This is the time of year when many of us pause to reflect on time gone by and resolve to do things differently.
As we look back on events in Colorado, goodness knows there is a lot that could have gone better. We started the year with the whole Jay Cutler episode and are ending it knee-deep in a medical marijuana mess.
So as we begin 2010, we think some New Year’s resolutions are in order for some of the folks who shape our state and our world, and others who simply just crossed our paths this year. Based on what we saw in 2009, here are a few resolutions we think they should make in the new year:
* Gov. Bill Ritter – He should stop appointing blue-ribbon panels. Cold turkey. Some have been effective, others, not so much. And never again use the phrase “Gordian knot” unless he’s talking about the progressive rock/metal band.
* Scott McInnis – He should give up the budget-cutting platitudes and generalities and deliver some specifics on how he’d balance the state budget. That’s what serious gubernatorial candidates do.
Also, he should pledge to defeat the three devastating anti-tax initiatives already on this year’s ballot that would cripple government.
* Rep. Betsy Markey – Now that the Democratic congresswoman from Fort Collins has joined the fiscally conservative Blue Dogs, she should pull her support – and co-sponsorship – of the so-called “card check” bill. It would be a travesty for both labor and business.
* Colorado Board of Health – The board should never again backpedal in fear, creating a public disaster, the way it did by refusing to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries. The board’s inaction allowed dispensaries to grow uncontrolled.
* Andrea Merida – She should refrain from funneling her energy into grandstanding on the Denver Public School board and instead focus on policy.
* RTD – The transit agency’s board should refrain from giving its new general manager the absurdly rich deal that former chief Cal Marsella managed to negotiate.
* State Sen. Chris Romer – He should rethink sponsoring legislation that would solidify the future of medical marijuana dispensaries that create a stoners’ paradise and a mockery of the voter-approved caregiver model that limits marijuana providers to a handful of patients.
* U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet – He should reject badly flawed legislation instead of grandstanding on the Senate floor about the corrupt machinations undergirding the bill and then support it anyway.
* Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien – She should pledge to show no mercy to fractious Democrats and union officials in crafting a successful Race for the Top bid that would bring home big bucks for education.
* State Sen. Josh Penry – Now that he doesn’t have to worry about re-election, he should lead legislative coalitions to do what’s best for Colorado, rather than simply making life tough for Ritter.
* Ward Churchill – He ought to get an honest job, one that does not involve teaching, trading on his self-described Indian heritage or public speaking in any forum.
* Douglas Bruce – He should never again engage in the petition process and cripple the state constitution by trying to add onto it like a fourplex in a city without zoning laws.
* Aaron Thompson – He ought to finally tell what he knows about his daughter’s disappearance so she might have a proper burial.
