VOL. 01 NO. 199 | DECEMBER 6, 2016 | COLORADOSTATESMAN.COM/THE-HOT-SHEET | © 2016

DENVER – Don’t tell Santa but we’re feeling a little naughty – and dare I say a bit snarky – this morning. Blame it on the weather, the holidays or perhaps all the political craziness happening all around us. So, read on at your own peril …

The First Shot

“It’s a big deal. If someone said, ‘Hey, it’s only $1.5 million…’ – government waste is government waste.”

–  Chair of the Legislative Audit Committee, Dan Nordberg

SQUIRREL! Chasing the millennial vote

Who are they? Where do we find them? What do they really really want? Almost every political conversation these days – at some point – includes an anthropological discussion concerning the elusive millennial voter. Some of these conversations are more akin to an episode of “Wild Kingdom” than a political chat … (Yes, we referenced a three-decade old TV series.)

As part of the autopsy of #Election2016, insiders are looking (dare we say dissecting) the 18-34 age group that made up about 25 percent of the vote this year in Colorado.

The passion that fueled younger voters had less to do with whether a candidate was a Republican or a Democrat – according to the reporting of Peter Marcus – and more to do with whether the candidate would break the establishment mold.

Although the GOP fared better than many expected, notes 5280 Magazine, ballot returns show their ranks declining with each new generation. In other words, Republicans are becoming extinct, much like the polar bears. (thank you Marlin Perkins).

About 45 percent of voters over the age of 70 were registered Republicans. That figure decreases to 25 percent for voters between the ages of 18 and 25.

Environmental Senate fracas brewing: state Sen. Matt Jones chosen as environmental/energy ‘czar’

Wildland firefighter and Colorado state Sen. Matt Jones, D-Louisville, has been tapped by Senate Minority Leader Lucia Guzman, D-Denver, to fill a newly created position in their caucus. Jones is the new go-to guy for the Dems on environmental, renewable energy and conservation issues.

Jones will be responsible for addressing job creation and the economic benefits of renewable energy sources among other things.

A news release from Guzman stated defending Colorado’s progress in environmental conservation and clean energy will be a top priority for Senate Democrats  in the 2017 legislative session.

Meanwhile, the Senate Republican majority a week earlier created a “Select Committee on Energy and the Environment chaired by oil and gas man Sen. Ray Scott, R-Grand Junction. Scott said the committee would be holding hearings on a range of energy and environmental issues facing Colorado, according to the Boulder Daily Camera. “… the changes in attitude and approach we’re expecting from the Trump administration will only add to the importance and relevance of the work this select committee will do,” Scott said.

We can smell a fracas (or many) coming down on environmental issues under the Gold Dome.

Full stories here and here.

Navajo Nation sues Colorado for big bucks

The downstream fallout continues after the Gold King Mine spill, yesterday, the Navajo Nation announcing a lawsuit against the U.S. government over “colossal damage” caused by the spill – to the tune of $16 million. A seven-page letter was sent to the Environmental Protection Agency outlining damages, including what the tribe claims was a failure by the EPA to notify the reservation’s residents of the spill.

“In particular, it has impaired our ability to maintain the cultural, ceremonial, and spiritual practices that undergird the Navajo way of life. Through this claim and our corresponding lawsuit, we are demanding that the US government finally provide the Navajo Nation relief,” Navajo Nation Attorney General Ethel Branch said in a news release, according to USA Today.

Apparently the Navajo Nation didn’t get Gov. John Hickenlooper’s memo that he drank the water … and it was fine?

For a comprehensive story on how the Gold King disaster may have impacted the Navajo Nation, read this 5280 story.

Full story here

Science vs cash: The inconvenient truth

Wading into the – often loud – climate change debate is always treacherous … That’s a reality that a University of Colorado – Boulder researcher knows all too well. After challenging Democratic Party talking points concerning global warming in a recent paper, researcher Roger Pielke Jr. was a target of “billionaire-backed environmentalists” groups.

“If academics,” Pielke told the Daily Caller, “are to play a meaningful role in public debate, the country will have to do a better job supporting good-faith researchers, even when their results are unwelcome.”

Pielke writes that he was astonished by “the degree to which journalists and academics joined the campaign” to derail his career. Their efforts show how quickly and rabidly politicians and media outlets turn against “inconvenient” research, he wrote in a recent op-ed with The Wall Street Journal.

A great editorial looks at the issue this morning in the Colorado Springs Gazette.

Taxpayers are being taken for a ride

The state of Colorado – for those who don’t know – owns and maintains a fleet of vehicles for the use of agencies and designated state employees. The cars, trucks and vans are intended to be used in the service of citizens and state business. Now, thanks to a state audit, how those vehicles are being used is under fire.

Colorado Department of Personnel and Administration’s policies for allowing employees to commute to and from work in state-owned vehicles doesn’t align with federal regulations, according to ColoradoPolitics.com.

Oh, by the way … OUCH! This is not pocket change.

Last year 782 employees were allowed to use publicly owned vehicles to drive to and from work at a $1.54 million cost to the state. Of that, $1.38 million “was for commuting arrangements that did not meet all the statutory criteria,” auditors wrote in their report. “The department does not review commuting authorizations for compliance with criteria or provide clear guidance to agencies related to the use of take-home vehicles.”

The state auditor found 10 areas regarding take-home vehicles that need to be addressed, which the chair of the Legislative Audit Committee, Dan Nordberg, tells Denver7 will happen next year.  “It’s a big deal. If someone said, ‘Hey, it’s only $1.5 million …’ – government waste is government waste,” Nordberg said.

Just for Laughs

Calendar

12/15/2016      ACDP Executive Board Regular Meeting

12/19/2016      ACDP Executive Board Regular Meeting

Today in History

2006 – NASA reveals photographs taken by Mars Global Surveyor suggesting the presence of liquid water on Mars.

1973 -The United States House of Representatives votes 387 to 35 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States. (On November 27, the Senate confirmed him 92 to 3.)

1967 – Adrian Kantrowitz performs the first human heart transplant in the United States.

1904 – Theodore Roosevelt articulated his “Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine, stating that the U.S. would intervene in the Western Hemisphere should Latin American governments prove incapable or unstable.

1897 – London becomes the world’s first city to host licensed taxicabs.

1884 – The Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., is completed.

1865 – The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, banning slavery.

1768 – The first edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica is published.

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