and helping the educational system. Shaffer maintains that he will continue to work towards maximizing state and federal funding for higher education, as he has in previous bills he has sponsored.
Running against Shaffer is Republican hopeful Katie Witt. Witt maintains that she will not raise taxes on working families, but rather remove bureaucratic hoops for businesses. She believes that RTD should be held accountable to the voters of Colorado, and that a FasTracks is needed in eastern Boulder County to help support job growth and the economy. If elected, Witt ensures that the first piece of legislation she will propose is Jessica’s Law, a measure that guarantees that sexual predators of children under the age of 12 will be sentenced to jail for a minimum of 25 years.
Witt goes out of her way to avoid spewing the “family values” rhetoric that so brands Marilyn Musgrave and many conservative Republicans. However, a little digging finds that she was the statewide coordinator for the Coloradans for Marriage campaign, which won passage of an amendment to the state constitution defining marriage as being between one man and one woman. That sure sounds like “family values” to us. Thanks, but no thanks.
We’ll stick with Brandon Shaffer, whose record of successful legislation and emphasis on renewable energy are a much better fit for Boulder County. Vote for Brandon Shaffer.
State Senate
District 18
Rollie Heath
Democratic candidate Rollie Heath is running unopposed for State Senate District 18. Heath has been a Boulder resident since 1970. Heath served as Chair of the State Party Platform Committee in 2004 and ran as the Democratic candidate for governor in 2002. He has a strong background in business, having served on numerous local boards and commissions.
Heath believes that the No. 1 priority in Colorado is fiscal reform and leadership and says he would like to see a permanent change in fiscal policy in addition to the temporary measurements of Referendum C.
Heath also considers the environment a major issue and would like the district to work toward becoming a zero-waste community. He supports Gov. Bill Ritter’s proposed broad policy agenda for energy self-sufficiency. Education, health care and transportation are other issues Heath considers critical. He seeks to provide safe environments for teachers and students, promote funding for Colorado’s higher-learning institutions, provide fiscal reform that will enable universal health care, and find better mechanisms for funding transportation.
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