Pubdate: Thu, 04 Sep 2014
Source: Boulder Weekly (CO)
Copyright: 2014 Boulder Weekly
Contact:  http://www.boulderweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/57
Author: Leland Rucker

DUNAFON AN ALTERNATIVE TO HICKENLOOPER/BEAUPREZ

I grew up in a family with Democratic blood, and reform begins to 
look as disingenuous as saying fracking fluid is safe because he once 
sipped some. I've voted on that side of the fence more often than 
not. Though I've been registered as an On the other side, we have Bob 
Beauprez. Given independent for the last decade or so, I voted for 
his positions on almost everything, I couldn't vote for John 
Hickenlooper as governor of Colorado four this Republican candidate 
for governor under any circumstances. years ago. Hickenlooper's 
eight-year tenure as mayor of Denver had been impressive, and I was 
eager to see what he could accomplish as governor. That's when his 
past came crashing into the present. With Colorado ground-zero for 
the fracking debate, former geologist Hickenlooper has consistently 
made decisions that tend to line up with oil and gas interests and, 
in many people's eyes, against citizens and municipalities.

He moved into the mayor's seat after creating a Denver brewing 
dynasty, and upon becoming governor vocally opposed the passage of 
Amendment 64. Hickenlooper's a bright guy, and he must know that 
cannabis is far less dangerous than alcohol for most people - heck, 
his beer buddy, the president, has said as much. So Which brings us 
to Mike Dunafon, the mayor of Glendale since 2012 and married to the 
owner of Shotgun Willie's, who is also running for governor as an 
independent. And yes, he's perfectly aware of how crazy it sounds to 
be running for the highest state office without party money or affiliation.

"We have got to change our operating system and say to ourselves that 
we are going to change this," Dunafon told me last week. "If I get my 
ass kicked, so what?" Glendale is tiny, just 0.6 square miles in 
size, with a population of about 4,200. Cherry Creek runs through the 
middle of it. It's surrounded on all sides by Denver. Besides the 
strip club, Glendale boasts a world-class rugby facility, something 
that Dunafon had a lot to do his stubborn opposition and seeming lack 
of curiosity about the subject has both puzzled and irritated me. He 
admitted to early use but said that it made him stupid and he didn't 
like it, as if that were a good reason to keep it illegal. Since its 
passage, he has followed the law, but he's been holding his nose all the way.

To his credit, Hickenlooper has praised the legalization roll-out and 
admitted that cannabis has helped the economy during a tough period. 
But watching the guv playing pool and drinking beer with the 
president while continuing to be unsupportive of cannabis with, too. 
Glendale uses a system of government similar to Boulder's, with a 
city council that appoints a city manager. One difference is that the 
mayor only votes if the other six council members are tied on a 
particular issue. Which means that even though Dunafon is never shy 
about his opinions, he's as much referee as rulemaker in a town where 
they regularly purge outdated laws from the books.

Dunafon says he's the only mayor in the metro area to support 
Amendment 64, and he's spoken at 420 rallies. He says that Amendment 
64 showed people that they could go out and make a difference.

"But it's a tragic mistake," he adds, "if you only think you have one 
liberty or if you're not ready to defend your neighbor's liberty. You 
may not like it - you may not like homosexuals - but you better 
defend them. Because you don't get to pick and choose those 
liberties. It's all or none. Marijuana is a great metaphor for liberty."

Dunafon is fiscally conservative and pro-gay marriage. He's not 
opposed to fracking per se but wants to see oil drilling taking place 
someplace outside our cities and towns. He would free all non-violent 
offenders from the prison system and has some interesting ideas about 
how to get them back into the system.

I'm so tired of two-party politics, the money and power that supports 
that system and the way it excludes almost anyone else from 
participation. Adherence to party affiliations and reliance on 
corporate money are at least two things feeding the current 
dysfunction and say-no politics in Washington.

What Dunafon's candidacy reminds me is that perhaps the only way to 
chip away at the two-party system is to "vote the bastards out." More 
than anything else, I really like the idea of the governor as more 
referee than policymaker, somebody who can goad both sides toward 
more common, non-partisan goals.

Some suggest that a vote for Dunafon might help Beauprez. But though 
he's not a libertarian, Dunafon sounds enough like one that he could 
just as easily take voters away from a status-quo Republican 
teapartier like Beauprez as a pro-business Dem like Hick.

By all means, make your own decision based on the best facts you can 
find. (More on his positions at www.dunafonforgovernor.com.) But if 
you're as fed up with party politics as I am, at least consider this 
alternative.

You can hear Leland discuss his most recent column and Colorado 
cannabis issues each Thursday morning on KGNU. 
http://news.kgnu/category/features/weedbetween-the-lines/
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom