For this week, we have a sampling of small bites instead of the usual heavy meal.

Let’s start with:

And the cynic is…

A year ago, Gov. Jared Polis labeled as cynics any who dared to question his “Colorado Cashback” tax refund checks amidst his reelection campaign. He and his legislative allies protested that their motives were pure, even altruistic, and that their only interest was in “saving people money” and getting refunds back in taxpayer hands as quickly as possible.

Yet here we are a year later, with that election securely in the rearview mirror, and the urgency of those refunds and branding of the “cashback” are nowhere to be found. Instead, TABOR refunds for 2023 will come with the filing of this year’s tax returns next April.

Labeling critics last year as the cynics was a textbook case of pots and kettles and the color black. Such stunts only feed that rampant public cynicism and even antipathy toward government.

Speaking of which…

There will be ample time for discussion of the ballot proposal on property taxes put forward by Polis and the Democratic legislature that will be the centerpiece of this November’s election.

But three initial notes: First, the manner in which this measure was brought forward with less than three days left in the legislative session was plainly poor governance. I get that the big stuff often happens late. But let’s measure that in weeks, not days and hours.

Second, there is very little that threatens the Democratic stranglehold on Colorado politics. GOP excess and lunacy serve as an insurance policy on that Democratic dominance. Yet, if there is one issue that could jeopardize all that, even hypothetically, it is the prospect of skyrocketing property taxes. Hence, the imperative of this step by Polis and his minions, and the salience of the argument coming this fall.

Back to that matter of cynicism, point three relates to the troubling piece of the proposal that partially funds so-called property tax relief out of TABOR refund dollars. Krista Kafer, a fellow TV talker on PBS12, aptly called it, “Robbing Peter to pay Peter.”

Single-named politicians

Political leaders known by a single moniker are a rarity. In times past, we had Abe and Ike. More recently, Democrats put forward Hillary. Here locally, there is Hick, though journalists and others invented that mainly as shorthand.

Welcome to the Colorado political scene to the soon-to-be mayor of the state’s second largest city, Colorado Springs. His last name is Mobolade but on yardsigns and ads, and in everyday discussion, he was simply Yemi.

At a speaking engagement in the Springs last November, two Republican operatives (yes, both deeply invested in the GOP) introduced me to Yemi as the city’s next mayor. Suffice to say, I was slightly dubious. Coming next week: A deeper dive into Yemi’s election and some of the questionable narratives being peddled by various parties.

On the weather and Denver’s mayoral race

The core issue in this campaign is whether Kelly Brough or Mike Johnston can better keep Denver from following the course of Seattle and San Francisco. But who knew that those two troubled cities would export their rainy, foggy, dreary weather to our fair city over the last few weeks? Enough.

A requiem for the “Fair Elections Fund”

Before we even decide whether Brough or Johnston wins the prize, can we agree that Denver’s voter-mandated system of public campaign financing was a flop?

Of course, it’s a pleasing, idealistic concept that anyone and everyone can run for mayor. At one point, there were 27 candidates in the race. 17 ultimately made the ballot. That total included a number with no plausible chance. Many did not even receive one percent of the vote.

If taxpayers are essentially funding campaigns on a nine-to-one match, why not throw your hat into the ring? But that plethora of candidates, call it a glut, does not necessarily improve the debate. In fact, it appears that many eligible voters did not return their ballot having been overwhelmed by the sheer size of the field.

And look at which candidates ended up in the runoff – the two most well-funded who did not need public dollars. At a minimum, this ill-advised process needs an overhaul before voters next go to the polls.

The other side of a fixation on identity politics

This past week, I stepped into a minor Twitter storm, even without a horse in this race, by raising the question of whether former candidate Lisa Calderón‘s endorsement of Johnston was in conflict with her day job as head of an organization dedicated to electing Democratic women to office.

To be clear, Calderón, like any citizen, has the absolute right to support whichever candidate she chooses. But her approach, more than any other original candidate, has been to emphasize group identity.

Earlier this year, I referred to her as a Latina candidate. She was quick to demand a correction, noting that her mother was Latino but her father was black. Fair enough. The column was edited to reflect her mixed race. That was still not adequate and she pushed that it again be changed to list her as biracial.

When identity becomes everything, it is fair to ask what considerations or enticements caused Calderon to deviate from the central mission of the identity-based enterprise she leads.

Two agencies behaving badly

We close this week with a few harsh words for two public entities with major room for improvement.

The first raspberry goes to the board of Denver Public Schools which just, inexplicably, gave embattled Superintendent Alex Marrero a $45,000 rise without even a performance evaluation. By any measure, that performance has been marginal. The dysfunction of this board and administration knows no end.

The other Bronx cheer is earned by the board of Colorado PERA, the state’s public employee retirement plan. With an unfunded liability of over $27 billion, by their own accounting, the board sent the executive director packing with a $400,000 parting gift and zero explanation for the abrupt termination.

Perhaps a bit of transparency, folks? Governor and legislators, what say you?

Eric Sondermann is a Colorado-based independent political commentator. He writes regularly for Colorado Politics and the Gazette newspapers. Reach him at?EWS@EricSondermann.com; follow him at @EricSondermann