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La Plata Commissioner challenges Beauprez claims
La Plata County Commissioner Gwen Lachelt pushed back against comments that Bob Beauprez, the Republican challenger for governor, made in a debate Thursday suggesting she supports a ban on fracking.
"The San Juan Citizens Alliance has not taken a position to ban fracking. I have never taken a position to ban fracking," said Lachelt, who is an alliance board member.
Lachelt, a Durango Democrat, is co-chair of a task force that incumbent governor John Hickenlooper assembled to find compromises on local control issues related to oil and gas drilling in the state.
"It seems as though Beauprez is trying to discredit the work of the task force," Lachelt said. "It is not based on information that exists."
Categories: Colorado Business, Energy
September 9, 2014, 5:58 pm
Gov. Hickenlooper seeks to defuse Colorado oil and gas battles
By Mark Jaffe
Gov. John Hickenlooper
Colorado Gov.Hickenlooper unveiled his task force to deal with conflicts between oil and gas drillers and homeowners Tuesday and outlined the core problems it faces.
The 21-member task force was part of a compromise that got two local control of oil and gas operations initiatives, backed by Congressman Jared Polis, a Boulder Democrat, off the ballot. The task force is composed of representatives of the oil and gas industry, the agricultural and home-building industries, the conservation community, local government and civic leaders.
Here in the governor's own words is how he sees the problem:
"If you have someone who has been living somewhere for a long time and they are told there is going to be oil rig across the street in that old meadow, most of us would say that would be alarming. By the same token, in so many cases, somebody bought those mineral rights long before a home was there.
"And if you told people that government was coming to come and change the zoning and take away value– dramatically making them worth nothing or half as much as they were, people would say that's not fair. So we have two self-interests in conflict and most of us say both of them have good arguments on their side. So the challenge is how do we sit down and work through to mitigate the conflict as much as possible and it is something, I think, a commission is going to be able to do much better job of than an initiative.
"To try and get that done we've set a high-bar, we are going to need a two-thirds majority out of this to make a recommendation of any sort. We wanted to have as many different self-interests reflected here so that those discussions would be, you know, robust. Again the more perspective you get on the table the higher the probability you will get to compromise."
"My goal is to do everything I can do to help them get to success, to get to yes, to find the compromises," Hickenlooper said. "I am not going to micromanage. I am not going to step on their toes."
Categories: Colorado Business
July 8, 2013, 12:40 pm
Hickenlooper pushed on oil, gas drilling by local Colorado officials
The battle – or maybe it's a tug-of-war – between Colorado local officials and Gov. John Hickenlooper over oil and gas drilling has entered a new stage.
In June, 100 current and former elected municipal and county officials sent the governor a letter urging a more collaborative approach among the various levels of government.
It was an olive branch, but in talking to some elected officials it was also a warning.
"We wanted to make a statement after the legislative session, in which most bills to regulate oil and gas activities were defeated," said Boulder County Commissioner Elise Jones. "We want to say to the governor, 'We're not finished.'"
La Plata County Commissioner Gwen Lachelt said the message is: "We are not going away between now and the next legislative session in January."
State certifies five new Colorado Creative Districts in Pueblo, Trinidad, Ridgway, Telluride and North Fork Valley
By Jason Blevins
Telluride was one of five communities certified as a Colorado Creative District on Wednesday by Colorado Creative Industries.
Colorado Creative Industries on Wednesday certified five new creative districts, enabling communities to bolster arts and culture programs and grow opportunities for economic development.
The Pueblo Creative Corridor, Corazon de Trinidad, North Fork Valley Creative District, Ridgway Creative District and Telluride Creative District each won distinction as a Colorado Creative District, which includes a $15,000 grant and technical assistance as the districts develop.
"These 2013 certified creative districts are great examples of how the arts create exciting places for people to visit and live," said Gov. John Hickenlooper, in a statement released Wednesday. "These districts not only increase quality of life, they also help with economic vitality of the area and attract people from all over Colorado and the country."
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Categories: Colorado Business, Colorado Tourism, Mountain Peek
Round Two: Gov. Hickenlooper responds to critics of his drilling and fracking policies
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper
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Gov. John Hickenlooper has sent a letter to the local officials who scored his oil and gas development policies challenging them to partner with the state rather than criticizing it.
The governor received a letter September 19th signed by 79 municipal and county officials criticizing the state's decision to sue the City of Longmont for adopting its drilling regulations.
"Local governments have both the right and responsibility to take action to protect the public heath and well being of our citizens as well as the environment," the letter said.
In a reply, released Thursday, Hickenlooper told the officials:
"To be clear at the outset, suing Longmont was a last – and not a first – resort for our administration. The decision was only made after attempts to resolve the State's concerns were unsuccessful."
Categories: Energy
Colorado public trustees a tough choice for Gov. John Hickenlooper
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Thomas Mowle, left, El Paso County Public Trustee, attends a public trustee meeting at the State Capitol in Denver on Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2011.
The resignations of Colorado's public trustees appointed by Gov. John Hickenlooper take effect Friday and replacements — perhaps some of the same faces – are to be named soon.
Whether those appointments occur on Friday or sometime thereafter is up to Hickenlooper, as well as whether to go along with the requests of some politicos to not name anyone until the Legislature can deal with the issue in January.
It's a political fire brand and Hickenlooper's handled the delicate issue with some skill, demanding that all 10 appointees resign en masse following revelations about how they each spent money. Nine did; one retired.
Hickenlooper made it clear each could apply for reappointment, though none was guaranteed the spot. And if no one is named, state law grants authority of the office to a deputy until such time as a trustee is named.
Colorado utilities commission appointee draws environmentalists' fire
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Pam Patton
Gov. John Hickenlooper's appointment of Pam Patton to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission is drawing fire from environmental groups.
The Durango-based La Plata Electric Association serves more than 40,000 customers, primarily in La Plata and Archuleta counties. As a rural electric cooperative, it is not regulated by the utilities commission.
The utilities commission has been the primary agent for a series of renewable energy and energy efficiency initiatives. Many of those initiatives –such as requirement that 30 percent of energy for investor-owned utilities come form renewable sources — were passed by the legislature.
What concerns some environmentalist is that Patton's limited record on these issues appears to put her in opposition to these policies. For example, in 2004 Patton's LEPA board opposed Amendment 37 – the statutory amendment which set a 10 percent renewable energy standard for the state.
Dish's Blockbuster moves headquarters to Colorado
By Andy Vuong
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Blockbuster president Michael Kelly, a former Dish executive, says Blockbuster is set apart from rivals by its variety of video distribution: in stores, left; online; by mail; and self- service kiosks.
UPDATE 3:45 P.M. | The Colorado Economic Development Commission has granted Dish $2.5 million in tax credits over five years based on the 150 jobs the relocation will bring to Colorado during that time frame. The average wage of the positions, excluding benefits, is $93,257.
Dish Network's video rental subsidiary Blockbuster will relocate its headquarters to Colorado, officials announced today.
The move will bring more than 150 management positions to the greater Denver area over the next five years. An undetermined number of those jobs will be filled with employees who are invited to relocate to Colorado from Blockbuster's McKinney, Texas, headquarters.
Douglas County-based Dish acquired Blockbuster out of bankruptcy for $320 million last year. Blockbuster will be based at the Meridian International Office Park in Douglas County. Read more…
Categories: Dish Network
Gov. Owens toasted to Brough or the Rockies?
Incoming Denver chamber president Kelly Brough's ties with the Democratic Party and political operative David Kenney have raised some eyebrows.
In response to questions about the concerns, Brough noted that she not only toasted with Kenney after she landed the chamber job, but she also had celebratory drinks with former Colorado Gov. Bill Owens and businessman David McReynolds, both Republicans. Owens, who didn't return a call for comment for the article that was published Sunday, has a different take.
In an email Monday, Owens said that while he did run into Brough at the ChopHouse on Aug. 7, he was drinking to the Colorado Rockies beating the Chicago Cubs, not to Brough's new gig at the chamber. (Owens' full email is pasted at the end of this post)
"While we were having drinks and talking baseball, Kelly and Maria Garcia Berry walked in whereby David (a true gentleman and long time Chamber board member) asked if they would like to have a drink," Owens wrote. "We were certainly not celebrating anything that evening other than the Rockies victory that night over the hapless Cubs."
Maria Garcia Berry is a political consultant and is the wife of Chuck Berry, president of the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, the state chamber.
Owens said he respects the work Brough has done as Mayor John Hickenlooper's chief of staff. But he repeated worries voiced by others about a Democrat whose career has largely been in the public sector winning the high-profile job of representing the business community.
"I am, however, concerned at Kelly's lack of business experience and close ties to Democratic elected officials and consultants – ties which may be challenged if she represents business, as business certainly expects to be represented," Owens wrote in the email
Owens' former chief of staff, Bob Lee, was also in the running for the Denver chamber job.
Here's Owens' entire email: Read more…
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Categories: Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce
Mercy to convert hotel to housing for homeless
By Margaret Jackson
Denver-based Mercy Housing Colorado has purchased the Aromor Apartments, a historic hotel on Capitol Hill it plans to renovate housing for 66 formerly homeless people.
Mercy bought the Aromor, at 1309 Grant St., from the Denver Housing Authority as part of Denver's Road Home, Mayor John Hickenlooper's 10-year-plan to end homelessness.
The renovation includes updating kitchens and bathrooms and furnishing each room with beds, tables, chairs and new appliances. The garden level will have a community room, resident services offices, computer lab, library and laundry room.
The building will have a full-time property manager, maintenance staff and a 24-hour desk clerk. Resident services staff will offer one-on-one support to residents and help them connect with service providers.