There may not be as much humanity in the world, as you’d like to see, but there is some, there’s more than one would think….The world is held together, really it is held together, by the love and the passion of a very few people….Look around the street of any city, any afternoon, and look around you. What you’ve got to remember is that what you’re looking at is also you. Everyone you’re looking at is also you. You could be that person, you could be that monster, you could be that cop. And you have to decide, in yourself, not to be.

NEW AND IMPROVED ENDORSEMENTS!

I’m self-funding the campaign and would like NO DONATIONS.

I am running again because I know I have been effective, I have made positive changes, I have represented my constituents (and frankly many who are outside my ward) as best I can, and I want to continue to protect what is great about Golden and help it move forward. I have looked around for others in the ward who share my values and energy, and could win in a local race (name recognition is huge) and I found no one who, in my opinion, was better than me. So, there it is…I’m the best candidate, and that is why I’m running again. Endorsements or click on my picture to read more.

I saw this Wyoming plated vehicle, with an “ONLY GAY COPS PULL ME OVER” window sticker. What message are they trying to send? It seems pejorative, and aggressive. If a non-gay cop did pull them over, would they take this as an attack on their manhood (or sexual orientation if a female cop)? That would seem to be the point. Click on the picture to read more.

A summary of much of the visible growth from about 1980 onwards from a long term Golden Resident, Charlene Pazar. Click for the picture to read the full post.

His parents leaned toward the pool and said, “we would have helped, but we had our street clothes on”. Even as a kid I thought, “this kids parents suck, and I wonder how his life will turn out”. With parenting like that, I still wonder whose life I saved.

While the settlement by Euro-Americans of the Clear Creek Valley created lasting and profound effects for the Indigenous people of the area, it is a secondary, and less important part of their history. More important, were the lifeways and histories that preceded Euro-American settlement for the 12,000 years prior. Ute bands, including the Moghwachi̱, Tabeguache, and Uncompahgre have called the area home since the time of their Creation, and Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes view the Front Range of Colorado as part of their traditional homelands for over three centuries.

...we have a bridge with pretty lights that have failed, powder coat that has failed, and a partner in CDOT who is very constrained for maintenance too. We have investigated the bridge to the degree necessary to ensure it is safe, but it is still shabby.

“For some people, sleeping outside is their only option.” That the local laws impose fines and potential jail time for people “sleeping anywhere in public at any time, including in their cars, if they use as little as a blanket to keep warm or a rolled-up shirt as a pillow” effectively punishes people for being homeless, she wrote. “That is unconscionable and unconstitutional,” Justice Sotomayor said in reading her dissent from the bench, a rare move that signals profound disagreement.

While acting as their representative, I shall be governed by their will, on all subjects up one which I have the means of knowing what their will is; and upon all others, I shall do what my own judgement teaches me will best advance their interests.

Updated 6/8/2025 with a new reflection and some old news

The idea that there are no borders, no countries, no wars…you get the idea. So, so much of our conflicts in this world are based on barriers. Our property, street, neighborhood, city, county, state, country, continent, sure, physical barriers. But they are a completely man-made construct that we have become habituated to.

after a stressful city council meeting, I’m awake for another couple hours trying to “decompress”. I think the message is, A quiet mind is untroubled.

Have an issue you want fixed? Click here to see who to call. Hint…it’s unlikely to be me!

What I ultimately learned on my vacation?

• My wife Carol is the best and I am so lucky to have her in my life (I knew this but was reminded of it ALL the time just being in her presence).

Yes to food trucks, in the ROW, but in limited locations and properly licensed. Read more and see the data here.

I reached out to the City Streets supervisor, Steve Kurtz, and the director of public works Anne Bierle. Steve said he would add it to the work plan. THE NEXT DAY, the concrete and the corner were torn up and framed in. The ADA ramp, which was not there, was installed immediately after. That’s it!

I need no more data telling me that vapes are less harmful than cigarettes.  It will make no difference to me if someone finds another source to back that up.  Many speakers asked us to do more research between first and second reading.  I did so, but if I care more about the additive behavior of nicotine and I look at the decades long history of the tobacco industry to create that addiction and continue to find new customers for their products, it is NOT going to get me into the pro-tobacco camp.

A very powerful read about how social media is hurting relationships, and media in general is taking away so much of what we value in life. Does creating safe spaces make room for conversation? Or stifle it?

I can’t summarize a book in a sentence, but basically the idea is that by suppressing wages, corporations gain greater benefits for their shareholders. Raising wages gives landlords leverage to raise rents, so wage gains don’t really “help”. The best predictor of success is sadly your zip code. The best way to improve your lot in life is to live in a better neighborhood. Period. Let me repeat that, “The best way to improve your lot in life is to live in a better neighborhood”

Homophily - the tendency for people to seek out or be attracted to those who are similar to themselves. Think of the old trope, “birds of a feather flock together”.