Well, here it is, the day after Christmas and I’m guessing in your house there is still that trash bag full of wadded up wrapping paper no one took to the garbage can yet. And there’s the remains of a turkey or ham or other main course in the fridge, where it will remain for about a week before the decision is made to toss it into the trash. Bellies are still full from yesterday and there is football to be watched.

I’m guessing all these things because I’m actually typing up this column last week, as you see things, on the winter solstice when the sun reaches its lowest point in our sky and we begin the long and welcome eventual return of spring and summer, when the sun will soar once again, until the June solstice, when we begin the cycle again. So, in any case, I hope you had a Merry Christmas, and I wish all of us the best 2024 we can get. Could be iffy…

My long-suffering editor likely thought that, given the massive and profoundly important news story that came out of the Colorado Supreme Court this week, I’d be writing about former President Donald Trump not being on the primary ballot and how that all might shake out (Ed: yup).

But I’m not going to talk about that.

Mostly, because I already did. Basically, I think Trump will end up on the ballot everywhere, for two reasons. First, the fifth and final section of the 14th Amendment states, “The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.” Though I don’t think any reasonable person can deny Trump fomented the insurrection, I think the Supreme Court will hang its metaphorical hat on section 5 and will argue Congress has never passed such legislation on the mechanics of how that amendment would work in the real world. Oh, and the other reason is the U.S. Supreme Court is now a fully partisan branch of government, with radical GOPers appointed by Trump holding the winning votes.

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Instead, I’d like to talk about yet another of our Colorado elected officials departing elective office before even his first term is over, as reported in Colorado Politics. It seems state Rep. Said Sherbini from the lovely city of Brighton is resigning from the state House on Dec. 31. Just a couple of weeks back, I wrote a column about another representative who is quitting the House regarding civility issues. I noted thick skin is required in these days of extreme vitriol, and I’m saddened she felt the need to resign. Now Sherbini becomes the second Democrat to leave the assembly, though importantly for two reasons, only one of which is wrapped up in civility issues.

Sherbini noted another important reason for his departure: the low pay our elected folks get in exchange for working crazy long hours, especially when in session but not limited to those months. A member of our state House is paid $43,977-plus per diem every year. Now, that isn’t a terrible salary, though it would be rather hard to raise a family, buy a house and save for a kid’s college expenses for that amount of money.

More than once I’ve written about the danger of underpaying our elected officials. Now, I know these days (like most days, frankly), it is a popular sport to decry our elected officials and to spout off about them being overpaid.

But that, my dear readers, is nonsense.

We dramatically underpay our state officials, and that underpayment has consequences, with the resignation of Said Sharbini yet another example of what we have to lose. By all accounts, whether you agree or disagree with his point of view on issues, Sharbini is a moderate, and that is the type of thinking that best serves Colorado.

But if you can’t make ends meet, and the place you work is filled with bitterness and loathsome oratory, I can see why you’d want out. And there is a consequence of having low salaries, in that you basically assure your elected officials will either be independently wealthy and not dependent on the legislature’s basic salary to pay the bills, or you are retired and pensioned (like me, from the Air Force), and can take on elected office the same way some retired guys (again, like me) take up woodworking. So, lots of old, wealthy mostly men end up, well, let’s just say “over represented.”

Perhaps his skin was just too thin. But the fact Rep Sharbini specifically noted the financial toll that public service was taking is a cautionary tale for us all. Do we want expert, wise and insightful people as our elected representatives? Well, if so, we need to pay them enough to allow them to serve without profound hardships on them and their families.

Now, I can almost hear the eye rolls as you read these words, but we need to at least double the pay of our state assembly members and the statewide elected officials. Once in office, of course, they cannot advocate for their own financial benefits, but it is high time for a major salary increase to take place.

You want the best and the brightest? You get what you pay for.

Happy New Year.

Hal Bidlack is a retired professor of political science and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who taught more than 17 years at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.