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Montrose Commissioner Pond: The Constitution isn’t a suggestion—it’s a line in the sand
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Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Montrose Commissioner Pond: The Constitution isn’t a suggestion—it’s a line in the sand

By Sean Pond | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Something is happening in Colorado. You can feel it. Not on the surface, but beneath it. Beneath the silence. Beneath the carefully packaged language of equity, sustainability, and progress. We are being conditioned. Slowly, quietly, and deliberately. Conditioned to comply. Conditioned to accept change without question. Conditioned to believe that liberty is negotiable, that tradition is outdated, and that resistance is somehow wrong. But here’s the truth they don’t want you to hear. The Constitution doesn’t need to evolve. It needs to be defended. Freedom isn’t something you bargain with. It’s something you protect. And this get-along-with-everybody mentality? That’s the problem. That’s the trap. In my first 100...
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Cities sue Polis over housing mandate, cite threat to local control
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Approved, Local, State, The Colorado Sun

Cities sue Polis over housing mandate, cite threat to local control

By Bente Birkeland | Colorado Sun A lawsuit filed Monday argues the state is violating the right of local governments to shape how they grow and develop Six “home rule” cities in Colorado are suing the state, alleging it has unconstitutionally usurped their local authority over land use and zoning as it pushes communities to allow denser housing development.  The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of an executive order Gov. Jared Polis signed last week to withhold some state grants from local communities if they fail to implement a slate of recent housing laws. The cities say the order encroaches on the powers of both the General Assembly and the judiciary to say what the law is and is “beyond the governor’s authority.” The cities are also asking the courts to f...
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Governor’s executive order threatening loss of funding draws fire for overriding local housing control
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Approved, CBS Colorado, Local, State

Governor’s executive order threatening loss of funding draws fire for overriding local housing control

By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is putting local governments on notice: Either they comply with state housing laws, or they risk losing at least $100 million a year in state funding. The governor signed an executive order that takes the battle over local control to a new level. Over the last two years, he's signed bills regarding residential occupancy limits and accessory dwelling units, transit-oriented communities and manufactured homes, and even limits on staircases and parking spots. But not everyone is on board with the new laws. Some local governments have flat out refused to comply. So the governor is upping the ante. "What we are doing now is making sure we are putting our money where our mouth is," Gov. Polis told CBS Colorado.  Polis signed an ex...
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Gazette editorial board: Veto HB 25-1147 to stop the soft-on-crime overreach
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Approved, denvergazette.com, State

Gazette editorial board: Veto HB 25-1147 to stop the soft-on-crime overreach

The Gazette editorial board | Denver Gazette Our state was slammed by a crime wave a few years ago — aided and abetted by a notoriously offender- friendly, victims-be-damned Legislature — leaving it to hard-hit local governments to figure out how to respond. With state lawmakers abandoning the crime fight on every front — hard drugs, auto theft, illegal immigration, you name it — a number of Colorado cities, commendably, took the reins. Some municipalities imposed stiffer sentences than the state’s for shoplifting and motor vehicle theft. Some made clear they’d continue to cooperate with federal authorities seeking to catch lawbreakers who had entered the country illegally. Some cities also stepped up policing to bridge the gap in justice created by a Capitol that had gone...
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District 51’s master plan delivers first wins with taxpayer-focused school upgrades
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Approved, Local, The Business Times

District 51’s master plan delivers first wins with taxpayer-focused school upgrades

By Brandon Leuallen | The Business Times Mesa County Valley School District 51 continues to advance its 25-year Facility Master Plan, a comprehensive roadmap initiated in 2023 to address the district’s long-term infrastructure needs. At the Grand Junction Economic Summit on April 25, District 51 Superintendent Brian Hill discussed the district’s success in developing the facility master plan as a way to communicate with the community, provide updates on capital funding needs and establish a consistent approach to securing and responsibly utilizing funding for the projects. Origin of the 25-year plan In the summer of 2023, District 51 hired Hord Coplan Macht (HCM), an architectural and planning firm, to develop a long-range facility master plan. The decision was driven by the ne...
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“YIGBY” bill to let churches build housing on their land fails without Senate support
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Approved, Colorado Politics, State

“YIGBY” bill to let churches build housing on their land fails without Senate support

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics The campaign known as "YIGBY" - "Yes in God's Backyard" - to allow churches, school districts, colleges, and universities to build affordable housing on their land failed in the waning days of the Colorado legislative session.  House Bill 1169 would have required local governments to allow residential development on land owned by those institutions. The bill has sat in the state Senate, awaiting debate, since it cleared the Senate's Local Government and Housing Committee on March 27.  On Monday, its sponsors, Sens. Tony Exum, D-Colorado Springs, and Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, acknowledged the bill didn't have the votes to pass and asked that it be laid over to May 8, the day after the session's end, which effectively would kill ...
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Judge overrules Elizabeth School District, forces return of books parents objected to
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Approved, denvergazette.com, Local

Judge overrules Elizabeth School District, forces return of books parents objected to

By Michael Karlik | Denver Gazette An Elbert County school district confirmed on Friday to a federal judge that it has restored 19 restricted books to library shelves after she found the school board likely violated the First Amendment rights of students and authors by removing the titles for ideological reasons. Earlier this week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit declined to suspend, or stay, a preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Court Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney. Previously, Sweeney ordered the Elizabeth School District to return the restricted books to libraries, and she set a specific date of April 5. The 10th Circuit put that order temporarily on hold while it took an initial look at the case, before ultimately deciding against intervention...
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HB25-1169 would strip local control, override zoning to force housing on church and school property
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

HB25-1169 would strip local control, override zoning to force housing on church and school property

By Tori Ganahl | Rocky Mountain Voice A bill making its way through the Colorado legislature—HB 25-1169, the “Faith and Education Land Use” bill—is under growing scrutiny from local officials, school communities, and everyday Coloradans who see it as a sweeping override of local zoning authority. The legislation, supported by Democratic lawmakers and Governor Jared Polis’s administration, mandates that cities and counties allow residential development on land owned by churches, K-12 school districts, and public colleges–regardless of existing zoning restrictions or community input. Framed as a solution to the state’s housing crisis, critics argue the bill does nothing to guarantee affordability, and instead hands over local land-use control to the state under the guise of housing ...
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Douglas County explores establishing its own home rule charter
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Approved, denvergazette.com

Douglas County explores establishing its own home rule charter

By Noah Festenstein | Denver Gazette Douglas County commissioners voted on Tuesday to explore establishing a home rule charter, arguing the move would allow the county to carve a path that is different than where the state is headed.     Establishing home rule, officials said, gives commissioners and the county more local control. "Douglas County seeks more local control, freedom from state laws via Home Rule Charter," the county said in a news release. If the county ultimately adopts its own home rule charter, it would become the first sole Colorado county to do so in more than 45 years. Only Pitkin and Weld counties are currently under home rule charters out of Colorado's 64 counties. "For too long, we have watched as reckless state policies have made Colora...
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