NEW: The lame duck conservative majority on the DougCo School Board plans to use its last meeting Tuesday to pass a 10-year extension for all charter schools without a review of their performance and finances. @marshallglasses.bsky.social reports:
NEW: The conservative majority on the Douglas County (CO) school board, voted out of office this week, has put a ban on trans girls in sports on the agenda for their final meeting on Nov 11. A district spokesperson says it will be up for discussion but not a vote. #copolitics
In 2016, Ken Paxton had the audacity to sit at my table and break bread with my family knowing full well that my son is trans, then SIX YEARS LATER wrote an opinion stating that families like mine shouldn't exist. Within days, a CPS investigator was in our home threatening to remove our children.🧵
NEW: Douglas County's GOP commissioners are resisting calls to apologize after a claim that a local opposition group led by an Asian-American woman is funded by the Chinese Communist Party. #copolitics
As usual, we are grassroots with little money, so please consider making a donation and getting a yard sign. Talk to your neighbors. What happens this month will dictate how Douglas County operates forever. www.stopdougcopowergrab.com
#DouglasCounty #HomeRule #StopThePowerGrab
This is not partisan. I know of people from all political persuasions who are opposed to home rule the way it is being implemented. The candidates who oppose home rule, but are running for the commission are from various political persuasions.
There is way too much on the line to let this pass. Vote NO, and vote for the candidates listed above, who all threw their hats in the ring after the March decision, to keep the hand-picked slate from writing it alone.
He voted against giving a mental health grant to the Douglas County Pride group, and tried to get Pridefest outlawed in the County
George Teal is the only one I haven’t personally interacted with. He is the ring leader. When speaking to members of the public, and other elected officials who don’t agree with him, he behaves like a condescending, contemptuous bully.
He signed on as a sponsor to a bill that would have legalized discrimination against the LGBTQ community. When I asked him about it, he gave a lazy BS answer about the number of churches in HR. He didn’t hold town halls and was not available to constituents.
Kevin VanWinkle used to be the State House Rep for Highlands Ranch. I have watched him on the House floor be the first to vote “no” on bills that I was in favor of. It’s like he can’t wait to push that button to deny people. He is a lazy “yes man.”
During the recent town hall, he likened forming the home rule commission to write the county charter to “1776 and putting those wigs on…” He thinks he’s going to be like a founding father. He says it’s no big deal, but also a very big deal.
My experience with the commissioners pushing this:
Abe Laydon identifies as a member of the LGBTQ community, but doesn’t use his position of power to benefit that community. He shows up for photo ops, but continues to push an agenda that harms the community he says he’s a part of.
Racist dog whistles have been used to promote this. The commissioners and supporters have repeatedly said that Douglas County is different and special, and shouldn’t have to comply with State laws. They don’t want “Denver” dictating what we do here. #HomeRule #DouglasCounty
The timeline is too short. The commission would be formed at the June 24 election, and the charter would need to be FINALIZED by August 22!
If the commissioners and their slate write the charter, it will contain extreme policies that will remain forever.
This can not be undone.
This is anti-democratic, as they will ensure all elected positions are at-large. As the county becomes more blue, the governing bodies will not.
This is being pushed through by the people who will benefit, with little public input.
My concerns: This decision was made behind closed doors, in violation of public meeting laws. The “yes on home rule” campaign had weeks or months to prepare before the decision to have a special election was even made public.
This would give the commissioners more power than they already have.
They could: Give land set aside for neighborhood schools to charter schools.
Give themselves more control over the Library Board, and others.
What they could actually do:
Change elected positions into appointed positions
Do away with term limits
Set their own salaries
Take on debt without a vote
Take the faux outrage topic of the moment, like DEI, and write it into the charter where it will remain FOREVER.
They have said They plan to sue the State over and over to try to opt out of State laws, knowing that they will lose many of the lawsuits, wasting our tax dollars in the process.
They have said:
-They want to turn the county into Florida so no Dems will want to live here.
-If they don’t do this, the county could get 5 commissioners instead of 3, voted by district instead of at-large, and if that happens, Highlands Ranch might elect a Dem.
Since then, they have gone to meetings around the county, like city council, and HRMD to give their 20-minute presentation, and tell people to vote yes, then they leave before public comment. The presentation is light on the draw-backs, and on facts.
At that time, they were already part of a 21-person slate of candidates for the charter commission (that will write the charter if home rule passes). That means they broke open meetings laws to discuss it ahead of time and decide they would do it, with no public input.
For those still reading, here is what I’ve gathered:
In late March, our 3 commissioners, Teal, Laydon, and Van Winkle held a 4-minute meeting with no discussion and no public comment, and all voted to do a $500k special Home Rule election in June. 🧵
🧵District 2 (Castle Rock, Castle Pines, and south):
Kevin Leung
Julien Bouquet
Barrett Rothe
Juli Watkins
Douglas J. Gilbert
District 3 (Highlands Ranch, Sterling Ranch):
www.ourcommunityvotes.net
Susan Meek
Bon Marshall
Michael Lees
Alicia Jean Vagts
Lee Hudson Frame
Gordon B. Spud Van De Water
🧵Consider voting for:
Bios - www.stopdougcopowergrab.com/candidates
At Large (vote for up to 3):
Angela Thomas
Steve Johnson
Steven Arthur Boand
District 1 (Parker, Lone Tree):
www.dougcointegrityalliance.com
Matthew M. Lunn
Emily Roth Suyat
Jason Hamel
October Ann Levy
Irene Bonham
Julie Gooden
🧵15-minute ballot walk-through: esuyat.substack.com/p/the-home-r...
Vote NO
More info - www.stopdougcopowergrab.com
Consider voting for:
Bios - www.stopdougcopowergrab.com/candidates
Follow the Money: esuyat.substack.com/p/follow-the...
#DouglasCounty #HomeRule #StopThePowerGrab 🧵Home Rule ballots will be in the mail this week. They are due on June 24.
15-minute podcast about May 28 town hall: esuyat.substack.com/p/this-is-li...
3-minute video about home rule: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt6n...
#byebyeboebert @indivisible.org @nexton9news.bsky.social youtu.be/NnFZ5GaPYKs?...
