Wadsworth, a Democrat, has lived in Chaffee County since 1988.
She said she has a background in community involvement including leadership roles in business, government and nonprofit organizations.

“Community participation has always been important to me – that’s how I was raised. My parents understood and promoted giving back to the community,” Wadsworth said.
She studied law enforcement at Trinidad Junior College and graduated from Colorado Law Enforcement Training Academy. And she has a bachelor of arts degree in parks and recreation administration from Central Michigan University

Wadsworth serves on the Chaffee County Planning Commission, Salida Middle School Accountability Committee, Salida Cyclones directors and Southeastern Colorado Aquatic League Board of Directors.
She works with Salida Middle School reading program and coaches local youths through Option 23 Ski and Snowboard Club which she founded.

Wadsworth has worked as a raft guide, ski instructor, river ranger in the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area, level 1 park manager at Mueller State Park near Woodland Park and executive director of Greater Arkansas River Nature Association.

As a business woman, Wadsworth owns and manages Incite Consulting. She has worked for clients ranging from the Governor’s Energy Office and Trout Unlimited to Boys and Girls Clubs of Chaffee County and Salida School District R-32-J.

“My public and private business experiences, along with active community participation, have taught me we have much to be proud of in Chaffee County,” Wadsworth said.
“I intend for my campaign to be a celebration of Chaffee County as well as a thoughtful dialogue about how to work together to ensure a practical, reasonable and successful future.”

Last week, I was in a debate on money in politics. A friend asked how someone could take the other side. “What do they say?”

“They say it is a freedom issue,” I told him. “I worked hard and made money, and I should be able to spend it how I want. If I support a candidate who will be good for my values and my business, why should the government tell me that I can only give that candidate $2000?”

It got me thinking. Those who favor limits on campaign spending need to acknowledge that there is another side. We are reducing the freedom of those who want to spend more. This doesn’t resolve the issue though. We limit freedom when there is another value we want to protect. You can’t drive through a red light. You have to pay taxes. You may be drafted during a time of war. In most states, gay people can’t get married.

So what is the value that we are protecting when we say there should be limits on campaign spending?

It is political equality. The democratic theory is that each citizen should have roughly the same say in how the country is run. It is what Jefferson meant when he wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal….”

Then the question arises whether this equality is sufficient to interfere with someone’s freedom.

It is a good question. Not everyone would answer it in the same way. The Supreme Court seems to split 5-4 when it comes up.

How would you decide this? In 1776 when Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, we were a ruled by a King. This idea that “men were created equal” was considered absurd in most of the world. Political equality was revolutionary. But it motivated men to die at Bunker Hill, Valley Forge, and Yorktown.

You may have heard that “your freedom to swing your arm stops at the end of my nose.” That means that your freedom exists so long as it doesn’t harm me.

Does it harm me when a billionaire or a billion dollar corporation spends extravagantly on political campaigns?

Well, yes it does. It takes away my proportional political equality. It means that the billionaire gets more than his share of political power, and I get less.

This is why we started CleanSlateNow.org to support candidates who don’t take special interest campaign contributions. With the horribly mistaken decisions by the Supreme Court saying that “money is speech” and that “corporations and unions are people,” supporting candidates who refuse to be influenced by big money contributions is the way to fight for democracy.

As a candidate in eight elections I saw how obsessed candidates are with money. I saw the lengths they would go to please big contributors. However, there are a few courageous candidates who refuse to be influenced by the money.

On our website is a list of those candidates. Please forward this to your list. And if you get this forwarded to you, please forward this again, to create an un-ending chain of forwarding that will help change the world…

If you get this sent to you, go to our website and sign up for email updates regarding the candidates who don’t take special interest money.

In terms of taking action for democracy, forwarding an email is easier than fighting a revolution. Given the power of the internet to assist in communication and organizing, it may end up being as effective.

Thanks for your help.

Ken Gordon

http://www.cleanslatenow.org/

About this time last year, I called on my colleagues in Congress to set aside our political differences and sit together – instead of divided by party – during the president’s State of the Union Address. For one night of civility, Members of Congress broke over a century of partisan tradition to make a symbolic gesture of national unity.

The movement is catching on, and lawmakers are committing to sit together with a member of the opposite party in even greater numbers than last year. But – in addition to making bipartisan seating a permanent tradition – I’m expanding my request.

In the 24 hours leading up to the State of the Union Address, I’m calling on my colleagues to propose constructive solutions instead of launching political attacks.

Help me. Let Congress know that civility and bipartisanship should not be limited to one night per year – “24 hours of civility” is a good start.

I can tell you that a lot of the things I’m most proud of accomplishing last year would not have been possible without bipartisan support – permanently banning earmarks; bringing a balanced budget amendment to the Senate floor for a vote; and spurring job growth in our mountain communities, to name just a few. We pulled it off by working across the political aisle to pass legislation, not on taking potshots at the opposition.

Congress’s approval rating is at 13 percent right now. That’s a pretty strong signal to me that the American people are fed up with the hyper-partisanship that has hog-tied the legislative process – they want results. And bipartisanship is the vehicle to get us there.

Working together is the way we do things in the West, and that’s how I work in Washington, D.C. It’s time for Congress to follow Colorado’s lead, collaborate even where we have differences and lead by example.

I hope you will join me in calling for 24 hours of civility.

Warm regards,
Mark Udall

Being a cutting edge community web site on the front line of international politics, we receive a lot of information from geopolitical think tanks, Washington insiders and intellectual type people seeking The Citizen’s consult. As humble guardians of small town liberty and community happenings we are reaching out to the brilliant minds of the Ark River Valley to gather thoughts on the circus that is American politics today.

Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve been thinking about politicians recently and noticed some coverage on the GOP debates. Then, while visiting the hamlet of Colorado Springs yesterday I stumbled into a hornet’s nest of opinionated military men in a small downtown store. The walls were littered with bumper stickers and t-shirts promoting libertarian and far right candidates and issues. As I sought out change for the parking meter, I tried to avoid the temptation to “get into it” with these burly westerners. But, because my wife wasn’t there I couldn’t help do a little fishing: “howdy boys, nice store. The damn system just seems broke-ed, eh?” (I don’t know where my pseudo hillbilly slang comes from when I’m with fringe characters. With dirty hippies I quote Joni Mitchell. I blame my parents).

We got a live one Jimmy.

Looking at a bumper sticker that said “Peace Through Superior Firepower,” I waited. All looked to the man holding court behind the counter as he checked a text in the phone holster attached to his belt. Looking up slowly he finally said “Ron Paul man are ya?” The games had begun. Quoting my favorite Doug Greenism I said “it’s hard knowin not known eh?”

Arms crossed, the men squinted at me in unison as I quietly looked at the flag-adorned walls. They wanted easy prey. I just wanted a burrito around the corner. Then, walking to the front of the store and looking through the blinds one of the guys in a tight t-shirt said “Obama is runnin a damn welfare state and driving American liberties into the ground.” I gave them nothing. It was like hiding a ball from a labrador. I said, “whelp, things are pretty messed up in this world, and ya gotta wonder if he’s made it worse, or saved our sorry asses. It’s all so damn complicated, we’ll probably never know.” I fought the temptation to spit, and thinking of my wife’s elbow I didn’t mention “banks,” “the gold standard” or “military industrial complex.”

Let me be clear, I’m a lover of freedom and I admired these guys. Sheep maybe, ditto heads perhaps, they understand that you have to take a stand for what you believe in. Opening a store to express your opinions requires a big effort and makes a tavern smack talker look like a part time patriot. So, remembering the importance of seeking common ground I said “I suppose most people just wanna make a buck, maybe that’s the problem. We just gotta look after each other in this (crazy ass) world (shit).”

Nods all around.

After the standard friendly chatter about Salida and the sunny day, the c.o. announced that he also had some pro Obama stuff for sale. I passed, but took my change.

Things will move quickly as the GOP grudge match rolls forward, so if you have some thoughts as we wrap up the SC debates, let us know. If you want to write more than a few hundred words, have your own op-ed, or simply want to ask the community a question, let us know so we can post it: salidacitizen@gmail.com. Obama supposedly has a billion dollars in his war chest, Wisconsin has over a million signatures for throwing out Walker, and Bennet and Udall are apparently against SOPA. Politics, take it where you will Salida.

—bd

In a recent Gallup Poll, 76% of those polled thought that most members of Congress should be replaced. However, only 39% thought that their own member of Congress should be replaced.

This wasn’t the first time I had heard a statistic like this, but it started the wheels turning in my head, because somewhere on the edge of my consciousness it occurred to me that this isn’t just an amusing factoid..It might actually be the key to why Congress is able to maintain itself year after year in a dysfunctional state.

Why would someone’s own Congressperson get this 37% edge?  This was my stream of consciousness struggle with the answer.  Congress is an institution.  It is big, powerful and inaccessible.  It rarely gets anything useful done and, if it is responsive at all, it is responsive to wealthy contributors or ideologues at the far ends of the political spectrum.  It is not surprising that its approval numbers are abysmal.

However, your Congressperson is not an institution.  He or she is a human being (I mean they are probably a human being; they look like one anyway). And they are a powerful human being.  They are in the newspaper and on television.  When they speak, they usually say something that sounds good.  In fact, they have people who work for them whose job it is to come up with things to say that sound good.

So, here is a powerful person, who in their public statements—and these are the only statements you get to hear—sounds like they are on your side.  It can’t be their fault that Congress doesn’t work.  It must be all the others.

I’m thinking that there may be some transference here. (Transference is “the inappropriate repetition in the present of a relationship that was important in a person’s childhood”).  Perhaps our Congressperson is a semi-benevolent mother or father figure, who inspires some unjustified positive feelings.

So, we take an objective view of Congress as a whole.  We realize that Congress doesn’t work for us (76% of us do), and want to replace it. And yet, we take a subjective view of our own Congressperson, who we fondly think of as a someone with whom we have a human connection and is on our side.

PEOPLE, THIS ISN’T POSSIBLE.  IT IS NOT POSSIBLE THAT EACH INDIVIDUAL CONGRESSPERSON IS ON OUR SIDE AND YET WHEN THEY ALL GET TOGETHER THEY DON’T WORK FOR US.  SOMETHING DOESN’T ADD UP.

The problem is there is no way to vote against Congress.  You can only vote for or against your own Congressperson.

At CleanSlateNow.org, we feel that there is a key difference between Congress people who take special interest money and those who decide not to.  This is why we are compiling a list of who does and does not take this money.

However, it happens to be the case that most of Congress finances their campaigns from interests other than their constituents, creating a conflict of interest.

If we want to change Congress, we are going to have to come to terms with the probability that even our own Congressperson is part of the problem.

I raise this for discussion. What do you think?  I encourage you to make comments or ask questions on the blog.

Please feel free to forward this email to your list or republish in any other format.  Liking us on Facebookhelps and if you know people who would like to get our emails, have them sign up on theCleanSlateNow.org website or just send us their email addresses.

Sincerely,

Ken Gordon
http://www.cleanslatenow.org/

A growing body of evidence suggests that the meritocratic ideal is in trouble in America. Income inequality is growing to levels not seen since the (first) Gilded Age. But social mobility is not increasing at anything like the same pace….Everywhere you look in modern America – in the Hollywood Hills or the canyons of Wall Street, in the Nashville recording studios or the clapboard houses of Cambridge, Massachusetts  – you see elites mastering the art of perpetuating themselves.  America is increasingly looking like imperial Britain, with dynastic ties proliferating, social circles interlocking, mechanisms of social exclusion strengthening, and a gap widening between the people who make decisions and shape the culture and the vast majority of working stiffs.

Click to comment.

On Nov.1, voters in 72 cities and towns will be going to the polls across the state. Elections will be held for candidates (like mayor and city council) and on ballot questions, like tax increases. Four cities have cancelled their regularly scheduled elections: Dacono, Fort Morgan, Las Animas, and Wray.

Based upon data collected by the Colorado Municipal League (CML) from reporting municipal clerks, this election cycle will cost $1.5 million. It should be noted that half of this total comes from Denver (whose election costs will be partially reimbursed by Denver Public Schools).

Debt

Several cities will ask voters to approve various debt questions: Aurora ($114 million for community recreation centers); Boulder ($49 million for various capital improvements); Bow Mar ($3.2 million for street paving); Canon City ($5.1 million for library improvements); and Durango ($4 million for a purchase of water shares).

Medical Marijuana

There are proposed taxes on medical marijuana products in Breckenridge, Brush, Commerce City, Frisco, and Palisade. Six cities and towns have questions on the ballot concerning whether or not to allow the sale of the product: Brush, Fort Collins, Oak Creek, Palisade, Steamboat Springs, and Yampa

Tax Increases

There are a number of municipalities with a variety of tax increases on the ballot. There will be sales tax increases in Avon (transit), Canon City (library improvements), Oak Creek (police), and Nucla (emergency medical care). Fort Lupton wants to continue an expiring sales tax for street improvements.

There will be property tax increases proposed in Aurora (connected with the city’s debt question), Bow Mar, Silver Cliff, and Walsenburg.

Lodging or short term rental tax proposals for marketing and tourism promotion will occur in Brighton, Eagle, and Sterling.

Voters within the Steamboat Springs local marketing district will consider whether to raise taxes to support commercial air service at the Hayden airport.

Boulder voters will consider an increase in that city’s utility occupation tax.

Other measures

Boulder voters will consider whether to establish a municipal electric system. Colorado has 29 such gas and/or electric systems in the state currently. In Longmont, voters will face a question dealing with municipal broadband entry. Pueblo voters will decide whether to award an electric franchise to San Isabel Electric.

Term limit questions are up in Fort Lupton (extend them) and in Platteville (abolish them).

Allowing cities and towns to publish ordinances or other legal information by title only or on a municipal web site will be considered in Brighton, Castle Pines, Lafayette, Lamar, Monte Vista, Oak Creek, and Platteville.

Mandatory sick leave on various employers will be considered in Denver. A corporate personhood measure will be before Boulder’s voters.

Whether to appoint, rather than elect, the clerk and the treasurer is up in Castle Pines.

Lafayette voters will consider whether or not to establish a youth advisory board.

Loveland voters will consider a TABOR-related 12-year revenue retention measure.

Englewood voters will consider a measure spelling out how certain motor vehicles are to be regulated on private property.

CML is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization established in 1923 and represents the interests of 265 cities and towns. For more information on the Colorado Municipal League, or to view the report, please visit www.cml.org or call 303-831-6411.

In tiny Villa Grove a handful of diverse citizens are singing loud and clear. From, roughly, noon to 4:00 PM Sundays a gathering is scheduled at the Villa Grove Park, on the east-side of urban Villa Grove.

See You Out There!
Jim Williams, 719-221-3306

How does the global “Occupy Movement” translate to Salida, Chaffee County and other rural communities? Additionally, do you feel there is a possibility we will see a fusion between The Tea Party and the Occupy movement? —a better “Occupy” mission list can be found here.

A broad spectrum of political views is appreciated, so please pass on to your lefty and righty friends. Keep this Penguin image in mind as you write your comment below, and consider that your words may be read by our youth.

-Cit Team

DENVER— Monday, the Reapportionment Commission approved new Colorado House and Senate district maps. If the maps are approved by the Colorado Supreme Court, candidates will run for office in the new districts in the 2012 election. New map boundaries will be operative for the 2012 election cycle, but Coloradans will continue to be represented by their current legislator until the 2012 victors are sworn in January of 2013.

In the reapportionment map pending court approval, Senate District 5, currently held by Senator Gail Schwartz (D-Snowmass), will add Eagle and Lake counties and lose the six-counties of the San Luis Valley (Saguache, Mineral, Rio Grande, Alamosa, Conejos & Costilla).

Senator Schwartz offered the following comment on her new senate district, approved yesterday by the Commission:

“These changes to my district are bittersweet – I will truly miss representing the San Luis Valley given the relationships that have developed over the past six years, but I welcome the chance to represent Eagle and Lake counties and look forward to getting to know new constituents and their issues.”

To view the maps, please visit the Reapportionment Commission website: www.Colorado.gov/Reapportionment

Senator Schwartz made the following comments in her testimony before the PUC today:

“Traditional telephone and television networks have been re-purposed to deliver broadband services (i.e. DSL, Cable Modems).  However, going forward telephone and television service is simply becoming just another application that is delivered by broadband (i.e. VoIP, IPTV).

“Broadband service has evolved to become a utility of universal necessity.  This need is driven by advances in the applications and services that are delivered through broadband connectivity and the way that people now use them in business and conducting their daily lives.

“Policies should be considered that encourage universal access to the same levels of broadband service statewide and eliminate inequity of price and availability among regions with varying population density and economic capability.  Such approaches will ensure that future economic opportunity is available to everyone, everywhere throughout Colorado.”