It was so refreshing!

It was a candidates dream come true, a civil candidate forum that was long on talk of issues and short on double talk and mean outbursts.

It was probably one of the best candidate forums we’ve had at our Westminster Progressive Homeowners Association last Saturday.

The Grange Hall, which lends itself so well to community meetings, was the setting and the hall was packed with candidates, candidate supporters and us regular citizens who came to get better informed on state, county and federal issues, including the presidency.

From the top

No, we didn’t have President Barack Obama but we did have Congressman Ed Perlmutter’s stand-in, and he did a stellar job in promoting Ed.

Also there for aspiring 7th Congressional District candidate Joe Coors was Shaun Mitchell, a former Colorado Assembly elected official who served with Ed Perlmutter in the Colorado Assembly.

It was so refreshing to hear both surrogates talk with respect about Coors and Perlmutter. Of course it makes for interesting comments since the two candidates live around the corner from each other and have been good friends.

Let’s hope they can keep it on a high plain through the rest of the election cycle.

The way it should be

Even when it comes to our Adams County Commissioner race, not a voice was raised and all the candidates said they would revoke that ridiculous ethics person program appointed by our commissioners to the tune of $472 per hour.

We don’t need an ethics overseer, we just need ethical people who don’t need overseeing.

It just defies my best judgment that our county officials would even consider such an appointment.

A question was asked of Eva Henry of Thornton whether her getting elected will stack the deck against the southern end of Adams County since present sitting commissioner Erik Hansen is also from Thornton as is Eva.

She countered that some time back the three members all came from south Westminster. In other words it was tit for tat. Also getting unanimous opposition was the state ballot issue allowing marijuana users limited amounts of the stuff per day.

Coming out strong against it was Dave Young, who is running unopposed for Adams County District Attorney.

We need to vote this measure down – it’s just wrong and it isn’t needed since medical marijuana is already sanctioned in our state.

Just vote

As County Clerk Karen Long admonishes just “get registered and then vote.” It’s easy, simple and so important to have input this election cycle.

P.S. It’s with a heavy heart we learned of “Butch” Arnold’s death last Saturday. Butch had battled esophageal cancer for the past two years.

His bravery in the face of such a virulent cancer was an inspiration to all his many friends and neighbors.

God speed you on your journey, Butch. We will miss you.

Our sympathy goes out to his wife, Sharon and their family.

Stay well, stay involved and stay tuned.

Vi June is past Democratic state representative for House District 35. She is a former mayor of Westminster and a former newspaper publisher. A Westminster resident for more than four decades, she and her husband, Bob, have five grown children and eight grandchildren.