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Thursday, October 27, 2011

Taxpayer-Funded Golf Tournament Cancelled

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2011/10/27/taxpayer-funded-golf-tournament-cancelled/

Brian Maass with CBS 4 has covered a story the Arvada Report broke in June about the CML conference in Vail with $105 golf games you pay for. To see the original article click here.Great investigating Mr. Maass and thank you for covering this wasteful spending in Arvada.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

2011 Election Results

Election Results 2011


After carefully researching each candidate and where they stand on the issues relevant to their race such as:
The size and scope of city government
The budget surplus
The second amendment
Fiscal responsibility and balanced budgets
Sustainability
Public transportation
The accountability of elected and paid officials
Transparency

we’ve decided to release the following endorsements.
Mayor: Either Dan Bidstrup or Dave Chandler. Anybody is better than Marc Williams. I see his signs in my sleep.
City Council:
                At Large: Ed Tomlinson
                Ward 2: Cody McNutt
                Ward 4: Humpty Dumpty (you’ll have to write this one in…)
School Board:
                District 3: Preston Branaugh
                District 4: Jim Powers

Proposition 103: Not just no. Hell no.
Charter Amendments:
2A: Yes. For heaven’s sake clean up that charter text.
2B: No. Do we really want pipelines of information running between us and other cities in Jefferson county?
2C: No. Just the words “Emergency Ordinance” throw me into a tailspin. I want as many people as possible to agree that there is a need for an “Emergency Ordinance” before it is adopted.
2D: No. To manage the city you should actually live in the city and that’s potentially a year’s worth of travel expenses paid for by the Arvada taxpayer while the new city manager travels between Arvada and his home town of Sidney, Australia. Exaggeration, but still.
2E: Yes. It took a team of lawyers to understand exactly the purpose of this one, but we’ve all concluded that there must be some city employee who’s driven the council crazy and they want the ability to tell the city manager so. Maybe it’s sustainability coordinator. Yeah, that’s it.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

School Resurces Used to Promote Political Agenda

MEDIA RELEASE

Sunday, October 16th 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Jen Raiffie
720.987.7620

ANOTHER JEFFCO SCHOOL PRINCIPAL USES SCHOOL RESOURCES TO PROMOTE POLITICAL PROPOGANDA AS BALLOTS ARE BEING RECEIVED
ARVADA, CO:  Another email has surfaced; this time from the principal of Arvada High School sent to parents promoting political propaganda and lies in an effort to influence the school board election.

In the email, Arvada West High School principal Rob Bishop promotes two documents that provide "very accurate and truthful information." The email indicates there is some "inaccurate and gloomy information being circulated."  Parents receiving this information should know that the data provided to them contradicts the data within JeffCo’s own legal report known as the CAFR - Consolidated Annual Financial Report.

Specifically, the email indicates the annual cost per pupil is $7,900 which just includes spending from the general fund.  What the principal and the district fail to point out is that the annual district spending is just under one billion dollars and when divided by the student enrollment of 85,971, you get over $11,500.00.  Their game of funny numbers and spun data should be an insult to the parents and community members they are trying to fool. If their number is accurate, where did the gap get spent?
Both documents refer to the district's Return on Investment – ROI, a “green” rating of which JeffCo Superintendent Dr. Cindy Stevenson is so proud.  What they fail to highlight is their "green" rating comes from a study performed by The Center for American Progress and so far, I have yet to validate that JeffCo was even part of the data pool for that study.  Regardless, since when did a known left extremist Socialist group become the standard of measure for public education? 

The letter does not specifically refer to any of the candidates for school board, but the information directly contradicts the campaign messages of the conservative candidates Jim Powers and Preston Branaugh, known as "The Dads."  The attachments in the email (just the facts and Q&A) had been posted on the school districts website since just prior to the ballots being mailed, but were removed from the site Friday without explanation.  This is clearly the desperate attempt of the union-controlled board and administration to use their school resources to influence voters in order to maintain control of their billion-dollar budget.  JeffCo does have some things to be proud of but, they must not continue to ignore the crisis situation affecting the students.  

In addition to the email sent from Arvada High school, a similar one was sent last week from the principal of Lakewood High School.  The JCEA teacher's union also sent a third email on the school's network initiating coordination of their GOTV effort and included a message to its membership to "remember, this election is about protecting your contract and owning your profession."  So much for putting the needs of the students first.

Should using school resources to influence the school board race be considered interfering with the fair election process?  Is this moral?  Is this legal?  Parents should be outraged at the blatant deceit against them.  Will they vote for the union backed status quo candidates or vote for the fresh outsiders deemed, "the dads?"  Remember, the definition of insanity is doing things over again and expecting different outcomes.  If parents want more for their kids, they must elect leaders who will first admit there are problems, else nothing will ever change and our kids will continue a negative trend in public education.

                                                                              
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Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Proposition 103

Proposition 103, in case you hadn’t heard, is a ballot measure that will go to vote in November this year for consideration by the Colorado taxpayers. Democratic state Senator Rollie Heath, unsurprisingly, was the sponsor of the initiative due to the $500 million cut over the last three years. The bill is, in the simplest terms possible, an increase in income tax across the board with “5 percent from 4.63 percent and the sales and use levy to 3 percent from 2.9 percent for five years.” This is apparently all due to the fact that Colorado is in the bottom twenty states in terms of how much money is actually spent on education.

Note, I said spent, not education results.

In terms of education results, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, Colorado placed above the national average in every subject from 4-8 grades from 2009, including math. In fact, Colorado is better than or equal to all but five states in the US in fourth grade math, and better than or equal to all but eight by the eighth grade.

In reading, Colorado does even better-Only four states beat it’s scores at 4th grade, and only seventeen are it’s equals. By eighth grade, again, only seven states can claim better education rankings and only nineteen can match it.

Even in Science and Writing, Colorado finds itself in the middle to higher rankings of the country, where until 2009 it was only average at best in mathematics, and a look at those same statistics see that the scores have been rising since 2005.

The website was unable to display such rankings for Grade 12, but SAT score rankings in a chart by amount spent on pupils from K-12 can suffice for a rough estimate. According to the chart, Colorado was number 15 in the country in rankings of highest overall SAT scores, with it’s strongest showings in mathematics.

While education can always be improved, the fact these scores are so high clearly indicates that it’s not necessarily a lack of funding that determines results.

At this point, in the wake of the Wisconsin union debacle and the Atlanta school district grade fixing scandals, to think that what the current crop of educators need is more money is more than a little suspect. Being proposed by Democrats, who are heavily supported by unions and teacher’s unions in particular, makes it more suspect. And the idea that it would add an extra $3 billion dollars into the educational budget based on minor tax raises across the board in an already struggling economy is... Well... Extremely thin.

While these seem to be minor tax raises, it would in fact result in the largest tax increase in the history of the state of Colorado, going to a general fund that the politicians could spend however they like. Yes, that sounds like it would be used in an absolutely trustworthy manner doesn't it?

As the great French economist Frederic Bastriat commented: “In the department of economy, an act, a habit, an institution, a law, gives birth not only to an effect, but to a series of effects. Of these effects, the first only is immediate; it manifests itself simultaneously with its cause - it is seen. The others unfold in succession- they are not seen.” In effect, it is an political economic version of Newton’s law that every action has a reaction. As we see in the massive uncertainty generated by the actions of a blundering government in Washington, even well intended legislation can have unforeseen, even disastrous effects.

“But Thomas,” you say, “it’s just an extra .37 percent income tax.” Yes it is, but given the growing performance of students at virtually every level of education with less spending, I fail to see the necessity of increasing it when state spending in general has led to massive deficits that burden the economy from the nation to the state level. It’s addressing a non-existent problem: “We’re not spending enough on our schooling despite the fact the results are improving!”

It’s as if someone were to complain: “That Jane Austin novel was great, but do you know what it was missing? Hover boards!” Though to be fair, that may not be the best analogy. I for one would love to see Mr. Darcy fighting apes with jet packs on a hoverboard with a moon laser.

Just me? Okay...

Ideally, legislation should be drafted to deal with a real problem. In reality, it is often an act with the interests of many parties involved with the problem it is addressing to a varying degree. If it has the interest of many parties rather than a singular few, then it is more likely to be focused on the exact problem. With fewer interests involved, it is less likely to be focused on a problem.

This is clearly an amendment with the interest of Democratic politicians in mind before anything else. The $3 billion in raised tax revenues is also extremely dubious, and if there is a revenue increase it will invariably go to teacher’s unions and back into Democratic political campaigns before whatever’s left trickles down to the schools, generally for administrators rather than teachers.

It’s the same old game that’s been repeated numerous times since the 1950s, and I strongly urge you, the reader, to vote no on it. There are better ways of improving education than giving the Democrats and unions more money.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Watch the School board debate - you decide

Watch the debate decide who should be responsible for the education of your children:
http://www.livestream.com/coloradochristianuniversity
The Arvada Report Does Not endorse Jill Fellman


The following news release is available for immediate distribution.
Please let me know if you need a photo of Jill.

School Board Candidate Fellman Receives Nod from Realtors

ARVADA, Colo. (Oct. 4, 2011) – Jill Fellman, candidate for Jefferson County Schools Board of Education, has received the endorsement of the Realtors group representing the 778 square-mile area in which she is campaigning.

The Jefferson County Association of Realtors recently merged with the North Metro Denver Realtors Association and the Denver Board of Realtors, and it is this group that has given Fellman its stamp of approval, along with a $500 donation to her campaign.

                “The Jefferson County Public Schools have always been a magnet, drawing homebuyers to our communities,” said Justin Knoll, chairman of the board. “Our schools are facing complicated issues as they strive to maintain excellence. Jill has the knowledge and leadership skills to work with the community and the District as we grapple with these issues. Jeffco Schools will continue their tradition of excellence with Fellman’s leadership.”

                Fellman lives in Arvada and would represent District 3 on the School Board, but the county-wide election is open to all registered voters in Jefferson County. Ballots will begin arriving in the mail the middle of this month, and voting ends Nov. 1.

For information about Fellman’s campaign, go to www.JillFellman.comAnyone with inquiries about ways to support Fellman in her campaign can call 303-378-2010 or send questions via email to Jill@JillFellman.com.

The Arvada Report Does Not endorse Jill Fellman


Steve Caulk
(cell) 720-839-3194
3552 W. 100th Pl.
Westminster, Colo. 80031
On Twitter and Facebook


The Arvada Report Does Not Endorse Bob Fifer


The following news release is available for immediate distribution…

Realtors Choose Their Man for Arvada City Council

Endorsement Goes to Bob Fifer for At-Large bid

ARVADA, Colo. (Oct. 3, 2011) – The Jefferson County Association of Realtors has chosen to endorse Bob Fifer, a network engineer for CenturyLink, in the race for Arvada City Council. The endorsement injects an additional $500 into the Fifer campaign.

“From the campaign’s beginning, I have tried to convey the message that Arvada has long been a terrific place to work and raise a family, and we just need an injection of creative ideas to keep the city pointed in the right direction,” Fifer said. “I think the endorsement from JCAR is further evidence that my message is getting through.”

Fifer has pledged to bolster Arvada’s spirit of volunteerism and make it a city where small businesses can thrive. In support of his campaign, he has received donations from 72 different individuals.

“Bob’s focus on the quality of life in our community, forming partnerships and engaging residents in their community, earned Bob our support,” said Justin Knoll, JCAR’s chairman of the board.

Many Arvada residents have already met Fifer and talked with him as he has walked to more than 1,600 homes providing campaign material. For information about the campaign, to learn how to help, or to make a donation, go to www.ElectBobFifer.com, or send email toBobFifer@q.com.

About Bob Fifer
Bob Fifer is a principal engineer at CenturyLink, formerly Qwest Communications, where he has specialized in departments such as International Engineering, Network Design and Business Case Development.  He is a former small-business owner, and he has lived in Arvada since 2003. He and his wife RaChelle have three children. He has a passion for volunteerism, and he believes strongly in the power of partnerships as a means to fortify the city’s abilities to meet its obligations to its citizens. For information, go to www.ElectBobFifer.com, or call 303-929-4278.

The Arvada Report Does Not Endorse Bob Fifer


Steve Caulk
(cell) 720-839-3194
3552 W. 100th Pl.
Westminster, Colo. 80031
On Twitter and Facebook