Rep. Gagliardi Helps with Understanding Options and Strategies for Foreclosure Prevention

When:
Saturday, March 1st
10:30-noon

Where:
Susan M Duncan YMCA
6350 Eldrige St, Arvada

Sponsor:
Representative Sara Gagliardi, HD 27

What:
Community members are invited to join Rep. Gagliardi for a panel discussion on foreclosure counseling and prevention, the foreclosure process, and how local officials and real estate professionals can help. Foreclosure counselors will be present for those seeking assistance.

Panel discussion:
What can be done about the high foreclosure rate?

Brothers Redevelopment, Inc.
Colorado Division of Housing
Colorado Housing and Finance Authority
State Housing Board
Department of Regulatory Agencies

Who’s Invited:
Homeowners, borrowers facing foreclosure, real estate professionals, and anyone seeking information on the foreclosure process and foreclosure prevention.

For more foreclosure information: www.coloradoforeclosurehotline.org

Saturday morning we left Erie, Colorado for Colorado Springs at 8am. Arriving at the El Paso County convention/assembly, we discovered a line outside, a lobby crammed with people, and an auditorium filled into the balcony. I had the opportunity to open up the events by asking how many people were at the convention/assembly for the first time. Most of the people raised their hand.

El Paso County had over 7,000 people at their precinct caucuses. John Morris, the county chair, is seeing a new interest in party politics. Between 1600 and 1700 participants were at the meeting on Saturday. It was great to see Hal Bidlack, candidate for the 5th Congressional District. Also Sen. John Morse and Rep. Mike Merrifield were enjoying this huge turn out.

From there we drove to Pueblo. Pueblo County precincts had almost 2500 participants on Feb. 5. Out of 600 delegates elected to the county convention/assembly, 520 participants were there on Saturday. We listened to the nominations for Pueblo County Commissioner. Commissioner John Cordova and State Rep. Dorothy Butcher both gave campaign speeches.

Terry Hart, Chair of Pueblo County Dems, introduced me and once again I asked for a show of hands on “first-timers.” Most of the participants were new. I talked about the excitement around the Presidential campaign but how important it is to be active on all the campaigns. Rep. Mark Udall arrived after me and really got the crowd cheering.

It was great to see my old friends Deann Martinez and Matt Pujol. They used to live in Fort Collins and moved to Pueblo some time ago. Deann was my campaign coordinator in 2005, and it is great to see that she is so involved in Pueblo County politics.

From Pueblo we traveled to Fremont County. I had not been to Fremont in a while, so it was great to get over and see the Chair, Kevin Bradley and the other officers. Fremont County had 660 attendees at the precinct caucuses and over 200 attended the county meeting. Once again most of the participants were there for the first time.

Rep. Udall’s niece spoke on his behalf. Hal Bidlack gave a great speech for his CD5 campaign bid. I was delighted to see so many friends in Canon City before we headed out.

The last stop was Parker, Colorado. Douglas County Democrats held their Clinton-Carter Annual Dinner. The attendance was 235 strong Democrats who came to listen to Sen. Lois Tochtrop, Rep. Alice Borodkin, Speaker Andrew Romanoff and me. I talked about the pride they were all feeling in Douglas County because they had a turn out of over 5,000 people on Feb. 5. it was over 1,000 more than the Republicans. Earlier in the day Douglas County Democrats had to change meeting sites because their central committee had grown so much.

Paul Thompson, Chair of the Douglas County Democrats, has done a fantastic job of getting the county organized, along with
Ron Clark, Ralph Jollensten and so many others. We had the chance to hear from Mike Collins and Hank Eng, who are both running for CD6. Imagine that. Two Democratic candidates for CD6.

We returned home at 10:30pm, weary but exhilirated. The excitement we continue to see just is a reminder of the energy acrosse the country. We will win the White House, and I believe add another Democratic Senator from Colorado, pick up some more Congressional seats, and add to our state house and senate majorities. We will change the face of America and be able to provide what is best for Coloradans and the rest of the country.

Pat Waak

(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)

This morning, we drove through some pretty heavy snow over Monarch Pass to attend the Gunnison County Convention and Assembly. Several delegates to the meeting also braved some pretty heavy weather, but a truly full house greeted the delegates when they arrived.

Before the convention began, though, Gunnison Dems did what they always do — they celebrated the cattle-growing traditions of Gunnison County by hosting a barbeque for delegates. We had a great choice between beef and turkey, and folks enjoyed the company of each other as they connected with both veteran activists and newcomers to the process. This was the third time I’ve been to a Gunnison County Assembly, and I’ve truly enjoyed each visit.

As in so many places I’ve visited so far, I found that the Clinton supporters and the Obama supporters were respectful of each other, and had a genuine debate about the merits of each others’ candidates.

What was also nice about Gunnison was the immense interest in the community in the process — there were at least as many people there who were not delegates as there were delegates.

I did something unusual — I spoke twice. I had the pleasure of welcoming the delegates, on behalf of the State Party, as the opening speaker of the convention. I then was the designated speaker for the Obama campaign — there seemed to be a lot of concern that I couldn’t stick to the three-minute time limit (in case you’re wondering, I did).

In the end, the folks in Gunnison supported Senator Obama in the preference poll - the vote was something like 45 to 16; giving Obama 17 delegates to Clinton’s 6 delegates. There were several key dignitaries there — Ron Carleton from Congressman Salazar’s office was there, as was Senator Gail Schwartz and Gunnison’s own Representative Kathleen Curry. Former key electeds in Gunnison have also stayed active, including former Lt. Governor Mike Callihan and former State Senator Linda Powers, and they were both there.

Tomorrow night, I head up to Eagle and Summit counties for their meetings in Eagle and Frisco. If you’re in one of those counties, maybe I’ll see you there!

(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)

Today was another amazing day of record-breaking numbers for Colorado Democrats. We began the day today in Colorado Springs, where the El Paso County Democrats held their county assembly and convention. I knew that there was something pretty historic going on when we drove up to Palmer High School to find lines out the door to the street.

When I finally got into the school — after having to park several blocks away — I learned that folks began arriving for the 9 am convention and assembly by 7 am, and by 8 am, there were lines literally around the school. It was a mass of humanity — people packed into every corner and every room of the school. The auditorium, which holds around 1700 people was packed beyond capacity by the time they started the meeting — standing room only.

Folks were excited all over the place — there was a real electricity in the air. Senator Ken Salazar arrived first, and he fired up the crowd before they even began the meeting. State Chair Pat Waak was there, too, and very excited about the crowds at the meeting.

Then, both Presidential candidates had an opportunity to have people speak for them. The Obama campaign went first; I had been asked to address the crowd on behalf of Senator Obama. Mike Maday, the amazing organizer who had led the Obama campaign in El Paso County, introduced me.

Look, I’ve spoken to a lot of large crowds, and I’ve seen a lot of excited people. But I can rarely recall talking to a group as fired up as this group in El Paso County. At one point, I had to just stop and let the crowd chant — “O-Bama! O-Bama!” It was a very surreal moment, and thinking about the excitement in that room gives me chills still now, here at home writing about today.

After I spoke, DNC Member Ramona Martinez also spoke. She did an impressive job of firing up the crowd for Senator Clinton. After Ramona, Congressman Mark Udall had arrived, and he kept the energy and excitement going strong, moving the crowd in support of his Senate bid.

I had to leave after that to get back to my home county of Fremont County for our county assembly and convention, but I’ve heard that the vote went 69% Obama, 31% Clinton, with Senator Obama winning 269 of El Paso’s 390 delegates.

In Canon City, Fremont County Democrats faced a much more even battle. Fremont County decided to hold their meeting in the afternoon, and nearly every delegate showed up for the convention and assembly. Coming into the Fremont meeting, only about one or two delegates separated the Clinton folks and the Obama folks.

We heard from several folks, including Waak and 5th Congressional District candidate Hal Bidlack. Then, we heard from both Presidential campaigns, as well (with me again giving the presentation for Senator Obama). In the end, Senator Obama picked up a few votes, and won in Fremont County 107-95, winning 20 of Fremont’s 38 delegates.

What was so inspiring was what happened next. Normally, Fremont County simply has to take volunteers for the state convention delegates — we generally fill all of our slots, and everybody shows up, but there really isn’t much of a question. This year, though, over 70 Obama supporters wanted to serve in the 20 delegate and/or 20 alternate slots for Obama. We had another true example of democracy — every person spoke for about 10-15 seconds each and the Obama supporters all voted on delegates to represent them at the State and 5th Congressional District conventions.

It was another really wonderful day filled with standing-room only crowds and tons of new people excited about being Democrats. Things just keep getting better and better every day!

Tomorrow, we’re headed over Monarch Pass to Gunnison for the Gunnison County convention and assembly. I will, of course, write about that as soon as I can. I also took several pictures today, and I will post those as soon as I can — maybe Monday, though.

Dear friends,

We are now two weeks out from the caucuses and still processing the results. I have heard from so many about you the vote, the caucus process, and the super delegates.

First, all of our predictions about voter turnout were very low. We should celebrate the fact that 120,000 plus people chose to come out and participate. In a conference call with county chairs last night, we heard stories of their caucuses and the ongoing verification of affirmation forms and entry of delegates into the system.

I have received many messages over the past week about my status as an unpledged delegate. They have been encouraging, requesting, admonishing, and even demanding. I appreciate the fact that so many people care deeply about the election process and want to share your views with me

In the interest of fairness, I made a commitment three years ago to remain
neutral in all contested races. As chair of the Colorado Democratic Party, I
believe that you would expect no less of me. Espeically in light of the upcoming Democratic National Convention.

My intention is to maintain that neutrality until all voters have spoken through
the primary/caucus process. I believe the race will be decided by the voters. I look forward to watching Colorado’s historic process continue.

From Don Kellogg, Democrat from Ridgway, CO

I moved to Colorado from Michigan last July after working almost 40 years in the auto industry. I left behind tens of thousands of families laid off from Ford, GM and Chrysler, many thousands of whom also lost their homes. The first thing that hit me here in SW Colorado was the overwhelming presence of foreign cars and trucks. It was like Colorado was another country – detached from Americans suffering in the heartland.

What was particularly distressing was that many of the ToyoNissHondarus were decorated with bumper stickers that clearly represented Progressive causes. As a lifelong Democrat, I was glad to see that. But why were they pasted on foreign, mostly Asian, cars and trucks?

Which brings me to the point of my appeal. There is almost no Asian vehicle that doesn’t have a GM, Ford or Chrysler counterpart. In the past, there was a clear quality reason to buy foreign. But that, based on many surveys, is no longer true. But rather than use persuasion, let me instead appeal to the Democrat in you.

There is probably no group more loyal to the Democratic Party than U.S. autoworkers – members of the UAW and other unions. Most would sooner cut off their right arm than vote Republican. When you buy a foreign vehicle, these are the folks that lose their livelihood. You say your Toyota is built in the U.S.? Maybe. But it wasn’t built with union labor. In fact, you’re playing directly into the hands of the Southern Red States who have enticed foreign auto plants with huge tax subsidies and NO UNION LABOR.

Another point worth stating is that even if your Nissan was built is the U.S., the design and testing was most likely done overseas. The parts were probably bought from an Asian-based supplier that set up shop in the South. And the profits flow back to Japan.

Which brings me to my most critical point. The future of the auto industry undoubtedly lies in plug-in hybrids, fuel cells or some other new technology. Profits are the engines that enable companies to fund research. If you want the U.S. to be the transportation technology leader and create jobs for our children, buying American is essential. Helping Toyota skim huge profits from the U.S. to send back to Japan only guarantees future Japanese jobs.

My closing point is that, love it or hate it, the Prius is built in Japan. When you buy one, no U.S. jobs (other than at the Toyota dealer) are created. And another Union worker (and fellow Democrat) loses his/her job. Consider this: the General Motors hybrid bus program has saved more fossil fuel than all the Priuses ever sold. And with limited to no profits, GM is acknowledged by many to be ahead of Toyota in the race to plug-in hybrids and fuel cells.

As Democrats, let’s help them out!

(Cross Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)

Lines snaked. Cars were towed. Traffic was jammed. People voted. Delegates were elected.

And Colorado Democrats proved their mettle.

I’m so proud this morning to be a Colorado Democrat. And, no, it isn’t because my candidate won.

No, I’m so proud because of how revitalized this Party is today. In 2004, we had between 10,000 and 15,000 people show up to caucus. Last night, we had about ten times that number — a 1,000% increase in attendance!

I’m proud because the Democratic Party — with fewer registered Democrats than registered Republicans — had over twice the turnout of the Colorado Republican Party. Not in percentages, but in raw numbers of people.

I’m proud because that turnout came even though Democratic caucuses are more complicated beasts than the Republican caucuses (from what I can tell, you just show up and cast your secret ballot at Republican affairs). Dick Wadhams must be trembling with what he saw in Colorado last night.

I’m proud because, for the most part, our county parties handled the massive influx of new people pretty well. As I predicted yesterday, there were periods of chaos, but we still made it through without any complete breakdowns of the system.

I’m proud because — even with the longer meetings and the heavier turnout — the Colorado Democratic Party reported its results much faster than the Republicans. At every stage last night, we were at least 20% ahead in terms of precincts reporting — by about 10 or 10:30, we had around 95-98% of the precincts reporting to the 70-75% of the Republican precincts reporting. We gave county chairs as close to a mandate as we could: have your results to us by 9:30. I’ve spoken to some who say the Republican mandate was to have their results reported no later than 7:30. This is just more proof that you can’t trust elections to Republicans — they have proven time and time again they can’t even run their own elections efficiently!

I’m proud of the county chairs and other county party officers and leaders out there who worked their rear-ends off to pull off this historic evening. I’m also proud of the State Party staff and my fellow officers, who have spent the last few weeks tirelessly answering phone calls and e-mails and taking questions from voters about this process. Because of the intense interest in the caucus, the CDP put in nine new phone lines — and they were constantly lit!

———————

Last night, from the very beginning, something was different. I showed up at Washington School a little after 5:00 to help set up, along with the other key Fremont County Dems who had been planning the caucuses. Already, three people were sitting down in the lobby of the school waiting to check in two hours early. School officials advised that they had at least a dozen Democrats stop by during the day looking for the caucuses — they eventually had to put a sign out in the front door to keep people away.

By 6:00 — an hour before the beginning, the line stretched to the door. Parking was at a premium. Already, more people were at the school than had attended all of the caucuses in Fremont County in 2006 or 2004. Thankfully, Fremont Dems had planned for this well. They had a dozen people to check folks in, and the line moved smoothly. Volunteers for Clinton and Obama greeted people at the door. Beyond the registration table was a classroom set up as a “hospitality suite” for the Obama and Clinton campaigns, with both offering water, cookies, and other treats for caucus-goers.

Here, most of the classrooms were open, with each room serving as the caucus location for either one or two precincts, depending on the size of the precinct. Long-time Democrats showed up and their jaws just dropped. The crowds of Democrats were unbelievable. Later on in the evening, I caught up with former State Representative Bob Shoemaker. He just smiled and shook his head. “Back in my day, this would have been the whole county’s turnout for the Democrats,” motioning to the packed room serving as a caucus site for two precincts. “I’ve never seen anything like this before!”

At 6:30, organizers asked people to gather in the school’s auditorium. While quite ample, it still was not big enough for the crowd of Democrats (at the end of the evening, we learned that about 450 Democrats caucused at this location alone). I kicked things off by pointing out that we were told Fremont County did not have any Democrats. “If we can get this kind of turnout at caucus for the Democratic Party in Fremont County, we can sure get this kind of turnout in September and October, when we need your help to elect a Democratic President in Fremont County!” The crowd cheered, and there was real excitement in the air about Democrats.

Then, at about 10 minutes to 7, we dispersed into our precinct rooms. I was in Precinct 9, and as one of the larger precincts historically, we had been assigned the school’s library. Nearly 50 people gathered around the library tables, and we read the rules and elected our officers. We then heard about 20 minutes of discussion about the candidates. I spoke for Sen. Obama. A wonderful lady I had never met gave a moving speech for Sen. Clinton. Then a few more folks said a few words about Sen. Obama or Sen. Clinton. After a straw poll determining that both candidates would meet viability, we voted. The results (I think - this is from memory): Obama 27, Clinton 18.

We then went on to elect delegates and do the other things required at caucus — the vote for Sen. Udall was unanimous. A few people left after the Presidential vote, but to my surprise, most people stayed through the end.

In the end, Obama narrowly won in Fremont County with record turnout, 336 to 319. There was a great cheer among those who remained at the school when the results were announced.

As we left around 9:30, a gentleman drove up looking for the Republicans. We smiled. “We think they’re at the Abbey, or maybe the High School. Anyway, they’ve probably been finished for quite a while now.”

It was an AMAZING night to be a Democrat!

—————————————

A few statistics from the results reported last night in Colorado.

The tally now stands at Obama - 79,344 (66.2%) to Clinton 38,587 (32.2%), with 3165 of 3208 precincts reporting.

Denver had the highest vote for Obama, at 17,942, followed by Boulder with 13,100.

Denver also had the highest vote for Clinton, at 7806, followed by Jefferson with 5,208.

Cheyenne and Sedgwick both had the lowest votes for Obama, with 7 votes, followed by Jackson and Kiowa, with 8 votes apiece. Hinsdale had the lowest vote for Clinton, with 7 votes, followed by San Juan with 8 votes.

Percentage-wise, Obama had his best night in San Miguel, Ouray, La Plata, Pitkin, Hinsdale, Archuleta and Boulder, with a range in those counties from 86% (San Miguel) to 74% (Boulder). Clinton did best in Sedgwick, Kit Carson, Jackson, Costilla, Prowers and Las Animas counties, with her percentage in those ranging from 67% (Sedgwick) to 57% (Las Animas).

Clinton won 14 counties; Obama won 49 counties; one county (Bent) was an exact tie. I have created a map of the counties won by each and it is in the web version of this post at www.demnotes.com.

The highest turnout counties were: 1. Denver (26,096); 2. Boulder (17,910); 3. Jefferson (14,595); 4. Arapahoe (12,224); and 5. Larimer (8,637).

The lowest turnout counties were: 1. Jackson (20); 2. Kiowa (23); 3. Cheyenne (24); 4. Washington (29); and 5. (tie) Sedgwick, San Juan, and Hinsdale (30).

Statewide, Democratic turnout was at 13.61%. The highest turnout percentage counties were: 1. Hinsdale (25.42%); 2. Boulder (23.81%); 3. Ouray (22.82%); 4. San Juan (19.48%) and 5. Larimer (17.20%). The lowest turnout percentage counties were: 1. Rio Grande (4.53%); 2. Otero (5.69%); 3. Pueblo (5.76%); 4. Baca (5.77%) and 5. Logan (5.94%). Other large counties: Adams - 8.08%; Arapahoe - 12.83%; Denver - 15.91%; Douglas - 16.54%; El Paso - 11.39%; Jefferson - 14.28%; La Plata - 14.74%; Mesa - 11.97%; Weld - 8.90%.

I have been in headquarters since early this morning where every phone is ringing off the wall. It has been this way since 7:00am. Of course, we also got thousands of calls over the weekend.

The enthusiasm over the election is infectious. I have also been subjected to a lot of email “abuse” from people upset about the caucus process. It certainly gives us a chance to educate folks, although a bit late.

What I did want to share with you is the fact that our message did get out to a lot of people. Between September 1 and December 5, 2007, 18,063 people registered as Democrats with the Secretary of State’s office. And 10,561 people affiliated themselves with Democrats during the same time period. So that means we have over 28,000 new voters in the Colorado Democratic Party.

Anticipating tonight’s turnout, Jefferson County has reported up to 800 caucus goers in a non-Presidential year and 1200 caucus goers in 2004, when we had a Presidential caucus. They are estimating 8,000 participants tonight.

All of this is great for the Party and for democracy.

First, as many of you know, I flew out to the Nevada caucuses to help with all the activities. Unfortunately, 24-hours in I learned that my father had passed away. For those of you who I have not gotten back to, I want to thank you for the outpouring of sympathy. I have appreciated every note, card and flowers.

I came back last Sunday to find an incredible level of activity. I must have done 8 interviews with press on Monday, and as many every day after. Wednesday was a great day for Colorado. Even for me who is trying to maintain her neutrality. I went to both campaign events.

Senator Barack Obama attracted historic crowds at Denver University and surprised everyone with the presence of Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg. One count was 14,000 people. All I know is that the arena was filled, along with the lacrosse field and the gym.

That night former President Bill Clinton and Chelsea Clinton arrived at DU to speak on behalf of Senator Hillary Clinton. Although there was a snow storm, 3,000 enthusiastic people listened to speeches on behalf of the campaign.

All of this is great for the Colorado Democratic Party. The outpouring on interest and enthusiasm was just what we wanted when we moved up our caucuses to February 5.

Tomorrow, we are hosting a Caucus Rally at Mountain Ridge Middle School. At 1:00pm, I will be joined by Congressman Mark Udall, Mark Benner, Congressman Ed Perlmutter, Actress Kerry Washington, and former DNC Chair Terry McAuliffe. The address is 10590 Mountain Vista Ridge, Highlands Ranch, CO. Hope to see you there.

(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)

Last night, I drove down to Alamosa to give caucus training to the San Luis Valley counties. While I did not take a roll call, I recognized folks from pretty much every county in the Valley: Alamosa, Saguache, Costilla, Conejos, and Rio Grande were all well-represented there. The crowd was huge — about 100 people packed the standing-room only conference room at the Alamosa Recreation Center.

Prior to my caucus presentation, Sky Gallegos with the DNCC spoke about the Democratic National Convention in Denver. It was a “Convention Conversation,” which has been taking place statewide. Originally, Chair Pat Waak was to assist Gallegos, but Pat was in Texas due to the death of her father. After Gallegos’ presentation, she took a number of questions from the audience, many of which focused on what folks in the San Luis Valley could do to help the convention effort and to draw conventioneers to the Valley either before or after the Convention.

I missed the first half-hour or so of the convention presentation, primarily because MapQuest (and Google Maps, and BlackBerry Maps) all sent me about six miles south of Alamosa, to some remote, dirt-road location. I don’t know how, but after driving back into town, I just came across the Recreation Center and made it on time for my presentation.

Between my presentation and Sky’s presentation, folks heard from Darryl Grant, who is the DNC’s Field Organizer for the Southwest portion of the state. Darryl showed the group a video from the DNC explaining the 2008 field program and the role of neighborhood volunteers in that program.

Also before my presentation, there was a break for snacks. Among the things available were two six-foot long Subway sandwiches. One would have imagined that would be enough. One would be wrong.

The crowd was so big (and hungry, apparently) that the sandwiches were devoured in a matter of minutes. When I finally got to the refreshment table to grab a bite myself, I was greeted with a couple of crumbs of bread and some lettuce remnants.

The vanishing sandwiches were another reminder of what I’ve seen this year in Colorado. This was my last scheduled caucus training — we have 12 days left now until February 5. One thing has been confirmed: the phenomenon of Democratic interest in the caucuses in 2008 is a statewide phenomenon. Whether in Estes Park, Canon City, Rocky Ford, Montrose, Frisco, Pagosa Springs, or Pueblo, there is an intensity about things that we’ve not seen in recent years. I spoke briefly yesterday with CDP Executive Director Sherry Jackson — I say “briefly,” because she did not have time to talk. The phone at the State Party headquarters is almost literally ringing off the hook. There is now talk of needing more lines at headquarters to deal with all of the phone calls in recent days dealing with the caucuses. I’ve never seen anything like it.

One last point: Nevada is a good comparison to Colorado. In 2004, when their caucuses did not matter, they had 9,000 people attend statewide. In comparison, Colorado had around 12,000-15,000 Democrats attend statewide in 2004. In 2008, caucus attendance in Nevada spiked to around 144,000 Democrats! If Colorado saw even half of that kind of spike, we’re in for an exciting year!

The real test, as I’ve been telling groups in caucus training, will be whether we can keep these new people after February 5. If we can keep these new people involved, active, and interested through September and October, we will have an ability to change the debate and the elections in November. If we can pass that test, we truly will be turned completely blue in 2008!