gdp's Comments

Daily Camera.com: : Boulder County\'s Fourmile Canyon project getting better reception - Boulder Daily Camera

Sun, 27 Sep 2015 18:22:00 +0000

To Valerie and Tom Conway and others that helped make this happen -- thanks and kudos!

Daily Camera.com: : Candidates at PLAN-Boulder County forum debate growth, \'right-sizing\' - Boulder Daily Camera

Sat, 26 Sep 2015 03:21:51 +0000

NO on Lisa Morzel - incumbent. NO on Suzanne Jones - incumbent.

Daily Camera.com: : From the Editorial Advisory Board: Airbnblackmail? - Boulder Daily Camera

Fri, 18 Sep 2015 22:53:15 +0000

Once again, council finds a way to present voters with a false choice: either short-term rentals with a tax, or no short-term rentals. But that's nothing new -- Our Fine City Leaders been playing that same card with municipalization (sorry, "Boulder's Energy Future") for years now, and similarly with the so-called "right-sizing" (happily portraying any opposition to "right-sizing" as anti-bike). Painting complex issues in simplistic black and white terms? This is not what effective leadership looks like. Instead, this is what flows from the thought-monoculture that has dominated city leadership in recent years. Vote 'em out -- no thanks to both incumbent council members and council-appointed board members running for council.

Daily Camera.com: : PLAN-Boulder candidate forum moved to Meadows Branch Library - Boulder Daily Camera

Thu, 17 Sep 2015 19:20:28 +0000

Friday from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. O-kay. Apparently not trying to provide a forum where regular working folks might actually be able to attend.

Daily Camera.com: : Anna-Marie Berger: Make cyclists accountable - Boulder Daily Camera

Wed, 16 Sep 2015 03:50:23 +0000

"I prefer the police to focus on all of the speeders and the drivers that roll through the stop signs of Hawthorne, Grape, and Glenwood to enter Folsom." Let's be honest here -- I see far more cyclists ignoring the rules of the road than I see drivers doing so. And if we normalize to the number of each I see on the roads, things only look worse for cyclists. To be clear: I'm an avid cyclist. I ride thousands of miles a year around Boulder and Boulder County. But if it's not okay for cars to roll through stop signs and ignore the rules of the road, surely it's not okay for cyclists to do so, either, right?

Daily Camera.com: : Merrill Glustrom: Addicted to cars - Boulder Daily Camera

Wed, 16 Sep 2015 02:59:31 +0000

"I'm asking that we treat others in this debate with respect" Merrill -- are you, perchance, related to Leslie Glustrom? The same Leslie Glustrom that had the gall to suggest (in a public meeting, even!) that if county residents didn't like what Boulder was trying to force upon them via municipalization, they should move? Hmm. Does your "treat others in this debate with respect" suggestion apply to debate about other issues, too? Does it also extend to members of your own family?

Daily Camera.com: : John Price: Pay council more - Boulder Daily Camera

Wed, 16 Sep 2015 02:18:07 +0000

"This fall we will vote on increased pay for city council members. Only we, Boulder voters, can raise their salaries." A bit of history: "In 2007, Boulder voters narrowly rejected a ballot issue that would have raised council members' pay from $170 a meeting to $500 with a $1,000-a-month ceiling. It was defeated by just 49 votes out of nearly 16,300 cast." "In 2008, a measure that created a monthly salary of $1,000, provided a council member attended at least one meeting, was defeated by a wider margin, with 56.7 percent of voters opposing it." Let's keep it rolling, folks! Looking forward to voting no on this one, too!

Daily Camera.com: : Merrill Glustrom: Addicted to cars - Boulder Daily Camera

Wed, 16 Sep 2015 02:03:40 +0000

"We do need defensible data." Oh my yes. And honesty and transparency from the city with respect to the impact of right-sizing. What level of degraded service for existing users is acceptable? How are is that going to be measured? If target thresholds are not met, is the city committed to rolling back the changes? "If people choose to yell, casting disrespect, over a relatively minor issue, and then get their way, what does that say about our democracy?" If Our Fine City Leaders choose to use words like "Living Laboratory" and "experiment" as little more than marketing fodder to sell the decisions that they've already made to a sometimes-gullible public, what does that say about our democracy? "I'm asking that we treat others in this debate with respect, and that we allow the data to be our guide." Amen. So given that we don't appear to have terribly good before data, how do we go about doing that?

Daily Camera.com: : Open Boulder announces City Council endorsements - Boulder Daily Camera

Wed, 16 Sep 2015 01:55:15 +0000

NO on Tim Plass - incumbent, former Planning Board member, former Landmarks Board member. NO on Aaron Brockett - current Planning Board member. NO on Bill Rigler - current Transportation Advisory Board member.

Daily Camera.com: : Having hit meeting cap, Boulder City Council to work for free for rest of 2015 - Boulder Daily Camer

Fri, 11 Sep 2015 19:26:06 +0000

"A charter amendment on the November ballot would establish a $10,000 base salary for council members in addition to the per-meeting pay." A bit of history: "In 2007, Boulder voters narrowly rejected a ballot issue that would have raised council members' pay from $170 a meeting to $500 with a $1,000-a-month ceiling. It was defeated by just 49 votes out of nearly 16,300 cast." "In 2008, a measure that created a monthly salary of $1,000, provided a council member attended at least one meeting, was defeated by a wider margin, with 56.7 percent of voters opposing it." Let's keep it rolling, folks! Looking forward to voting no on this one, too!

Daily Camera.com: : Boulder 2016 budget moves forward, with 48 new city employees proposed - Boulder Daily Camera

Wed, 9 Sep 2015 13:25:27 +0000

Record budget levels? Record staffing levels? No thanks. After normalizing for inflation and population growth, Boulder's 2015 budget was already almost 11 percent higher than the next highest year in the past decade. Making reasonable assumptions about inflation (1.8 percent) and population growth (0.79 percent) for 2016, this proposed budget continues that trend, increasing the per-capita inflation-adjusted budget yet further: <img src="http://i.imgur.com/lamzCgk.png"> The proposed FTE growth would also establish a new benchmark; after normalizing for population growth, staffing levels would be over three percent higher than the next highest year in the past decade: <img src="http://i.imgur.com/REy4FMD.png">

Daily Camera.com: : Steve Haymes: PUC will reject separation plan - Boulder Daily Camera

Tue, 8 Sep 2015 02:04:45 +0000

"If city council does not take the promised off-ramp, then Tim Plass, Lisa Morzel, and Suzanne Jones should not be re-elected to the city council in November." If? As far as I'm concerned, they shouldn't be re-elected either way. "A recall election should be held for the remaining council members." I'd sign that petition. "Fortunately, Macon Cowles is not running again." Amen.

Daily Camera.com: : Bike campaign boosted support for Boulder \'right-sizing\' after Folsom roll-out - Boulder Daily Cam

Sun, 6 Sep 2015 01:36:16 +0000

Sam Weaver: "From my read on it, the most negative part is the congestion between Pine and Arapahoe. That's making people angry. And people are also angry about the change to how they make right turns." While these are surely all issues, there's quite a bit more to it than that. I strongly recommend that council members read -- and direct all senior staff members to read -- this week's comments from the Editorial Advisory Board.

Daily Camera.com: : At PLAN-Boulder County forum, taxes linked to policies - Boulder Daily Camera

Sat, 5 Sep 2015 03:51:20 +0000

"Burchell said the main reason the city hasn't made more progress is that so much of its energy comes from burning coal, which is the main reason Boulder wants to form its own energy utility." It's a shame that Our Fine City Leaders lacked the vision and courage to accept the wind farm deal that was offered by Xcel. The public was entirely on-board; the city's own polling demonstrated higher support for renewal of the Xcel franchise if it included a wind farm (75 percent) than for municipalization (71 percent). It's a shame that Our Fine City Leaders refuse to pursue common-sense solutions to addressing greenhouse gas emissions. One obvious option would be to purchase renewable energy certificates (RECs); at current pricing, it would cost $740k/year to purchase enough RECs for Boulder to meet its emissions targets. Note that the city already collects $5.9M/year in energy- and emissions-related taxes. It's a shame that Our Fine City Leaders -- and various pro-municipalization activist groups ("empower our future", "renewables yes", "clean energy action") -- aren't shouting from the rooftops about Xcel's long-standing Windsource program, which offers participants the ability to go 100 percent renewable for a modest premium (for Boulder residents, 1.67 cents/kWh -- about $3/week for a typical household). Note that this premium is significantly less than the initial rate increases suggested by the city's LOW COST model for municipalization (2.91 cents/kWh), which wouldn't even offer 100 percent renewable electricity. No, the real problem is not that most of Boulder's energy comes from coal. The real problem that Our Fine City Leaders are fixated on municipalization as the only path forward -- to an extent that it has become an end unto itself instead of a means to achieving other ends.

Daily Camera.com: : At PLAN-Boulder County forum, taxes linked to policies - Boulder Daily Camera

Sat, 5 Sep 2015 03:36:35 +0000

No thanks to any new or extended taxes. Here's why: Even after normalizing for inflation and population growth, Boulder's 2015 budget was already almost 11 percent higher than the next highest year in the past decade. Making reasonable assumptions about inflation (1.8 percent) and population growth (0.79 percent) for 2016, the city's proposed 2016 budget continues that trend, increasing the per-capita inflation-adjusted budget yet further. <img src="http://i.imgur.com/lamzCgk.png"> More taxes? Pretty much the last thing that we need.

Daily Camera.com: : Rick Accomazzo: City euphemism emulates corporate world - Boulder Daily Camera

Fri, 4 Sep 2015 17:22:51 +0000

When it involves this kind of doublespeak? Yes. (Which is not to say that all corporate-world language or corporate structure is such; attempting to fit the full variety of such language and structure into a small number of simple buckets is not sensible.)

Daily Camera.com: : Rick Accomazzo: City euphemism emulates corporate world - Boulder Daily Camera

Fri, 4 Sep 2015 02:56:39 +0000

Right-sizing? Nineteen Eight-Four come to fruition. According to Orwell, "the purpose of Newspeak was not only to provide a medium of expression for the world-view and mental habits proper to the devotees of IngSoc, but to make all other modes of thought impossible." Doubleplusgood, that.

Daily Camera.com: : Elizabeth Black: Little time left on climate - Boulder Daily Camera

Tue, 1 Sep 2015 02:46:20 +0000

As I pointed out in a previous comment, Boulder residents can get 100 percent renewable electricity at a cost of about $3/week by participating in Xcel's long-standing Windsource program. At that price, surely this is something most Boulder customers could afford and are already on board with, right? Alas, no -- best estimates based on city data indicate that Windsource purchases only account for about 2.5 percent of Boulder's total electricity usage. How could this be? Why haven't the city and various activist groups ("empower our future", "renewables yes", "clean energy action") been shouting about this program from the rooftops? After all, the number one goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, right? Alas, such "shouting from the rooftops" hasn't been happening -- far from it. What should we conclude from this? Easy answer (unfortunately): that "winning" the fight against an "evil corporation" is more important to such pro-municipalization folks than reducing greenhouse gas emissions is. Which in turn suggests that we should look very carefully at everything they say and do with respect to clean energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Daily Camera.com: : Elizabeth Black: Little time left on climate - Boulder Daily Camera

Tue, 1 Sep 2015 02:32:47 +0000

"... or complaining that your utility bill might go up a couple of dollars a month ..." I've got no problem paying a few extra dollars -- my household has been 100 percent Windsource for years. But municipalization is not a cost-effective path. How much does Windsource cost? Xcel charges a premium of 2.16 cents/kWh for Windsource purchases. But Windsource purchase are exempt from Boulder's Climate Action Plan Tax (0.49 cents/kWh for residential), so for Boulder residents the net additional cost to participate in Windsource is 1.67 cents/kWh. So for a Boulder residence that uses the statewide average of 9,369 kWh/year, that works out to around $13.04/month to go 100 percent renewable. How does that compare to municipalization? For comparison, recall that the financials for the city's LOW COST model -- the only figures that the city has released, and likely those most favorable to municipalization -- indicate a rate increase of 2.91 cents/kWh in the first two years of operation without delivering 100 percent renewable electricity. So, best case: roughly 75 percent more expensive to municipalize (without going 100 percent renewable!) than simply using Xcel's existing Windsource program. But wait, there's more! And that's not even considering the alternative of simply purchasing RECs on the open market, which would be over 15 times more cost-effective than purchasing renewable energy through Windsource.

Daily Camera.com: : Elizabeth Black: Little time left on climate - Boulder Daily Camera

Tue, 1 Sep 2015 02:26:00 +0000

"Here in Boulder, we must decarbonize our power grid and transportation systems as soon as possible." Indeed. Boulder should be leading the way, demonstrating practical and cost-effective solutions that could be deployed quickly and easily replicated by other communities. Unfortunately, our city leaders have chosen to pursue municipalization instead -- expensive, complex, high-risk, very slow to deploy (if at all), and very unlikely to be something that could easily be replicated by other communities. Municipalization is not the answer; there are better solutions to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. If only we had city leaders that were brave enough to pursue them.