Tag Archives: Gabe Santos

Longmont fracking ban won’t be free

  By Chris Rodriguez | October 25, 2012 - 4:28 am |
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The following appeared in the October 23, 2012 Times-Call.  It was written by four Longmont City Councilmembers speaking for themselves as private citizens.  They raise some good questions, questions I’d like OHOFOL and Food & Water Watch to answer, publicly.   -CRod

The problem with ballot issues is all too often they are narrowly drafted, poorly researched and leave a boatload of unintended consequences.

The problem is compounded when ballot measures are placed in the city charter, rather than in ordinance, because once the unintended consequences are realized they can only be fixed or repaired through successive elections rather than council action. City Council can amend an ordinance; only voters can change something in the charter.

Longmont’s Historic Preservation Commission needs applicants

  By Chris Rodriguez | December 16, 2011 - 9:55 pm |
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The City of Longmont Historic Preservation Commission had three openings to fill, and as of last Tuesday nights City Council meeting only had two applicants. The two regular term positions were filled by those applicants who applied by the deadline and the third spot was re-opened. It will be re-advertised on the City Clerks webpage for selection from City Council at a later date. Continue reading →

Home stretch of Longmont 2011 Election: Turnout and projections

  By Chris Rodriguez | October 31, 2011 - 3:00 pm |
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Predicting voter turnout is never an easy task, especially in off (or odd) year elections like this years.  Predicting actual winners is equally difficult as it all boils down to who gets out the vote and who doesn’t.  I’ll try to make a stab at these with educated guesses based on past history and trends. Continue reading →

Santos: Bagley better for Ward 1

  By Chris Rodriguez | October 1, 2011 - 12:54 am |
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(The following ran in the Friday September 30, 2011 Times-Call – emphasis added)

Each of us who has the honor and privilege of serving on the Longmont City Council should remember that a key part of serving residents is communicating with them. When a member of the public calls Brian Hansen‘s city cellphone number, they hear the following words: “This is Longmont City Council member Brian Hansen. You can call me between 8 and 10 a.m. Monday and Tuesday at this number. Please do not leave a message at this number.”   Continue reading →

Lie manufacturing, and confused councilmembers

  By Chris Rodriguez | May 4, 2011 - 6:34 am |
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I have to believe that the Screwball Left here in Longmont must scratch their collective heads and wonder why council members that they go after don’t address their nonsense?  They throw one charge after another, none seem to stick, and they’re basically ignored by the grown-ups in the city.  Example:  Longmont City Council member Gabe Santos and his connections with former Majority Leader Tom DeLay.  The end result: two convincing victories – by Gabe Santos. Continue reading →

Truth about contributions buying votes

  By Chris Rodriguez | January 24, 2010 - 5:21 am |
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Alright, this issue needs to be cleared up once and for all.

There are people in town trying to rewrite history about contributions to city council members – or just don’t know what they are talking about.  Part of the reason we are in this whole mess with the Longmont Fair Campaign Practices Act (LFCPA) and the Election Committee (EC) all comes down to a $5,000 contribution to Gabe Santos from the Longmont Association of Realtors.  But here’s what the people who keep mentioning this either have conveniently forgotten or don’t want you to know: Continue reading →

Cooling off a solar flare-up

  By Chris Rodriguez | January 21, 2010 - 8:26 am |
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Longmont had an Open Forum in council chambers back on January 12, 2010.  One of the more interesting moments came when a heated exchange occurred between Mayor Baum and Steve King, a solar installer.  Since that time, the usual merry band of screwballs that often parade in front of council with some of the most hair brained statements decided they were going to take Mayor Baum to task for how he treated Mr. King.  They’ve also made similar statements in the TC Line and on some websites.

At the January 19th meeting during a Study Session it was a packed house and as expected they demanded Mayor Baum apologize to Mr. King and the residents of the city.  At one point, Mayor Pro-Tem Gabe Santos had to tell one of them to basically put a much needed sock in it.  You can see the others on the video at the city’s website and witness their feigned outrage.  Oh, the humanity! Continue reading →

2009: What a year!

  By Chris Rodriguez | January 2, 2010 - 3:00 am |
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2009 was quite an eventful year for the City of Longmont, regardless of where you stand on the issues.  Obviously, it was better for some than others.  Personally, it was pretty busy but overall pretty satisfying, too.

So lets go through it, month by month: Continue reading →

Progressive’s Hispanic litmus test

  By Chris Rodriguez | November 29, 2009 - 3:04 am |
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(this post sat as it appears below, unfinished, for 3 years…yet still remains relevant after our most recent election season)

The politics of race in Longmont, there’s a potentially hot potato.

Recently, on a KGNU radio show, a Longmont resident made some comments about racial inclusiveness, specifically regarding Hispanics.  For the record, I guess I would fall into that group, but dislike that term as well as Latino.  Overall though it’s a big improvement over Chicano, which was the term the news media used for my cousins family when they had then President Jimmy Carter spend the night at their house in the late ‘70’s. Continue reading →

Longmont never leaned left

  By Chris Rodriguez | November 24, 2009 - 5:00 pm |
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(The following guest opinion appeared in the November 24, 2009 Longmont Times-Call)

One of my more favorite hobbies is to collect data, sift through and crunch the numbers, and then try to make some sense out of it or look at it in a slightly different way.  I’m a political junkie, especially when it comes to elections, so I’d like to put to rest this falsehood that keeps floating around town. Continue reading →