Election Musings

I admit the County's ballot issue returns surprised me - while I supported both 1A (open space) and 1B (transit improvements) the notion that the transit tax extension would grab nearly 70% of the vote to open space's 60% shows a preference for a tax that conventional wisdom holds would never get more than 55 or 60% of the vote. There were 500 more votes cast overall on 1B, meaning people actually cared a little bit more about it one way or the other too.

Similarly, in Lafayette, 72% of the vote supported the credit card financing of road improvements through bonding. 72%!! The roads are apparently the biggest common denominator out there. So how do the bonds get paid back? Sales tax revenue. How do you get more of that? Commercial development. Who shops there? Nearby people with X needs for goods. So why the disconnect in Lafayette - which voted to renew a residential housing permit cap for another 6 years? This is a reduction in potential household shoppers who will help chip in to repay the bonds voters approved. Lafayette doesn't "need" more homes, I suppose. We're a good size now, and the pace of permitted construction is not blistering anyway. But I'm curious to see this support for increased bills and opposition to bill paying mechanisms.

Louisville's development question 2A was more divisive and failed narrowly, I believe the opposition hit the tipping point with Mayor Chuck Sisk's opposition well known. Sisk was re-elected with 81% of the vote, and I bet his clout on 2A helped sway just enough people. The final tally was only about a 200 vote difference with about a 50% turnout. Louisville's Ward 1 vote had an 11 vote difference out of 1683 total votes- a great example of why every vote counts. Ward 3 had only a 64 vote spread.

Longmont passed the tourism tax to tout itself as the hub for day trips elsewhere into the state. A similar tax failed lst year, but they nailed 54% of the vote this time. The out-of-towners-pay-this-tax message resonated with enough people who probable also recognize the need to drive outside Longmont for fun too.

In general, East BoCo feels pretty good about the status quo. New taxes are supported, no major leadership shifts, incumbents hitting high totals, and support for maintenance and open space. Ahh, paradise.

What's that? $100 a barrel? Iran? If only we could just do our thing here without being disturbed...