Colorado’s 7th Congressional District, centered on suburban Jefferson County, hasn’t had a Republican in the seat since Bob Beauprez left Congress nearly 20 years ago.
But Sergei Matveyuk, an antiques repairman from Golden and the GOP contender for the seat in the Nov. 5 election, urges voters not to count him out in his battle with incumbent Brittany Pettersen. The first-term Democratic congresswoman is seeking reelection.
“People are hurting economically,” Matveyuk, 57, told The Denver Post. “They want someone who feels the pain.”
He’s running in a once-battleground district that has turned decidedly blue in the last decade or so, with Democratic former Rep. Ed Perlmutter winning election eight times running, until his retirement announcement in 2022 ushered in an open race.
Pettersen, 42, a former state lawmaker from Lakewood, won the 2022 election by 16 percentage points over Republican Army veteran Erik Aadland. The bulk of the district’s electorate calls left-leaning Jefferson and Broomfield counties home, while redder areas in the district — such as Teller, Custer and Fremont counties — simply don’t have the populations to give Matveyuk a sizable boost.
As of Sept. 30, Pettersen had raised more than $2.2 million this cycle, compared to about $35,000 collected by Matveyuk, according to campaign finance filings. There are two minor party candidates on the ballot this time: Former state lawmaker Ron Tupa is running on the Unity Party of Colorado ticket, while Patrick Bohan is running as the Libertarian candidate.
Matveyuk, a political neophyte, said that as a small business owner, the historically high inflation of the last two years has hurt those like him who are particularly sensitive to escalating prices. But it’s his personal story that he thinks will resonate with voters in the current political climate, in which border policy has taken center stage. Matveyuk, who is of Polish descent, and his family left the Soviet Bloc in the late 1980s after experiencing life under communist rule and immigrated to the United States.
“As an immigrant myself, I know how hard it is to start a new life — but it has to be legal,” he said.
Matveyuk doesn’t echo former President Donald Trump’s calls for mass deportations but says migrants who “are hurting our people and committing crimes need to be deported, for sure.”
“We need immigration reform — 40 years ago we had a regulated border and now we have a porous border,” he said.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data through August, there have been more than 8.6 million migrant “encounters” at the southern U.S. border since President Joe Biden took office in 2021. That influx has prompted many big city mayors across the country, including Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, to cut city services to pay for migrant housing and plead for help from the federal government.
Pettersen acknowledged that the U.S. asylum system is “absolutely outdated.” But many of the arriving migrants are filling jobs that businesses in the district, like nursing homes, are desperate to staff, she said.
Making people wait years before getting work permits is an unworkable policy, Pettersen said.
“We don’t have the people in the U.S. to meet our economic needs,” she said. “We need legal pathways based on economic need.”
Though Pettersen is in the minority party in the U.S. House, a bill she sponsored was recently signed into law by Biden. It directs the federal government to study and report on illicit financing associated with synthetic drug trafficking.
Last month, she introduced a bill that seeks to incentivize more states to offer substance use treatment through Medicaid, six years after she sponsored a bill in the state House requiring Colorado to provide that care. Pettersen has often spoken publicly of the struggles her mother faced battling opioid addiction.
If reelected, she said in The Denver Post’s candidate questionnaire that she would work to protect abortion rights and to address the opioid epidemic. Her top priority would be “modernizing our tax code to rebuild the middle class.”
“We need to lower costs by reinvesting in access to affordable housing, childcare, health care, and higher education,” she wrote.
John Fabbricatore enforced federal immigration laws in his position as an ICE field office director until two years ago, and now he hopes to help secure America’s borders as a congressman.
The Republican candidate in Colorado’s 6th Congressional District is drawing on his career with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as he runs against U.S. Rep. Jason Crow in the Nov. 5 election. Crow, a Democrat, just finished his third term in Congress as the representative of the district, which includes Aurora, Littleton, Englewood, Greenwood Village and Centennial.
The odds weigh heavily in Crow’s favor. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report doesn’t consider the fight for the 6th District to be competitive. It’s ranked as solidly Democratic, in part because Crow, 45, won all three of his elections by double-digit percentages and redistricting in 2020 resulted in boundaries more favorable to Democrats.
That’s a change from 2018 when the district was seen as a battleground and Crow won his first race by unseating then-U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, now Aurora’s mayor.
But this time, Fabbricatore, 52, says voters are looking for a candidate who will prioritize the economy and lower taxes — and he contends that he’s the person for the job.
“They want someone that wants to fight,” Fabbricatore said.
He and Crow share certain traits. They’re both veterans: Fabbricatore served in the U.S. Air Force, and Crow was an Army Ranger. They’re hunters, each having longstanding experience with firearms. Neither hails from Colorado originally, with Fabbricatore raised in New York City and Crow in Madison, Wisconsin.
And the candidates, both fathers of two children, reside in Aurora.
Beyond that, their stances on major issues diverge — including on immigration, which Fabbricatore refers to as his “subject matter expertise.”
He argues jobs are going to immigrants compensated with lower wages, taking positions that could be filled by Americans for higher pay. Fabbricatore says he supports “legal, vetted” immigration and more stringent enforcement of existing laws.
“If we actually just enforce those laws, we will be doing much better than we are doing today with immigration,” he said.
In recent weeks, Fabbricatore has raised the alarm alongside former President Donald Trump and other conservatives about the presence of Venezuelan gangs in Aurora — while Crow has called out exaggerations and criticized Trump for distorting the problems in certain apartment complexes.
Crow notes that he represents “one of the most diverse districts in the nation,” with nearly 20% of his constituents born outside of the U.S. He wants to use federal grants and other programs to help immigrants and defend them against racist rhetoric.
He said he backed a bipartisan immigration deal that ran aground earlier this year after failing to earn enough Republican support. It would have boosted the number of border patrol agents, immigration judges and officers that oversee asylum cases, as well as established more legal pathways for migrants and others without documentation.
Fabbricatore said in a Denver Post candidate questionnaire that he would not have supported the bipartisan bill, instead preferring another bill with a greater focus on border security.
Gun violence is what motivated Crow to run for office. He backs a ban on assault weapons and supports universal background checks. He’s also working to pass a bill that would apply the same restrictions to out-of-state residents when they purchase long guns and shotguns as they face when buying handguns — requiring that the gun be shipped to a federally licensed seller in their home state, with a background check performed there.
Gun violence is “just an unacceptable, avoidable, ongoing national tragedy,” Crow said. “We don’t have to live with mass shootings.”
Fabbricatore says he believes in gun rights and is instead pushing for investments in mental health.
The candidates differ on abortion. Crow favors abortion rights, saying he aligns with the majority of Coloradans who back legal access to abortion — and he would support a federal law establishing that as a right. Fabbricatore says Congress should leave abortion’s legal status to the states. He opposes abortion, but he says he recognizes a need for exceptions, including in cases of rape.
“Having been someone who worked in sex trafficking and saw what many women went through, I could never tell a woman that she couldn’t have a medical procedure to end what happened to her,” he said.
Fabbricatore points to the economy as his No. 1 issue, saying it’s impacted by energy policy and immigration. He sees Colorado’s potential to participate in the energy sector through solar, wind, fracking and coal.
He says he wants to leave the younger generations with a prosperous economy, reliable job market and reasonable housing prices.
Crow says the nation’s inflation and interest rates are dropping, but he contends that prices are still “way too high for many Coloradans.”
He points to corporate price gouging as a contributing factor. Crow argues that the labor shortage, which drives up prices, could be addressed through immigration reform.
“There’s more work to do, but we’re on a good path — and certainly need to keep on the path that we are to make sure things are affordable,” Crow said.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis’ chief of staff will leave the administration next week to take a job as a lobbyist at UCHealth.
Then-Speaker Alec Garnett of the Colorado House of Representatives during a committee hearing on fentanyl at the Colorado State Capitol on Tuesday, April 12, 2022. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
Alec Garnett, a former Democratic lawmaker from Denver, joined the governor’s office at the start of 2023 after serving as speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives. He used those close ties to lawmakers as he worked to pass Polis’ agenda and weigh in on legislation, including during a special legislative session last week that was aimed at averting property tax reform ballot initiatives as part of a deal with conservative and business advocacy groups.
Polis’ office announced Tuesday morning that he will step down as chief of staff on Sept. 13. UCHealth, in an internal announcement, says Garnett will join the health system as vice president of government and regulatory affairs.
Polis’ new chief of staff will be David Oppenheim, who served as the deputy to Garnett, handling legislative and policy affairs. Before that, he was director of operations and cabinet affairs. He joined the governor’s office as legislative director in 2019.
“I thank Alec Garnett for his incredible leadership and hard work for the people of Colorado, culminating in a historic special session that successfully cut the property tax rate for every homeowner and small business,” Polis said in a news release.
As Colorado’s universal preschool program moves into its second school year this month, officials are hoping to leave its rocky rollout in the rearview mirror.
By the end of July, more than 31,000 4-year-olds matched with state-funded preschool providers for the coming year, according to the most recent data for the core program from the Colorado Department of Early Childhood. Most will receive up to 15 hours of free classtime per week, though about 11,100 of them — about 3,000 more than last year — are expected to qualify for 30 hours each week, after state officials expanded eligibility criteria for the extra class time.
The number of providers participating in the program — in-home day cares, private practices, religious schools and public schools — has grown by about 150, to more than 2,000 statewide for this school year, Universal Preschool Program Director Dawn Odean said.
Taken together, that data points to the year-two stabilization of a program whose inaugural year, hiccups and all, was akin to “building the plane as we were flying it,” Odean said.
Colorado’s program was officially born in April 2022, when Gov. Jared Polis signed the bill to create it and the new Colorado Department of Early Childhood. The program was set for a fall 2023 launch. That left about 16 months to stand up the department, bring about 1,800 participating providers into the new system and sign up tens of thousands of families.
But entering year two of the $344 million program, Odean and local coordinating organizations are hopeful the initial struggles were growing pains associated with its launch. Department officials expect to meet or surpass last year’s sign-up numbers soon, and they hope to see enrollment increase by up to 5%.
“In a nutshell, I’ll tell you things are much better,” said Elsa Holguín, president and CEO of the Denver Preschool Program. It’s one of the local coordinating organizations, or LCOs, that act as a link between the state department and on-the-ground providers. “Things have gotten better for the families, things have improved for the child care providers and things have improved for the LCOs.”
But, she added, there’s always room for refinement.
“Are we where we need to be? No. We still have some work to do across the spectrum,” Holguín said.
The rollout of year two is still underway, with parents now able to walk through local providers’ doors to sign up for free preschool, space permitting, rather than being required to apply online. The full enrollment figures for this year won’t be available until the fall.
Aleia Medina, 5, second from right, and classmates attend a morning class with Rosario Ortiz at the Early Excellence Program of Denver on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)
Adapting to last year’s high enrollment
Ahead of last year’s launch, expectations for the first year began shifting about as soon as public planning for it began.
A promise of 10 hours a week of free classtime for all preschoolers turned into 15, with some students qualifying for double that time — considered full-day schooling — based on family circumstances. But months later, officials raised the threshold to qualify for 30 hours as overall enrollment rates shot up about 20% higher than expected, leaving some families feeling like the rug was yanked out from under them.
Initially, the state had planned to offer extra time to children deemed at risk if they qualified under an eligibility category — by having an individualized education plan, being a dual-language learner, coming from a low-income family or being in foster care.
When demand outpaced expectations, state officials changed the criteria to add base household income limits, at a middle-class level, as an additional qualification. Students still had to qualify under at least one other factor.
Meanwhile, providers and families were chafing at a confusing enrollment process that drew critical attention from state lawmakers.
But officials point to a number of under-the-hood changes since then to smooth out operations.
Voters in November approved a ballot measure last fall that allowed the state to keep $23.7 million in excess tobacco tax proceeds that help pay for the program. Officials expanded the criteria for 30 hours of free classtime to include all families who are at or below the federal poverty line, expanding access to some 3,000 more children. And the state streamlined enrollment processes to smooth out some of those first-year wrinkles.
“We’re ecstatic with year one as far as the number of children served and the number of providers participating — but (we) certainly knew that we stood up the program, and the process to enroll and register, in a fairly compressed timeline, which created some challenges,” said Odean, the state’s preschool program director, in an interview this week.
She also acknowledged the legal battles that played out in the first year.
A group of school districts had sued over the rollout, claiming that it hurt students with special needs and left school districts in a lurch. A judge ruled in July that the districts lacked standing to sue, while also acknowledging the “headaches” they faced, according to Chalkbeat.
In a separate January lawsuit, two Catholic schools sued over a nondiscrimination clause for preschool providers. That suit was largely rejected, but not before the state removed the nondiscrimination clause. About 40 religious schools are registered as universal preschool providers in the state this school year.
Odean said she couldn’t comment on the particulars of the lawsuits, but she appreciated the conversations they spurred about how to make sure families get the preschool they want — even if she wished they didn’t take the form of litigation.
Hunter Fridley, 4, counts the number of classmates during a morning class with Rosario Ortiz at the Early Excellence Program of Denver on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)
Private providers’ low enrollments “concerning”
When it came to preparing for school this year, Holguín, the Denver Preschool Program’s CEO, said preregistration for families and other changes to enrollment, in particular, “changed our world” by making it easier to connect them with preschool providers.
Diane Smith, director of the Douglas County Early Childhood Council, another LCO, likewise said the state’s program is better positioned this year “in many ways” — though it’s still too early to make a definitive call.
She still identified a number of focus areas for the future, including a desire for more lead time between announced changes to the program and when they’re implemented, along with more predictable, consistent funding for providers. And, of course, the unending work of making sure every family that wants to participate knows about the program and how to enroll in it.
In short, the first-year growing pains haven’t quite waned, Smith said, even as she excitedly reports that more providers have signed up to provide universal preschool in her area.
“Some people are bigger worriers than I am,” Smith said. “I’m the type who says ‘Yes, this is a little bit of a challenge, but I think intentions are always good.’ We’re looking to move forward and we have.”
Dawn Alexander, executive director of the Early Childhood Education Association of Colorado, which advocates for private preschool providers, warned that some of her members were starting to fret about “concerning” lowearly enrollment numbers — though she, too, cautioned that it was too early to raise a red flag.
Many families seem to be choosing school districts’ programs for their 4-year-olds, Alexander said, meaning that private preschools lose out on those enrollments. The older, less care-intensive preschool children help round out the rosters of many facilities that also provide day care for infants and toddlers, she said. Losing those populations can put their entire business at risk.
That, coupled with other strains associated with tight margins and fluctuating enrollment, add up for providers, she said. Many staffed up based on expected enrollment — and corresponding state funding — that’s so far not materialized, she said. She and other private providers raised similar concerns last year.
“You get too many frustrations and you go, ‘I’m out,’ ” Alexander said. “And you don’t want private providers to opt out of the system. It’s critical they be a significant part of it.”
Odean said there was still work being done around funding, including how to make it easier for families to qualify for — and providers to benefit from — the myriad state and federal preschool assistance programs.
There’s also a balance to strike between stable, predictable funding and ways to allow it to fluctuate so it meets current needs, she said. A smoother year two will make it easier for officials to be intentional about steps forward, she said.
“Things change, communities change — and so we have to continue to be responsive,” Odean said. “We just want to have some clear processes in place where we’re continuing to hear from families and providers, and we have a stable system and environment … so we can continue to improve.”
The Washington tribes that agreed to provide wolves to Colorado’s reintroduction program have rescinded their offer, forcing state wildlife officials to seek a different source — a search that has proved difficult in the past.
The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation said they would no longer provide the wolves after speaking with the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, which has reservation land in Colorado. The Washington tribes — which had been expected to be a major source for the next round of the reintroduction effort — withdrew their agreement in a June 6 letter to Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
“It has come to our attention that necessary and meaningful consultation was not completed with the potentially impacted tribes,” wrote Jarred-Michael Erickson, chairman of the Colville business council, in the letter. “Out of respect for the sovereignty, cultures and memberships of Indian Tribes in Colorado and neighboring states, who may be impacted by this project, the Colville Tribes cannot assist with this project at this time.”
Colorado voters in 2020 narrowly decided to reintroduce gray wolves and mandated that state wildlife officials do so by Dec. 31, 2023.
The plan detailing how CPW will execute the reintroduction effort states that the agency should release a total of 30 to 50 wolves within the next few years, a target it plans to reach by relocating 10 to 15 wolves every winter.
The controversial vote has caused deep frustration in Colorado’s ranching communities, where people say the wolves will negatively impact their businesses and ways of life. Support for the reintroduction primarily came from urban Front Range communities, while the rural areas where wolves would live opposed the measure.
The Southern Ute Indian Tribe has concerns about the wolves potential impact on livestock, deer and elk herds and their use of the Brunot Area hunting rights reserved for tribal members, tribal leadership said Thursday in a statement. Tribal leaders said they would continue to work with Colorado Parks and Wildlife “to establish a framework for working together that enables the state to implement its reintroduction program while simultaneously recognizing the sovereign authority of the Tribe on tribal lands and the interest shared by the Tribe and the State in the Brunot Area.”
So far, CPW’s monthly maps showing where the wolves have roamed have indicated activity in the central and northern mountains, far from the Southern Utes’ southwestern Colorado reservation. But plans call for the next round of releases to occur farther south.
Colorado wildlife officials struggled last year to find a state or tribe willing to provide wolves for reintroduction here. The three states identified as ideal for sourcing wolves — Idaho, Montana and Wyoming — all rejected Colorado’s request for wolves.
CPW spokesman Joey Livingston on Thursday declined to discuss source negotiations and said the agency would issue a statement when it finds a source.
“We continue speaking with other potential sources of wolves,” he wrote in an email, “and will take great care in implementing the plan to create a self-sustaining wolf population while minimizing impacts on our landowners, rural communities, agricultural industries and partners.”
In October, Oregon agreed to provide up to 10 wolves over the coming winter. Ten wolves captured in Oregon were released in Colorado in December.
Colorado wildlife officials have also talked with Washington state officials about potentially capturing wolves there. While Washington officials previously said they could not provide wolves for the first release, they indicated they were open to further conversations.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis was elected Friday to lead the National Governors Association, a bipartisan 55-member body of state and territorial leaders.
For the last year he served as the vice chair of the group, which serves as a policy workshop for the nation’s governors and their cabinets. In the new post, Polis will push an initiative to help states build education systems that prepare students for the workforce and to address economic needs, such as mismatched skills and worker shortages.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis speaks next to U.S. Senator Michael Bennet at a bill-signing event for a new child tax credit at Denver KinderCare in Denver on Friday, May 31, 2024. (Photo by Zachary Spindler-Krage/The Denver Post)
“All Americans should have access to education that prepares them for success in life,” Polis said in a statement announcing his chairmanship. “As the world changes and technology evolves, ensuring all students graduate with the skills and knowledge necessary for success is so important for U.S. economic competitiveness.
“Our initiative will explore how to better evaluate outcomes from state investments in education, and help drive improved outcomes for learners at all stages of their education journey.”
Polis earlier served in Congress, and before that on the Colorado State Board of Education. He helped found two charter schools. He has also previously served as chair of the Western Governors’ Association, where he pushed an initiative exploring the use of geothermal energy in the West.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s popularity is holding steady after 11 months in office, according to a new poll released Wednesday, but its findings suggest a sales tax increase he’s pitching for the November ballot could face some skepticism from voters.
Johnston remains confident in his tax proposal, unveiled Monday. It would generate an estimated $100 million a year to expand on the city’s affordable housing work, including by preserving or building tens of thousands of units affordable to people now getting priced out of the city. His own internal polling suggests two-thirds of the city would support the tax increase, he said.
Mayor Mike Johnston, joined by members of the City Council and community leaders, announces a new sales tax proposal to expand affordable housing in Denver on the steps of the City and County Building on July 8, 2024. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
But the June survey of 409 registered Denver voters for the nonprofit Colorado Polling Institute found that a solid majority — 64% — believe the city’s taxes are already high. Among them, 35% said the city’s taxes were “way too high,” while 29% said they were “high but acceptable.”
Still, it’s been rare for Denver voters to turn down tax increases, and a pollster noted that plenty of voters voiced moderate opinions on the question.
If both pass, the city’s effective sales tax rate would increase from 8.81% to 9.65%, making Denver stand out along the Front Range.
The bipartisan poll, conducted by Democratic polling organization Aspect Strategic and Republican firm New Bridge Strategy, was conducted via a mix of online and phone interviews between June 13 and 18. It has a margin of error of 4.85 percentage points.
In good news for the mayor, the poll found 48% of voters viewed him favorably. That’s virtually flat compared to the 46% who viewed Johnston favorably in a Colorado Polling Institute poll in August, just his second month on the job.
But the share viewing Johnston unfavorably climbed significantly, from 22% in August to 38% in June, according to the results.
That’s due in part to rising familiarity as Johnston has been in the news, including as he’s spearheaded a new homeless strategy and responded to the migrant crisis. Just 11% of voters told pollsters they had no opinion or had never heard of the mayor in June, down from 32% in August.
His favorability ratings in the new poll contrast with results from a Magellan Strategies survey of 1,595 Denver voters conducted in May. That poll found that 43% approved of his performance — while fully 50% disapproved. The margin of error was 2.45 percentage points.
The survey was conducted for the council’s central office primarily to gauge support for a potential tightening of term limits. Its contract with Magellan was valued at up to $29,000, council spokesman Robert Austin said. The poll also found that the council’s approval rating was underwater, with approval at 36% and disapproval at 49%.
Regardless of his own support levels, Johnston is banking that voters will approve his tax request in November.
On the Colorado Polling Institute survey’s taxes question, Lori Weigel, of New Bridge Strategy, viewed the responses with some nuance. She noted that just about any voter is liable to say they pay too much in taxes, which is why the poll allowed respondents to grade the city’s tax burden by offering several options: way too high, high but acceptable, about right and lower than what one would expect.
“When we look at the ‘high but acceptable’ or ‘about right’ (responses), it’s a majority sort of gravitating towards that middle spectrum,” Weigel said.
The Johnston administration has done its own polling. In a meeting with Denver Post journalists on Tuesday, the mayor said his data shows 65% of city voters would favor the “Affordable Denver” sales tax increase. That figure was steady regardless of whether respondents owned or rented their homes, he said.
“We were really surprised that you have total alignment between renters and homeowners, and you also have — not surprisingly — massive support from younger voters for this issue,” Johnston said. “As we know, if you can’t afford to live here, then all the rest of the other things are secondary.”
On a bipartisan 4-1 vote, the Senate Ethics Committee found that Winter failed to uphold the public’s trust in the legislature when she drank alcohol before taking part in a contentious community meeting in Northglenn. Winter, a Broomfield Democrat and the Senate’s assistant majority leader, previously apologized for her conduct at the meeting, where her speech appeared slurred. After it ended, police intervened to help her find a ride home.
Democratic Sens. Julie Gonzales and Dylan Roberts and Republican Sens. Paul Lundeen and Bob Gardner agreed that Winter violated ethics rules. Democratic Sen. James Coleman was the lone no vote.
Before the vote, Gonzales said it was up to the committee to decide what was acceptable conduct by a legislator and that holding office is an honor.
“That’s what each one of us is expected to uphold,” she said.
The committee recommended that Senate leadership issue a letter to Winter addressing her conduct at the Northglenn meeting and her substance use. She should be invited to address the full Senate when the chamber reconvenes in January, the members said. They also recommended that, should Winter’s conduct again raise ethics concerns because of substance use, she should face immediate action from the full Senate instead of another ethics committee process.
Winter, who voluntarily resigned a committee chair position and entered substance-use treatment in the days after the April meeting, attended Monday’s hearing at the state Capitol but was not invited to speak.
She did not immediately return a request for comment as the hearing concluded. In a letter to the committee last month, Winter apologized again and acknowledged that she had a drink before the Northglenn meeting.
But she asked that the complaint be dismissed and noted the culture of alcohol use in the Capitol. Gardner, a Colorado Springs Republican who previously appeared conflicted about what actions to take in response to Winter’s behavior, said he was particularly troubled by Winter’s reference to the Senate’s culture as “justification” for her actions.
The committee eschewed harsher recommendations, such as Winter being formally censured by the Senate or expelled from the chamber entirely. Only one legislator has been expelled in the past century: Rep. Steve Lebsock was removed in 2018 after he was accused of sexually harassing Winter and other women.
The ethics committee last month determined there was probable cause to believe Winter violated Senate rules. Winter then waived a full evidentiary hearing, which would have included testimony and questioning of witnesses.
Jenna Ellis, a Colorado native and former lawyer for then-President Donald Trump in 2020, will not be allowed to practice law in Colorado for at least three years under an agreement approved Tuesday by the Colorado Supreme Court.
Ellis, who is from Longmont, had faced the possibility of total disbarment after pleading guilty in October to a felony in Georgia related to efforts to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss there. Daysha Young, a prosecutor in that case, told the court there that Ellis had “aided and abetted” two of Trump’s attorneys as they falsely told Georgia state senators that tens of thousands of illegal votes were cast in the state.
Colorado’s governing body for attorneys previously had censured Ellis after she admitted making repeated false statements about the 2020 presidential election.
In the agreement, lawyers for Ellis and the state of Colorado acknowledged that “while disbarment is the presumptive sanction for (Ellis’) misconduct, it is significant that her criminal culpability was due to her conduct as an accessory, not as a principal.” That, combined with her letter of remorse, may have saved her from total disbarment.
In her letter, Ellis wrote that she “turned a blind eye” to the possibility that senior lawyers for the Trump campaign could be sharing false information as part of a “cynical ‘Stop the Steal’ campaign.”
“In (accepting the suspension), I will hopefully encourage others who may still believe that the election was ‘stolen’ to consider changing their position,” Ellis wrote. “Everything that has come out since has not proven that claim.”
John Michael Richilano, Ellis’ lawyer, told The Denver Post that “unlike others in the Trump orbit, she stepped forward and took responsibility and told the truth.”
“She did this at considerable personal cost,” he added, “having received threatening emails, texts and tweets, also of the obscene variety. … She gratefully accepted suspension of her license understanding her role and realizing, after the fact, that there was a lot of untruths being advanced on behalf of the former president.”
Too few parking spaces, lengthy queues for open spots, cramped designs that can’t handle crowds — Denver-area drivers brace themselves for headaches when they try to navigate the most stress-inducing parking lots in the city and beyond.
The Denver Post went searching for the worst parking lots in metro Denver, with help from more than 100 people who weighed in with their opinions in an informal survey on social media platforms X and Facebook. Within Denver’s city limits, older central neighborhoods like Capitol Hill — where space is at a premium — host parking lots that received an onslaught of criticism.
But that doesn’t mean suburban communities are immune to precarious parking set-ups.
Poor parking lot experiences can affect drivers’ loyalty to a business, one expert says. Consumers are constantly forming judgments about brands, so “parking is one of the critical elements for brands to get right,” said Brent Coker, a marketing lecturer at the University of Melbourne.
“Everything that happens to a consumer informs their attitude, which defines their future behavior,” including purchase decisions made minutes later, the Australian said. “If the carpark sucks, then yeah — that’s gonna give someone a negative attitude.”
Here are the parking lots that stand out the most in Denver:
1. Trader Joe’s urban locations
Grocery store chain Trader Joe’s has two Denver locations in older neighborhoods, with small lots that challenge drivers in Capitol Hill on Logan Street and in Hale on Colorado Boulevard.
“It’s no secret that Trader Joe’s parking lots are a nightmare,” said customer Rob Toftness, 42. “You add in their tight quarters with drivers’ inability to behave like adults, and you have a difficult recipe.”
On a rainy Monday afternoon, shoppers weren’t deterred from completing their errands at the Capitol Hill store. They stepped in front of cars waiting for openings in the lot. Drivers tried to squeeze into narrow spots, parking haphazardly before darting into the store themselves.
Four cars were queued in the left lane on Logan Street, turn signals blinking as they waited to enter.
However, for cyclists and pedestrians, the store is a breeze to navigate. Toftness, a Five Points resident, opts to ride his bike along the 7th Avenue bikeway, then locks it at the bike rack while he shops.
In an episode of the company’s podcast, Inside Trader Joe’s, co-host Matt Sloan said, “We don’t open stores with the world’s most ridiculous parking lot on purpose.” The size of a Trader Joe’s lot is based on the store’s square footage, with the chain’s locations often smaller than the average grocery store, especially when they’re squeezed into older neighborhoods.
“Stores of a more recent vintage — more recently open stores — have larger parking lots when we can get them,” Sloan added.
Trader Joe’s spokesperson Nakia Rohde declined to respond further.
A shopper exits a King Soopers grocery store on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024, in Capitol Hill in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
2. King Soopers in Capitol Hill
The King Soopers grocery store on East Ninth Avenue leaves local customers lamenting the amount of time it can take to secure a parking spot in the main lot.
Those who choose to park in the overflow lot are also inconvenienced, as the anti-theft wheel locks on shopping carts engage at the edges of the main lot, forcing patrons to carry their groceries across a busy street. Nine cars idled in the parking lot on a Monday afternoon, as drivers tried to park or back out of spots.
Kara King, 33, said she’s never secured a parking spot on her first go-round.
“You constantly have to circle the lot, waiting for one to open up,” the Speer neighborhood resident said. “Otherwise, your option is to park on the street and haul your groceries to your car.”
King Soopers spokesperson Jessica Trowbridge didn’t respond to requests for comment.
3. Whole Foods Market in Cherry Creek
At the Whole Foods Market on East First Avenue in Cherry Creek, customers’ criticisms are largely directed at its lot design.
“Whole Foods in Cherry Creek is awful,” said customer Krista Chism, 48. “All the spaces are designed for compact cars.”
She called the lanes “too narrow,” which heightens the risk of hitting another vehicle parked behind her car while reversing. When she visits, “I seriously weigh the cost of paying to park against the possible cost of someone hitting my car,” the Park Hill resident said.
The Whole Foods media team didn’t respond to a request for comment.
4. Denver Botanic Gardens
Visiting the Denver Botanic Gardens often comes with parking difficulties on busy weekends, despite a dedicated parking garage. The gardens are most heavily trafficked by guests during events, including Blossoms of Light, Glow at the Gardens, the Spring Plant Sale and the Summer Concert Series, said Erin Bird, associate director of communications. Popular times for visitors also include warm, sunny weekends and Scientific and Cultural Facilities District free days.
Bird said representatives understood visitors’ parking frustrations and urged guests to take extra time to secure parking in either the garage or the surrounding neighborhood.
“The Gardens’ multi-level parking structure was designed to maximize the limited space we have due to our location that borders city parks in an established residential neighborhood,” she said. “Timed entry has eased some of the parking strain.”
Denver’s flagship REI store on the South Platte River, pictured on Sept. 11, 2012, has a front surface lot (shown), an underground garage and auxiliary lots. (Photo by John Leyba/The Denver Post)
5. REI Co-op’s flagship store
The REI Co-Op Denver flagship store on Platte Street near downtown is the source of consistent parking gripes, including tight spaces, incidents of bike theft and the price to pay to park for lengthy shopping trips (after a 90-minute grace period).
Patrons say the outdoor co-op attracts the most crowds during the weekend, but that doesn’t mean its ground-level parking areas don’t fill up at times during the week, too. On a recent Wednesday evening, the metered street parking was also mostly occupied as a few customers dashed across the busy street to the former Denver Tramway Powerhouse building that now houses the retail chain.
The REI store earns 4.5 out of 5 stars on Google reviews, but at least 20 one-star reviews mention parking troubles. The designs of one surface parking lot and the underground garage are noted as cramped. One reviewer wrote: “The store itself really is great. But PLEASE fix the parking.”
The REI media team didn’t respond to a request for comment.
What about the suburbs?
Outside of Denver, plenty of parking lots throughout the metro area give shoppers and visitors grief, too. Here are some notable ones:
Costco: The warehouse club chain’s locations in Lone Tree, on Park Meadows Center Drive, and in Arvada, on Wadsworth Boulevard, draw particular complaints about parking lots that rattle the nerves. Costco stores face guff elsewhere, too: On Reddit, a thread asking the question “What’s your Costco’s parking lot situation?” has garnered hundreds of responses. Objections include waiting for spots during busy shopping hours and aggression in parking lots, such as honking, cursing and even car accidents. The Costco media team didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Construction workers pour concrete in the upper parking lot at Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre on Feb. 6, 2024, in Morrison. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
Red Rocks Amphitheatre: The Denver-owned venue is considered the pride and joy of the local music scene — but its parking, not so much. After a packed concert, drivers can look forward to sitting in their vehicles for long periods as they inch toward the venue’s exits. And they can’t turn to public transportation either — although that could change if a proposal for public shuttles to and from a nearby light rail stop in Golden gains traction.
This year’s Red Rocks season kicked off in April, but the venue used the offseason to pave some lots, increase roadside parking, and install new sidewalks and lighting to the south lots, Denver Arts & Venues spokesperson Brian Kitts said. The city also plans to add bathroom facilities and some covered spaces for patrons.
“Being in a city park, especially one with property in National Historic Landmark status, means that what Red Rocks can do with parking is fairly limited,” Kitts said. “New lots, new entrances and new roads through the foothills aren’t feasible, so visitors will continue to rely on the patience and kindness of fellow concert goers for ingress and egress.”
Is there a bad parking lot we missed? Tell us about it!
The Colorado legislature convened Saturday for a final weekend of work in its 2024 session, which is set to end Wednesday. Major pieces of legislation are still pending, with lawmakers expected to debate gun regulations, housing, land-use policy, transportation, property tax reform and other priorities in the final days.
This story will be updated throughout the day.
Updated at 1:30 p.m.: A proposed Constitutional amendment to remove defunct language banning same-sex marriage will go to voters this November after a referred measure passed the Colorado House on Saturday.
The proposed amendment would remove a ban approved by voters in 2006. It has been unenforceable since 2015, when the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide with its ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges. A majority of voters will need to approve the proposal this November for it to take effect.
Senate Concurrent Resolution 3 needed at least two-thirds support in each chamber to pass. It passed with bipartisan support in the Senate but near party lines in the House, where Democrats hold a supermajority.
The Senate formally passed Saturday a bill to limit minimum parking requirements near transit areas. House Bill 1304 was substantially amended from its more expansive introduced version to overcome filibuster threats from Democrats and Republicans. The House and Senate will need to agree on changes before it goes to the governor’s desk. It is one of the suite of bills aimed at increasing density and public transit working its way through the legislature. Advocates argue this bill will remove costly parking spots and increase affordable housing construction.
The Senate also formally passed a pair of bills to reduce emissions from oil and gas production and levy a per-barrel fee to pay for transit and wildlife habitat. The bills were introduced this week, with the aim of easing simmering tensions between environmental groups, legislators and the industry and dueling legislation and ballot initiatives affecting the industry. They will now go to the House for consideration. The proposals will need to pass by Wednesday, when the legislature will adjourn.
Former Edgewater police officer McKinzie Rees hopes to serve and protect again, but first she must get her name removed from a so-called “bad cops list” maintained by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. It landed there, she said, as retaliation after she reported sexual assaults by a supervising sergeant.
That sergeant went on to work for another police department until this year, when he pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual contact and misconduct and was sentenced, more than four years after the assaults and retaliation against Rees.
She testified to the state’s House Judiciary Committee this week that, even after her attacker was exposed, her complaint about still being listed as a problem police officer “is falling on deaf ears every time.”
Rees’ testimony, echoed by other frontline police officers from Colorado Springs and Denver about retaliation they faced after reporting misconduct, is driving state lawmakers’ latest effort at police oversight. Fresh legislation would require investigations of all alleged misconduct and increase protection for whistleblowers.
But the bill, titled “Law Enforcement Misconduct,” faces resistance from police chiefs, sheriffs, district attorneys and the Fraternal Order of Police who contend it would complicate police work and lead to unnecessary prosecutions.
While state leaders “are committed to addressing police misconduct,” the requirement that all allegations must be investigated could create “a caustic culture” within police agencies, said Colorado Department of Public Safety executive director Stan Hilkey in testimony to lawmakers during a hearing Tuesday.
“This bill is harmful to the mission of public safety,” Hilkey said, raising concerns it would lead to police “watching each other … instead of going out and responding to and preventing crime.”
The legislation, House Bill 1460, won approval on a 6-5 vote in the House Judiciary Committee. It would require investigations of all alleged misconduct by police, correctional officers and others who enforce the law in Colorado. Officers who report misconduct would gain the ability to file lawsuits if complaints aren’t investigated or they face retaliation.
Key elements under discussion include a provision bolstering the attorney general’s power to add and remove names from the Police Officer Standards and Training database, which bars future employment, and to compel police agencies to provide information for managing that list.
Other provisions would require longer retention of police records and prohibit government agencies from charging fees for making unedited police body-worn camera videos available for public scrutiny.
Investigating all alleged misconduct is projected to cost millions of dollars as state agencies face increased workloads, requiring more employees in some agencies, and increased litigation and liability expenses.
Lawmakers sponsoring the bill have agreed to remove a provision that would have established a new misdemeanor crime for officers who fail to report misconduct by their peers.
But the increased protection for whistleblowers is essential, said Rep. Leslie Herod, a Denver Democrat, in an interview.
“People need those protections now. This would ensure good officers can be good officers and bad officers who cover up for bad officers no longer can be on the force,” said Herod, who introduced the legislation on April 17.
Most police officers “do great work,” sponsor says
The bill would build on police accountability laws passed following the 2020 Minneapolis police murder of George Floyd, which sparked street protests, Herod said.
“We still have more work to do. There’s no one-shot bill that will fix police accountability in the state,” she said.
“The majority of police officers in Colorado do great work. We need to make sure we have protections in place when that doesn’t happen. This is just as important as any other issue we are debating in Colorado.”
The late-in-the-session legislation would affect the 246 police agencies and 12,000 sworn officers around Colorado. It began when Rees and other police whistleblowers who had faced retaliation approached lawmakers.
For Rees, 30, who now supports herself by pet-sitting, the feeling of still being punished — and prevented from continuing a career she worked toward since childhood — “is horrible,” said in an interview.
“There should always be checks and balances,” she said. “It is exhausting trying to figure this out. You just get this runaround. There’s no way out.”
Rees told lawmakers that she reported two sexual assaults in 2019 by the sergeant to colleagues, seeking protection under internal agency protocols and as a whistleblower under existing state laws.
“Instead, I got served the ultimate sentence of no protection,” she said.
This year, after his dismissal from the Black Hawk Police Department, former Edgewater police Sgt. Nathan Geerdes, who was indicted by a grand jury in 2022 on four counts of unlawful sexual contact and one count of witness retaliation, pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual contact, first-degree official misconduct and forgery as part of a plea deal. He was sentenced in Jefferson County District Court to four years of probation.
Edgewater police officer Ed McCallin also testified, describing the retaliation he faced after he became aware “that a senior officer had sexually assaulted a junior officer” — referring to Rees — and then “weaponized” the state’s database against her.
“I was asked to cover that up by my police chief,” he said. “I was threatened with internal investigations twice” and “had to meet with a city council member to save my job for doing the right thing.”
When he went to the Fraternal Order of Police for guidance in the case, McCallin said, a contract attorney advised him “to look the other way.”
“We just need more time,” sheriff says
Colorado law enforcement group leaders and police advocates said their main concern was that they weren’t consulted by sponsors of this legislation.
“We just need more time to dive into this,” Arapahoe County Sheriff Tyler Brown, representing the County Sheriffs of Colorado, told lawmakers.
Herod acknowledged “miscalculation” in not consulting with law enforcement brass in advance.
She and co-sponsor Rep. Jennifer Bacon, a Denver Democrat serving as vice chair of the House Judiciary Committee, said they lined up meetings this week to hash out language and amendments before the bill advances.
Rep. Mike Weissman, who chairs the committee, agreed that support from law enforcement leaders would be crucial but added that he understood the “guardedness” of the bill sponsors, “given how these issues can go in this building.”
District attorneys from Jefferson and El Paso counties objected to the proposed requirement that every misconduct claim must be investigated, saying it would create conflicts in carrying out their professional duties.
Several lawmakers raised concerns about language in the bill, such as “unlawful behavior.” Rep. Matt Soper, a Delta Republican, said a police officer who was sexually assaulted and chose not to report the crime “could become caught up in the system” for failing to report misconduct. Or police who might have to make an illegal U-turn while chasing a suspect, hypothetically, would have to be investigated, he said.
But the lawmakers broadly supported the efforts aimed at making sure the Attorney General’s Office manages the database of police transgressors properly.
The committee’s bill supporters said the compelling testimony from the Edgewater officers and other whistleblowers persuaded them that there’s an undeniable problem to address.
Former Colorado Springs police officer John McFarland told of a case in which a fellow officer took shortcuts in DUI investigations and falsely reported “hundreds” of roadside sobriety tests that never happened. When McFarland learned of that misconduct and reported it, he said, “I was sat in the corner and surrounded by the department’s command staff. I was threatened with charges and dismissal if I did not drop the matter.”
Former Denver police officer Holland Wiston, who was a victim of sexual assault, told lawmakers she faced ridicule within the police department and later was relegated to desk duties.
Others who testified included the sister of a man who was killed at a Tesla electric vehicle charging station last year in Edgewater. Crystal Fresquez said family members had concerns about police “inconsistencies” as they tried to find out how Adam Fresquez died, discovering eventually from a coroner’s report that the death involved the use of mace and two gunshots in his back. Jeremy Alan Smith was arrested in the incident.
When she heard what happened to Rees, Fresquez testified, she saw a need to support the legislation as a member of the public who could be affected by misconduct.
“How can we trust a police department that fails to hold its own officers accountable?” she said.
Homeowners associations’ foreclosure filings on thousands of Coloradans’ houses over unpaid fines and fees have spurred fresh attempts by lawmakers to better regulate HOAs and metropolitan districts with the hope of preventing more people from losing their homes.
Lawmakers have introduced several reform bills that would restrict foreclosures from delinquent fees and require HOAs and metro districts to adopt written policies, enhance notifications to homeowners and add licensing requirements for professional managers. The legislation would also set regulations on how much homeowners can be charged. HOAs would be required to work with homeowners before beginning any foreclosure proceedings.
“As more Coloradans find themselves living in HOAs and metro districts, it is more important than ever that homeowners be protected from losing the largest asset they will ever invest in through unnecessary foreclosure,” said Rep. Iman Jodeh, an Aurora Democrat who is sponsoring two bills.
Homeowners associations in Colorado legally have the power to place liens on residents’ homes that supersede even those of the banks that hold their mortgages. An HOA can then sell a property to collect the money a resident owes — and the owner still would be left with mortgage debt and none of the equity they had built.
About half of Colorado residents live in communities overseen by an HOA.
The associations’ power drew more scrutiny in 2022 following media reports, including by The Denver Post, about the Master Homeowners Association for Green Valley Ranch in far-northeast Denver. That HOA filed nearly half of all HOA foreclosures in Denver the prior year.
Neighborhood residents who are Black, Asian or Latino said they sometimes weren’t notified of the fines or would continue to accrue new fees and interest even after resolving the violations. In some cases, residents didn’t even know their homes had been placed in foreclosure proceedings until someone showed up at their door and said they now owned the home.
The legislature passed a law in 2022 to protect homeowners from accumulating HOA fines and fees that they may not be aware of by requiring HOAs to provide written notice to residents, in their preferred language, about any violations. It also capped the fees HOAs could assess.
“We want to make sure people stay housed in Colorado”
But lawmakers say there is much more to be done for communities across metro Denver to limit HOA-driven foreclosures and protect homeowners from predatory or mismanaged companies.
“We’re fighting for homeowners,” said Rep. Naquetta Ricks, an Aurora Democrat, adding that this was especially important amid the state’s ongoing housing crisis. “We want to make sure people stay housed in Colorado.”
A statewide committee, the HOA Homeowners’ Rights Task Force, was charged with studying issues related to metro districts and HOAs, and its members recommended multiple areas of focus for the 2024 session. Lawmakers have incorporated at least two recommendations into new bills — creating an alternative dispute resolution process and addressing licensure of community association managers.
The task force is expected to release a final report by April 15.
The new bills introduced so far during the 2024 session include:
HB24-1267, which would require metro districts that conduct covenant enforcement like HOAs to adopt written policies on fines and fees and on governing disputes. It also would prevent the metro district from foreclosing on any lien because of delinquent fees.
HB24-1158, which would require changes to HOA notifications to owners on delinquent accounts and before lien foreclosures, and it would establish a minimum bid.
HB24-1337, which would limit a homeowner’s reimbursement of collection costs and attorney fees to 50% and prohibit an HOA from foreclosing on a lien until it has tried to serve an owner with a civil action within 180 days or obtained a personal judgement in a civil action. It also would prohibit the purchaser of a home in foreclosure from selling for 180 days, with the former owner having first priority of buying the home again.
HB24-1078, which would reestablish license requirements for HOA community association managers (a program that expired in July 2018).
So far, just two bills have been considered by committees. HB-1267 passed 10-0 in a House committee Wednesday, and no one spoke in opposition to the bill. Jodeh said she worked with metro districts when crafting the legislation.
HB-1078, the licensure bill, passed 8-3 in a House committee Feb. 14, eliciting support from homeowners who had faced HOA foreclosures and opposition from community management associations.
Vicki Souder, left, and Linda Wilson protest against foreclosures in front of the Master Homeowners Association for Green Valley Ranch offices on Friday, April 1, 2022. The HOA filed 50 foreclosures in 2021, nearly half the total of all HOA-initiated foreclosures in Denver that year. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)
Arvada Democratic Rep. Brianna Titone, a former HOA president, is one of the sponsors of the bill. The legislature passed a similar bill in 2019, but Gov. Jared Polis vetoed it. At the time, Polis’ office said he was concerned about costs to get licensed that would then be passed to consumers, even though a 2017 report from the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies recommended an extension, and a 2021 report also recommended regulation.
Titone said the new licensing bill would “make sure that people are educated about the law and make sure that no felons are getting involved in having full access to communities’ money.”
The bill would also ensure managers know how to do their jobs, Titone added, so that they don’t have to hire attorneys to help, costing residents even more money. And it would require companies to disclose relationships that include identifying whom they’re providing kickbacks to, she said.
The requirements would apply only to professional management companies, not employees directly hired by HOA boards.
“I’ve come here with licensing in 2019. I’ve come with licensing in 2022. And I’ve come with licensing today,” Titone said at the committee hearing, and “nobody has ever suggested an alternative. … They just say no. … You should ask yourself why they don’t want this. It’s because because they’re making a lot of money off of the backs of the people they work for and they’re hired by.”
Licensing bill draws opposition
Despite the bill’s similarity to the 2022 bill Titone worked on with Colorado’s Division of Real Estate, Deputy Director Eric Turner testified against the bill at the hearing, calling it “well-intentioned.” He said it “does not address the various issues about living in an HOA, imposes barriers to entry into the profession and increases costs for homeowners.”
John Kreger, who testified for Associa, the largest community management association in the country, jokingly said that “after the unflattering characterizations of our industry today, I feel compelled to assure the committee that on behalf of Associa and the hundreds of Coloradans we employ, we are not crooks or idiots.”
Kreger and other community association managers argued the bill would not be effective at protecting consumers but instead would just raise costs. Kreger said there wasn’t enough data to show a widespread problem, and any theft of funds or misuse should be handled within the criminal justice system.
Homeowners and nonprofit foreclosure attorneys have attended committee hearings to describe horror stories about themselves or their clients losing their homes over fines and fees from HOAs and metro districts, even if they’d never missed a mortgage payment.
Monica Villela, who lived in a Green Valley Ranch home with her family for 19 years, choked back tears at Wednesday’s hearing. She told lawmakers that during the COVID-19 pandemic, it became difficult to keep up with maintenance and HOA fees that ballooned.
Her family had never missed a mortgage payment and had never even refinanced their home, she said, but they didn’t have the money to pay the $8,000 in fees they owed or for an attorney to fight them.
They lost their home, just as her son would have started college.
“We no longer have that option,” she said. “Our family has honestly been deeply affected. It really hurts seeing my kids being depressed by this horrible situation. We have been hurt.”
She urged lawmakers to pass reforms “to keep families in their homes all across Colorado so we can keep our most holy possession: our homes.”
While a majority of the HOA and metro district legislation introduced at the Colorado statehouse this year centers around protecting homeowners, at least two bills aim to make processes easier on HOAs: HB24-1233 would reduce some of the requirements placed on HOAs when collecting delinquent payments, while HB24-1091 would allow HOAs to set standards for (though not prohibit) the use of fire-hardened building materials for fencing.
Polis’ office declined to comment on the specifics of pending HOA bills or to discuss the HOA task force’s recommendations. Spokesperson Shelby Weiman issued a statement that said his office would monitor the bills’ progress, adding that Polis commends lawmakers’ efforts to provide more flexibility for homeowners.
“Governor Polis believes that burdensome HOA policies shouldn’t be so restrictive that they reduce fire safety, drain individuals and families of their finances, or force people from a home they love over something like untrimmed grass,” she wrote.
Colorado’s public pension program must continue divesting from companies that economically boycott Israel after a state House committee rejected a bill that would have repealed the requirement.
The 10-1 bipartisan defeat of HB24-1169 late Monday in the House Finance Committee came after hours of emotional and tense testimony. The discussion often spiraled into support or condemnation for Israel and its months-long military campaign in the Gaza Strip.
More than 100 people testified for or against the measure, which would have repealed a 2016 state law that requires the Public Employees Retirement Association to divest from companies that participate in the BDS movement. That movement promotes boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel as a way of protesting the country’s treatment of Palestinians.
Only three companies have been flagged under the law, according to PERA. It applies only to international companies. The law costs roughly $10,000 a year to administer.
Just one member of the Democrat-controlled finance committee, Rep. Lorena Garcia, an Adams County Democrat, voted to advance the bill. The measure was sponsored by Rep. Elisabeth Epps, a Denver Democrat. She was reprimanded by House leadership last month for, among other things, disrupting House proceedings and joining pro-Palestinian protesters seated in the House’s gallery during the November special session.
Nearly 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza during Israel’s war with Hamas, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israel launched the war in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, which killed 1,200 people and included the taking of about 250 hostages, some of whom are still being held.
Epps told fellow lawmakers Monday that she repeatedly had been told the legislature had no business weighing in on international affairs, but she argued that the 2016 anti-BDS law did just that.
“There is a particularly insidious criticism that is made of folks who are protesting a range of issues,” she said. “The central element of that criticism is that we’re not doing it right. … If you want to petition your pension board to do an economic boycott, that’s not right either. That can’t be how we continue to do business here.”
The bill was widely expected to fail its first vote. Epps attempted a late amendment Monday night to turn the bill into a study of the 2016 law, but she was blocked on procedural grounds.
Supporters and opponents of the measure packed a basement committee room in the Capitol, spilling into the hall and an overflow room.
Epps and the bill’s supporters sought to cast the proposal as protecting a First Amendment right of economic protest, alongside broader criticisms of Israel and its military campaign. Opponents defended Israel and argued that the BDS movement was antisemitic and that the bill’s supporters were unfairly targeting Israel. Several of them criticized Hamas and the broader pro-Palestinian protest movement.
