Doug Co School Board Public Comment 3-28-23

I am a 30 year veteran of teaching middle school, I understand the importance of

#inclusion and #diversity to a child’s well-being and #education. I’ll start by pushing

back against 3 words that have been twisted in education. First, WOKE simply

means caring and recognizing injustice. CRT is an example of a lie told oft enough

becomes the truth. The Nazi architect of useful misinformation utilized this

strategy to turn Germans against Jews. Yes, Nazis. The shouted lie of CRT has the

sole purpose of diminishing Black History. And last, the ugliest of all dog whistles,

is calling teachers groomers. Let’s remember that more children are groomed and

assaulted by religious leaders and family members than teachers by a factor of

1000s.

The Hanover survey stated that respondents are concerned about #transparency in

school structure including our school board.

I don’t trust Mr. Peterson. And I had hoped for better from Superintendent Kane.

It appears that decisions are guided by huddling with organizations such as FAIR,

CPAN, and Moms for Liberty, groups that are opposed to public education. Mr.

Peterson, in particular, is clearly influenced by and steeped in harmful

misinformation from such groups. He has dismissed sound research regarding

child abuse and identity, turning instead to the inaccurate perceptions put forth

by small minds and smaller hearts. I ask you to become more WOKE. Get out of

your silo.

How do religious forces rate such an outsized influence in our district? Very few

Hanover survey respondents, indeed only 20%, consider religious belief as criteria

for school matters. 20%! Where are Mr. Peterson’s values regarding

representation? Shouldn’t ALL your constituents have a voice, not just those who

gave you obscene amounts of money and pressure you to follow their lead, no

matter how disrespectful to the families you represent?

My final concern... Wow, once again the DCSD has opened themselves to another

Civil Rights lawsuit. According to the Hanover website they assist the clients to

craft survey questions and responses. It appears some agency of the district

included responses asking about religious beliefs. School boards are a local

government entity and are expected to follow the law and separating matters of

church and state.Constitution.

Despite the loud, aggressive, uninformed voices trying to insist America is

a “Christian Nation,” recent surveys show 40% of Americans claim no

religious affiliation and almost 10% practice a faith other than Christianity.

Please stop inserting your Christian beliefs where it is both illegal and

unwelcome.

Katie Barrett, Castle Rock

*This is solely the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Douglas Co. Democratic Party.

Rep. Marshall Townhall Observations 3-30-23

I attended Rep. Marshall’s public town hall last night, and once again came away with a high degree of satisfaction that the work and money #DougCoDems put into his campaign were well spent.

Frankly, Rep. Marshall’s public demeanor is a breath of fresh air in the political arena. Tonight, he was assertive and respectful to each of his constituents, including those obviously sent by the opposition to confront him.

I don’t agree with all of his votes, but I’m never at a loss to understand why he is voting as he does, because he is 100% #transparent with his logic and decisions. And I also know that he is voting and supporting his legislative colleagues on our side. Recently, I testified on a bill before the House Judiciary Committee, and it was apparent members on both sides of the aisle respect Rep. Marshall’s thinking and opinions.

From my perspective, the moderate Democrats in the House deserve acknowledgement when they stand against the kind of legislative overreach that comes with a political supermajority. The primary reason Democrats have lost majorities at every level of government is the tendency to start costly programs and enact new laws that expand government too much. And this Legislative Session is no exception.

I live in HD39, represented by the opposition. My elected Representative recently held a so-called town hall meeting without notifying her constituents.

I’m not at all worried that Bob Marshall would pull such a stunt. Kudos to Rep Marshall. Keep up the good work. #RepBobMarshall #ColoHD43

#HighlandsRanch

Lloyd Guthrie, Precinct 105, Roxborough Park

*This is solely the opinion of the author and does not necessarily represent the opinion of the Douglas County Democratic Party as a whole.

Great 2022 Election Results for Dems in Colorado!

Pictured (left to right): Bob Marshall, Mike Bennet, Jared Polis, Jena Griswold, Phil Weiser, Kathy Plomer.

Dems Win Statewide and in our own Douglas County

Here in Douglas County, voters in the Highlands Ranch district (HD43) of the Colorado State Legislature elected retired US Marine Bob Marshall (pictured above, with American flag). This is the first time in modern history that a Democrat has been elected for a House District in traditionally Republican Douglas County.

Bob's campaign – which appealed to Independents and Republicans as well as Democrats – emphasized representing all of the voters in his district. He also committed to keeping in touch with residents during his term in office. In the course of unseating the Republican incumbent, Bob and his team of volunteers overcame a voter registration disadvantage in HD43, where active registered voters are currently 22% Dem, 31% R and 45% Unaffiliated.

Also, in the HD61 Aurora portion of northeastern Douglas County, Eliza Hamrick was the voters' choice for that State House district.

All our our Democratic statewide leaders (pictured above) were re-elected:

• US Senate from Colorado: Mike Bennet

• Governor: Jared Polis

• Attorney General: Phil Weiser

• Secretary of State: Jena Griswold

• State Treasurer: Dave Young

Kathy Plomer (pictured above) was elected to the statewide at-large seat on the Colorado Board of Education.

As a result of the 2020 census, Colorado has now grown from seven US Congressional Districts to eight, and five of those eight were won by Democrats.

District 4 (for Douglas County and counties in the rural eastern third of the State) was held by the Republican incumbent, but the following districts were won by Democrats:

• District 1: Diana DeGette

• District 2: Joe Neguse

• District 6: Jason Crow

• District 7: Brittany Pettersen

• New District 8: Yadira Caraveo

In the Colorado State House our HD43 representative Bob Marshall joins a history-making majority of 46 Democrats versus 19 Republicans.

And, in the Colorado State Senate, voters increased the Democratic majority to 23 to 12. In Senate District 27, in a portion of the northeastern corner of Douglas County, longtime gun-violence opponent Tom Sullivan was elected.

Throughout Douglas County, some of our Democratic candidates outperformed previous-year election results in their respective districts, such as:

• Braeden Miguel, for state Senate District 30, and

• Eric Brody, for state House District 39.

2022 goes down as a great year for Democrats throughout Colorado.