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County voters choose wisely

Don Rogers

Eagle County is looking ever more blue. The county’s voters Tuesday expressed strong support for Referendum C and even D. They also approved of seeing if a commission can write a county charter that’s better than the state-imposed rules governing how the county is run.The latter is a big victory for Eagle County Commissioner Peter Runyon, a Democrat who ran a year ago in part on the need to expand the number of commissioners from three to five.The big lasting issue of this year’s election was Ref C, which asked to suspend returning tax surpluses for five years to help the state more fully recover from recession. A quirk of TABOR, the amendment limiting tax increases, needed fixing and the voters thankfully recognized that.Eagle County’s public schools will not have to cut 3-5 percent from next year’s budget. State college tuitions won’t have to soar. State parks won’t close. The indigent and elderly will get better care. The public investment will make Colorado a better state all around. And no, despite the current wailing and gnashing of teeth among the most conservative ideologues, TABOR itself was not killed. Sadly, though, their hyperbole will no doubt survive. Similarly, don’t expect the wailing over the imagined sins of home rule to slow down a bit among the deep red crowd in Eagle County. But we’ll take comfort in knowing that the county’s voters chose wisely in this election.Vail, Colorado


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