Beauprez Appears to be CO GOP Gubernatorial Candidate

FredHayek wrote: Wasn't Hick first opposed to Colorado having its own airborne fire fleet?

Not a big fan of Bob, if he couldn't beat Ritter, a unproven district attorney, how will he do against Hick? Looks like the TEA Party lost this primary, or maybe Kopp and Tancredo split the vote?

Fred... why don't you look into the bills that the governor has signed this spring that have to do with wildfire issues.

I'll wait.

I get tired of your "I think," "I heard," "I read," "I pulled it out of my butt" comments. That kind of non-sourced debate one of the reasons I stopped posting here on any regular basis.

ScienceChic wrote: He's the incumbent, and generally well-liked (wishy-washy means you don't piss people off). Unless something goes down the sh**ter in the coming months, I don't see Beauprez as being strong enough to knock him off his pedestal.

Maybe we can get Ted Cruz and Half-Governor Moosemeat to come and campaign for Beauprez. That seems to be a sure-fire ticket to defeat.

Reverend Revelant wrote:

FredHayek wrote: Wasn't Hick first opposed to Colorado having its own airborne fire fleet?

Not a big fan of Bob, if he couldn't beat Ritter, a unproven district attorney, how will he do against Hick? Looks like the TEA Party lost this primary, or maybe Kopp and Tancredo split the vote?

Fred... why don't you look into the bills that the governor has signed this spring that have to do with wildfire issues.

I'll wait.

I get tired of your "I think," "I heard," "I read," "I pulled it out of my butt" comments. That kind of non-sourced debate one of the reasons I stopped posting here on any regular basis.

So you don't think Gov. Hickenlooper initially had concerns about the cost of a airborne firefighting fleet? And thought it was a little overkill when we had a federal fleet already on call?

He eventually supported the legislation, maybe because of polling, and maybe because the state was bringing in more revenue than originally expected and could afford it.

Reverend Revelant wrote: Explain the "wildfire" part of your comment?

Well gee RR, how about this:

12 June 2013

In the (2012) Senate Appropriations Committee, all the Democrats voted against funding the air tankers and all the Republicans voted in favor of the funds. See the vote here.

Governor Hickenlooper’s budget, which you can read here, didn’t propose a cent for firefighting tankers.

Read more: http://coloradopeakpolitics.com/2013/06/12/party-line-issue-republicans-wanted-air-tanker-funding-hickenlooper-dems-didnt/

What happened after the 2013 wildfire season? Hickenlooper changed his mind, after many millions of dollars worth off fire damage that could have been reduced if additional resources were available. I wonder if the folks who live (or used to live) in Black Forest and Waldo Canyon will remember this overdue flip-flop on Hickenlooper's part.

otisptoadwater wrote:

Reverend Revelant wrote: Explain the "wildfire" part of your comment?

Well gee RR, how about this:

There was no lack of federal air tanker support in the Black Forest fire.

But, at least initially, according to a report from the Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center, the request for two large air tankers came back UTF — federal government code for "unable to fill." The denial appears to have been only temporary, and officials fighting the Black Forest fire stress they were given all the resources they need.

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_23474790/n ... ng-efforts

Hickenlooper went to California to study the possibility of a state owned air tanker fleet. If this was a Republican only issue, you would be praising the fiscal responsibility of a Republican governor who didn't just jump at the chance to spend over 28 million of tax payers money without first looking into the fiscal abilities of the state spending the money, and without looking into the cost and benefit factors involved.

CENTENNIAL, Colo. — After spending a week in California learning about Cal Fire, the only state-run fleet or firefighting air tankers in the country, state Sen. Steve King is pushing hard for Colorado to purchase its own fleet that can be active by this summer’s wildfire season.

http://kdvr.com/2014/03/26/king-pressur ... ker-fleet/

And you would have also had problems with a Republican governor who studied a California plan, since the right is always complaining about how overly taxed California residents are taxed and how California wastes so much or their tax payers monies.

So don't try to posture and adjust you're fiscal ideologies just because you want to make a partisan point. That's rather transparent.

My original question was asking what Hickenlooper did, and what bills were signed to help our wildfires situation. So I guess since you couldn't find anything, I will help you out.

The task force convened by Hickenlooper last year to study wildfire and insurance matters recommended statewide building requirements in areas where development borders forest areas.

The group also recommended developing a map of those high-risk areas to calculate risks and assess fees to help with mitigation.

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2014/01/23/h ... gislation/

Hickenlooper signed two other wildfire-related bills as well, including one clarifying who may oversee a prescribed burn and the actions that will be taken to contain a burn that gets out of control; the other measure allows the Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority (CWRPDA) to make loans to private businesses or individuals for projects that will improve forest health.

“This will give businesses and homeowners the resources they need to mitigate the threat of a fire in our forests,” said the sponsor, Rep. Millie Hamner, D-Dillon.

http://kdvr.com/2014/05/12/hickenlooper ... ing-fleet/

DENVER —Monday, June 4, 2012 — Gov. John Hickenlooper signed three bills into law today that were introduced and passed by the General Assembly after the Lower North Fork Fire. The bills address the state’s emergency management response; create a commission to study the wildfire; and create a pathway for the wildfire victims to seek compensation.

“The consolidation of safety functions in HB12-1283 will increase efficiencies in the state, enhance communications and clarify roles and responsibilities during emergencies,” Hickenlooper said. “It will also effectively utilize state funds by eliminating redundant tasks in different departments. These changes will decrease response times in situations where literally every minute counts.”

http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/Go ... 1623354420

And from my own article in The Flume (I was there at the signing).

On Thursday, May 5, Gov. John Hickenlooper signed the Local Firefighter Safety Grant Program, which will set aside $3.25 million a year to be used to purchase personal protective equipment and fund training to help protect paid and volunteer firefighters from fire, smoke and other carcinogens.

http://www.theflume.com/news/article_cc ... b2370.html

And this is not a bill, but it shows you of the first steps the Hickenlooper administration took after that horrible summer of 2013. From another article I wrote.

In a report released on Sept. 30 of this year, a special task force made recommendations to the governor on wildfires and forest health. (See separate story, Page 1.)

The task force has endorsed a fee on properties that exist in the wildland-urban interface (WUI) to help fund mitigation efforts. A fee would avoid any TABOR (Taxpayer Bill of Rights amendment to the state constitution) implications.

Other suggestions in the report talked about local governments adopting ordinances to create wildland-urban interface mitigation requirements such as monitored smoke alarm systems, fuels management measures and fire resistant roofing materials.

Colorado Springs, Boulder County and Summit County are examples of communities that already have required mitigation efforts in their building codes.

http://www.theflume.com/news/first_five ... f6878.html

Here, you can see Hickenlooper administration taxpayers money spent on wildfire preventions in the studies on this page.

http://www.dora.state.co.us/taskforce/

One of my "beats" at the The Flume is fire, fire protection districts and fire mitigation issues. I know what I was talking about and I didn't ask Fred the question because I didn't already know the answers.

On a local level the Elk Creek Fire Protection District vote on the new Mill Levy this past November 2013 was OPPOSED by Patriot types, Tea Party types, anti-taxers and conservatives. Fortunately clearer heads prevailed on both sides and the tax passed.

http://www.theflume.com/news/first_five ... f6878.html

You can stop by Elk Creek Station One anytime and see how passing that new tax will help keep our mountain area safer. Take a look at the new equipment. And I don't care where you live, Jefferson or Park county, fire knows no boundary's.

I don't care for Hickenlooper personally as a politician, but I am not so partisan to deny facts when I believe he makes good responsible fiscal decisions for our state.

We don't have the tax base that California has, yet we are now the second state in the union that has it's own fleet of air tankers and support aircraft to fight fires. Hickenlooper made responsible decisions with state money, examined and then re-examined the issues and made the right decisions.

By the way, these other bills and legislation's that I reference above were opposed by many Republicans during the last session.

They passed anyway. I imagine that considering your concern above, you will be back in this thread to give Hickenlooper a "well done" about those bills. Right?

Way too soon to give Hick a well done on the air fleet. If it really helps the next couple fire seasons, it looks like a justified expense. If it turns out that the Feds could have handled all of our fires easily, it will be looked on as expensive insurance.
Since I have property surrounded by national forest, I like to think of it as a smart move. I especially like that the planes have technology to look for hotspots and react before they get out of control.

FredHayek wrote: Way too soon to give Hick a well done on the air fleet. If it really helps the next couple fire seasons, it looks like a justified expense. If it turns out that the Feds could have handled all of our fires easily, it will be looked on as expensive insurance.
Since I have property surrounded by national forest, I like to think of it as a smart move. I especially like that the planes have technology to look for hotspots and react before they get out of control.

Fred. How could a state run fire fighting air fleet NOT be an advantage, in almost ANY wildfire situation.

You've moved the target. Stop that. It makes you look obtuse. It will pay for itself the first time we get another Black Forest or Lower North Fork sized fire.

The "well done" is not an option. It's already "well done."

If it is a no-brainer like you believe, why was Hickenlooper so slow to jump on board? To fund it, you have to take money from someplace else, was it the right decision if the money was taken from the Colorado DOT? To me, it looks like it is worth it, fires have been doing more damage than in the past. But you never know, we could have a decade of very low fire risk.

Bloomlicker is going to face an uphill battle this time around. He's got 4 bad years worth of governing to answer for. He's not going to be able to dishonestly paint himself as a moderate in this cycle and I don't think his Howdy Doody impression won't work as well either.

Rural Colorado isn't going to treat him nearly as kindly as they did the last time given his signing bills that are going to cause significant increases to their electricity rates and the 7 Mayor Bloomberg gun control bills.

I'm not hearing much on the horizon with regards to citizen initiative ballot measures come November, but I suppose that could change in the next couple of months. I don't see the Senate race as benefiting one party over the other for turnout either.

The longer the "undecided" percentage remains high, the better off Beauprez will be on election day so I expect we will be seeing Hickenbloomer spending all that cash he has early on hoping to build an advantage that is insurmountable. Udall seems to be employing that tactic too, so I hope both Gardner and Beauprez are ready to campaign hard in the early months of the campaign.

I enjoy living in interesting times . . . don't you?

Didn't you also predict Obama would lose the last presidential election, too?