Forty Years Ago This Week: Barbara Dean, women’s rights activist and columnist for The Colorado Statesman, expressed her dismay that a bill to create a Commission on Women had failed to pass the Colorado General Assembly for the third year.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Betty Neale, R-Denver, Sen. Ruth Stockton, R-Lakewood, and organization Colorado Women Forward, was “… a reasonable, realistic and workable piece of legislation which even the State Affairs committee members could accept,” Dean said.

She added that prior to drafting the legislation, she and her colleagues had met with representatives of the Colorado Eagle Forum, “the group most active in opposing the Commission on Women to explore common ground.”

The Commission on Women would have focused on women’s economic problems including workplace discrimination, adequate child care, job advancement and rights in widowhood, divorce and old age.

Dean argued that the legislation was reasonable, and with Neale’s help, they believed their detractors would finally see the worthiness of the commission. After a long delay, State Affairs Committee Chairman Frank DeFilippo, R-Golden, had placed the bill on the committee’s agenda.

But “when he did put the bill on the committee’s agenda he did so giving us only 24 hours notice and without letting us know whether it would be first thing in the morning or the last item at the end of the day,” Dean exclaimed.

“The committee hearing was like Grand Central Station,” Dean said. “Rep. Paul Schauer, R-Littleton, kept coming and going. The chairman came in and out of the room. Even the Speaker of the House, Rep. Carl Bledsoe, R-Hugo, came in to visit the committee. During the hearings Rep. Ruth Prendergast, R-Denver – bringing up old issues – referred to the 1977 Boulder women’s conference, which had nothing to do with the Commission on Women.”

The State Affairs Committee voted 6-3 to postpone the bill indefinitely, effectively killing the bill another year. Dean said the Colorado Women Forward would meet in the next few weeks to determine their next steps as Dean said, “The problems haven’t faded away just because the commission did.”

Twenty Years Ago: A string of strange events, miscommunication, and a fair bit of drama saw Denis Berckefeldt resign his position as Colorado Democratic Party secretary and then rescind his resignation days later

Berckefeldt offered his resignation in a short, terse letter faxed to Democratic State Chairman Tim Knaus. The rift, Berckefeldt, said was over the party’s production of radio advertising spots.

Multiple radio spots were produced by an affiliate of the state party to “chide Gov. Bill Owens and fellow Republicans for deriding growth management legislation in the legislature.”

Berckefeldt said his frustration stemmed from the fact that the labor unions had been deeply involved in pushing growth management legislation and he didn’t even know whether the voice talent who was hired to record the ads was a union member.

“It was a communication problem, an internal thing,” Berckefeldt explained, adding that Knaus had assured him that union talent had been used. “I didn’t know the radio ads had been done as secretary of the party. I had not heard back from Tim for a while and I was frustrated.”

Then came his abrupt resignation. But shortly thereafter Berckefeldt said that finally he and Knaus had talked, the air had been cleared, and all differences were resolved.

A calm, follow-up statement was faxed to state party officers and the Democratic National Committee members.

“Tim and I are happy to report to you that after a very good discussion regarding out mutual desire to build the best Democratic Party possible and win elections in 2002, I will continue in my role as Secretary of the Colorado Party.”

A rare, happy, political ending.

Rachael Wright is the author of the Captain Savva Mystery series, with degrees in Political Science and History from Colorado Mesa University, and is a contributing writer to Colorado Politics and The Gazette.