On March 9, local community leaders hosted a town hall meeting at Mountain View Electric Association in Falcon. The leaders included Tim Geitner, House of Representatives member for District 19; Paul Lundeen, Colorado State Senator for District 9; Mark Waller, District 2 representative on the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners; Dennis Hisey, Colorado State Senator for District 2; and Bill Elder, El Paso County sheriff.About 85 people from the community attended the meeting and listened as each host presented issues they are focusing on in the coming months. Those issues included revenue from marijuana operations; a bill prohibiting a school districtís board of education from restricting the use of a property sold by the district to be used as a school in any form; overcrowding in the EPC jail; and development and its impact on the stateís water supply.Elder said the No. 1 issue he is concerned about is traffic safety. ìWe are reinstituting a traffic unit, and by summer we will be in full-blown enforcement mode,î he said.Also on the agenda was House Bill 19-1177, which proposes to create an extreme risk protection order process to prevent someoneís family or household member from having, purchasing or receiving a firearm if a preponderance of evidence indicates that a person is a significant risk to themselves or others.Elder said HB19-1177, also known as the ìRed Flag Bill,î poses an infringement threat on the right of citizens to bear arms; and the best way to address that infringement is to challenge the billís constitutionality. ìWe will sue on constitutionality issues if this bill goes through and fight it through the courts,î he said.Lundeen agreed with Elder and said the bill moves away from removing threats, like firearms, from individuals having mental breakdowns and shifts to seizing private property. If such a law is passed, it impacts regular citizens and that makes it a bad law, he said.Waller said the BOCC planned to pass a resolution on March 12 in opposition of HB 19-1177 and urged the community to contact Leroy Garcia, president of the Colorado Senate, to let him know that if the bill passes, he will be recalled.Following a question from the audience regarding Senate Bill 19-181, which addresses the conduct of oil and gas operations, Lundeen said the bill is an ìechoî of Proposition 112 from the November 2018 election. That proposition would have increased setbacks for new oil and gas operations and was rejected by voters in a 57 percent to 43 percent margin. ìIt is important that we keep the oil and gas industry going, from an economic standpoint,î he said.ìSenate Bill 181 is recession by legislation,î Hisey said. Not only will it take money from schools and special districts, but it allows other cities like Boulder and Broomfield to put restrictions on the industry since those places cannot place a moratorium on operations, he said.Waller said SB 19-042, the National Popular Vote Bill, which designates Coloradoís nine presidential Electoral College votes to the winner of the national popular vote, contains a petition clause. ìWe are going to go out and get signatures to put an initiative on the ballot to get it turned down,î he said.Geitner agreed with Waller and asked for the communityís help in collecting the necessary signatures.
