"You posted a lot of innuendo about Bill Owens. Posting rumors seems to be the trend in this thread.
How about backing it up with some links."
I didn't think I posted a lot of innuendo, but my observations and assessment of the man. As far as Owens appointing incompetents, here’s a link:
http://www.csindy.com/csindy/2003-10-16/news.html Sorry the link is to the El Paso County "progressive" rag, but the real newspaper in the county (Gazette) doesn't keep links to stories. A similar story ran in the Gazette (if you want to find it and pay for it). As a former state worker who still has "contacts", I can assure you this is not the only unqualified and/or incompetent person Bill Owens has appointed as a political reward.
As far as the TABOR/Amendment 23 budget mess, I've seen no leadership whatsoever from Owens on resolving this. If this isn't fixed, the Colorado State budget will gradually be given to over to Colorado school districts, which need more money like Bill Gates does. Maybe you see Owens taking a leading role in resolving this, but I sure don’t.
Here’s a story on the building budget mess from today:
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/legislature/article/0,1299,DRMN_37_2717699,00.html As far as Owens being stubborn and having a mean streak, I guess you’ll have to assess my statements in a void. They don’t put those things in the newspaper, but people who work in the system see a lot the public doesn’t.
Along those lines, did you know Roy Romer once got in a fist fight after a parade? That’s my favorite unreported Roy Romer story.
All I was saying is that people need to look very closely before jumping on the Owens band wagon.
First of all, I think laying Cindy's problems at the governor's feet is a bit of reach. All executives rely on recommendations from local/inside people when they make this kind of appointment. It is impossible for the governor to know the performance of each one of these people personally.
In addition to that, El Paso County is in a bit of a mess itself and anyone who has to work with our present county commissioners definitely knows that.
Yes, I know what the newspaper situation is here and the gap between the liberal rag and the Gazette isn't that big anymore.
As far as the TABOR/Amendment 23 budget mess, I've seen no leadership whatsoever from Owens on resolving this. If this isn't fixed, the Colorado State budget will gradually be given to over to Colorado school districts, which need more money like Bill Gates does. Maybe you see Owens taking a leading role in resolving this, but I sure don’t.
It's my understanding that this is still in the discussion stage and we will be seeing some policy on it before long. The best solution would be to repeal 23 but that may not be possible. I'm afraid that we will end up with a revision of Tabor instead. Either way, we will probably need an election to resolve it.
I agree that the governor needs to set the course for this and I believe he will.
Beyond that, we need to do something about the constitutional process in Colorado. Our state constitution should never be amended for things like 23.
I've seen no evidence of a mean streak in the governor but that probably depends on individual views. Stubborness is not always a bad thing. Remember how much stubborness it took to get some accountability in the Colorado school system?
Good for Romer. Did he lose?