Thirty Years Ago this Week in the Colorado Statesman … State Rep. Faye Fleming, D-Thornton, switched her party affiliation from Democratic to Republican Feb. 14, 1987, only six weeks after she took office. One of her campaign contributors, United Steel Workers Local 8031, threatened to sue her for misrepresentation. The influential union also took to the streets contacting her constituents. A signature drive operation for Fleming’s recall had already been on the ground since March.

Fleming insisted she was not worried by the pressure from her detractors. “Everything in my organization is in place to deal with a recall election,” she said. Fleming added that her sources told her the recall drive had “come to quite a screeching halt.”

“My understanding is that they have been very unsuccessful. It has been almost four months,” Fleming said.”If the people in the district had been that dissatisfied, we would have seen something more concrete by now, wouldn’t we?”

Fleming went on to attack the motives of the USW Local 8031, which represented the workers of Rockwell International.

“My voting record before I changed parties and after has been supportive of labor. I don’t feel I have done anything to betray the United Steel Workers.”

Eldon Cooper, president of the Colorado AFL-CIO, expressed his support for Fleming.

“She’s been doing fine as far as I’m concerned,” he affirmed. “We’re not getting involved in any recall drive.” Cooper said he didn’t foresee any difficulties with Fleming as a result of her switch.

Dean Prigelmeier, chairman of the Adams County Democrats and leader of the recall drive, assailed Fleming for not notifying anyone in the Democratic Party beforehand about her desire to move camp. Prigelmeier said he and other Democrats did not know Fleming’s motives for switching parties.

“We are still baffled. She didn’t have the courtesy to talk to us.”

Fleming spoke to her motives as she charged the Democratic Party with hypocrisy.

“Those who hold moderate to conservative viewpoints have no place in the Democratic Party.” She pointed to the controversy surrounding Rep. Bob Bowen, D-Denver. “He’s being ostracized  right now for not following the party line and endorsing Federico Peña in the mayoral race.”

Fleming also contended that she had always run on her personal beliefs, not her party affiliation, even keeping the ‘D’ off her campaign literature on the advice of her party because she was in a swing district

… Ten Years Ago … Gov. Bill Ritter’s special transportation study group debated the implementation of a new tax which would be based on the number of miles motorists drove. Oregon, in 2007, was the only state at the time to have tried the vehicle miles traveled, or VMT, tax.

A preliminary estimate by state officials showed that such a bold move could potentially raise more money for highway construction than any other user-related fee.

“We need to focus on what revenue options we’re really going to focus in on and how much revenue we think we can ask for,” said Doug Aden, one of the three co-chairs of the Colorado Transportation Finance and Implementation Panel.

State Treasurer Cary Kennedy, another co-chair on the panel, said that the state’s chief source of money for roads and rail – the gas tax – had lost its spending power over time because of inflation and more fuel-efficient cars.

“We’re looking for an alternative to the gas tax, not something to supplant the gas tax,” Kennedy said.

By charging a penny a mile, the VMT could raise $8.5 billion by 2030, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation. Charlie Brown, a consultant for CDOT, told the panel that other than the VMT there were six other user-related taxes that they might consider: raising the gas tax, indexing the gas tax to inflation, imposing a state sales tax on gas, increasing motor vehicle registration fees, increasing the sales tax rate on vehicles and parts and extending the sales tax to auto repair services.

… Several hundred admirers gathered at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House to honor attorney Tom Strickland, the managing partner at Hogan & Hartson’s Denver office, who was leaving to take over as Chief Legal Counsel for the UnitedHealth Group in Minneapolis.

Fellow lawyer at the firm and former Denver City Attorney Cole Finnegan said, “I have the unenviable task of trying to fill Tom’s shoes.”

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and Gov. Bill Ritter joined the revelers to celebrate Stickland’s time as U.S. Attorney for Colorado. Strickland, as it was jokingly pointed out that night, had the distinction of being one of the first U.S. Attorneys to be fired by the Bush administration in 2001.