Gentrification on the march! How to raise money ... with ActBlue's help. An update to Aurora's plan to buy water from the Arkansas Valley watershed.
Gentrification on the march!
I've written in the past about how I sympathize with places like Alamosa, CO and the tension between welcoming economic activity and yet not wanting the change/challenges it brings.
I won't repeat it here, but understand that I am not judging.
The article below details how Alamosa is getting an award for being a small town with a vibrant cultural scene. Good on them.
Still, I can't help but think that this is what the early stages of gentrification looks like. Fast forward 20 years, how many locals will still be there? How many could AFFORD to live there? How much will Alamosa look like every other small town that gentrified?
I know the need for the economic activity. I don't judge taking it.
I just wish it didn't come at the cost of the character of the community. That it didn't come at the cost of overwhelming those who lived there before and what they would want for their community.
It doesn't have to, of course, but it's a rarity to have lots of outsiders and/or tourist traffic not do that.
https://alamosanews.com/article/alamosa-named-nations-no-1-best-small-town-cultural-scene-by-usa-today
One way to help finance a candidacy ...
Trisha Calvarese is the Democrat who will lose the CD4 congressional race. CD4 is my district and it's solidly Republican/Conservative.**
Since I live where Ms. Calvarese will be competing, I see things by her with some regularity on social media and the attached screenshot was one I recently saw. What makes it noteworthy, besides the mild weirdness of the location being released only to those who RSVP and only a few days before the event along with the mention of security being at the meeting the whole time, is what happens if you go to the indicated page to RSVP.
I put a link to that page first below. On it, you'll notice a sliding (upwards) scale of things you can get listed out by donation amount. Not too noteworthy there. All candidates do it.
I refer you to the language all the way at the bottom of the page. This was interesting to me. I have heard of ActBlue before in the context of helping Black Lives Matter fundraise. Apparently Ms. Calvarese is having them fundraise for her as well.
I did some digging and the relevant part is in the second link below. According to them, ActBlue merely provides a platform, infrastructure, to people that share their values so they can fundraise.
Said another way, if you want to go to Calvarese's event, you donate money to ActBlue through ActBlue's site and then ActBlue gives the money to Calvarese's campaign.
I doubt there's anything illegal here. I do think it's swampy. I do think it's likely a way to help funnel money to Calvarese without as much disclosure or regulation as there might be if the money went to her by other means.
And I wouldn't at all be surprised to learn that Republicans have their own similar things (well, with the exception perhaps of state-level Republicans who do not have their poop in a group and who haven't yet figured out how to build out as effective a political machine here in Colorado as the Democrats have).
I put a couple links to the Influence Watch pages for ActBlue below if you'd like to see more about the group.
Now only one question remains: how long would it take me to get kicked out of this event if I went so that I could pepper AG Weiser with the questions I've been dying to ask him. If I bought the cheapest ticket in and got 5 minutes, that'd be $5 per minute. Hmmm ...
**I cannot not mention here that my endorsement for this race is Jerry Sonnenberg. I have known him since he was in the state senate for my district. He is the best candidate because he's solid on the fundamentals (e.g. actually, you know, responding to constituents, sound policy, and cares about Ag). I highly recommend you vote for him this June in the primary.
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/speciallyblue
https://support.actblue.com/donors/about-actblue/does-actblue-choose-who-it-supports/
https://www.influencewatch.org/for-profit/actblue-llc/
https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/actblue-charities/
An update to Aurora's plan to buy water from the Arkansas Valley watershed.
I've been writing about a deal Aurora was pursuing to buy water from the already parched Arkansas Valley watershed. As of my last post on it, there was a vote due.
That vote happened and I thought I'd update. One of the water boards in the watershed voted unanimously NO on allowing the transfer of water rights to Aurora.
Lots more context and detail in the link below.
p.s. I don't know that I like her politics, but if water is an interest or passion, you might consider making the outlet Ms. Jerd writes for often (Fresh Water News) a regular stopping point. Link's below the Sun story. I you do, make sure to stop by the "About Us" part of the page so you can understand who it is that is bringing you this news.
https://coloradosun.com/2024/04/16/aurora-farm-water-purchase/
hhttps://www.watereducationcolorado.org/fresh-water-news/
The real reason the deal was voted against by that board was because they wanted to punish the city of La Junta for not folding and agreeing to the bogus Arkansas Conduit. There is way more to this story. It all goes back to the good ole boy’s club and the self appointed king of South East Colorado’s water.
ActBlue is the Dem’s campaign contribution platform. I can’t think of a single Dem candidate, even in municipal elections who hasn’t used it in the last 5-6 years in Denver. Maybe longer. It certainly can be abused. Fraud potential is there (lots of stories about single small donors making hundreds of donations in a day). The most annoying part for me is when you donate, ActBlue gets your contact info and somehow you end up on lists for candidates all over the country. And there’s no single way to unsubscribe.
WinRed is the equivalent platform for GOP. Same issues.