Bob Kropfli: Gardner does not represent his constituents

The lengthy editorial in Sunday’s Camera on why Sen. Cory Gardner should resign was right on the money. However, it recommended something he’ll never do. We all know that. There is no way he’ll resign, so the next best thing would be his sound defeat in the 2020 election.

The point made in the editorial, along with many others, is how badly Gardner represents the people of Colorado regarding his overwhelming support of President Trump. That reason was quantified by Nate Silver, whose analysis compared how senators actually voted with how they would be expected to vote based on Trump’s statewide margin in the 2016 election.

Silver’s analysis showed that in comparison to all of his fellow senators, Gardner had the second worst record representing his constituents. Gardner voted with Trump 90% of the time in a state that voted against Trump by a 5-percentage-point margin. Voters should take note of that in the next election when one of Trump’s great enablers will run as the candidate with the best hair and the nicest smile as he tries to downplay his overall support of Donald Trump.

Bob Kropfli

Golden

Drew Eisenberg: We do not feel safe living in downtown Boulder

We simply no longer feel safe in downtown Boulder. My wife and I live downtown near Boulder High School and have witnessed the steady increase in crime and homelessness. Over the past four months, I have had to call the police more than 20 times for people breaking into our building, stealing bikes and property, damaging our cars, shooting up in our building’s garage, defecating on our property, and tagging our building. In previous years, we would have an incident once every two months; this year, it has been once a week. As our firsthand experience demonstrates, this is a quickly growing problem and our city must act.

I believe that safety needs to be a central issue of the City Council. Let’s go back to the basics of what a government’s priorities should be: We need to have a safe environment where we can live. I have not seen this adequately addressed by the current candidates or by current members of Council. We love where we live, but we will be forced to move away from downtown if we can’t feel safe.

I feel compassion for the truly homeless who need and accept our help. However, some of the homeless and transients appear to be the source of crime. I understand that all people have the right to use public spaces, but we also have a right to feel safe where we live. We can’t sacrifice safety so that a few dozen people can abuse our public spaces. Council and our citizens have chosen to ignore these people, but this continual avoidance has caused the issue to grow. Let’s talk about this problem and come up with solutions to make Boulder a family-friendly downtown where we can all feel safe again.

Drew Eisenberg

Boulder

Tim Hogan: Loss of wild nature an ongoing cause of grief in Boulder

I must say I was taken aback by Mark Gelband’s recent screed on these pages (“I was taught to share,” Oct. 19) marked by vitriol and ad hominem attacks upon Council members and the writer of a previous op-ed who had the temerity to speak of population pressures and other growth limits. Gelband implicates a substantial portion of Boulder’s citizens, those who live in modest homes on modest incomes, have supported initiatives over the years making Boulder the city it is, and are as aghast as anyone with the flagrant wealth that has invaded our once fair town over the past decade or more.

I’m afraid we are reaping what we have sown, cascading toward a population of 10 billion people on a world best served by a population a quarter of that number. Is it any wonder the specter of a city twice our size is being looked at with dismay? That the loss of wild nature is an ongoing cause of crushing grief? That the mark of an environmentalist has come to be equated by some with well managed trails at the expense of habitat preservation for the more-than-human-world?

The boundaries of sharing need not be limited to strictly human priorities. Boulder has a storied culture of supporting wildlands not only for people but also for nature’s intrinsic value, a fragile legacy necessitating our constant vigilance. We ignore this beneficence at our peril.

Tim Hogan

Boulder

Tali Maximon, Annie Riedel, Tean Brooks and Izzy Roszel: Environmental crisis is students’ top priority

As the Senate election approaches, students who are not able to vote would like to do their part in politics. We would like to share that the current environmental crisis is of top priority, as our future is at stake. In order to inform those able to vote, we would encourage votes for candidates who support the Green New Deal and who vow to preserve the environment through government policy.

In recent developments, it has become clear that John Hickenlooper is not a climate advocate nor friend. Although he has had countless opportunities to support the Green New Deal, he still has yet to do so. And even more so he has called it too ambitious and claimed that it was “setting us up for failure.” As students who support climate justice, we would encourage a vote with research behind it. We are not asking you to give up meat, nor are we asking you to sell your car. All we are asking for is an informed and thoughtful vote, that takes into account the future of younger generations.

Tali Maximon, Annie Riedel, Tean Brooks and Izzy Roszel

Boulder

The Daily Camera welcomes letters to the editor and guest opinions from readers. Read our guidelines, and send submissions to openforum@dailycamera.com.