Boulder Weekly sent candidate questionnaires to all state primary candidates. These are their written responses, edited for length and clarity. Find a full list of candidates and questionnaires here
Office: Colorado House of Representatives, District 10
Campaign website: YouTube channel @Bill4HD
Relevant experience
Lived in Boulder for 48 years, raised a family, paid taxes
Operated successful consulting firm that did water resource studies for clients around the world. Served as State Department representative to India on water issues
Served on the Open Space advisory Board and Water Resources advisory board for Boulder Ran for the State House HD10 seat in 2022
Priorities
- Focusing state government on protecting the rights of its citizens against unwarranted over-reach from the Federal Government, foreign NGOs and advocacy groups
- Improve the physical security of citizens
- Improve the financial security of citizens
Lightning round
Yes/no answers only
Do you support the state’s elimination of local occupancy limits? No
Do you support ending the state’s prohibition on local rent control? No
Do you support more density in your jurisdiction as a way to address the affordable housing crisis? No
Do you support the Front Range train as the state’s highest priority for passenger rail? Yes
When was the last time you paid rent? How much was it?
The last time we paid rent was in 1976 when we lived in Carbondale. We had a one-bedroom house on Main Street and I think we paid around $250/month rent. We purchased a house in Boulder that year for around $45,000, which is now valued at over $1.5 million.
This explosion of the value of the house (and the taxes we pay on it each year) is due to the banking system and U.S. government suppressing interest rates and creating a massive bubble in housing. [Editor’s note: While fiscal policy plays a role, the documented causes of America’s housing affordability crisis are numerous and complex.] This has driven houses out of the reach for many people and caused a switch to the huge complexes of small, soulless apartment units popping all over the district. The best thing that could happen for housing is for there to be a significant deflation in housing prices.
What are the top issues facing HD10, and what are your plans to address them in a way that differs from the current approach?
- Improper overreach by state government
- Safety and crime
- Financial security
The state should be prevented from imposing state control on local matters such as zoning and land use.
The number one thing I believe the state should do to enhance physical security and safety is to uphold and enforce the rule of law. I do not support the elimination of cash bail and administration of justice based on racial or ethnic factors.
I support the right to self-defense with firearms and would support laws that make it more difficult for juveniles, felons, people with assault convictions, illegal aliens and non-citizens to obtain firearms.
Physical security also includes good infrastructure and a sound energy system. I would support improved state highways, adding another tunnel for I-70 under Loveland pass, establishing rail transit in high-density corridors such as the I-25 between Fort Collins and Pueblo. I would also support basing our energy system on a combination of existing coal and gas plants, the existing wind and solar systems, but adding new generation capacity from advanced nuclear power stations.
The state should improve food security by passing legislation that makes it easier for small ranchers and farmers to sell produce, meat and dairy directly to the public. The state should promote local food producers and oppose regulations being promoted by big agriculture to put local producers out of business.
The best thing that Colorado can do to improve the financial security of the citizens is to manage its budget and eliminate all unnecessary spending. This would allow taxes to be reduced.
I propose that Colorado legalize precious metals as tender and eliminate all sales and capital gains taxes on coinage held and used by the citizens. Another good step would be for Colorado to follow the lead of several other states by creating a state-sponsored bullion depository bank.
How do you plan to balance the necessary evolution of our transportation system with current realities of car-dependency such that people who have to drive aren’t too negatively impacted, but people who don’t have to are encouraged to make other choices?
The state’s role in transportation is through the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), which focuses primarily on large scale interstate, U.S. and state highways. This includes all of the associated bridges and tunnels, and mountain passes on the system. This is a vital role which needs to be maintained and enhanced.
Public rail projects are sponsored by the Front Range Passenger Rail District. This district has a special interest in maintaining and enhancing passenger rail service to Colorado including both the California Zephyr and the Southwest Chief. I would support this effort and would be happy to invest more state funds in ensuring we have a good public rail system that is growing to meet the needs of the state. The role of the state in local public transportation projects is limited, but if there are things that could be done on this within the budget I would support them.
Given the realities of a changing climate and limited government resources, how do you plan on balancing mitigation and adaptation for already-impacted populations in D10?
My number one priority when it comes to dealing the constantly changing climate and unpredictable weather patterns is to maintain a strong, reliable and economic energy system. We cannot shut down our energy system in hopes of having an impact on global climate. Even if Colorado stopped all CO2 emissions, this would have zero impact on global CO2 concentrations and even less on global temperatures.
It will be easier to deal with severe weather events with inexpensive energy from both electricity and natural gas. I don’t support moves to ban natural gas in houses and would prefer that there be less natural gas used for electricity generation. Using natural gas to generate electricity is a waste of a valuable resource.
Our current energy plan, however, is to increase the amount of gas generation capacity, while simultaneously building massive new intermittent wind and solar projects. This is bound to be expensive since it involves having two separate energy systems to back each other up.
I will be a strong supporter of adding a fleet of advanced nuclear reactors to the system as these come to market. I am especially interested in new reactors that use the thorium fuel cycle and breed new fuel as part of their operation. This eliminates the need for expensive and weapons implicated fuel enrichment. Commercialization of the molten salt thorium reactor pioneered at Oak Ridge national labs could be the key to a modern and economically viable energy system. I want Colorado to be a leader in this and to work with other states in the region to make it happen.
How does JEDI factor into your policy making?
This sounds like justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion mandates.
I support true justice for all, irrespective of race, gender, sexual orientation or national origin. I don’t support special justice based on any of these factors. That is, I don’t support having a separate system of justice for minorities or other people based on how many points they score on the Marxist intersectional system of oppression.
I support diversity and inclusion, but not as ends in themselves, and not in a way that gives unfair advantage to certain people based on the degree to which they are deemed to be oppressed.
What efforts do you make in your daily life to consider and understand people with different lived experiences from your own?
One thing I always try to do is stop and talk to homeless people I come across on the street. I ask them their names, where they were born and how they managed to end up on the streets in Boulder. Most of them are very friendly and they tell me their major problem started when they lost jobs or had their families break up. I am hearing that the best thing Boulder can do to help is to provide low-cost hostels for temporary safe shelter, and help getting low-paying jobs.
I would favor setting up dormitory-style hostels for homeless and exempting jobs for homeless folks from minimum wage laws. Minimum wage laws are major obstacles to employment for homeless persons. I would also enforce camping bans.
When’s the last time you changed your mind about something, and what was it?
I used to believe that increasing carbon dioxide was a major threat to the world ecology, but after listening to several climate and atmospheric scientists such as Freeman Dyson, Bjorn Lomborg, Myron Ebell, Kiminori Itoh, Ivan Giaver, William Happer, Ian Plimer, Michael Crichton, Alan Carlin and Patrick Michaels, I have become a carbon skeptic. [Editor’s note: None of the individuals listed above are climate or atmospheric scientists. The late Michaels, a climate fellow for libertarian think tank Cato Institute, comes closest. All are prominent climate change deniers or skeptics.]
I am especially concerned when I hear legislators uncritically accepting the hypothesis that CO2 represents such a deathly peril that any expense is justified if it will reduce CO2 emissions at all. This is a huge mistake, especially given the fact that the impact of CO2 on global temperature is so small compared to the measurement errors that it makes testing theories virtually impossible.
On the other hand, crippling the energy system to the degree that electricity becomes unaffordable represents a much greater threat to our society and economy. Ironically, this will hurt the lowest tiers of the economy the most.
[Editor’s note: Accurate information about CO2, its harmful effects and its contributions to climate change can be found here: news.climate.columbia.edu/2021/02/25/carbon-dioxide-cause-global-warming]
What question would you ask a fellow candidate on the ballot?
If I could only ask one question it would probably be this: “Do you think the State Legislature should have done more to push back against health mandates, business and church closures, forced vaccinations and masking edicts during the COVID outbreak?”
How and why do you think the modern Republican party has fallen so out of favor in Boulder County and, to a lesser extent, Colorado? What do you think they could do to start winning elections again? And, if elected, how would you ensure representation for the Democrats in your district?
Good question. I used to be a Democrat, but I left the party during the Clinton [and] Obama era when I noticed the increased sense of anti-popular sentiment coming out of the elected officials and their seeming disdain for the rule of law. For example, during the Clinton era (1993-2001) the party seemed to join hands with the many corporate raiders that were buying companies and shipping all of the equipment and jobs overseas in the interest of “shareholder value.”
I think that many people in Boulder County still see themselves as progressives and want to prove that they are virtuous by supporting policies that appear humane but are actually detrimental. As more people realize the predatory nature of big government, I think they will start looking for alternatives like the Republican Party, but only if the Republicans offer a real alternative.
As more people realize that their financial security is being threatened by run-away spending, inflation, and taxes at all levels of government, I believe there will be disillusionment with the liberal agenda. People paying $10,000 per year in property taxes are going to start asking questions and will not make good progressives.
I believe that if the Republican party can shed its image as the party of big business and come to be seen as the actual protector of the border, rights of citizens, small businesses, families, churches and jobs in America it can and will compete as a major party, rather than the small and insignificant party it is right now.