Delta County Election Ballots will be Mailed out October 12 Week for November 3 Vote – Telecommunications Flexibility Major Questions for North Fork Towns

Delta County Election Ballots will be Mailed out October 12 Week for November 3 Vote

Telecommunications Flexibility Major Questions for North Fork Towns

By Thomas Wills

Odd year ballots are usually not that exciting but there are several important questions on the November 3 mail-in election ballot that will be sent out during the week of October 12.

First there is there are two School Board seats up for vote.  In District 3 – accountant and incumbent Pete Blair is running unopposed.  In District 2 – Delta area – longtime schools volunteer and previous candidate, Jill Jurca, is facing off against Genevieve Novinger also a school volunteer with an architectural related degree.  Jurca has a longer history of involvement but young mother Novinger has energy and political savvy on her side. According to Facebook pages and candidate statements both candidates appear to be qualified, well informed on the issues and close philosophically in they want what is best for the students of the District.  The winner in the race will replace controversial incumbent, Kathy Svenson, who drew national negative notoriety on several ideological subjects and was a consistent outlier on the Board.

(The Herald is not endorsing either District 3 candidate thinking that they both have much to offer. In District 2 Blair’s breadth of experience in financial matters is very valuable to the Board and we recommend his reelection.)

Then there are votes in Delta County as a whole, Hotchkiss, Delta, Cedaredge, Paonia and Crawford to “opt out” of Senate Bill 2005-152, which requires a vote if local governmental entities  wish to provide, or partner (provide any free help or funding), in the provision of telecommunications services in their communities.  Specifically, the vote is being called for to allow Towns and the County to be able to participate in a plan to use a $5.2 million DOLA grant through Region 10 to build a next to last mile fiber-optic cable backbone that will hopefully result in true broadband Internet being available to business and consumers, including in the North Fork, at an affordable price.  In any case an affirmative vote on the matters will allow future flexibility in the Town’s and County facilitating better Internet service to the Valley and County.

(The Herald strongly recommends a YES vote by Valley voters on Delta County 1A, Paonia 2B, Hotchkiss 2C and Crawford 2D.  In these challenging economic times in an underserved rural area, this is a step we can all take to help make sure local business is competitive and that new businesses and residents are attracted by adequate Broadband speeds at an affordable cost.)

Question 4A –  Debrucing of the North Fork Water Conservation District –  This is a Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) questions asking if the District can collected and spent their full allocated property tax mill levy amount.

(The Herald strongly recommends approval of this question.  Water issues in the North Fork will only continue to become more important in the coming decades as effects of global warming, such as more frequent droughts, may increase local irrigation challenges.)

Then, there is Proposition BB, a referred measure from the State Legislature asking up the State can retain and use as specified all revenues collected from state taxes on recreational marijuana.  The State has been collecting more money than was estimated in the original voter-approved measure and if this does not pass will have to return a percentage to the consumers and taxpayers.

(The Herald recommends that Prop. BB be approved since the $40 million will be used for school building construction and addressing the impacts of the legalization of recreational marijuana. This will help in these times of tight budgets.)