House District 35

Cherylin Peniston–Democrat

Show me the money: If anyone is acutely aware of the dire state of the economy, it could well be those incumbents who served during better times, such as Peniston, who has served House District 35 for the past six years. “We’re fully aware of what we have to do,” she says, referring to the woeful state of the economy. “We know that government doesn’t create jobs.”

Silver lining: Peniston is proud of the work of the Education Committee, on which she serves. The revamped educational assessment program and new standards for teachers are “leading to a higher quality of education for our students” but will need some time to be rolled out. She also brought up the idea of a Constitutional Convention to help make Colorado’s many budget restrictions—TABOR, the Gallagher Amendment and Amendment 23—work more harmoniously.

Money quote: “No and hell no,” in response to whether she favors raising the RTD tax to further fund FasTracks, the multimillion-dollar-and-counting boondoggle of a transportation project for which Longmont, a paying partner since 2005, has seen nothing.

Brian Vande Krol–Republican

brianvandekrol.com

No interview.

YS Endorsement: Cherylin Peniston

Though it seems crazy to suggest that incumbents are the best choices for fixing the financial messes that happened on their watch, in this case we believe that to be true. Peniston is under no illusion about the work that needs doing and she deserves a chance to do it.