A look at proposed initiatives for 23-24, conservative-leaning Common Sense Institute report on Denver homeless, and, because it's the last post for a couple days, DIY ollas.
Some proposed initiatives for 2023-24.
I posted earlier about Caldara's initiatives to lower the tax rate (see the Secretary of State's Initiative Tracker page linked first below). At that point I said I'd revisit the other three initiatives on that page. That time is now.
It's still awfully early in the process, but I put links for all the "Final Text" versions of them in links below. The links run in the same order (vertically) that they appear on the Initiative Tracker page.
I'll leave it up to you to read up on them, but I can give you a short version of each in the same order as the links.
1. This would make school choice a right as opposed to law (and common policy) as it is now.
2. This would require that educational funding follow the child.
3. This would put limits on parole and early release for a list of offenses (e.g. 2nd degree murder, etc.).
I liked what I read and hope they make it to the ballot. The ability to choose where and how your child is educated (and enshrining it as a right so it has special status and isn't subject to the whims of lawmakers), having money follow the child are both good ideas in my view. I also like putting some guardrails on parole. I'm all for second chances but I also don't like violent offenders getting out as quickly as we've seen happen lately.
I will keep my eyes on these and report as I hear. If you hear something and don't see a post from me shoot me a message to let me know.
Lastly, if you want, you can sign up for updates on initiatives at the last link below.
https://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/Initiatives/titleBoard/
https://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/Initiatives/titleBoard/filings/2023-2024/18Final.pdf
https://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/Initiatives/titleBoard/filings/2023-2024/19Final.pdf
https://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/Initiatives/titleBoard/filings/2023-2024/20Final.pdf
https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/COSOS/subscriber/new?topic_id=COSOS_13
Homelessness in Denver.
I mentioned in an earlier post that the conservative-leaning Common Sense Institute was going to do a series of reports on cities (focusing on things like crime and homelessness) ahead of the upcoming municipal elections.
The report on Denver and homelessness is out now. It's linked below.
The problem of homelessness is complicated. The solution is likely, therefore, to be just as complicated and will require multiple approaches. Keep that in mind (along with the lean of the organization of the group that produced the report) as you read the link below.
I would, however, like to point out a couple things from the report that are pretty simple.
Look at the attached screenshots. We are spending and more and the population of homeless in Denver is rising. The solutions are complex, but I think it'd be really hard to argue that what we're doing now is working.
Further the flow of money is not sustainable. Much of the funding is one-time dollars that won't be replaced (unless they take more of your money).
If you live in Denver the upcoming election is an important one. Choose carefully.
https://commonsenseinstituteco.org/homelessness-in-denver/
Making my own ollas for the garden.
It's not Friday, but I will be away from my computer for a little bit, so this one will be the last one for today and for a couple days.
So I've got something for fun and not related to politics.
I took some more land away from grass last fall and made a spot to put vining crops. Not a huge loss: this was a weird little nibble of lawn that didn't really get much from the sprinklers and so after Spring it was always brown (or a hassle to keep green).
Unlike my raised beds, however, I didn't run a drip line over. I saw something on the internet I thought would try first--an olla.
Olla is Spanish for pot. In the context of a garden ollas aren't used for cooking though. At some point people figured out that if you bury an unglazed pottery jug in the ground, water will leak out through the pottery and give your plants a ready supply of water.
This is especially handy in dry, hot climates like out here on the Plains where the sun and wind conspire to take away water seemingly as fast as you can pour it in; ollas allow you to put water in, and not on, the ground so what you put in stays in and has a better chance of going to thirsty plants--slowly seeping in over days.
**Quick note: I'd still recommend, no matter where you garden, that you mulch well. I'd recommend buying bale(s) of straw and putting down it down in a thick layer around your plants. Mulch is another strategy to help the soil stay moist and reduce water, but it has the added benefit of keeping soil temperatures down. Best part of this is the flexibility: with straw, you can collect it to reuse it, compost it, or till it in at the end of the season.
I looked online and the prices for ollas were way high. I next tried calling local pottery artists to see if I could get them cheaper by commissioning some. The prices weren't that much lower--even if I skipped some of the decorative touches on the more expensive online ones. Hell, the terra cotta clay itself was the bulk of the cost.
So I next looked at making my own. Sure enough, there's a video (or 20) out there on that. I linked a couple below in case you were curious.
I bought 6 cheap little unglazed terra cotta pots at the local hardware store (see the picture), some gorilla glue, and a tube of silicone at the hardware store and set to work.
I'll leave it to you to watch the videos or go to Google to get more info and/or plan on how to do yours. I do have some notes on mine if it would help:
--Before gluing the two pots together (however you do it), take either some sandpaper and a sanding block--or better yet a rock from your garden with a smooth flat face--and run around the rims of the pots. Cheap pots don't have clean edges and this cleans them up and flattens them to get a tighter fit. Tighter fits mean stronger bonds and less chance of leaks.
--I went with a two-step method to plug the lower hole. First I put masking tape on the outside bottom of the lower pot. I then put silicone in the hole from inside the pot (see the picture). When that plug has cured, remove the tape and put some silicone on the outside bottom of that pot.
--I don't trust silicone to mechanically bond the joint between pots. I trust it to stop leaks. So, again, a two step method here. I used gorilla glue (see the pictures attached of the glue joints) to fix the two pots together. I then covered over the glue joints with silicone. Gorilla glue worked well here because it expanded to fill some of the uneven spots that my grinding down missed. It also securely bonded the pots together. There were still some voids (visible and not) so the silicone will back me up.
--Now a test. I filled the ollas and put them in a containment vessel in case of a leak. The proof of the pudding is in the eating and if you look at the picture, you'll see no frank leaks and an even dampness (not wetness though) around the edges.
--Lastly, a recommendation. One thing I wish I'd done on these before gluing was enlarging the top hole with a file or a masonry bit. There's nothing that says you can't AFTER they're built, but it's riskier. If I crack the pot, I'll lose the whole olla. I think it would be better to (if you have to) enlarge the upper pot's hole before making the olla. If it breaks then, you're only out one pot. Something for me to rememeber next time!
**Another quick side note: depending on your tastes, you may like the damp earth smell that the pots have. I sure did.
I'm eager to try these this summer. When things warm up a bit, I will bury them at the recommended spacing and fill on a set schedule as the heat of summer comes on. The plants' roots will find them soon enough.
If they work well, I may make others for other things around the house. The price for the DIY versions is not bad (although they do cost in terms of time) so I think this is doable.
One last thing: you can't leave these out in our climate over winter. The freezing ground will crack them. I'm going to have to set a reminder to pull them out of the ground before it freezes. I will likely try to tag that in my mind to the final bed cleanup.
Have a good Thursday and see you in a couple days!