Referendums C and D in November election
I keep reading how the passage of Referendums C & D is bad for business and will cost jobs. The exact opposite is true. Poor infrastructure, poor colleges and poor schools cost jobs. Quality roads, highways, schools and colleges are the bedrock of business, and we must invest in them now in order to stay competitive, or fall further behind.
Lisa Cochrun, City of Fountain
The writer is economic development director for the city of Fountain.
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While the debate continues over Referendums C and D, the fact remains that the youths of our state are losing out. According to the Colorado Children’s Campaign, Colorado ranks 48th in the percentage of low-income uninsured children. We rank 44th in childhood immunization rates and 28th in overall child well-being. This, despite the fact that in overall wealth per capita, we are among the wealthiest states!
Colorado ranks among the highest in the nation for teen suicides, yet mental health services have been cut. It is 48th for high school graduation rates and 50th for the percentage of low-income high school students who go on to higher education.
Many of the schools in the state, especially in rural areas, are in terrible condition. The state’s public colleges and universities are being seriously threatened with the lack of general funding, already near the lowest in the nation.
We urge you to vote “yes” on Referendums C and D. The amount of income tax and sales tax you pay will not increase; taxes can only be raised with approval of voters. This does not affect any income tax refund due.
The small amount that might be rebated is not worth threatening the future of our children.
Stephanie Greenberg and Barbara Gigone, Boulder
The writers are members of the Boulder County Movement for Children.
writer Jon Reynolds, I would ask letter-writer Jon Reynolds how he arrived at his conclusion that the individuals with disabilities at the Sept. 15 rally over Referendums C and D were being “exploited.” He seems not even to consider the possibility that these people were there because they have an interest in the politics of their state.
Disabled people – those in wheelchairs, those whose speech comes slowly, those whose features don’t form themselves in the way most consider normal – are tragically misrepresented in our government and in our society. People with disabilities vote, they hold jobs, they go to college and they have opinions about the laws that govern them.
If Referendums C and D do not pass, people with disabilities in Colorado will face further cuts in the programs that provide them access to employment, housing, education and physical and behavioral therapies.
To assume that people with disabilities would not have an interest in the outcome of this election is dismissive and cruel.
Gwen Bonilla, Centennial
