The skies over Colorado have been smoky all week because of the wildfires.

Burning along the Western Slope, and hazy is also a way to discuss the future financial situation within Colorado.

Amidst pending tariffs with our state's two biggest trading partners.

And as we get ready for this week's show, lawmakers in Washington are following, along with a white House request to cancel $9 billion for foreign aid and public broadcasting funding that had already been approved.

Our Colorado senators, Bennet and Hickenlooper, both voted in favor of maintaining funding for public media.

To quote our boss here at PBS, 12, this is a challenge, but the mission is greater than the challenge.

And so our mission continues to bring you thoughtful discussion of all that is happening in Colorado.

Here on this week's Colorado Inside Out.

Hi, everyone, I'm Kyle Dyer.

Let me get right to introducing you to this week's insider panel.

We start with Patty Calhoun, founder and editor of Westward Penfield Tate, Denver attorney and community leader who served in both the Senate and the House of the Colorado Legislature.

Amber McReynolds, national election administration expert and former Director of Elections for the City and County of Denver.

And Carly West, the newly named executive director of American Petroleum Institute in Colorado.

Colorado's population growth is slowing down quite a bit.

Net migration for our state is down 52% since 2015.

There's an even bigger drop when you look at metro Denver.

This, according to a report from the Common Sense Institute, now, is the cost of living a big reason for that?

You might think so when you look at the results from another poll that was released this week from the Colorado Health Foundation that says, aside from politics, Coloradans are most worried about the high cost of living and housing affordability.

And then Patty, in just a couple of weeks, the tariffs are scheduled to begin with Canada, Mexico, our state's two biggest trading partners.

The most interesting thing about that poll was that people don't trust politicians, that they thought politicians were the biggest problem.

So this is from polls for Colorado Health Association polling.

Everyone around the country is worried about affordability and the cost of living.

It's acute here, especially if you're trying to find housing.

But when you look at the fact that all of a sudden our politics is what concerns people the most, it must.

I think it's because they're blaming the politicians for not dealing with the problems with cost of living, not getting the tariffs in hand, not dealing with Washington, D.C. but that was really startling that they had jumped.

That item jumped to the top.

You know, ten years ago, people would have been dancing in the streets of Denver to hear that fewer transplants were coming because we have traffic, we have the traffic going to the mountains.

You've got the traffic going downtown.

We needed a breather to kind of catch up.

We still have yet the younger generation.

It's still like number two to come here.

The state demographer had warned about this a long time ago, two years ago.

So this is nothing new and surprising, but we need to deal with it.

Okay, then.

You know, the two topics are interconnected.

When when Patty talks about the polling and people don't trust politicians, what people really want in their lives is certainty.

The underlying problem with the whole tariff war is nobody knows the objective of the war.

Who's the enemy, who are friends and where we're supposed to end up.

We're in a situation now Colorado, Illinois, New York.

A number of states are trying to evaluate what's going to happen with their budgets because they have such trading, robust trading relationships with Canada and Mexico, who are now the bull's eye of the president.

And it's going to be ironic because in Colorado, who's going to get targeted is the ag community because they're the ones who really rely on the trade surplus we have in terms of dealing with those states, in terms of the population growth.

I think it's kind of funny because for several years, I believe Colorado has been what I call a churned state.

That is young people come here, stay for a year or two, get some experience, work a job and then leave, and they're replaced by other young people.

The difference now is that when these young people are leaving, they're not being replaced by as many young people coming in.

And I don't know if that's a good or bad thing.

Amber half of the state's population of, of voters now are unaffiliated.

And I think that further demonstrates the frustration that was shown in the poll about the Partizan politicians, because that's who's in charge at the state legislature.

And it all branches.

Is Partizan either one member of one of the the private party clubs.

And I think that voters now at record numbers and that not only here but nationally kind of demonstrating that they don't approve of that makeup is is to me, coming through in that poll.

The second issue, as someone who is raising children and middle school age children, affordability is definitely really important.

And I think that the that that's an important aspect of why people aren't moving here, but also education, livability.

It is it is really hard to drive across this town right now with children and multiple activities and the quality of life associated with that is really difficult for parents.

And I think that that is a factor that people are weighing when they're when they're thinking about moving here.

Okay.

Carly, you know, when we talk about tariffs and the cost impacts from that that are really out of our hands here in Colorado, there are a lot of things that are firmly within our ability to change for good or for bad.

When I think about affordability, energy costs is a huge part of that.

It impacts every family, every business.

And it's not just the bill you're paying, it's the cost of all of your goods and services.

And down the line.

So it's really core.

And there are a lot of things that we have done as a state that has dramatically increased the cost of energy here over the past 15 years, 150 statewide mandates that have made requirements that all add up to additional costs.

The state's own modeling shows that we expect electricity prices to grow three times the rate of inflation.

So while there's a lot of things that are out of our hands, there's a lot of things that are firmly within our ability to change.

And on some of those affordability issues, we like to talk about them a lot, but we need to be looking in the mirror.

Okay.

All right.

You know, with all of the financial concerns out there, state Representative Tammy Story of conifer called Governor Jared Polis tone deaf this week in regards to his plan for an expensive pedestrian bridge outside of the state capitol.

To mark Colorado's 150th birthday next year.

She's not the only one against this project.

And so this week, the governor is asking all of us to tell him what we think by filling out an online form regarding the proposed 150 pedestrian walkway.

I'd like each of you to answer the questions.

I don't know if you've done so on online yet.

Okay, so I'm that there are only four questions.

The first one being, Should Colorado proceed with the proposed 150th anniversary walkway at the state Capitol complex in Denver?

Yes or no?

No.

And remember, this isn't an essay test.

Yes or no?

Yes.

Okay.

No, no.

Okay.

If Colorado does not proceed with the walkway, would you like to see a major 150th anniversary project in Denver be smaller?

Several smaller scale anniversary projects in different parts of our state, or see no anniversary project at all.

Patty.

Be okay.

Be small projects around the state.

Be and I would can I add one that's happening already that there's no cost to taxpayers for.

And that is next year there's going to be an anniversary, a 150 anniversary stamp released by the United States Postal Service, and the ceremony will happen here.

There'll be a big and it's going to be actually, from artwork from a Colorado artist.

Okay.

And Carly B and I'm so excited to hear about the stamp.

Yeah.

If Colorado does proceed with the walkway, would you like to see a the full walkway built as planned?

B the walkway scaled back to a similar project.

If you can't say no, I'll say B okay, scale it back okay.

Be okay.

Be all right.

And then the last question that's on the poll to 2026 is right around the corner.

Are you more excited about a Colorado's 150th be the US's 250th birthday, or C both A0C both okay.

C both both.

Okay.

So when you've worked in this building, what are your thoughts on this project?

What do you think it's going to go?

You know I was surprised the governor decided to do a public poll to give him guidance on whether to do the project, since it's been out there spinning around for so long, particularly when I think historic Denver and the Capitol Hill neighbors and a number of other constituencies have opposed it.

But here's the bottom line if the press reports are accurate, five of the six members of the Capitol Development Committee are opposed.

It's dead in the water, I wonder how many people are actually going to use it.

Are there really going to be a lot of kids down there being able to see this and celebrate this and, and, and what have you.

And so I would prefer projects that maybe don't cost as much money, but could be celebrated statewide and really give direct access to all of Coloradans, not just those that have a chance to come down to the state Capitol or be in that area.

Because I just question how many people around Colorado actually come there and how often.

So I started working in the state Capitol building when I was an intern more years ago than I'm going to actually name here.

But one of the things that I've always loved about being in the Capitol building is the view from the west steps across the lawn that the city and county building with the mountains in the background.

It is just a truly iconic Colorado image, and I just have a hard time being a little bit old school, wrapping my head around, having that view be different in a substantial way.

And Patty, well, that's true because it was designed as The City Beautiful by Robert Spears.

So it's a beautiful vista.

This would not contribute to making it more beautiful.

But I like the fact that Polis by proposing this has actually connected the state in its hatred of it.

And I think that's good going into the next year, Colorado has something to celebrate 150th year of statehood, that we can maybe come together as a state when the country is so divided, I can't even imagine, besides the stamp, what will happen in the 250th year for this country, but in this state, I think we can replace this with something that truly would connect people, bring them together.

So good for the governor.

So far, he has brought people together just in opposing this.

Okay.

And everybody, you have until midnight on Monday, this coming Monday to submit the form.

It's C0 150 walkway.com.

So while a lot of attention is on August 1st of next year, Colorado's birthday, June the 30th will also be an important day here in Colorado next summer.

That is going to be primary day for the midterms.

And this week we've seen some more people jump into races, including state senator Jesse Danielson, who's running for secretary of state.

And she says, for one thing, she wants to stand up for patriotic election workers.

And, Amber, there are currently election workers in Archuleta County who don't have an office currently because their office, the clerk's office in our county was firebombed.

Yeah, that news came out.

And then another news story actually came out yesterday with more impacts, all tied to a lot of the misinformation and disinformation that we've talked about before on this program, but that are that are plaguing election officials.

There's there so much, information and distrust in the election process that has occurred over the last five years.

And that is having a negative impact on these incredible election officials that work across the state.

And I want to just make a point first, I hope, I hope the Archuleta office gets repaired quickly and they're back and they're back up and running.

But I want to make a note in particular about the strength of the Colorado Clerks Association.

They demonstrate and, you know, a lot of people, when a lot of these news stories come out, you see members of both parties from both sides of the clerks saying the same thing, which is that election administration needs to be nonpartisan or cross Partizan.

It needs to be free from disinformation and Partizan meddling.

You see this consistently.

And that really, I think, demonstrates the incredible leadership of the Colorado Clerks Association and all of the clerks statewide in their commitment to a healthy democracy.

And this idea of cross Partizan collaboration, which to me is another example of why Colorado leads.

Okay, Carla, your thoughts on this busy election related week?

You know, whenever we think about primaries, I can't help but think about how many of Colorado's primaries, especially in our legislative races, are truly the election that the estimate is about 83% of our seats are safe for one party or the other.

And that really the true election happens in that primary and really how critical those are.

So for me, every time it raises the question of is the system that we have resulting in a legislative body that does or doesn't reflect the population of Colorado.

We know that primaries, despite great work that folks have done, that Amber, is done around making sure that every coloradan who wants to participate in the primary is able to do so.

We still see really low numbers in those, and it skews who wins those in excuse our representation.

So I think it's just important that we keep thinking about if that is the system that we think best really, represents our Colorado electorate.

It's going to be wild next June.

Let's remember the the people who don't trust the politicians.

I don't think it's necessarily their county, their county commissioners or the people on the school board or individual representatives.

It's parties in this state who are pretty much fix getting the fix in with the primary.

You don't have to wait till November.

You know who's going to win with that primary.

And all too often with the Republicans, it's been the worst candidate possible for giving the Democrats a run for their money in just in November.

Makes it so.

Let's remember the clerks are doing an unbelievable job that our election system does work.

It is, I think, deserving of being called the gold standard.

The problem is sometimes who's on the ballot both for the primary and then in November, because of the way the parties are running.

So that's all things we have to think about.

So far, though, I'm I'm enthusiastic over how many people are getting involved.

I think there are seven Democrats now going up against Gabe, Gabe Evans, Lauren Boebert, who just called for a special counsel on Jeffrey Epstein.

She might get some votes that way.

She's got competition.

It's going to be a wild election season.

And a lot of women running in this in this is going to be great.

And your vote will count.

Yes, it well, ten you know we have a lot of issues but but one thing that we have to keep track of and remember is we're sort of the gold standard where democratically elected republic form of government and it has worked.

That being said, something that was created 250 years ago may not be the right formula and the right way to go about running elections.

250 years later, the country has changed a lot.

The demographic, the patterns of where people live have changed significantly.

And maybe it's time to rethink how we run and manage elections.

But, you know, to Carly's point, yeah, the parties are an issue here.

And you often see people get a nomination who, you know, have no chance of winning the general election.

And if they win the primary, the election is the primary.

Yeah.

So, Amber, I have to ask you, since you're a big proponent of ranked choice voting, the Denver City Council is toying with this idea to bringing that to Denver's municipal elections.

given that Denver has a budget deficit, given that we also experienced things like voter fatigue, turnout in the municipal cycle is pretty low.

And then runoff, it usually trails off.

You know, some of these proposals are really important in saving the city money.

Every election, Denver runs about $3 million, sometimes more.

So given the budget crisis, I think these are the important policy discussions that Denver should certainly be looking at.

Hopefully Colorado Springs, you know, starts to look at these options, too.

The other thing, and Amber is the expert at this, so I probably have to ask her, but it's my understanding to places like New York and other large metropolitan areas already have ranked choice voting.

But to Carly's point, the polarization in our country is an issue, and it seems to me ranked choice voting is a way to moderate the impact of that because you can vote for your favorite, your second, your third, whatever, and you get a different set of I think you get a different set of candidates running, but I certainly think you get a different set of people winning elections with ranked choice.

But when you say it isn't necessarily winning, it's you're changing the politics.

So like you as a candidate, if you know that someone's putting someone else first, you're going to say, well, you know what?

I'd really like you to put me second and here's why.

And here's all the reasons from a policy perspective.

And so the conversation that politicians have with voters is different in that kind of election, because it's not 1 to 1 anymore.

You're actually you want people to put you second or third if they're if you're not the first choice.

And so it actually creates a more collaborative political environment.

And that's really the the biggest impact.

And it gives people more choice.

Many of the election measures we vote on decide how much, programs get paid, where our resources go, where they should be focused.

This week, members, the Denver City Council are in the process of selecting and excluding certain projects.

And Mayor Johnson's proposed, bond package.

And the council has to give the okay for vibrant Denver for this bond issue to make it before voters.

Carly, I will start with you.

So as I look at that bond measure, what I keep thinking about is the fact that, it's full of a lot of nice to have, but Denver really needs to be thinking about our have to have we need to be thinking about revenue and solving the fundamental challenge that we are having around the city budget.

And I don't think that we start solving that until we really address downtown vacancy rates in our commercial space hovering around 40%.

And what it takes for companies and workers to want to be downtown, to be visiting those restaurants, to be out on the street and to make an inviting space for all of those visitors who are coming to our convention center.

And so while I'll let others debate the, the good projects and the less exciting projects on the list of the nice to have, I really just want to make sure that we continue to double down on the focus on the have to have, which is a safe, inviting downtown that people want to be in, workers and visitors included.

That's a thought, Patty.

I just did a second round on my suggestions for bringing back downtown where I was Wednesday night.

If you haven't been downtown, go go to Union Station.

Sit on the patio.

The place looks great and the convention?

We're having a record year for conventions, people coming in, people dropping some money if they can figure out where to do it like bombshells is up until 2 a.m..

I just noticed the, kind of the military hooters.

But we have big issues in this town.

And I think one of the problems is how vibrant Denver was proposed.

Council people aren't happy.

It's just like the affordability proposal before.

They don't think this really listens to them and their neighborhoods.

I also think we're going to have very upset constituents who are looking at the sidewalk fee and the parking fees and the trash fees, and I'm looking at even if this isn't supposed to come out of their budget, it's going to affect their bottom line.

Were you out to two in the morning at this at bombshells?

I was not, although I have been at bombshells last night.

Okay.

All right.

Penn, I know you're involved with one of the projects that could get a lot of money from this, and in in the future.

Petty declined to answer the question and refer to your council.

I'll represent you on, you know?

Yes.

I've been invested in and involved in in the Park Hill golf course project for the last eight years.

I watched City council and the mayor to put it in the vibrant, different package.

I wanted to get significant dollars, like 75 million, because you're taking 155 acres of land that's been neglected.

And you've got to save it and restore it before you can turn it into something else.

But, you know, Carly makes a good point.

The one thing we have to remember about downtown is downtown Denver is not just downtown Denver.

It's downtown Front Range.

So many suburban and surrounding communities don't really have a downtown downtown Denver is their downtown, so it has to work for all of them.

But but I would also caution us, part of what makes downtown vibrant is people live in proximity in neighborhoods that they find inviting and safe and welcoming, and having certain other amenities, like a big hundred and 55 acre park that's being activated.

Okay, Amber, well, a couple of thoughts on this.

So first, you know, downtown and I live downtown with small children, and I ended up moving out of downtown because it is not it's not walkable for small kids and families and children.

It was never designed with that in mind.

It was designed for kind of a single person or a couple that would move into Denver and have a job downtown and then maybe move out of Denver.

So I think that it's really important that that these bond projects and really anything that gets referred to the voters thinks about all of Denver, but also thinks about and prioritizes the future of the children of Denver that are growing up in a city that's hard to get around right now.

There's not a lot of access to sports.

At least in the core of downtown, you have to go almost to the airport and south and, you know, so for parents and just thinking about livability, I think it's really important that we think about the experience of families and children as we think about these big projects that are that are going to be key for making sure that Denver is vibrant for the future, you're not going to chime in about your park.

I mean, bombshells, right at the entrance to the park.

You'll get people coming in all the time until 2:00 in the morning.

Check them down for that money.

Let's go deadline and talk about some of the highs and lows this week.

Patty, start with a low point so we can end on a good note.

I'm returning to the parks and the Denver Parks and Rec after 30 years of volunteers for Outdoor Colorado, taking over the Wash Park bathhouse, fixing the Wash Park bathhouse, naming it after Joshua Bell, one of their legendary leaders.

They do so much good in this state, and now they're going to be booted out.

Their lease is not going to be renewed unless we can change things, and the city doesn't have a plan for what to do with the bathhouse.

That right now is working splendidly.

Then they've been there for as long as they need here.

All right.

Penn, Carley mentioned livability, something that undercuts the livability.

I am sick and tired of the city throwing up these white poles and all these streets all over the city with no notice, no warning, without talking with community.

The one exception I know is I talked to folks in Park Hill and they pulled them up in on Kearney Street.

But this has got to stop.

My negative is the, the Archuleta bomb issue.

But then just generally and some of the news that came out yesterday of the continued stress and attacks on the good people that are election officials around the state, the clerks that are doing everything they can to serve their communities every day with limited resources, like, you know, it's just we need to show them more grace and kindness and empathy and offer to help rather than make their jobs more difficult.

Okay, Carley, I read the westwards piece this week on, Denver hunts that are no longer with us.

And, it was a sad walk down memory lane for me.

So in remembering those places that were really, near and dear to my heart in my youth and thinking about the challenges that our businesses are having, particularly on Colfax, that downtown in general right now.

I just really hope that we are focused and that the young people who are out today are making sure that those places survive.

I know, I love that article was sad, bittersweet, but it was fun to go through it.

Patty, something good.

Tomorrow is Dana Day at Larimer Square when you think about the kind of vision and energy we need to bring back downtown, remember what Dana Crawford did?

Yep.

Okay, just to thank you to the people who put on and run the black Arts Festival.

It was a great weekend.

It was well attended last week and we had good weather.

Good, good.

Well, I, we'll use this to celebrate, an entity that is older than the United States itself, or certainly Colorado.

And that's the United States Postal Service.

So the Postal Service is actually 250 years old this year.

And next week we are releasing our 250th anniversary series of postal stamps.

I'll be in DC for that.

And so it's just a delight to celebrate this incredible institution that has built the country and connected all people across the country for, since our founding.

And for people who don't know, you're on the board of governors, on the board of governors for the Postal Service.

Okay.

In a couple of weeks, I'm taking the family to the kids, to New York for the first time, and they're thrilled to see the Statue of Liberty.

And it is making my jaded political heart jump a little bit how excited they are.

So that's great.

That's a fun boat ride.

Yeah.

Okay.

My highlight this week for me, is our president and general manager of PBS, 12, Bobbie Springer, and our board of directors as well, and the leadership at all of the public media stations across the United States who have been weathering a storm for months now and are now facing the reality of a loss in federal funding.

Our boss, Bobbie Springer, says there's a dual feeling of disappointment and resolve, and that this is a moment for resolve.

If you look back in history, it was 1967 when President Johnson signed the Public Broadcasting Act.

He wanted there to be a way to enrich the lives of all people with quality education and cultural programing, free of commercials, especially for those in underserved communities.

Many decades later, PBS is deeply woven into the fabric of our communities, and like any nonprofit, the mission is at the center of everything we do here at PBS 12, and the mission has not changed.

We have felt an outpouring of support from Coloradans who believe in this mission.

And we are not going anywhere.

Again, as I said at the top of this show today, this is a challenge, but the mission is greater than the challenge.

Thank you to our insiders who join us this week.

Thank you.

Who watch along every week or listen to our podcast.

I'm Kyle Dyer.

I will see you next week here on PBS 12.

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