Boiling Point: October 2024

1.Eviction at the Ash House 

Your child could be evicted, too! Evicting college students on last-minute notice seems to be tolerated in Boulder County. 

The Ash House, a student apartment building on 12th Street in Boulder, housing 15 individuals, was shut down due to violations against students building extra rooms without safety inspections or approval from the city. These code violations forced the eviction of 15 individuals and 13 students attending CU Boulder. 

Brad Mueller, the director of the city’s Planning and Development Services, replied very condescendingly about the eviction of these students, stating that it was “an incredibly unfortunate situation.” The city claims the “conditions” discovered were high risk, which could cause potential health risk factors. This “unfortunate situation” has resulted in the city’s lack of attention to these health risks and violations and a disturbance in the lives of college students. 

What’s Next? The Ash House owners have now sued the City of Boulder for forcibly vacating tenants with just a few hour’s notice. City officials have said they are working to implement ways to remove these “life-threatening” factors at the Ash house. 

Regarding the individuals who have been evicted, the Boulder City County Judge has said that the students can stay at the University Hill building while the city addresses these violations. However, following the case against Boulder, on September 17, 2024, the Boulder County District Court Judge issued a temporary restraining order against the City of Boulder, preventing them from enforcing notices to tenants to vacate. Some tenants started moving back into the Ash House. 

On October 4, the city of Boulder announced that the Ash House removed the bedrooms that were not permitted by the city. Both the owners of the Ash House and the city of Boulder have resolved their legal dispute. A stipulation was filed in the Boulder County District Court, dismissing the lawsuit. 

The bigger question is, what is the city of Boulder doing to ensure something like this doesn’t happen again? What precautions is the city taking to ensure that these potential health risks and hazards do not reoccur and disturb the lives of paying college students? 

2. Penis Drawings as Senior Stamps

A Colorado teacher has been fired for “sexual harassment allegations” due to drawing penises on student forms in jest. Rebecca Roetto, a teacher at Fairview High School with a longtime standing career starting in 2003, doodled penis drawings alongside the forms and yearbooks of her graduating students as an end-of-the-year joke back in May. 

On the day that Roetto drew the penises on her student’s papers, the students returned to the school witnessing penises scribbled all across campus, which turned out to be a part of a more extensive senior prank.  Following that, students claimed Roetto didn’t have a stamp to stamp senior forms for graduating high school students, so one student recommended she draw penises on the side of the forms instead, and Roetto agreed. A security guard noticed one of the doodles on a student form and reported it immediately. 

Following an open investigation, Roetto was placed on paid leave on August 7th of this year. The District Court found that Roetto was engaging in “misconduct” and that the doodling of the penises on student forms constitutes sexual harassment. 

Even more interesting is that Colorado parents have passionately come out publicly in her defense. Many parents state that Roetto is an essential voice at Fairview High School and that the school shouldn’t throw away a 20-year-old teaching career over the mistake of doodling inappropriate drawings. Students have described Roetto as a strong voice criticizing the school’s culture and advocating for a healthier and safer school space for all students. Other students have pointed out the hypocrisy in her dismissal due to the school’s laundry list of sexual harassment allegations that have been swept under the rug. 

Roetto stands as a lioness amid the dark truth of Fairview High School. There have been countless allegations about victims of sexual harassment at Fairview High School that Roetto has publicly condemned and brought awareness to.

In 2019, three high school students pressed charges against Fairview’s star quarterback, Aidan Atkinson, who was then arrested for sexual assault and later acquitted in 2021. This is all tied to Fairview’s lack of protection of students and failure to take the necessary steps needed to prevent sexual misconduct in school. 

What’s next? There have not been any new updates about Roetto returning to Fairview High School. Sexual misconduct cases continued after the acquittal of Atkinson in 2021, even after a new principal and a claim that “changes” were happening around the school.

Fairview High School has yet to succeed in reshaping its culture and incorporating a safe and healthy environment for students and teachers. What has raised concern is the emphasis on firing a cherished teacher who was joking with her students tied to a school prank rather than focusing on genuine issues in the school that require focus and change. 

Apparently, penis drawings are more concerning to Fairview, not the continuous cases of sexual assault that have been pouring out of the school. 

3. Justin Brooks and Andrew Moore

It has been 20 years since Erie created affordable housing. Andrew Moore has garnered some controversy as he claims to be taking Erie back and encouraging the antis to come out in crowds to protest in his support of replacing Justin Brooks as mayor. 

Brooks, who has served Erie, Colorado, for a few years, has stated he is committed to making Erie housing affordable, primarily for families and seniors. This follows his unwavering support for an increase in the minimum wage, intending to provide relief and support for smaller businesses that could be affected by this increase. 

On the other hand, Andrew Moore does not view affordable housing as a priority and disagrees with the minimum wage increase. However, there is a lot more to parse about Moore’s character. Moore recently allowed racist commentary against the current mayor, Justin Brooks, on his Facebook profile from his supporters for weeks. 

Supporters of Moore claimed that Brooks was a “Marxist” and reinforced a flagrant lie that he was a “wife beater.” Barely any Boulder news outlets have brought light to this incident, revealing the type of character we currently have running for Erie mayor. Is someone who reinforces hatred and racism someone we want running for mayor of the city of Erie? Take these sentiments with you when voting at the ballots this November. 

What’s Next? There have been no repercussions for Moore’s actions. Take yourself to the voting polls and ensure we vote for the right candidate for Erie Mayor.