The Eastern Plains Chamber of Commerce sponsored a town hall meeting at the Black Forest Fire Rescue Station 1 on Feb. 23. Sen. Paul Lundeen, Rep. Tim Geitner and Commissioner Holly Williams discussed development and legislation, such as the National Popular Vote Bill (Senate Bill 42). Lundeen discussed four bills ó three of concern to him. ìSenate Bill 42 takes the votes of Colorado and attaches them to the votes of California and New York by joining a compact that says when it gets to 270 electoral votes inside this compact, it doesnít matter how you as a state voted,î he said. ìIn our country, the idea is that every person should have one vote; thatís part of our values and our democracy.î With SB 42, Lundeen said, ìYour Colorado votes simply become watered down.îThe bill has passed out of the Senate and the House and headed for the governorís desk. If the governor does not veto the bill, it would be ìmob rule,î Lundeen said. He urged residents to call the governor and ask him to veto the bill. For more on SB 42, read the article, “Town Hall Meeting Addresses Legislation” by Lindsey Harrison in the Feature Stories section.Lundeen also expressed concern about Senate Bill 1032, the Comprehensive Human Sexuality legislation. He said he believes decisions on classroom curriculums should be kept closer to home, not at the state level. ìWe have 178 school districts, which is where the curriculum should be set,î he said. ìWe are going to have a statewide curriculum on this very sensitive and somewhat controversial content, and I oppose the bill.îAnother bill Lundeen opposes is the Extreme Risk Protection Order Bill. The legislation allows a family or household member or a law enforcement officer to petition the court for a temporary extreme risk protection order (ERPO). According to HB18-1436, a person can petition the court by a preponderance of evidence stating that someone in the household is a ìsignificant risk to self or others by having a firearm in his or her custody or control or by possessing, purchasing or receiving a firearm.î The petitioner must an affidavit under oath supporting reasons for ERPO; a hearing is held; and, if a risk exists, the person in question must surrender all firearms. Lundeen said the bill ignores the ìmental health issuesî related to the respondent; instead, ìit allows peopleís private property to be confiscated.î If the person is deemed a risk, he or she must prove otherwise, which, Lundeen said, defies the concept of ìinnocent until proven guilty.îThe last bill Lundeen discussed is Senate Bill 101. ìThis bill says to CDOT (Colorado Department of Transportation), you may not toll a lane of additional traffic when you build it unless you have evaluated all options for developing that capacity, communicated to all communities of interest you are passing through and find no other way to build that capacity except by tolling the lane of traffic,î he said. ìThis bill says we need to bring the conversation back so the people are involved.îGeitner addressed two bills he is working on ó one is House Bill 1100. Geitner said the bill states that after a school building is sold, it must not be used as a marijuana store, an adult entertainment facility or a bar. ìWe tacked on a fourth restriction to not allow (school buildings) to be sold for the purpose of another public school, which would devalue the property,î Geitner said.The other bill Geitner is involved with has not yet been introduced, he said. The bill allows students to use work experience for college credit. ìIt might involve an apprentice program or a credential program,î he said. ìWe know that tuition for college has increased, and this would help to translate into two-or-four-year degrees.îWilliams talked about her first few months in office, citing the importance of the master policy land use update. She said Black Forest and the Tri-Lakes areas will develop committees to review land use issues ìespecially with the preservation of the forest, how much water they need and how to protect Black Forest if they have another fire.î Williams said she would like to be part of any water committee, and advocates for a water study that addresses the amount of water developers are taking and the amount that can be replenished.The town hall meeting ended with questions from the public. There are plans for future town hall meetings.
