Isn’t that what elections are all about? We vote every time for some candidate, some law or some tax giving the government the power or money to do the things we want done. And we do it in the worst way —  mob rule by votes. Even with this year’s mostly mundane ballot I just received.

As seemingly always, this year’s ballot leads with something of utmost importance “for the children.” I put that in quotations for a reason. I’ve witnessed and experienced example after example and result after result of our public school leviathan being about anything but “the children” when the only thing public education should be about is a safe and clean environment for all children to be educated in the basics of actual education.

To put it plainly, our public schools have become pretty much about power and money. And for the unions and bureaucrats, there will never be enough of either. Which is why my votes are going with the two school board candidates who seem most dedicated to being good stewards of our tax dollars while trying to get the schools back to their original, stated — but not sure I believe the statement from back in the day given the direction of our schools, especially since the feds got involved with the Department of Education — mission of teaching the three R’s: CynDee Skalla and Barbara Evanson.

If the two folks backed by the union and progressive outside money get elected, expect more “normal” ballot measures guilting the citizens into bond after bond to build more monuments that won’t improve test scores and for curriculum that gets more “woke” by the day while denying our kids the basic education they deserve. For too many years, Mesa County School District 51 has run like the federal government on borrowed money, out of budget spending and creating a bad learning environment outside its limited mission. Voting more conservative members on the board would get us back on track. Or at least slow the train.

As for the county measures on the ballot, my ovals signal no, no, no and no. Do we really want one more term for the same jobs that gave us Tina Peters, an
$18 million assessed value of Mir-a-Lago or simply two more years of salary to folks who run for this office then another office for a living? So, no. As with everyone we elect, less is always more. Most of them do enough damage — with occasionally some good — while in office. Some who are even more talented continue to do damage even out of office. Like the aforementioned Peters. My question is, why are they even elected jobs in the first place? Unless it’s about power and control.  You’d think the county could just hire someone do these jobs properly without political affiliations — an impossibility since everything is political, especially setting taxes, voting, collecting taxes and whatever the surveyor does while looking over all the land the feds own out here.

A no vote keeps the revolving door moving as the roles of these bureaucrats against the people continue to grow.

As for the tube of Proposition HH the Democrats are looking to insert into law and the sin tax proposal funding education, my votes are no. Period. You do realize your state government can simply lower taxes without any ballot measures, don’t you? They must pass a ballot measure to raise taxes. So a basic understanding of why HH is on the ballot would conclude this is a tax increase (go back to the first part of this column to understand why an extra explanation is needed on HH). And Proposition II is about expanding the role of education in our state to give the state even longer control of our kids’ lives. So please vote no on these.

Lastly, let’s talk about the local Politburo also known as the Grand Junction City Council. It’s no surprise when those elected have the “I know better than you” in solving all ills related to government come up with this stuff. Problem is, there’s too much related to government. Let’s not make it more desirable to get elected by throwing money at winners. And certainly, vote no on a ballot measure our mayor pro tem calls a “no brainer” (insert smarter than you attitude here). If all the “community leaders” agree on something, chances are it’s for them, not you.

I have two more notes of irony left for this election cycle. First, I can’t find information on the city ballot measures using a Google search. I mean, I know what they are, but can’t remember the titles to include in my column since I already turned in my ballot. How is that possible? Second, pretty much all of these measures are linked somehow to education, which should tell you much of what you need to know about how government views its “education” role in our lives.

My votes simply reflect my belief government should go back to its 1787 limits. With the added bonus it will drive many of our “local leaders” crazy due to lack of microphones and cornerstones to pontificate from or put their names on.