The Home Front: How Colorado braces for the era of Trump

The Denver Post asks today in a headline: With Donald Trump in the White House, is Colorado in the doghouse? “Donald Trump ran against the political establishment en route to victory Tuesday, and that same power structure — at least in Colorado — could have trouble making inroads with the next White House,” the paper reports. “Colorado undoubtedly was positioned better to play a bigger role in a Hillary Clinton administration than a Trump one.”

After Coloradans woke up in a Donald Trump America, The Fort Collins Coloradoan, reported on what locals hope for next. “U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, who endorsed and subsequently un-endorsed Trump, said he would work with a Trump administration that governed with the same tone as his speech. “It was about big and bold ideas,” Gardner told the Coloradoan. “It was about a nation divided, unifying.” The junior senator added he was “relieved that Hillary Clinton did not win the presidency.”

At 82.6 percent, Weld County’s voter turnout was actually low, The Greeley Tribune reports today. That’s actually “the lowest Weld County voter turnout — active registered voters compared to votes cast and not including inactive voters — in a presidential election since 81.6 percent voter turnout in 2000.”Weld County Clerk and Recorder Carly Koppes told the paper, “We can be very proud of that number … When you’re talking about voter turnout, it always comes down to what is on the ballot. … I think it was an even more emotional election than we’ve seen in a very long time.”

The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reports layoffs and other moves will save Grand Junction $1.1 million. “In an effort to balance the 2017 budget, the city of Grand Junction has laid off 13 employees — reductions that, when paired with voluntary reductions in force, reclassifications of positions and leaving vacant positions unfilled, have allowed it to reach its goal of saving $1.1 million.”

“An as-yet publicly unidentified Mead town employee has accused Mayor Gary Shields of ‘hostile, abusive and demeaning behavior’ toward her over the past two and a half years,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “I am unclear how I can continue working under these conditions with Mayor Shields,” the town staff member wrote in a July 10 complaint to Interim Town Manager Mike Segrest.”

The Pueblo Chieftain is reporting Donald Trump is in the lead there. “Despite Democrats in Pueblo County casting over 12,000 more ballots than Republicans in this year’s election, Donald Trump was winning the presidential race locally by a small margin. Trump had garnered 29,745 votes to Hillary Clinton’s 29,569 votes, according to unofficial results that were updated Wednesday.” Unaffiliated voters accounted for 19,654 ballots in the area.

“Steamboat Springs — Peabody Energy officials have confirmed to the Routt County Board of Commissioners that under the terms of a previously “confidential” agreement with Routt County Treasurer Brita Horn, they have paid about $1.8 million in overdue 2015 property taxes as well as a little more than $100,000 in interest on the taxes. In addition, they have remitted $65,200 in legal fees Horn has incurred with the law firm Klenda, Gessler and Blue in pursuit of the taxes,” reports Steamboat Today.

A tax proposed tax of 25 cents on every $100 to fund a mental and behavioral health center, which had bipartisan support, backing from plenty of community groups “and predictions for a positive outcome by pollsters,” failed in Larimer County. “I think that was the most significant thing on the ballot,” Larimer County Commissioner Steve Johnson told The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “I think it would have had a significant impact on our community, had it passed.” Officials are trying to figure out what to do next.

The Boulder Daily Camera reports on grief, celebration protest in the streets yesterday. “Roughly 100 members of the Boulder High student body spent several hours through the morning waving signs at passing cars, delivering speeches and voicing dismay over what they called the divisive message that delivered Trump his longshot victory,” the paper reported. “We are not here to protest the political system, or to protest even our new president,” senior Greta Cain told The Camera. “We just want to stop the culture of hate that has been perpetuated throughout his candidacy. We are here to show that we are united as one … that we’re all connected, and that love really does trump hate.”

An airport study in La Plata County will move forward despite the defeat of a local tax proposal, reports The Durango Herald.  “The $1.1 million environmental assessment will examine three possible options for expansion. It will look at the impacts of a new terminal on the east side of the runway, a terminal next to the existing one or a remodel.”

In-person voting in Fremont County might have doubled, according to a repot today in The Cañon City Daily Record. Fremont County Clerk and Recorder Katie Barr estimated that 20,000 people returned their mail-in ballots out of a total of 26,000 ballots sent out across the county. While people could still choose to vote at one of three voting centers, she said, “our county is very partial to the mail ballot,” she told the paper.

The Colorado Springs Gazette has a look at the voter breakdown in Colorado and what some exit polling suggests. Latinos delivered for Colorado and millennial voters surged, the paper reports.

How will a Trump presidency affect energy policy in Colorado? “The short and honest answer is that we don’t know,” reports Denverite. “I asked the governor’s office if he was still planning to go ahead with a state version of the Clean Power Plan, and spokeswoman Kathy Green said she would have updates “in the coming months.”