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For those of you that are still reading my blog, I’m sure you noticed it was down for a couple of weeks. The hosting service had some major problems. Because of this, I’ve decided to move my blog to a new hosting service where I’ll have much more control. The new blog is already set up at www.nighttwister.com. I will be leaving the content up at this site while I move everything over to the new location. I hope you like the new design, and the new content I’ll be putting up very soon. There are some good things happening in the conservative political landscape in Northern Colorado, and I plan to be covering it for you.

Political punditry can easily lead to fits of arrogance and self-righteousness. I find it important to regularly remind myself that there are more important things in life than how and by whom our government is run. The most important Person in my life is Jesus Christ. Over 2,000 years ago he came to earth and lived as a man. He was crucified, yet three days later rose again. Today is the day each year we remember this most important event.

Michael Card has two album compilations that are among my favorite of any type of music. The first set called The Ancient Faith contain three albums that take us through the Old Testament Scriptures as Jesus Christ is revealed in them. The second compilation called The Life also contains three albums showing us Jesus in the New Testament Scriptures.

 

One of the songs in this last set is one of my favorites. Whenever I’m feeling like it’s all about me, it helps to remind me it really is all about Him. As Jesus Christ’s strengths are shown through my weaknesses, so is His Wisdom shown through my foolishness. This is possible because He because weak and foolish so that I might become wise and strong in Him. I leave you with the words of this song to contemplate, and ask you to join me and come be a fool as well.

Several responses from the citizens of Fort Collins during the recent City Council election have shown to me that people here either do not understand the concept of liberty, or are willing to toss it aside for the sake of convenience. In District 5, the primary issue before the voters was the Unrelated Three ordinance. In District 3, the issues became uranium mining and the extension of the Fort Collins-Loveland airport runway. The remaining issues applicable to all districts were whether to continue to drive businesses away to adjacent communities and whether or not our taxes would be raised.

The response from the community with their lack of votes on election day and comments during the campaign show that we’re perfectly happy with limiting the liberties of certain people either because it has no effect on us or it makes our life a little easier. Take the Unrelated Three ordinance, for instance. The people of Fort Collins have spoken. Our words are now those of City Councilman Kelly Ohlson,

…it’s their very presense that is the problem.

That quote is of course from a City Council working session, where Ohlson was defending the exclusion of not only the students of Colorado State University from some parts of the city, but also some elderly, poor, and non-traditional families. As one local citizen put it,

Those people are to be relegated to the leper colony over by the College.

The story continues in District 3, where people who bought homes in the flight path of the Fort Collins-Loveland Regional Airport. They’ve now decided they don’t like the size of the airplanes that are landing there (and have been for quite a long time). They oppose a runway extension that would improve safety for fear that even more and larger jets will begin to use the airport (even though that is not the plan and is unlikely). These normally conservative voters said they would vote for the extremely liberal candidate over this one issue. This was true because the conservative candidate said she wouldn’t decide how she would vote on the issue until she’d seen all of the relevant facts. In a district where the conservative candidate should always win by 10%, the final results were closer to 2% This is true even though these people were fully aware that if they were successful the liberties of many citizens would’ve been taken away.

The final issue here was uranium mining in Weld County to the east. The battle ground is divided between property owners with mineral rights and conservatives/libertarians who support property rights, and adjacent property owners that don’t have uranium on their property and liberal environmentalists that would never support mining of any kind anywhere. Even though there are more than enough protections in place with existing laws, opponents continue to ask for study after study to delay and hopefully scuttle the project. Even so, it’s an issue for Weld, not Larimer County and Fort Collins. Even more so, the successful candidate never took a position on uranium mining. She was focusing her efforts on issues directly facing the city and leaving these other issues to those that had the authority over that area.

The end result of this most recent city election is that the citizens of Fort Collins have chosen tyranny over liberty, handouts and more government programs over business growth and more jobs, and protectionism over personal rights. They’ve given notice that families are more than welcome to send their sons and daughters to our city to attend the local university so long as they stay where they belong. We’ll take your money so long as you don’t make your residence on the wrong side of the tracks. You’ll also need to look elsewhere for employment after you’ve completed your education, because our focus will continue to be on purchasing more open space that we can’t afford to manage, so we’ll have to increase the taxes of the local citizens as well. We’ll continue to drive businesses away to adjacent cities where they will be welcomed with open arms. Benjamin Franklin said it best.

Fort Collins was recently voted number 1 in Money Magazine’s best places to live. You’ll just need to check that you meet the city’s demographic requirements before you actually decide to pack up and move here. Oh, and you’ll also need to plan to find a job in another city because the current makeup of the City Council has no desire to see more businesses (and jobs) come here.

Congratulations to Aislinn Kottwitz who defeated Dale Lockwood for the Fort Collins City Council in District 3. This is a huge win for the conservative cause in Fort Collins. Aislinn will certainly have her hands full in dealing with a very anti-liberty, anti-business Council, but I’m certain she’s up to the task.

Dale Lockwood, candidate for Fort Collins City Council District 3 has resorted to scare tactics in a move of desperation. He is running against Aislinn Kottwitz, an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nurse at Poudre Valley Hospital. Aislinn has been endorsed by incumbent Diggs Brown who is currently serving our nation in the Army in Germany.

As a first responder, the ability to make the right decision in the heat of pressure is critical. As an ICU nurse Aislinn has exercised that capability for her patients. We need cool heads and decisive thinkers on the Fort Collins City Council. Aislinn Kottwitz is the right person at the right time to continue the work I started in District 3. I urge your support of Aislinn, when you get your ballots, please remember to fill it out, and vote for Aislinn Kottwitz.

Lockwood is a post-graduate student at Colorado State University. His positions on the issues are typical of the academic elite who are currently running our nation into financial peril. According to his campaign website, Dale talks about saving and creating jobs, but if you look closely you will see he only talks about Green Collar Jobs. Northern Colorado already has quite a number of these jobs; what would be more important to know is what he would do to create other types of jobs, and whether or not he supports the development efforts that have been turned away over the past few years by the existing City Council. Businesses are going to the surrounding cities of Wellington, Timnath, and Windsor where they find a more favorable business climate. These jobs and taxes are going to these other cities instead of here in Fort Collins. Even the Fort Collins Coloradoan gave Lockwood a lukewarm endorsement, primarily because had a broader knowledge of city processes and appears to champion alternative transportation options, hardly reasons to elect someone from the academic elite that wants to push us towards more and more socialism.

What’s even more disturbing though, is Lockwood’s newest strategy. There has been a lot of discussion about Uranium mining in Weld County to the east of Fort Collins. Regardless of your position on the issue, it is not directly relevant to leading the city of Fort Collins forward, yet Lockwood mentions fighting against it on his website, and has been telling people in District 3 that his opponent, Aislinn Kottwitz, supports mining in an attempt to scare them away from voting for her. While Aislinn is a strong supporter of responsibly managing the environment, she has not taken a stand on uranium mining because it doesn’t directly affect Fort Collins. She’s trying to concentrate on the greater problems such as supporting local businesses that create jobs and holding taxes at an affordable level. Lockwood’s latest strategy shows his desperation as we approach election day. The current City Council has alienated surrounding communities enough by its arrogant belief that they hold the answers for everyone, even those not under its influence.

Local business owners know that Aislinn is prepared to lead Fort Collins forward from day one. Neil McCaffrey, a local business owner wrote about this on an article at the Colorado News Platoon. Fort Collins needs a strong advocate on the City Council that will lead us through these difficult economic times. The right person for that job is Aislinn Kottwitz. If you haven’t yet mailed in your ballot, I encourage you to make your selection for Aislinn and take your ballot down to the City Clerk’s office at 300 Laport Ave on Monday. This election is as important as ever and every vote counts.

The Fort Collins Coloradoan Editorial Staff released its endorsements for Districts 1 and 5 for Fort Collins City Council. The Coloradoan joins the DontGo Movement in endorsing Andrew Boucher for District 5. They recognize Boucher’s support of local business as something the Council needs, and something incumbent Kelly Ohlson lacks:

Although Ohlson has made progress in linking city policy with economic health, the editorial board endorses Boucher because he would bring a positive business perspective to the council that is currently lacking.

The Coloradoan also recognizes Ohlson’s failures regarding new developments and relationships with neighboring cities:

Ohlson’s rejection of the I-25/Prospect Road rezoning and the city’s participation in RTA discussions do not benefit the city economically or regionally. Nor did his ill-timed rhetoric against the (not yet proposed) Riverwalk project at the Harmony Road gateway – rhetoric that fueled the reopening of a wound with Timnath. While legal action and mediation resolved conflicts with Timnath, the process was simply not good government.

Ultimately, they recognized what so many others here in Fort Collins have known for some time; there are many reasons to support Andrew Boucher for the District 5 City Council seat:

Boucher is correct that Fort Collins needs to do more to keep graduating CSU students here and that keeping a close eye on city tax and fee policies is warranted to ensure job sustainability and create an attractive environment for business to thrive.

I hope you’ll join me if you haven’t already in sending in that ballot with the box checked next to Andrew Boucher. He is best suited to take Fort Collins forward during these difficult economic times, and will represent all of the people in Fort Collins, including CSU students that help make our city one of the most preferred places to live in our nation.

Those of you that are familiar with me know I’ve been dedicating the majority of my time on a local City Council race here in Fort Collins. This is why I haven’t posted anything in almost a month. The race in District 5 in Fort Collins is a race for the very soul of our city. There is a man on our city council that believes certain types of people don’t belong in some neighborhoods (read his). The injustices that have been perpetrated by a local city ordinance here are profound. The suspension of personal freedom and liberty should give pause to all but the most liberal elitists.

For several years now, the Fort Collins City Council has singled out primarily students in order to keep them from living in certain areas of the city. This has been done via a city ordinance called the Three Unrelated, or U+2. Three Unrelated discriminates against students, lower-income citizens, and people who simply have a different definition of the word family. Those of us that oppose the law believe that you can’t tell whether or not someone’s going to be a good neighbor simply because of their socioeconomic group. The law states that no more than three unrelated people can live in a single residence.

The violations of individual liberty as a result of U+2 are astounding. To begin with, rents have gone up, yet homeowners that have investment rentals gain less income than they could. Students and lower-income citizens have fewer choices about where to live. More seriously, renters have lost their homes. This includes a specific incident of a city worker visiting someone’s home to inspect their sleeping arrangements. This was done without a warrant, and when appealed in court, the local city magistrate upheld the search of the home without a warrant as legal. This non-traditional family, which included children, were evicted from their home for the simple reason that they weren’t related.

Kelly Ohlson, former Mayor and current City Councilman from District 5 was the primary driving force behind U+2. During the City Council meeting, Ohlsen stated the following several times in different ways,

It’s their mere presence that’s the problem…

This was of course, in reference to the students at Colorado State University. It is very clear from the video below that Kelly Ohlson simply doesn’t want college students to live in some parts of the city. If your first thought when you read that is that they shouldn’t be on the wrong side of the tracks, then you’re beginning to understand what’s in the mind of Kelly Ohlson. Now for the video:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th2itNSlshU[/youtube]

Andrew Boucher is running to evict Kelly Ohlsen from the Fort Collins City Council in District 5. Andrew has committed to working to repeal the Unrelated Three law in Fort Collins. Boucher not only recognizes that we should be welcoming these students to our city, but we should also be encouraging them to stay. To do that, he realizes that Fort Collins will have to change its anti-business ways which are also led primarily by Kelly Ohlsen. To encourage students to stay, we need to invite businesses to come to our city and create good quality jobs, instead of watching them go to the surrounding cities.

I encourage you to support Andrew, and for those of you in Fort Collins District 5, please mail in your ballot right away. You should have already received it in the mail. Every vote will count in this election. We have the opportunity to show not only our wonderful city, but the rest of Larimer County, Colorado, and our nation that we stand for Liberty and Freedom.

A huge thanks to Blaine Gallup, who in addition to creating the video also writes at The Right Candor and has created a local issues blog called The Fort Collins Advocate.

This coming Tuesday, March 3, we will be interviewing Aislinn Kottwitz (District 3) and Andrew Boucher (District 5); candidates for the Fort Collins City Council election on April 7th on the Rocky Mountain Aliance Blogtalk Radio Show. We’ll be discussing the most pressing issues facing Fort Collins, and why Andrew and Aislinn are best able to lead us forward in addressing them.

You can find Aislinn’s website here and her Facebook page here. Aislinn is running for the seat currently occupied by Diggs Brown who is currently serving our nation in the Army. This district covers much of the southeastern portion of Fort Collins.

Andrew also has a website and a Facebook page. Andrew is running for the seat held by former Mayor Kelly Ohlsen, who has been instrumental in sending businesses and jobs to surrounding cities. This district includes much of the western portion of central Fort Collins.

Please join us this coming Tuesday night and listen to ideas from Aislinn and Andrew on taking Fort Collins forward during this challenging fiscal climate. I’m confident you’ll like what you hear. You can ask questions in the chat room, or call in during the show.

During the second interview segment at 9:30pm, we’ll be talking with Tom Stone, who served as Eagle County Commissioner from January 1998 to January 2006, has announced that he is running for the GOP Party Chair. Tom writes a blog called the Stone Cold Truth. He also heads up a Facebook Group called Save Our State which has quite a number of members.

Liberty On The Rocks will be expanding to Fort Collins tomorrow night (Wednesday, February 25, 2009) at 7:00pm. LOTR is a splendid mix of grass roots activism, libations, and good conversation. We are a group of citizens who endeavor to limit the reach of government into our personal lives, to ensure life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Face The State has some additional information on their front page under The Buzz.

We’re a group of people that believe in fiscal responsibility, small government, and individual liberty. This includes Conservatives, Republicans, Libertarians, Independents, Unaffiliateds, and anyone else that believes in holding our government responsible for holding to our values of liberty and freedom. This includes young and old, and everyone else in between. We will meet at the Maya Cove Restaurant on the corner of Drake and Taft Hill Roads in Fort Collins.

In our inaugural meeting, we will be joined by Amanda Teresi, the founder of Liberty On The Rocks. Also joining us will be Amy Oliver, host of the Amy Oliver Show from 9:00-11:00am weekdays on KFKA 1310 in Greeley. Amy works for the Independence Institute and is a strong supporter of liberty and freedom. Local politicians from Fort Collins, Larimer County, and Congressional District 4 will likely drop in from time to time as well.

In the words of Sam Adams, It does not take a majority to prevail … but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men. Please join us for a meeting of the minds to discuss ways we can further our cause of liberty.

Bumped to the top. Scroll down for newer posts.

On Saturday, February 21, 2009, at 7:00pm, the Larimer County Republican Party will hold its annual Lincoln Day Dinner. I’ve been invited to demonstrate New Media at the dinner. Joining me will be fellow Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0 blogger Michael Sandoval from Slapstick Politics.

Michael and I will be holding a special edition of the RMA Blogtalk Radio show from 7:00-7:30pm, and then Live-blogging the rest of the evening at Red County. We will also be demonstrating several different New Media tools, including online news sources & blogs and social networking tools such as Facebook & Twitter.

If you’re going to be at the event, please stop by. The rest of you are encouraged to join us online at the Red County site.

• Night Twister’s Ramblings

  • Night Twister Has Moved
  • God’s Own Fool
  • Liberty For Me But Not For Thee
  • Aislinn Kottwitz Wins!
  • Fort Collins District 3: Lockwood Using Scare Tactics
  • Coloradoan Endorses Andrew Boucher
  • Repeal Three Unrelated in Fort Collins
  • Fort Collins City Council Candidates on RMA Blogtalk Radio
  • Liberty On The Rocks – Fort Collins Chapter
  • Larimer County GOP Lincoln Day Dinner

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