Initiative process already complicated

As if the process is not already complicated enough, Democratic state Sen. Brandon Shaffer of Longmont wants to make it harder for the people of Colorado to initiate their own laws. Surprisingly, the Times-Call agrees.

Our First Amendment right to petition our government is involved here and considering the glut of laws the Colorado Legislature passes every year, mostly to control our lives, the number of initiated proposals adopted by the people pales in comparison. A state web page titled “Session Laws of Colorado 2010 Second Regular Session, Table of Enacted House Bills” shows 431 bills were passed with four vetoed; a separate table of enacted Senate Bills shows 217 were passed with no veto. Total bills enacted, 644?

In contrast, in 2008 only four of 14 proposed amendments passed and in the 2010 election, only one of seven was approved. Don’t underestimate the wisdom of Colorado voters.

Some of Shaffer’s ideas:

--Require a 60 percent majority statewide vote to pass an initiative. (Okay then, to be fair, every law passed by the state legislature should require a 60 percent majority vote in both houses.)

--Require initiative petition signatures to be gathered in each of the state’s seven congressional districts; increase the number of signatures needed. (These steps won’t have much effect on discouraging the moneyed interests but will hamper the process for the common people.)

The basis for most of this ongoing bluster over constitutional amendments is TABOR. Instead of huffing and puffing over that law which has been on the books for nearly 20 years now, why not simply write an amendment to repeal it, gather the necessary signatures and put it to a vote of the people? The same can be said of the Gallagher Amendment and Amendment 23.

Really, are we incapable of governing ourselves?

Opinion piece regarding the Colorado Press Association

As the cliché confirms, the arrangement could not have gone on forever, but the alternative will never be the same. I’m referring to the Colorado Press Association abandoning its long tradition of holding its prestigious annual convention in one of the World’s most prestigious venues—Denver’s grand old Brown Palace Hotel.

I see in the association's in-house newspaper, the Colorado Editor, that after a continuous run of 51 years at the Brown Palace and despite a healthy increase in attendance this past year, the CPA board of directors decided to move the whole caboodle down the street a few blocks. Whether the Associated Press which usually meets concurrently with the CPA will follow was not mentioned.

Memories to some of us are trivia to others. So be it. The shiny new place no doubt has a fancy bar where friends can hoist a few, but I doubt the ambiance will match that of the Ship Tavern. As the new, greenhorn prez of CPA in 1981, I met there with a feisty fringe-group of journalists known as the “surly malcontents” to find out what they had on their minds. Led by Ed Quillen and Bob Cox, their main protest was that the CPA was “run by and for the fat cats.” No, I told them, if that were true then a little guy like me, who started out with absolutely nothing, would never have been allowed to rise to the top. After the second round or so in this inimitable setting, we all got along just fine.

But back to the present: I wish the CPA leaders would have explained the issues in more detail to the members before cutting these historic ties. Have contest awards become the only reliable drawing card? If so, small wonder anyone needs overnight lodging.

As CPA president Jeanette Chavez said in announcing the change of venue, talk of moving the convention was not new. Yes, it’s been moved several times prior to settling comfortably into the Brown Palace. Debra Faulkner, historian at the hotel shared this information:

The first time CPA booked its convention into the Brown Palace Hotel was in 1924. From that year through 1958, CPA utilized four different hotels: the St. James, Albany, Cosmopolitan and finally the Brown Palace.

Alas, it is difficult for some of us to wave goodbye to this long-time, faithful friend of Colorado newspapers.

--Percy Conarroe