NoCoPolitics.com

Municipal Micromanagement at Its Worst

Logo controversy?  Chickens?  That's nothing. 

Aurora decided that the best way to protect lifeguards at Aurora Reservoir from West Nile mosquito bites was to - get this - make them wear pants.  Lifeguards.. pants.

Controversy ensued, and finally this past week city officials rescinded their pants mandate:

"We're not going to require them to wear long pants anymore," said Jenna Baker, special projects coordinator for Aurora Parks and Recreation. "We found that there are equally effective ways to protect them from West Nile virus."

Really you figured out that making lifeguards wear pants was a bad idea?  And that "there are equally effective ways" to protect lifeguards from West Nile?

From the Department of Redundancies Department

Here's the sub-hed from a Denver Post story today: "Poll: "Election over" if Dem's lead in seven states holds"

Coming soon?  Maybe if the Broncos win their first game, we'll see a story entitled: "'Broncos win division' if lead in standings holds."

HealthCare Summit Wrap-up

The Northern Colorado Business Report has coverage of their HealthCare Summit yesterday.

Big Endorsement in Weld

Former Senator Hank Brown has endorsed Sean Conway for County Commissioner.

Enough, Already with the Bike to Work Preaching!

My column in Fort Collins Now this week recounts my epic experience with Bike to Work Day! on Wednesday:

I arrived in my office a bit sweaty.

And then, mid-afternoon, my wife called and asked me to pick up two gallons of milk on the way home.

Then it rained. Not “I hope I packed a rain jacket” rain. Big, angry, thunder-and-lightning rain that makes you acutely aware that you're cruising around on the back of a big piece of metal.

So much for “Bike to Work Day!” Mother Nature reminded new cyclists why biking to work isn't always practical. Oh, the irony.

The PR machine has been running full tilt this week, promoting bicycling. It's healthy! It's better for the environment! No kidding. Gee, I hadn't realized that. Thank goodness we have the city to let us in on these important insights...

I'm a closet bicycle-to-work guy. (I even own a zero-emission, carbon-neutral, self-powered lawnmower, so take that, lefties.) If I don't have any extra errands to run or meetings to attend, I'll often ride into work. But I'm getting a bit tired of being browbeat over and over again by the cycling nannies. Yes, we get it. Healthy. Carbon-neutral. Gotcha. If we didn't have the city to tell us, how would we ever have figured out that pedaling a bicycle burns more calories than pressing down on a gas pedal?

The reality is that cycling is often unrealistic for most of us. If I'm lucky, I'm on my bike one or two days a week. And I'm self employed. Most people can't show up at work sweaty. Most have errands to run during the work day. We have to drop off the dry cleaning, stop by the grocery store, or pick up the kids from soccer practice.

Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms

The Independence Institute's big Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Sporting Clay Shoot is this weekend.

Drew Carey on Protectionism

The Drew Carey Project on Reason.tv is a humorous look at issues from a libertarian perspective.

In the latest installment, Carey takes on the anti-NAFTA protectionist populism that this presidential campaign has produced.  I found the following quote to be particularly relevant to Fort Collins:

If we all in this valley had to live off just what we could produce for each other, one bad summer, we could have half the people die.  In a globalized economy, when things go bad in one country, you can trade with other countries for the sustenance of life.

Cap and Trade for Your Next Home

David Harsanyi calls the new Boulder limits on house size what they are: Cap and Trade. Home edition!

From the Daily Camera story:

The new rules, which will go into effect Aug. 8, will force anyone who wants to build a house larger than 6,000 square feet -- including basements, garages and storage areas -- to purchase extra "development credits" from smaller houses or vacant lots to do so. The idea is to offset huge homes with more modest houses and open land.

Here's Harsanyi's take:

The idea, much like cap and trade, would create artificial scarcity and then force people to trade for space thus saving the environment by capping growth. In a mid-sized city such as Boulder, the rich can easily overcome this problem and build massive houses while the poor and middle class … well, they can move elsewhere. But, as with many progressive, environmentally friendly, diverse, forward-looking neighborhoods around the country, Boulder is primarily white and quite rich (once you negate — and I mean this in the least violent way –the University of Colorado students).

The PC DNC

You've gotta love this lede in the Wall Street Journal:

DENVER -- As the Mile High City gears up to host a Democratic bash for 50,000, organizers are discovering the perils of trying to stage a political spectacle that's also politically correct.

Consider the fanny packs.

The host committee for the Democratic National Convention wanted 15,000 fanny packs for volunteers. But they had to be made of organic cotton. By unionized labor. In the USA.

Official merchandiser Bob DeMasse scoured the country. His weary conclusion: "That just doesn't exist."

Ditto for the baseball caps. "We have a union cap or an organic cap," Mr. DeMasse says. "But we don't have a union-organic offering."

Want more?

• The balloons must be biodegradable.

• There's a paid Official Carbon Adviser.

• The goal is to reduce/re-use/recycle 85% of everything.

• 900 volunteers will make sure you separate your recycling (and go through the trash to be sure).

• 70% locally-grown, organic food (and no fried food).

Now THIS is Interesting...

No coordinated campaign in Colorado for the Democrats?

Barack Obama's presidential campaign has told party operatives that it won't join the state's Democratic Coordinated Campaign, drawing angry criticism from some Colorado Democrats.

The coordinated campaign is the organization that traditionally pools state party resources for critical activities such as voter registration and getting voters to the polls, and the decision by the presumptive presidential nominee not to join is unusual.

Are Barack Obama volunteers going to be walking precincts for Barack Obama and not for the entire ticket?  If so, this could be devastating to down-ballot Democrats who might have been hoping for some long coattails (and some fired-up volunteers) in college towns like Fort Collins.  It would essentially pit the campaigns in competition with each other for the best volunteers.