Floor Video on Politics: What Constitutes a Good County Commissioner

Read along using the script below.

Maria:

Floor video on politics: ‘WHAT CONSTITUTES A GOOD COUNTY COMMISSIONER’

To get my answer, I am interviewing Smith Young, a retired IBM architect. He became an activist, opposing government corruption, after learning Justice Scalia’s views on the 2015 ruling on ‘disparate impact’, which basically turns a HUD grant into a bribe.

Smith approached Douglas County Commissioners with his findings, and successfully argued to oppose accepting HUD grants, on the basis of federal overreach into local governments.

I admire Smith because of this + his establishing the website AFFH.net. AFFH stands for AFFIRMATIVELY FURTHERING FAIR HOUSING. His website is a resource library for anyone who wants to learn about this subject.

Maria question:

Smith: tell me about your county commissioners that joined you in the fight against government corruption.

Smith answer:

Maria, all of my Douglas County commissioners are outstanding, but I can point to a former Douglas County Commissioner David Weaver who became an advocate for opposing AFFH, in order to insulate our county from federal mandates. Because he earned the public trust, he was appointed by President Trump, confirmed by the US Senate, and is now our US Marshal for Colorado.  In contrast to Jefferson County Commissioners, my commissioners stand united in opposing AFFH. I can specifically point out former Jefferson County commissioner Don Rosier who voted to accept HUD’s government grants last year after presiding over a 6 hour public hearing that included developers who encouraged him to vote for grants. Rosier then retired in January to take over as general manager of the Sterling Ranch Community Authority Board, where he is overseeing operations at the 12,000-home master-planned community in Douglas County.  A position he likely would not have received had he voted against the grants for developers.

I feel it’s my duty to continue to advocate and support local government officials, which is why I am endorsing Tina Francone for Jefferson County Commissioner. She is nothing like a Rosier and in fact would be a fine candidate for Douglas County. I know her.  When she served on the RTD board and rejected the Mobility Choice Initiative, her vote showed she listened to others giving credence to the community County Master Plan.  Because of this, Tina has proven she is a responsible guardian of tax dollars.  This last Monday, for example, she opposed re-zoning a parcel of land that rewards developers and banks at the expense of the local citizens.

This concludes today’s floor video on politics. Join me next week for another video.