DougCo lowers property taxes. You should ask your local gov't. for same. An email to the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Board re. proposed training materials and AG Weiser's influence.
DougCo did what I hope a goodly number of counties do this year: they reduced their assessments to provide property tax relief. See their press release below.
I've posted in the past about speaking to your local property taxing authorities and this is a prime example of why you should take the time: local authority's hands are NOT tied with regard to property taxes and you should make them reckon with the idea that they're about to have a tax windfall at your expense.
You now have one additional advantage. You have the power of an example to share. If you hit resistance, point to what DougCo did and simply ask "why not here?"
If you want some tips, I put a link to my earlier posts on how to find who is taxing you and what to say below the press release.
https://www.douglas.co.us/homeowners-property-tax-relief-is-coming/
https://open.substack.com/pub/coloradoaccountabilityproject/p/what-you-can-do-today-to-try-and?r=15ij6n&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
An email to the Colorado Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Board re. proposed training materials for officers about red flag petitions.
I am signed up for the Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative (out of the CU School of Medicine--I told you I am deeply interested/concerned about the intersection of public health), and I saw something near the end of the Sept edition that caught my eye.
The Initiative, along with Colorado's AG are going to be working on training materials for police officers on filing ERPO's and etc.
This concerns me. I was hoping to attend a POST Board meeting virtually, but the only way people can offer comment is either in person at a meeting or through writing. I chose to send in written comment.
The email I wrote is below. If you are also concerned about this, I urge you to share your concerns with your local sheriff (an elected official) and/or to follow suit and send a note to the POST Board.
Email follows.
An open email to the Colorado Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Board and Dr. Knoepke PhD, CU School of Medicine
Hello to all,
My name is Cory Gaines,
I am currently a resident of Sterling, CO and a lifelong resident of the state. I had hoped to attend a board meeting virtually, but it's my understanding that this is not an option. I have a full time job as an educator and thus getting to the Front Range for an in person meeting would be troublesome. I am sending in written comment instead.
I am writing this open letter to you regarding something I saw in my email inbox recently, and I include Dr. Knoepke here because he is mentioned in the email.
I am on the email list for the Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative newsletter and I am both interested and concerned over, especially post-COVID, the intersection between public health and gun control. I write to you today to share some of those concerns and to ask you to be aware of them as you set the training standards in this state.
The screengrabs attached to this email are from the September 2023 issue of the newsletter and I put them here for your reference. They are labeled 1 and 2 and that labeling reflects the order in which they should be read.
The thrust of the item from the newsletter is that your board will soon be working with both Dr. Knoepke and the Attorney General's office on training materials for police officers in Colorado regarding ERPO's (alternatively called "red flag") orders. I am not sure where you are in the process of designing and/or implementing such trainings, but I hope to catch you near the beginning.
I say I am concerned because, upon hearing that Attorney General Weiser, along with someone from the Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative, will be involved in the effort, I am afraid of how the training materials and/or standards will come out. That is, I am afraid that the effort will not be respectful of the diversity of views on guns in this state and I am afraid that the effort will not be respectful of the Second Amendment rights of the citizens of this state.
If we are to take Dr. Knoepke at his word, and I am not saying there is any reason we shouldn't, he indicates that the effort to educate police officers about ERPO's involving his office, the AG, and local law enforcement should be collaborative. I am okay with this, a common thread, however, that I see in both his writings and in statements by AG Weiser deals with what they term an uneven implementation of the ERPO law.
I ask myself, uneven in what way? I ask myself whether or not "even" implementation is needed or wise? And I ask myself what someone like AG Weiser (a known and vocal gun control proponent) would be pushing for.
I think these questions give you a sense of my concerns: that we would have training set for the whole state that reflects solely the values and needs of the Front Range, and that we would have a standard set that reflects the desires of someone with whom I disagree strongly on gun rights.
Board members, you are the ones (along with local sheriffs--please feel free to share my concerns with same) who can ensure that views contradictory to those of Progressive, gun control advocates are heard and included. You are the ones who can ensure that trainings reflect the diversity of thought and experience for this state.
I ask you to please bear this in mind as you begin or continue this work.
Please feel free to email me back at this address if you have questions or would like to further this discussion.
Cory