U.S. Senate
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(D) J. Hickenlooper*
(R) Somebody
80%
20%
Governor
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(D) Phil Weiser
(D) Joe Neguse
(D) Jena Griswold
60%
60%
40%↓
Att. General
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(D) M. Dougherty
(D) Alexis King
(D) Brian Mason
40%
40%
30%
Sec. of State
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(D) A. Gonzalez
(D) George Stern
(R) Sheri Davis
50%↑
40%
30%
State Treasurer
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(D) Brianna Titone
(R) Kevin Grantham
(D) Jerry DiTullio
60%
30%
20%
CO-01 (Denver)
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(D) Diana DeGette*
(R) Somebody
90%
2%
CO-02 (Boulder-ish)
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(D) Joe Neguse*
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90%
2%
CO-03 (West & Southern CO)
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(R) Jeff Hurd*
(D) Somebody
80%
40%
CO-04 (Northeast-ish Colorado)
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(R) Lauren Boebert*
(D) Somebody
90%
10%
CO-05 (Colorado Springs)
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(R) Jeff Crank*
(D) Somebody
80%
20%
CO-06 (Aurora)
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(D) Jason Crow*
(R) Somebody
90%
10%
CO-07 (Jefferson County)
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(D) B. Pettersen*
(R) Somebody
90%
10%
CO-08 (Northern Colo.)
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(R) Gabe Evans*
(D) Yadira Caraveo
(D) Joe Salazar
50%
40%
40%
State Senate Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
80%
20%
State House Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
95%
5%
August 02, 2007 12:10 AM UTC
24 Comments
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If I recall correctly, you’re fairly recent to the area Haners so you don’t realize that this issue has been beaten on quite a few times over the years, starting back when TABOR first went statewide on the ballot. Both the Gazette and the Independent have done stories over the years on the incredibly poorly maintained properties that Dougie uses for tax breaks. I don’t know how many times he has been cited, but as far as I know he has never done anything to repair or improve these neighborhood blots.
As I can’t imagine what it’s like to anticipate having to sit next to him and his ego in a County Commission meeting, I would certainly have sympathy for any Code Enforcement officer who has had to deal with him and his properties.
The subject may be old, is his reaction?
Pretty much the same response as before. Back when TABOR was first enacted, he argued that it was payback for his work on the measure. I like how he describes the properties as “virtually ready” to occupy. He has had properties he was renting out certified “unfit” for human habitation.
My step-father owns a number of rentals here in the Springs and I recall when these properties were “For Sale” before. (Bruce has owned them since ’86) He said that they were in pretty sad shape and were way overpriced for the condition they were in. Posting them for sale is just Dougies way of getting the city off of his back until the heat dies down.
The city, if it moves on the properties, will end up in a court fight with Bruce. He will fight it even if he loses, because it will get his name in the paper again, and he is too much of an egomaniac to lose the properties without making the maximum amount of noise. I have no doubt that he wants to make a run at the state legislature and he has shown that he loves free publicity, even the negative kind.
If you want to get this in a certain perspective, check out the prices that are being asked for by sellers of other Multi-family dwellings and compare them to what Dougies properties are valued at.
…along York Street and roughly 40th. I drove by many times per month. Incredibably dilapidated. Many citations, as I recall.
This, my far rightie friends, is a shining example of libertarianism. I can do what I want with my property, the hell with the community. And if I have the resources, I can jerk you around almost forever. The lawyer is cheaper than linoleum, and I get the satisfaction of jerking my neighbors and the code folks.
The Honorable (?) County Commissioner Bruce has had similiar problems in the past when he owned (how can I word this diplomatically) “fixer-up property” in the rogue City and County of Denver. IIRC, he was actually prosecuted by the Denver City Attorney’s Office for code violation stuff.
So he’s moved out that socialist jurisdiction known as the Mile High City where they prosecute slumlords and taken his real estate empire south to a more free enterprise venue like Colo. Spgs.
Denver still tolerates slumlords. Who is the family that used to own the Denver Zephyrs (Deque??)? They own crap all over the city. Can you imagine if they owned the Rockies as they had tried to do years ago…Wait a minute we have something close to that that owns our team…The slaughterhouse duo Monfort…I’ll save more comment on that for the sports blogs though.
Well, as somebody who spent decades up north (including working at monforts and partying with monforts), I can tell you a few things. Charlie used to be a real playboy and loved to party. In fact, he loved the mountains or greeley esp when it snowed :). But last I heard, he grew up and decided that he wanted his nose afterall (or myra cut him off from funds unless he straigtened up 🙂 ). I knew that when he got the Rockies that he was not going to do things with them.
Dick is a different creature. He is a chip off the old block. Nose to the grind stone and a brain like ken ( I still remember him in his overalls cleaning up the flowerbed under my office window; reminded me of my grandfather ). Even though he is not Myra’s kid, I always thought he was a lot like her (wonderful and damn smart lady). Dick is most likely running the club now, and that would explain why they are improving.
Sit tight and see what happens. Later this season, I will go to enjoy some games. I have not done that in about 5 years.
If this was libertarianism, then you would have the right to take him to court and sue if he has impinged on you. Has he? One way would be that by allowing his property to run down, that he has hurt your value or created a situation for rats and/or bums. With libertarians, you could sue and win. Not so with dem/pubs solutions.
As it is, if you are one of his renters, and there was an issue with the place such as broken stair etc, and you hurt yourself, there is a good chance that HE would win now. Why? because the pubs created numerous laws to protect the land lord and make the renter reponsible for everything. OTH, if you are doug bruce, and you lived in denver and the renter broke the stair and then broke their foot on it, then bruce would lose quickly. Why? because the dems have passed all sorts of laws that make the land lord responsible.
What is needed is common sense.
Do you think if you sent this, something similar with less words, the Gazette would print it in the opinion section or completely ignore since it demostrates what a rag paper it is?
They share a similar ideological viewpoint and so the Gazette will not print unflattering articles about him.
Actually, the entire Colorado Springs’ media panders to him. He could call up all of the local media and say “I’m going to fart this afternoon, you’d better be there”, and most of them would show up. They say they are reporting on “serious local politics” but it’s really just articles for entertainment value.
Let him go to the Legislature – most of his colleagues will (after the laughter dies down) just ignore him and the Denver media is probably savvy enough to not waste column inches on him.
what would be surprising is if the Gazette published something that wasn’t lazy, yellow journalism, or an opinion pice that had an original thought supported by fact.
the Ritter and Iraqi children article today? Very interesting stuff, and made me wonder how the kids were chosen. My guess is they were just being honest, but wow did they grill Ritter! Not sure if that showed up in Denver, but CoPols certainly missed posting what could have been a thrilling discussion.
Pols is too bias to write anything bad about our Dem Guv. Think of Pols as pandering to the left just as the CS Gaz panders to Bruce. Nothing like balance.
This is a blog, a community with contributors. We are not reporters who have an ethical journalistic standard the like the Gazette is supposed to have.
The rag down in Colorado Springs is a failed experiment like every other libertarian neo-con policy. The shrills on the editorial board even attack citizens! They’ve completely lost their sense of community, moral standing and ethics.
Ever hear of the phrase “new media”? If Pols isn’t trying to have high journalistic standards, then what the hell is the point?
and there are bloggers from all points of view. Just because there may be more liberal bloggers does not make the site more liberal.
Liberal or conservative, it certainly sets the tone
But when a moderate blogger like myself posts an article on Iraq and nobody comments but avoids it like the plague, what does that say? Maybe my diary was poorly written, or maybe people would rather bicker about Romney and dogs all day long instead of discussing a very thought-provoking article. Even if it WAS in the Gazette -which I agree is not a glorious bastion of excellent journalism- I feel this article should have prompted some discussion.
CoPols puts Romanoff protesting the Sudan in China on the front page, it puts ANYTHING Romney on the front page, and Tancredo in Iowa on the front page. In the past I have been really impressed and greatly enjoyed this blog, but I just don’t get this. Of course, the lack of discussion by bloggers is not CoPols fault, but I feel their choice of what is front-page material is rather odd.
Romney isn’t even the front-runner for crying out loud, and they don’t publicize the fact that the only people Hillary met with up in Aspen were uber-wealthy donors.
But the article you posted raised some legitimate issues regarding a popular dem governor. Your post was well written, I don’t think that was the issue. But some Dems may not want to try to defend what seems to me as a Ritter fumble, others may be burned out of the issue.
Keep it up though, I had to post a bunch of articles before one of mine made it on the front page (not that I’m saying that was your motivation, just that I understand the frustration).
I don’t care too much about front page, they have fairly given me such promotion in the past. The silence on this issue is just odd. They sure love posting what time Romney wakes up in the morning and what he eats for lunch, just nothing about Iraq and Ritter. And so the crusade begins…
As Rush might say, it “doesn’t fit the media’s template”
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do you really suppose that they are just average children signed up off the streets of Baghdad for a month plus touring the US at the expense of the Public Diplomacy office within the State Department ?
or do you suppose that there was some intent, some sort of planning, that conceived of the tour in the first place, and considered questions like what it was supposed to accomplish, who was the target audience, and what news stories were supposed to be generated by the tour ?
it could be possible that Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes just wanted Americans to get a candid, unfiltered look at what Iraqis really think of the Surge. Or it is also possible this was engineered to support the Administration’s position.
I don’t have any evidence, but I have a guess. These children were screened from families with a vested interest; were extensively trained and coached; and are simply another arrow in the propaganda quiver that this Administration uses to assault the American people. Unless, of course, you refuse to believe this Administration would stoop to propaganda, to abusing children for crass political purposes, and to spending Appropriated dollars (tax dollars) for partisan advantage. Given the big picture of how this Administration operates, …