Search by keyword or six-digit Content ID
My Stuff | Register | Help


What's Hot

    Stories
  1. 1. Lakewood's Ward 5 residents have issue with coyotes 0
  2. 2. THERE'S A NEW GAME IN TOWN 0

    Events
  1. 1. 1st Annual F.A.T Sale - HUGE Sale on Hours of Entertainment 0
  2. 2. Double Duty Holiday Shopping for The Conflict Center: Online Auctio... (Not Rated) 0

    Blogs
  1. 1. Local artists shine at art council's holiday boutique (Not Rated) 0

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Lakewood [Change Location]

Blog Entry 12 of 14 Musings from a young conservative on the state of...
My name is Thomas James Randle and I am a young moderate member of the Republican party in Jefferson County Colorado. This blog focuses on both city politics and current issues, as well as the typical politics of Red and Blue. Issues City: Transparancy, Comprimise, Economic Improvement, Citizen Involvement, Helping Special Needs, Conservation. State/National: Transparancy, Property Rights, Fiscal Responsibility, Strong National Defense, Environmental Protection without Economic Detriment. I strongly resist social conservatism as I believe it interfers with what I see as the number 1 tenant of Republicanism: Personal Responsibility.

Blog Url: http://denver.yourhub.com/~YoungGOPster

Special Interest Infested Campaign Coffers

Article Contributed on: 10/15/2009 10:54:50 PM

The time to vote for City Council is here, and so are reports detailing the type of fundraising in which each candidate has taken part. Council races are competitive in three of the five wards, with two Ward incumbents unchallenged. Going through the financial reports, it is easy to make a breakdown and take a guess at what type of councilor each candidate will be.

One very prominent donor in this year's race is Carma, a development company that brought us Solterra, an expansive new development over what used to be open space. They donated comparatively large sums of money to Amy Attwood, and Diana Allen in Ward 4 and Ward 5 respectively, areas that seem to have most of Lakewood's open space. While there is a lot of other special interest money flying around in this election, this is one that really stuck out since they have done work for Lakewood, and could benefit greatly in financial ways by having our city council stacked to their advantage.

Below is a quick run down of some of the contributions:

Ward 2

Frank Teunissen raised close to $1000, ALL of which came from individuals.

Scott Koop raised over $2000 including donations of $450 from the Realtors Political Action Comittee, and $250 from Metro Housing Coalition Political Action Committee.

Ward 5

Natalie Menten raised over $5500, ALL of which came from individuals.

Diana Allen raised $6651. Included in this was Carma Developers ($500), CRL Associates ($500) whose campaign efforts are responsible for many tax increases around the state, as well as other political actions. In addition she received money from the Chief Operations Officer of CRL who based on the address given is not from Lakewood, as well as money from other construction and development groups.

Ward 4

Dave Wiechman raised close to $9000, ALL of which came from individuals.

Amy Attwood raised over $15,000 an extremely high amount compared to the other candidates, close to the amounts raised by some in state legislature races. Included in this were donations from Carma Developers ($1000), legislative service firms some of whom boast lobbying services on their websites, and the Laramie Company LLC. In addition the reports show a large sum of money remains unspent, which makes me wonder what it is being saved for.

Everyone can take a look at the financial reports at Lakewood.org in the same section the affidavits and committee registration forms are posted. Happy Voting!

Guidelines: Be kind. Abusive commentary may be removed. If you believe someone has been abusive, please click "Report Abuse".

SUBMIT COMMENT
Talk Back : submit comments to the blog

*Note: you need to log-in to add a comment or rating.
Thank you! Your comment has been updated.
Showing 1-6 of 6 comments
Thomas Randle wrote on 10/25/2009 @ 1:41:56 AM

I think there are some holes in your statements Mike. I believe Dave only ran in 2005 and 2007 and didn't actually run all the way through in 2005 anyway. So that would be only 1 loss technically. And my best friend Laura got her sign stolen multiple times before the Attwood signs were even out, who's the culprit there? Lastly looking through your story postings, I am suprised you would select Amy over Dave. Especially after her donations from Carma. Dave may not make decisions that make every single person happy, but at least we can know that development based decisions will be objective, how do we know that with Amy recieving $1000 from Carma? I think most opposed to Carma, landswap, etc are realizing that Amy is no savior and is just business as usual lined up against the current council save Vicki and Doug.
Report abuse
Mike Burns wrote on 10/24/2009 @ 12:38:16 PM

Wiechman stated two years ago that if not elected this time (2007), that he was done. He said that three losses would be enough. I guess he changed his mind....typical of politicians! We need a councilperson that will stick to their word. Wiechman, to me....would be another one of those "typical" politicians. Flip-Flopping on issues, and simply not representing the community. Also, in Ward 4, it would appear that it is politics as usual. In my neighborhood, three blocks away from the Wiechman home, all Amy Attwood signs have disappeared, while the Wiechman signs remain untouched....Reminds me of two years ago! Same story, different election!
Report abuse
Thomas Randle wrote on 10/18/2009 @ 1:09:26 PM

I hope people don't think I am some how characterizing myself as independent or unbiased in the first place. People who read this know it's a blog and that I have endorsed Dave anyway. Your attempt to characterize my writings as an attempt at being a journalist make me think that you worry the citizens are lock and step with what I say before checking the facts themselves. I doubt I have that power. As for the unions, I don't know why you think you know better just cause I am in California, after all you are at Harvard. You are correct in liberty allowing us to organize in support, but it doesn't change the fact that donation sources from organizations should be completely in the open. Do you disagree?
Report abuse
Hayden Stone wrote on 10/18/2009 @ 11:51:51 AM

Since you're out in California, I doubt you'd know that unions have been financing huge mailings on behalf of Dave Weichman in Ward 4. Talk about being beholden to a "special interest" (whatever that means). I hope you will crack open The Federalist Papers (Especially Federalist 10) and read up a little bit on democratic system of decentralized interests. In a society where people choose their leaders out of consideration of their own interests, it is perfectly acceptable for groups of citizens to come together to campaign for someone they believe in - That's why our Republic works. Take a look at Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations" for more. Now if you feel you understand our political system better than 2,500 years of political philosophy, by all means continue to ignore Aristotle, Locke, Hobbes, Smith, Hume, Hamilton, and Madison in your next post. I just hope you know that people see right through your "independent analysis" when it comes to your taglines in Lakewood's races.
Report abuse
Thomas Randle wrote on 10/17/2009 @ 7:23:56 PM

According to the reports at Lakewood.org, he did not receive money from any Union PAC or organization. But you are correct that Unions are another type of 'Special Interest in many people's eyes and I would have included it here.
Report abuse
Jay Sipkis wrote on 10/16/2009 @ 8:30:03 PM

Don’t you think that the donations Mr Wieichman took from the Fire Union qualifies as a ‘Special Interest’ group? I guess he is therefore beholden to them now?
Report abuse
Showing 1-6 of 6 comments