A quick update on the suit against SB21-260. Certificates of Participation: how your government works around the Constitution and TABOR. Lastly, tomato raisins.
An update to the lawsuit against the "transportation" bill SB21-260.
Not long after the Democrats passed the taxes (oops, I almost forgot, checks notes ... ) rather "fees" to enact their social engineering (oops, dang, again I keep forgetting the talking points ...) "road repair" bill SB 21 - 260 a lawsuit was filed.
The lawsuit claims that the Democrats violated both the law and voter intent (specifically TABOR and the newly, at the time, minted Prop 117 about needing voter approval on large fees) with the bill.
The lawsuit continues apace after a Denver District judge put down an attempt by the state to have it dismissed.
More in the article below.
https://www.coloradopolitics.com/courts/colorado-transportation-fees-lawsuit/article_4648f058-36f2-11ee-b346-07c30a30c774.html
In case you've missed it: Certificates of Participation (COP) a way for your government to get around asking you whether or not they should take on debt.
The op ed below details how the City of Westminster is going to try using COP's to work around having to ask voters for more money to finance a courthouse.
If you live in Westminster or know someone who does, please read or share.
If you don't, the relevance for you (in case you weren't already aware) is more general: what is a COP and how do governments use them?
First a quick little bit of background. Both the Colorado Constitution and the TABOR amendment require things of the government when they want to take on debt.
The Constitution (even prior to TABOR) required that government get permission of the people prior to taking on any sort of general debt. That is before taking any debt that didn't have a special, dedicated stream of revenue which would be used to pay it off.
With the addition of TABOR, a public vote is required for any debt lasting more than one year (whether it had a dedicated revenue stream or no).
Ah, but you should know by now how clever those in government can be about getting around pesky things like Constitutions with a shell game.
They do it with Amendment 23 and education by "fully funding" schools with a yearly increase, then take the money back with a BS factor.
They do it with COPs by a similar sleight of hand. Just like with schools and Amendment 23, the details are pretty complicated, so I made a video and linked it second below.
It's okay for the government to want to do things. That's why we elect them and entrust them with both money and some level of control over our lives.
It's HOW they do them, however, that matters just as much as what they're trying to do. If they think they've got a good idea for some public good, let them ask and not play games.
In the meantime, take the time to learn the games. Then stand up for your rights, and for transparency.
https://pagetwo.completecolorado.com/2023/08/11/sharf-westminster-bypassing-voter-approval-finance-courthouse/
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mRIJ4XTU5ZlsXKLEKogvIH45DxCDtKx9/view?usp=sharing
Tomato ... raisins?
I posted before about getting some bonus seeds with my seed order. They were the little "spoon" tomatoes: tomatoes about the size of a pea.
I really like them. I'm not a huge tomato fan and these are just about the right size for me to put in salads. A little pop (but not too much like with a grape or cherry tomato) of flavor every so often.
The plants are pretty prolific too! Growing like weeds out there and, because they're indeterminate, still setting flowers and fruit.
I decided to start freezing and drying some (in addition to giving them away and eating them). Freezing's pretty straightforward, but I thought you might be interested in the dried ones.
Given their size, I'm going to call them tomato raisins.
Not too hard a thing to do. I take the tomatoes and put them on a parchment-lined sheet pan in the oven at 200 degrees. Go til they're dried.
The pictures I've attached show some finished tomatoes next to how they look prior to drying as well as some in-process.
Having tasted a few, it's nothing too revelatory. It's just like any other dried tomato (really concentrated flavor) albeit that they are smaller.