This month some of our oldest Falcons had the opportunity to vote in their first official elections. Although only on a state and city level for officials on school boards, this election was nonetheless a very important introduction to the process and the civic responsibility of citizens to exercise their right to a voice. Moreover, this particular ballot was composed of several questions that were extremely relevant to the youth populations in school. Below is a brief overview of the measures asked to voters in Denver and the results of each:
Denver school board - at large:
Tay Anderson (50.45%)
Alexis Menocal Harrigan
Natela Alexandrovna Manuntseva
Denver school board - District 1:
Scott Balderman (48.17%)
Diana Romero Campbell
Radhika Nath
Proposition CC: whether the cap on the state’s ability to spend taxes should be revoked. According to TABOR, the taxpayer’s bill of rights in Colorado, the state only gets a certain amount of tax money each year (the amount is calculated based on the state’s population). Any money exceeding that amount is to be returned to the citizens. Proposition CC would have removed this cap; the proposition passed by a large margin in Denver alone, but ultimately failed with the rest of the state’s votes.
Proposition DD: regarding legalized sports betting in the state. Currently, sports betting is illegal in Colorado, but this proposition would revoke that with the stipulation that the betting take place with a licensed provider (for the most part, this means a casino. There are three major ones in Colorado) and that provider is taxed for revenue generated by the practice. The tax on sports betting would not only go towards oversight of the betting itself, but would also go to gambling addiction services. The majority of the taxes, however, would be allocated to water projects around the state to help preserve the natural resource as it becomes more and more scarce.
Referred Questions:
2A: on the topic of dismantling a current state department to recreate it under a new name with a greater range of responsibility and oversight powers. The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure would replace Denver Public Works. Passed with 74.68% of the vote.
2B: on whether Denver Arts and Venues should be made its own agency. It is currently a part of the Department of General Services but has been operating as a stand-alone agency for many years now. Passed with 79.98% of the vote.
2C: on whether an EMT and shift commander position should be officially added to the Denver Fire Department ranks. The positions tend to have been filled in the past by other employees taking on overtime shifts so money allocation would not be of issue. Passed with 84.59% of the vote.
2D: on whether elected officials should be required to reside in the district which they represent. This is already an expectation for officials but remained a loophole in the system. Under 2D, if an elected official moved out of the district they represented, their position would become vacant and open to being filled by someone else. Passed with 90.04% of the vote.
To be noted, all of the referred questions passed. The voter’s guide to the ballot - sent out with every ballot outlining the propositions and referred questions to be voted on - includes arguments for and against each measure. On this past ballot, no entities submitted arguments against any of the referred questions by the deadline.
Although the defeat of Proposition CC does not bode well for schools across the state - the excess funds that would be returned to the state were intended for transportation and education - far more worrisome for DSST itself is the elections of Tay Anderson and Scott Balderman. Those students who were able to attend the open forum with the candidates for the school board at large reflected on the experience later with their peers. Most said that Tay was the most articulate of the three candidates, and the one with the most defined plans. His interviews with the media highlight his passion for transgender rights and racial equality in schools, along with a depth of knowledge about the system and its problems. Tay currently works at North High School. Despite this, he has also been one of the most vocal candidates against charter schools. Early in his campaign, he called for a moratorium of charters - or an end to opening new charters, perhaps even the beginning of shutting them down. His arguments revolve around students needing strong public schools wherever they live since not all have the luxury of “winning” in the lottery system Denver currently uses. Scott Balderman has similar views on charters. Both were endorsed by the teacher’s union in Colorado, which tends to frown upon charter schools since their teachers are banned from joining (which includes not being able to strike).
Maybe this wasn’t the President election or the Midterms in which vast numbers of Senators and House members are elected. Maybe this wasn’t even the election for city mayor or state governor. Nonetheless, every election has its consequences. It’s up to the collective voter to decide what they will be.