Politics: Ouray County, Colorado - style

The Silent Majority "Shouted It Ot!"

Election times are always a scream in Ouray County. Besides the obvious two main parties, The Elephants and the Jackasses, there exists an ever growing number of Independent voters who now might just be deciding the important questions. I am proud to be a new member of that nebulous, murky, mostly silent bunch - the G D I's. In this last election, the silent ones look like they swayed the vote.

Earlier in November, 2007 the voters sent down to the bottom of the proverbial septic tank two proposals: One a not-so-thinly veiled measure that would eliminate term limits (so a standing RINO county commissioner could be re-elected) and the other a sales/use tax on construction spending - that would shift the burden of improving our "rapidly declining gravel county road system" to the newcomers, or anyone else who wanted to expand or improve their property.

One sitting commissioner, Don Batchelder, is a Republican. Batchelder is term limited due to an amendment to the Colorado State Constitution that limits County Commissioners to two terms (unless, of course, the local county voters vote to abolish term limits for that office. It had already happened for the County Assessor position.)Yet his support base is largely DEMOCRAT (short for: lock the gate, stop development, give the highways back to the deer, and let the public do whatever they please on private lands while government regulates the heck out of what a private landowner can do on his own land.)

His coronies figured out that the best way to re-elect him in 2009 was to re-elect him in 2008 - by removing term limits so he could run. With a local grass-roots organization called ROCC (Ridgway-Ouray Communist Council) trumpeting these positions, there was quite a public campaign to eliminate term limits, mainly a letter writing campaign signed by the usual suspects.

Despite their best efforts to "turn out the vote" the de-facto re-election of Batchelder was sent down in flames by the silent, but voting majority.