A long rambling, perhaps incoherent rant, about the place
I live and the political scene. You may want to skip it.
Weld County, CO is located East of the Continental Divide
, somewhat North Central, and abuts Wyoming to the North. It is the third largest county in Colorado by
square miles (4,017) with a population of around 340,000. That population is
about 80% “white” counting the approximate 25% “hispanic”. Much of the ”hispanic”
population is third and fourth generation.
In recent years the line between anglo and hispanic has receded,
thankfully. I have acquaintances of my age that have deep, and justifiably
bitter, memories of the Greeley of their youth.
There is an ongoing desire to break away from the deep
blue parts of Colorado and join Wyoming going back to 2013. Currently, an
effort is being made to put it on the 2022 ballot.
From Wikipedia.
In 2013, conservative Weld County commissioners began a campaign
to secede from the State of Colorado and a state ballot measure regarding the
issue was put on the November 2013 ballot. The legality of this initiative has
been questioned by local attorneys.[9] On Nov 5th, 2013, 6 out
of 11 Colorado counties voted no for secession, including Weld County. Elbert,
Lincoln, Logan, Moffat, Sedgwick, and Weld counties voted no, while Cheyenne,
Kit Carson, Phillips, Washington, and Yuma counties voted yes. "Weld
County voters said this is an option we shouldn't pursue and we won't pursue
it," said Weld County Commissioner Sean Conway, "But we will continue
to look at the problems of the urban and rural divide in this state."[10]
I’ve yet to read any opinions from
Wyoming residents as to if they want us. It will increase their population some
40%.
Our local sheriff is a strong 2nd
Amendment advocate and if often at odds with the mandarins in Denver. This is a
recent press release
Weld County
Sheriff’s Office stance on face mask mandate
We understand sometimes a message
can get lost in translation in a 60-second newscast or a 10-inch news story, so
the Weld County Sheriff’s Office would like to make clear where we stand on
Gov. Jared Polis’ executive order mandating the wearing of face masks in
public.
Our comment last week about
whether we would "enforce" the mask mandate stemmed from a question
we received from several media outlets asking if residents should expect to see the sheriff's office issuing fines or
arresting people for not wearing a face mask. The answer to that question is no.
An executive
order is not the same thing as a law passed by the state legislature. There is
no citation in Colorado’s Criminal Code that states a person is breaking the
law by not wearing a face mask in public. We therefore don’t think we have the
authority to fine or arrest someone for not wearing a face mask.
Last week, we heard from a lot of
people both in Weld County and throughout the state who think it is our job to
lock anyone up who is not wearing a face mask. We don't think that is a
reasonable response to the governor's executive order, which is why our
deputies are going to encourage people to voluntarily comply with the order
when we see them in public not wearing a face mask. We think it is more
reasonable to have that conversation with people and ask them to do the right
thing not only for their health, but also for the safety and well-being of
others.
Weld County businesses are
required to adhere to the face mask mandate or run the risk of losing their
license, which is issued and controlled by the state. We are asking residents,
regardless of how they feel about wearing a face mask, to give their local
businessowners a break and comply with the order when shopping in their stores.
It’s not their fault the mask mandate was issued. Anyone who fights with a
businessowner or an employee, refuses to leave a business when asked or in some
other way causes an unlawful disturbance will be arrested.
Furthermore, holding a valid
Concealed Handgun Permit and carrying a concealed weapon is not a valid excuse
for not wearing a face mask. Nowhere in Colorado law does it state one cannot
wear a face mask and lawfully carry a concealed weapon at the same time.
Even though law enforcement
agencies are exempt, Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams made the decision to comply
with the order after it was issued last Thursday. Residents can expect to see
our deputies wearing face masks when they interact with the public and in
situations when social distancing isn’t an option.
More from Wikipedia.
Weld
County also holds the distinction of having more confirmed tornado sightings than any other U.S.
county from 1950–2011, with 252 confirmed reports.[11]
Weld County is Colorado's
leading producer of cattle, grain and sugar beets, and is the richest
agricultural county in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, and the
fourth richest overall nationally. It is also becoming more important as a milk
producing county, with close to half of the state's cattle.[22] [3] Weld County is also an important area of oil and
natural gas production in the Denver-Julesburg Basin.
Weld County is the number one producer of oil and gas in the State. 88% of all crude oil production and 40% of
all natural gas production in Colorado comes from
Weld County!
Some accounts peg the county as the 20th
largest petroleum producer in the country. Lots more tax dollars flow from Weld
into the State Treasury than flow back from the State to the county. The
(P)regressives might find themselves in an even deeper hole, just saying.
IMO, the only reason the state isn’t CA,
IL, NY, NJ, etc. is TABOR. We are the only TABOR state.
The TABOR Amendment, which
was approved by voters in 1992, limits the amount of revenue the State of
Colorado can retain and spend.1
The TABOR limit “base” is equal to the lesser of the prior fiscal year’s
revenue limit grown by Colorado inflation and population growth, or the current
fiscal year's revenue. Referendum C, which was approved by voters in
2005, allows the state to retain and spend an amount of revenue above the TABOR
limit base.2
This amount is limited by the Referendum C “cap,” which grows by inflation plus
population growth from FY 2007-08 revenue. Surplus revenue in excess of
the Referendum C cap must be refunded to Colorado taxpayers. The money is
refunded from the state’s general operating fund, known as the “General Fund.”
The TABOR Amendment requires voter approval for tax
increases. Fees, which are not addressed in this handbook, can be
increased by the state legislature without voter approval. Voter approval
is also required to increase the TABOR limit, which constrains state revenue
from both taxes and fees.
The (P)regressives froth at the mouth
over TABOR and continue to find ways around it. The current favorite is “fees”
instead of a tax. It is keeping lawyers busy as things are fought out in court.
From the outside looking in, the county
looks to be quite conservative. The county seat, Greeley, is home to UNC, once
founded as the Teachers College, and still produces more teachers than any
other Colorado higher education institution.
The Greeley area consistently voted for
Dave Young, as liberal as they come, for State Representative. He is currently Treasury
Secretary, part of the blue tsunami of the last General Election.
The Southwest corner is home of many commuters
in the technology fields and tend to vote more “progressive”. A former co-worker,
Sister Kink, recently won the GOP primary for District 3 County Commissioner by
27 votes. She was term limited as a
State Representative.
The last time a Democrat Presidential
candidate carried the county was LBJ vs Goldwater.
If you have read this far, I thank you. There
is a small, yea minuscule, group of Colorado centric readers of this blog. This
post is for them.
My apologies for the many fonts and sizes. I'm a Latter Day Luddite.
