News Now Blog

This week marked another election day come and gone. And now the post-election blues start settling in. Some of your candidates won. Some of your candidates lost. The ballot issue you feverishly toiled over may have gone down in flames or the one that nobody gave a chance may have shocked everybody and passed. But in any case, the hype and excitement seem to have vanished into the void.

Of course your attention may have been on larger events in Virginia or New Jersey and not so much on the local fare. You may be reacquainting yourself with the current nuanced terminology of the political prognosticators such as bellwether, harbinger, and precursor - terms that lay claim to a knowledge of the political future that none actually have that use them.

But the real question for each of us after November 2 is: Now what?

Regardless if you were pleased with the results, disappointed, or had mixed feelings the real question is where do we go from here. For those who won their council races, school board races, etc. the answer is generally pretty clear. Govern.

Do the job your constituents tasked you to do. Seems simple enough, right? Let’s talk in a few months on that and see how easy you think it is then. None of you has an easy job. You will never please everybody. In fact, if you try you will only achieve the opposite. You have a vision. Work for it.

For those of you who came up on the short end of the results do not be discouraged. Stay involved. There are people out there who gave you something very sacred on Tuesday: their vote. They trusted you and believed in you and your cause. Stay in the game. They need you. We need you.

For those who lost on ballot issues it’s time to step back, assess, analyze, and reassess what happened and where to go from here. How do you reframe the issue, find alternative methods of funding, or make a better case that the voters can relate to and adopt as something they need? For those who prevailed it is time to implement and realize the dream for which you have striven and campaigned.

Whatever side you may have come down on in this election remember that campaigns are over and the real work begins.

And take solace in the fact that another election has come and gone without revolution, the democratic process still works, our republican form of government is still in operation, and we all still have the privilege of living in the greatest nation on the face of the earth.

Kevin Grantham, Commissioner District 1

An important part of having a functional representative government is having on open, transparent, and responsive government. While none of us can be perfect at that, all of us at the county strive toward that goal. We’ve recently made some positive changes to be more transparent and to help keep you better informed of the decisions we make at the county.

One of the things I noticed after taking office was the public’s lack of online access to the many documents that I and my fellow commissioners use to base our decisions on for our bi-monthly meetings. All of this documentation has always been available to the public by request here at the County building but was not readily available online.

That has now changed. As we set our agenda for upcoming meetings the documentation will become available online so that you can review the very same things we look at and that we vote on before we vote on them.

If you want to see the detailed list of the bills we approve to be paid with your tax dollars, you now have online access. If you want to see the language of a proposed resolution, you can. If you want to see the documentation for a public hearing we have scheduled, you can also see that. Virtually everything that we see you can now peruse from the comfort of your own home.

To access this information on our website go to fremontco.com, navigate to the Commissioners page and then select the “Meeting Agendas and Minutes” link. This page will show a list of the Commissioner meetings, the agenda, minutes, and all the additional files available for review. Surf and enjoy this new element of transparency between you and your government.

As always I look forward to working with you to build a better and brighter future for all of us here in Fremont County.

By Kevin Grantham, Commissioner District 1

Two Fremont County Commissioners just returned from the National Association of Counties Annual Conference following discussion and action on a wide range of topics with other leaders from throughout the country.

County leaders as well as officials from the White House and Congress attended the conference at Prince George’s County, Maryland.

“We are working on issues with other Commissioners from all over the country to become a powerful voice to make our county better,” said Commissioner Dwayne McFall, current board chair. "It is an amazing feeling to know we are making a difference.”

McFall and Commissioner Debbie Bell joined sessions with speakers including U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, and U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.

In addition to serving as voting members on different steering committees, the local two officials attended many workshops focused on the American Rescue Plans Act funding. Those funds are directed to solve problems created by COVID-19 as well as infrastructure and other local issues. Fremont County will receive a total of about $9.4 million, and the county is considering broadband and other projects.

Bell serves on the NACo Agriculture and Rural Affairs Policy Steering Committee. She discussed additional broadband issues as well as bio-based products in manufacturing and road materials.

“Allowing us time to delve into a variety of subjects means we bring diverse information back home,” Bell said. “Our time at NACo allows us to dive more deeply into national politics and look at broader issues that affect us all.”

McFall is a part of the NACo Public Lands Policy Steering Committee, which focused on efforts to better manage natural resources, reduce the threat of wildfire, and improve economies in public lands counties like Fremont. He also has been involved with a NACo Broadband Task Force representing both Fremont County and all of Colorado.

“Monday we released a report to push Congress to make high speed broadband available to all at an affordable cost,” McFall said. “High speed broadband is no longer a luxury. It is now an essential.”

Fremont County Commissioners already work through Colorado Counties, Inc. to prioritize issues and lobby state legislators on issues important to all counties throughout the state. Currently serving as CCI President, Bell accepted an Achievement Award for Summit County on its groundbreaking preschool program.

Also a member of Women of NACO’s Leadership Network, Bell was elected to the position of Historian for 2021-22.

“It is truly an honor to be in the same room with so many amazing women leaders,” Bell said. “The power in the room was palpable. I’m excited to serve this group in this way.”

The 2022 NACo Annual Conference is coming to Colorado. Adams County won the bid and will host the event July 21-24 next year. It is expected to bring an economic impact of more than $70 million to Colorado. For more information visit www.naco.org.

When the Colorado State Legislature adjourned a couple of weeks ago, it allowed your Fremont County Commissioners and many others to finally breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Over many months, we spent countless hours, often full days, working with other counties through Colorado Counties, Inc., to figure out how certain bills might affect our taxpayers and citizens. We then lobbied long and hard – sometimes successfully, sometimes not – asking our legislators to cast their votes according to the good or harm each bill might cause.

Overall, CCI took a position on 126 bills of the 623 introduced by state lawmakers in 2021. Of those 126, Commissioners statewide voted to either support, oppose, or amend 81, leaving the other 45 as a “neutral position” or monitor only. Of those 81 where we took a position of action, 74 landed where we wanted them to. That means CCI found a success rate of 91 percent in 2021, of either helping pass the bill or helping kill it.

Of the 623 bills introduced this legislative session, a total of 503 were passed and sent to the Governor for his signature. That number is fairly high, but not unusual in a year with a single party ruling both the Colorado Senate and Colorado House.

Because rural Colorado, including Fremont County, is highly conservative but our state legislature is fairly liberal, there were many, many ideas we fought against this year. Here are only a few that your local Commissioners battled long and hard, unsuccessfully.

SB21-260, Sustainability of the Transportation System, is a $5.3 billion package that found creative ways to levy new fees in an effort to dedicate funding to the statewide transportation system. The bill itself has lots of nice language about a sustainable system and expanding infrastructure and clean fleets, as well as environmental impacts and health impacts.

Prepare to pay, folks.

Many of us, including your three Fremont County Commissioners, opposed this bill from the start. Voters have repeatedly said “NO” to various ballot measure to fund transportation, as is our privilege through the Taxpayers Bill of Rights. However, this particular legislature decided they know better than the voters do, and felt it necessary to bypass our votes to fulfill their dream vision of a futuristic transportation system for all.

Instead of calling the funding mechanisms the taxes that they are, they decided to call them “fees,” meaning the voters no longer have a say. Instead, we all have to pay.

It will begin with an increase of 2 cents per gallon on fuel, with gasoline taxes eventually rising to an additional 8 cents per gallon. CCI was a major player in stopping diesel increases at 2 cents rather than the original proposal of the 8 cents per gallon, which would have effectively killed the entire agricultural industry throughout Colorado.

It will continue with new “registration fees” to be collected at the county level through license plates. You’ll be paying these “fees” every year with your plate renewal for years to come. Oh, and don’t forget the new retail delivery fees, higher car rental fees, and more. These “fees” now are tied to inflationary indexes, to adjust automatically as prices go up.

There were a couple of other terrible bills you also should be aware of.

SB21-256, Local Regulation of Firearms, now allows all local governments to enact their own laws governing or prohibiting the sale, purchase, transfer, or possession of a firearm. Local governments include not just municipalities and counties, but all Special Districts, such as Fire Districts, Recreation Districts, and Library Districts.

Imagine driving across Fremont County to learn the gun you were legally carrying in one space suddenly was illegal as you crossed an imaginary line into a special district. Now, imagine multiplying that confusion by as many special districts and other government agencies that exist across the entire State of Colorado. Sound complicated? It will be.

HB21-1286, Energy Performance for Buildings, now requires existing buildings of more than 50,000-square-foot, or any building with a construction or renovation cost in excess of half a million dollars, to demonstrate compliance with energy performance standards. Those new standards don’t even exist yet, but will be developed by 2023. Owners of those buildings are required to submit annual energy usage reports to the state’s Energy Office, and those deemed to be out of compliance with the new standards will be hit with financial penalties.

One of our main concerns with this particular piece of legislation is its exemption of penalties for all publicly-owned buildings. This exempts not only county buildings, but all state buildings, as well. And the government owns some of the biggest buildings in the state – think about the size of Colorado Department of Corrections prisons.

This is yet another burden placed on the backs of business owners, while your government gets to look the other way. What’s good enough for our businesses should be good enough for our governments. This is another business-killing piece of legislation.

The last bad measure I’ll mention here is SB21-249, the Keep Colorado Wild Annual Pass. This measure requires every County Clerk across the state to collect fees for an annual state parks pass on every single licensed vehicle, whether the owner wants the pass or not. Yes, there is an opt-out consideration, but how many folks will know that and understand it?

We don’t all use the state parks system. We don’t all want annual passes, but now they are being forced upon us for all the funding this will generate for the state. And just imagine, a business that owns 25 vehicles now will be the proud owner of 25 identical parks passes… bought and paid for, even if they don’t want them… unless they remember to opt out.

Although counties are authorized to retain a portion of the new revenues to cover its collection costs, the remainder of this new fee will be remitted to the Colorado Department of Revenue at least monthly.

Personal choice is quickly becoming a thing of the past. Remember these few examples when you cast your ballot in statewide elections next year.

Your County Commissioners will continue fighting for you at every turn. But sometimes, sadly, it’s just not enough.

Debbie Bell is the District 2 Fremont County Commissioner. She also serves as the 2021 CCI President.