Fire district, school measures go down
Local voters said no to schools and firefighters and yes to water in last Tuesday’s election.

Perhaps the most contentious issue on the local ballot was 4A, which proposed setting a districtwide 6.6 mill levy for the Durango Fire and Rescue Authority. The measure also would have consolidated several separate boards and eliminated administration redundancies. For city property owners, that would have meant a tax increase of $131 per year based on a $400,000 home. The increase would have raised about $7.7 million annually.
The measure was defeated 57 to 43 percent, with 4,628 votes cast. A similar measure in 2006 was defeated 65 to 35 percent.

Durango Fire and Rescue Chief Dan Noonan blamed the defeat on misinformation and personal agendas. “The best interest of those we serve and those firefighters and medics who serve them clearly was not taken into account,” he said in a written statement.

Opponents of 4A, who started Taxpayers for Fiscal Responsibility, ran a campaign arguing now is not the time to raise taxes and that the consolidation was not a sound idea.

However, proponents said the new tax would help restore funding, which has dropped off in recent years due to a decline in property taxes. Consolidation also would have simplified the governing structure, which includes four boards, one council and 22 members, and would have resulted in a savings of about $800,000.

La Plata County voters also said no to another tax increase, statewide Proposition 103. The “de-Brucing” measure  would have raised state income and sales taxes over a five-year period to 5 percent and 3 percent, respectively, up from the current rates of 4.63 percent and 2.9 percent. It would have raised an estimated $2.9 billion to be used for public schools and colleges.

Forwarded by State Sen. Rollie Heath, D-Boulder, the measure lost by a resounding margin of 64 percent to 36 percent, with La Plata County voters rejecting it 60 percent to 40 percent.

“The results were certainly not what we had hoped to see. But disappointment will not stand in our way,” said Carol Hedges, director of the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, which supported the measure. Gov. John Hickenlooper’s 2012-13 budget cuts kindergarten through 12th-grade education by $160 per student and slashes nearly $30 million from college financial aid programs.

“One lesson reinforced by Proposition 103 is that it is much easier to get people to vote ‘no’ than to vote ‘yes,’” said Hedges. “We must work to make sure the foundation laid during the 2011 discussion is built upon in future efforts.”

In the “yes” column, local voters approved measure 2A, a $4 million bond allowing the City of Durango to buy water from the Animas La Plata Project. The measure passed by a 61 percent margin.

The low-interest bond will most likely come from the Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority. Including interest, the 20-year payoff will be close to $5 million.

City officials say additional water is needed to meet future population growth and provide a safety net during times of extreme drought. The measure equates to 3,800 acre-feet of water, or about 680 million gallons. The total cost of the water is about $6.2 million but the city paid a $1 million down payment in 2005.

In other election news, local voters elected two new members and re-elected two existing members to the Durango School District 9-R Board of Education.
Kristy Rodri won by a margin of 75 percent against Greg Spradling to win her seat in District A, while Carla Mulkey beat out Stephanie Moran with 52 percent of the vote in District B. Existing board member Julie Levy ran uncontested to retain her seat in District D while Wendy Rice also kept her seat in District G with a 55 percent win over Suzanne Carlson.   

Police rain on zombie parade
Durango’s zombie marchers received a wake-up call early Tuesday morning. Twenty-two people were arrested during the costumed midnight promenade down Main Avenue, with Durango Police using swat gear, pepper spray and bean bag guns to disperse the crowd.

Now in its fourth “unofficial” year, the march drew an estimated 1,500 participants. By 12:20 a.m. Tuesday, the march bogged down at the intersection of College Drive and Main Avenue, where people clogged the streets and halted car traffic.

Durango Police, who had been on the scene, attempted to disperse the crowd and move people back onto the sidewalks. However, according to a police press release, some members of the crowd became agitated at the sugggestion, pelting police with rocks, sticks, trash cans and other items. Some zombies also damaged vehicles, parking meters and flower planters. As a result, police resorted to “nonlethal methods” of crowd disbursement, inlcuding bean bag launchers and pepper spray.

“It was terrifying,” said one 22-year-old Fort Lewis College student who was sitting on a curb at College and Main when the police took action. She said she was ordered to “hit the ground” by police because a man behind her had a weapon. “It was a wooden mallet, part of his costume,” she said.
Another bystander, also a Fort Lewis student, said the police reaction was probably not completely unwarranted. “About half of the people were being good, but the other half were being bad, and they probably got what they deserved,” she said.

When the spray had cleared and the buzz worn off around 3 a.m., 22 arrests had been made, including six females and 16 males ranging in age from 17-50.  Cited offenses included failure to disperse, obstructing a roadway, disorderly conduct and obstructing an officer, all misdemeanors. One person, Brandon Friend, 20, of Durango, was arrested for felony assault on a police officer.

City crews were called in at 4 a.m. to clean up the broken glass, planters and trash that had been strewn in the street and sidewalk.

Last year’s march drew an estimated 700 - 1,000 people and went off mostly without incident before being broken up around 1 a.m. Two people were arrested in 2010, one for damaging a parked car and one for obscene conduct.

Fort Lewis Cycling claims national title
Once again, Fort Lewis College mountain bikers are kings and queens of the hill. Last weekend, the Skyhawks took home the Team Omnium Title at the Collegiate Mountain Bike Nationals in Angel Fire, N.M. The team also took home four individual national championships and graced the podium six times.

The Omnium is based on overall points, which the Skyhawks managed to clinch in Sunday’s final events. Putting FLC over the top were Brittany Clawson finishing third in the women’s dual slalom; and Lucas LeMaire, Phil Cowan and Dylan Stucki, finishing eighth, ninth and 15th, respectively, in the men’s race.

The ensuing points were just enough for FLC to nudge CU in the complex scoring system. Fort Lewis accumulated 644 points to CU’s 636.

Kentucky’s Lindsey Wilson College finshed third (449) with longtime FLC rival Lees-McRae College of Banner Elk, N.C., coming in at fourth (422.)

Fort Lewis raced into the lead early on, with Lauren Catlin and Howard Grotts both winning their opening cross country races. FLC continued to dominate during Day 2, with wins in the short track from Sarah Sturm and Rotem Ishay. This was the second short track title for Israel’s reigning national champ, Ishay. He and Sturm were followed in the short track by teammates Grotts, a Durango DEVO graduate, and Sturm, who both took second.
In the individual omnium, Stucki finshed third. Kerry Werner, of Lees-McRae, took first with teammate Bradford Perley in second.
For women, Clawson was fourth overall, superceded by Jill Behlen (1), of the University of Wyoming; and CU teammates, Diedre York (2) and Claire Bensard (3).

Next year’s National Championships will be Oct. 19-21 in Angel Fire. In the meantime, Skyhawks cycling is moving onto cyclocross season, with the Stans No Tubes Fort Lewis College Cyclocross Series already under way. The series comes to the La Plata County Fairgrounds on Nov. 13 for a first-ever nighttime race. The Skyhawks wrap up cyclocross season in January with a trip to Nationals in Wisconsin.
 

– Missy Votel