Transcript Golden
GOLDEN/FOOTHILLS 2.14.13 February 14, 2013
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A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourgoldennews.com
Jefferson County, Colorado • Volume 147, Issue 11
Jeffco takes stance on gun control Commissioners vote 2-1 to oppose any new gun control measures By Glenn Wallace
gwallace@ourcoloradonews. com The national debate between gun control proponents and Second Amendment defenders came to Jefferson County last week when commissioners debated the wording of a resolution on the issue. A line of 52 area residents spoke before the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners at the Jan. 5 regular meeting. After three hours of testimony, the three-member commission voted 2-1 to approve a resolution
that strongly urged that the U.S. Congress and state Legislature should not “entertain consideration of any new legislation that would infringe on constitutionally protected rights under the Second Amendment through any means.” The majority of the speakers, including women and retired military, gave their support for the resolution, and gun rights in general. Among them was Jared Gates, who was a student survivor of the Columbine High School massacre. “Gun control does not work,” Gates said, adding that the Columbine assailants would have likely focused on killing more with the bombs they had brought, even without guns. Tom Mauser, who lost his 16-year-old son in the Colum-
bine High School massacre, was among the speakers who opposed the resolution. He said the country has the easiest access to guns of industrialized nations, and the weakest gun control laws. “And we also have the highest homicide by firearms rate of any of them. This is no coincidence, commissioner,” Mauser said. Golden City Councilwoman Saoirse Charis-Graves also spoke in favor of gun control measures. The Golden council passed a resolution last October supporting efforts to close loopholes and improve background checks for gun purchases. Commission Chair Donald Rosier proposed the resolution “in support of the Second Amendment” at a staff briefing a week prior. At the Jan. 5 meeting the res-
olution was placed on the regular County Commissioner’s regular meeting business agenda. “I feel our constitutional rights, our personal liberties are on the verge of being eroded,” Rosier said as he introduced the resolution. District 2 Commissioner Casey Tighe presented his own version of the resolution at the meeting that instead asked legislators “to continue to work at finding reasonable solutions to reduce gun violence and advance public safety while supporting the Second Amendment.” “I felt the (Rosier) resolution indicated that we would support not having debate, and I think this is a conversation that we need to have,” Tighe said. “In no way did I intend that sentence to mean no discussion,”
Rosier said, before mentioning how President Obama’s own children enjoyed armed security, while supporting gun control laws. District 1 Commissioner Faye Griffin said she wanted to “mark out bits on one which I think should be added to the other,” adding that she appreciated Tighe’s attempt to come up with wording that would encourage dialogue. However, she later made the motion to accept Rosier’s version without any changes, which passed 2-1. In explaining her change of mind, Griffin said that in part it was the difficulty in defining what the “reasonable solutions” recommended by Tighe’s resolution would entail.
Golden Civic Foundation awards annual grants Checks to enhance the Golden community By Glenn Wallace
gwallace@ourcoloradonews.com The civic and cultural community of Golden glowed a little brighter last week after the Golden Civic Foundation handed out its annual grant awards. Representatives from the 35 recipient organizations, from the American Alpine Club to the Welchester Elementary School, attended the awards luncheon at the Golden Hotel on Feb. 4. Civic Foundation Chair David Anderson thanked the city’s business community, crediting the 23 businesses that helped sponsor the group’s annual fundraising gala in November that raised more than $75,000. “That’s a big leap in sponsors. In years past we’ve been down around 15,” Anderson said. And then it was time for the recipients to express their thanks to the foundation, and to give a brief description of how the money will better the community. Foothills Art Center Director Reilly Sanborn said last year’s grant allowed the center to bring in the world-famous Chihuly glass exhibit, resulting in a 700-percent boost to attendance. “All of that allowed us to bring in Degas this year,” Sanborn said, adding that the 2013 grant would go toward further upgrades to make the Foothills Art Center ready for such big art exhibits. Multiple tenants of the American Mountaineering Center received grants: the American Alpine Club Library to put their database online; a new computer for the American Mountaineering Museum; goodies including a hand cranked ice cream making machine for the Colorado Trail Foundation volunteers; field supplies and tents for the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative, and funding for the youth education program run by the POSTAL ADDRESS
Several recipient organizations that reside in the American Mountaineering Center (AMC) received grants last week from the Golden Civic Foundation. Standing beside the Civic Foundation plaque commemorating the founding of the AMC are grant recipient representatives, left to right, Bill Manning from the Colorado Trial Foundation, American Mountaineering Museum Director Shelby Arnold, Brenda Porter with the Colorado Mountain Club, and Digitization Archivist Elizabeth Surles with the American Alpine Club library. Photo by Glenn Wallace Colorado Mountain Club. Another large category of grants went toward education and local schools. “When I got here seven years ago, I was amazed that such an organization existed,” said Shelton Elementary Principal Peggy Griebenow, calling the community support incredible. Griebenow said her school would reinstitute their Junior Grade Books reading program back to the classrooms thanks to
the grant money. Mitchell Elementary Principal Samantha Hollman said her school would use the money to purchase iPads to help their language learners and special education students. “This is a great way through technology to touch those lives,” Hollman said. Golden Police and Fire departments also received grants, funding the annual National Night Out event in Parfet Park,
and a portable defibrillation kit. First-time grant recipients included the Outdoor Lab Foundation, which received financial help to keep the sixth-grade student program open and available to county students. The Golden Civic Foundation was founded in 1970, and has distributed more than $2.5 million to local organizations since then. A full list of this year’s grant recipients is available at www.goldencivicfoundation.org.
GOLDEN TRANSCRIPT (ISSN 0746-6382)
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