WHAT HAPPENS AT THE STATE CAPITOL SHOULD NOT STAY AT THE STATE CAPIT0L

Editorial by Editor Kathy McIntyre

During this election year we have many politicians vying for our precious time. My question for all of them is how do you plan on keeping all of those campaign promises you are making? Too often a candidate is making promises that they would have no authority to carry out, so we vote for them and are extremely disappointed with the outcome.

So today we are attempting to give you a look at our state government here in Colorado. Those are the senators and representatives from your own neighborhood who go the capitol building in downtown Denver, the one with the big gold dome, and make decisions that change our lives and the quality of our lives. Many of them are running for office this fall and probably most of us have not even met them. The current elected officials are both good and bad.

I say this as some of them make sure that we at the Gateway News receive an email from them quite often about what they are doing and where they are holding events to meet with all of the residents to hear their concerns. Some even hold job fairs and forums. They are doing a great job. Others you never hear from, never, for years, so how do they represent us? Maybe they are just guessing what we all need and what we all want? That is not a very comforting thought.

The first step to understand all of this at the state level is to visit the Colorado General Assembly’s website. The link is here: http://www.leg.state.co.us/clics/clics2012A/cslFrontPages.nsf/HomeSplash?OpenForm This way you can become familiar with what your current representatives have done and are doing for you down at the capitol before you vote for them again. You can ask anyone who is a candidate some good questions about how they will carry a bill and what their agenda for you is going to be. Our government is supposed to be by the people, of the people and for the people.

Remember that all the people who work for and are elected or appointed to any public office in your city, your county, your state and in Washington DC are your PUBLIC SERVANTS. Way too many of them have decided on their own that they deserve a lifestyle of luxury and even refer to themselves as “executives”. They act as if they should not be held accountable in any regard and are not transparent. It is time to change all that and for all of us to become responsible citizens. So start to get involved by viewing the website and attending some meetings at a local level. There are many ways to get involved. And please register to vote and then VOTE this November as an educated, well informed voter.