The saying goes: All politics is local. If that's true, then you need look no farther than the race for city council right here in the heartland of the nation , Littleton Colorado.
Oh sure... Bush and the Republicans are turning Washington into a cesspool of cronyism and corruption. They chant all their ridiculous mantras of tax cuts and privatization while gorging at the public trough.
But the heart and soul of the body politik is in your home town...and mine in particular.
Lying right in the middle of Tom Tancredo's district, is the the most exciting election in my world. An epic struggle for control of the city and state I live in, pitting Libertarian types and Back to Basics crazies against a coalition of Democrats,progressive Republicans, Independents and unaffiliated voters.
At the center is the re-election of my friend Amy Conklin, the mayor pro-tem of Littleton. Here's a picture of her campaigning in the rain.
I told her I was calling her the "Mary Poppins" of Littleton.
This isn't the first time we've fought off the Back to Basics crowd in Littleton, they took the School Board elections 14 years ago in a "back to basics" slate of the local school district. In a single election in 1994, the school administration, teachers,parents, taxpayers and citizens of Littleton swept them out of office and restored sanity to the school district. 14 years later Littleton Public schools is a nationally acclaimed school district with Littleton High School rated as one of eight world class high schools academically in the nation.
However, Phyliss Schlafly of the notorious Eagle Forum erroneously reported in the Baptist Pillar
School board elections in the fall of 1993 show that, when OBE is put directly to the voters, it is trounced. The suburban school district in Littleton, Colorado, had been lauded by the National Education Association as a national model for Outcome-Based Education. It was described by Education Week as having "pioneered new performance assessments and standards for high school graduation." The voters, however, were not impressed. In the November 2 election, they gave a 2-to-1 mandate to three new school board members to replace OBE with a traditional emphasis on the three R’s. The victorious candidates ran on a back-to-basics platform opposing OBE.
They (the back to basics crowd)roiled our school system for years. Finally in 1994, the voters swept all 3 candidates from office and Littleton got back to the job of education. It has been relatively peaceful since. (Note: that Columbine HS is not in our city limits or school district...it is in the adjoining county in an unincorporated area adjacent to the giant Lockheed Martin plant.)
As one parent stated:
The back-to-basics slate of three board members elected a year ago (1993) continually reports erroneously to our community and nation. Threatening teachers and administrators with insubordination charges and cause for instant dismissal, the slate continues to generate unchallenged false statements. Teachers, administrators, and parents with children in our schools are held hostage, seemingly impotent in the wake of these false allegations and their distrust and misunderstanding of anything relating to education.
From LHS website
In May 2003, 5280 magazine listed Littleton High School as one of Denver’s top high schools. That same month in 2003, Newsweek magazine listed Littleton High School as one of America’s best high schools. The National Association of Secondary School Principals identified Littleton High School as one of the eight "world class schools". In the last five years Littleton High School has had 38 National Merit semi-finalists and 21 National Merit Finalists, placing us among the top schools in the state. In any given year about 90 percent of our graduates go on to some type of post-secondary education, with the largest percentages going to four-year colleges and universities."
Which brings me to my main point: Throw out the fundamentalist creationists along with the tax cut Republicans and privatizing anti-public sector Libertarians and maybe ...just maybe... you can bring equality, jobs, justice, cooperation and education into your community.
But the Back to Basics cabal is back in Littleton! This time they have their eyes on city government and city council...Enter STAGE RIGHT... the "Sunshine Boys"
From the LITTLETON INDEPENDENT
Who are the (sunshine) Boys(and women)?
"We consider ourselves as a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens who are issue driven," said Jim DuBose, who sat with Carol Brzeczek, José Trujillo and Matt Grogan as spokespeople for the Sunshine Boys during a recent interview at José's, Trujillo's Main Street restaurant where the group meets every Friday for morning coffee.
The original Sunshine Boys - Frank Atwood, Libertarian activist; Marty Bolt, chairman of the House District 38 Republicans; Elwood Johnsen and Dick LeMoine - started getting together for coffee at McDonalds about four years ago, drawn together by opposition to Littleton's grocery tax. Those early meetings evolved into a successful campaign to repeal it.
"Since then the group has just grown," said DuBose. "We invite people who think like we do."
Amy Conklin, who is supported by 7 former Mayors, responded:
I don't see two sides," said Councilwoman Amy Conklin in an e-mail to the Independent last week. "What I see is a well-organized, extremely well-financed small group of disgruntled citizens that includes several men who have recently lost city council elections. I have observed that many people who lose elections become disgruntled. Not all, but many. After all, who wants to lose an election? ... A clear majority of Littleton voters elected me, and I have tried my hardest to represent the majority, regardless of which citizens are in that majority. Moreover, I have particularly reached out to various members of the group that is the subject of your article to ensure to the best of my ability that the lines of communication remain open. They won't name names, but they say hundreds of people are at least loosely associated with the Sunshine Boys.Carol Brzeczek was on the "Back to Basics" board of directors for Littleton Public Schools in the early 1990s, and her husband, Marty, lost a bid for city council last year."
I present the progressive candidates for city council. Above is Bruce Stahlman, Amy Conklin and Tony Gallagher. Below is Cindy Christensen in the middle talking to supporters.
There is not much to change in Littleton city government. The Police, firefighters, road and park maintenance comprise our modest city budget. What are they going to cut? The Western Welcome Week Parade budget? The Libertarians, Fundamentalists and Wingnuts would have you believe that we need to slash government, taxes and city staff to meet their ideals of a privatized and Corporate Littleton (and America).
They stand on a vision that can be summed up as ...NO.
No is not a vision.
The council is currently split 5-2 in our favor. Many of us are working hard to elect the slate of candidates that support our police and firefighters, maintain our parks, schools and community.
I'll keep you updated on the November election.
In the meantime, go to c4lf.net and show some love to the heartland... if you can. (page hits are always nice too.