TouchStone
An Online Publication

Vol. 1, No. 1
Apr. 1, 1997
editor: danculberson@juno.com


IN THIS ISSUE:
TouchStone Contributor List
TouchStone Statement of Purpose
Citizens for Better Cable in Boulder Update
Environmental Center
Campaign Finance Reform - It Can Happen Locally
Neighbors for a Livable Boulder Report
Infomercial Government in Boulder
Meetings
Question of the Month
Quotation of the Month
What YOU Can Do
Administrivia

* Watch for our Website for up-to-date information on current activities and online activism alerts!

TOUCHSTONE CONTRIBUTOR LIST
by Carter S. Johnson (Executive Editor)

Hello and welcome to TouchStone, Boulder's monthly e-newsletter on community activism and local politics. Each month TouchStone will provide a forum for community organizations and individuals to disseminate information about current events and actions affecting Boulder's political landscape.

The format of TouchStone is simple: Each month our regular contributors will offer reports on their organization's ongoing activities, as well as insights into the political process within the city and county. To date, TouchStone's contributor list consists of:

Each edition of TouchStone will also include an extended essay from our list of local political commentators. Finally, TouchStone will continue to be your e-mail resource for listings of events and other happenings within the Boulder community.

This is your newsletter, and we look forward to your contributions and feedback. Send your comments and contributions to: touchstone.news@usa.net.

TOUCHSTONE STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
by Dan Culberson (Editor/Publisher)

Welcome to the first edition of TouchStone, a monthly online publication dedicated to keeping people informed about topics of civic and political activism. In addition, special editions will be distributed as warranted to inform our readers of events or meetings that are more imminent than our monthly publication date.

If you want to inform people of an upcoming meeting or event that you believe falls within the purpose of TouchStone, please notify us with the necessary information by one week before the end of the month. Send your notices to any of the addresses at the end of this issue. Be sure to include your name and e-mail address on all correspondence.

If you are interested in submitting an article to be considered for publication, we prefer electronic submissions to our e-mail address. However, we will also consider submissions to our mailing address. Please request our "Guidelines for Submissions" before submitting anything for consideration.

CITIZENS FOR BETTER CABLE IN BOULDER UPDATE
by Carter S. Johnson

You may have noticed several contradictory statements recently about the imminent arrival of HDTV (High-Definition Television, or, as it is more properly known, "ATV," for Advanced Television). Unfortunately for some technology pundits, the issue as to whether ATV will come or not has been put to pasture by an article in the February 27 issue of *TV Technology* announcing NBC's first live ATV broadcast of "Meet the Press."

The historic live transmission of the popular press roundtable show originated Feb. 2, 1997, from WRC-TV in Washington DC. NBC now plans an aggressive schedule to begin ATV broadcasts from all NBC-owned and operated (O&O) stations, culminating in ATV prime-time broadcasts on all NBC O&O stations within 18 months. Other NBC affiliates, television and cable networks have plans to soon follow NBC's lead on ATV.

The transition for the broadcast networks to the new high-resolution television standard is eased somewhat, because most network and cable programming is currently produced on even higher-resolution 35mm film and then transferred to videotape for broadcast.

What does this mean for the average Boulder cable television subscriber? Whereas you won't need to rush out tomorrow and buy a $2000 high definition set or ATV convertor box for your old TV, it does mean that ATV is coming and it is coming relatively soon. I have personally viewed both ATV and its analog precursor HDTV programs on large-screen monitors. Quite frankly, the picture quality, depth of field and aspect ratio of this television standard are very enticing.

The arrival of broadcast ATV in the Denver market will unfortunately put even more pressure on Boulder's 11-year-old cable infrastructure, which city engineering assessments show to be inadequate for handling the 55 channels of regular programming bandwidth that TCI already jams onto Boulder's system. Without upgrading the existing cable infrastructure or without implementing some truly remarkable compression technologies (which carry an even more remarkable price tag for the subscriber), it is unlikely that TCI will be providing its subscribers with reception of ATV programming on Boulder's system.

Negotiating that TCI carry ATV programming cannot be demanded under the city's current contract negotiations with TCI because of Federal Telecommunications Act restrictions. This leads us to the question as to what to do next if we want to watch ATV in our homes.

One answer to this question might be ATM, or Asynchronous Transfer Mode, and possibly the screen you're looking at right now. The underlying functions of this technology will be the topic of our next update.

ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER
by Will Toor

Hi! The CU Environmental Center will contribute regular updates to this newsletter. For those of you who are not familiar with us, the Center is an environmental resource center on the CU campus which is dedicated to encouraging environmental involvement by the campus community, and to reducing campus environmental impacts. We founded the CU Recycling program, and manage it in cooperation with the administration; we administer the bus pass program; we provide staff support for the student environmental groups; and we work on env. policy issues.

I (Will Toor) have been the director of the Center for the last 4 years. My academic background is in physics, and I teach environmental studies classes, in addition to doing my best to manage the proliferation of activities and campaigns at the Center. I will be writing occasional contributions to this newsletter.

Will Toor
toor@spot.colorado.edu

CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM - IT CAN HAPPEN LOCALLY
by Mark Ruzzin

In recent months much has been revealed regarding the fundraising activities of our national political parties, with many column inches devoted to the idea of campaign-finance reform. Since the Boulder special election of February 4, much energy has gone into discussing this issue as applied to the local level in Boulder. Based on this dialogue and our discussions with concerned citizens and community groups, the Boulder Green Alliance believes support exists to proactively address the role that money plays in our political environment.

Various approaches can be taken to help eliminate money as the prime determinant of a person's political opportunity, access and influence. Following are four policies designed to level the playing field and to free the electoral arena from the distorting and corrosive effects of money:

1) City monies could be used to print a voter information guide that would provide City Council candidates an additional opportunity to educate the voters on their views. This guide, consisting of candidate-written position papers, could be circulated to registered voters by mail or by being included in Public Service bills. It could also be printed in our local newspapers.

2) Taken from the cities of Fort Collins, Denver and Wheat Ridge is the idea of mandatory campaign contribution limits. Fort Collins limits all donors to fifty-dollar cash or in-kind contributions per candidate. This policy would require candidates to develop a broad base of community support in order to raise the funds necessary to run a viable campaign.

In its 1976 Buckley v. Valeo ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court held that mandatory campaign-expenditure limits were a violation of the First Amendment. Thus, limits on personal spending by candidates on their own political campaigns are illegal. The following two policies, therefore, would have to be voluntary.

3) Amendment 15, passed by Colorado voters last November, could easily be applied to the local level. A voluntary campaign-expenditure limit would be established, and then pressure applied through the risk of bad public relations, to encourage candidates to follow the guidelines. Analysis of expenditures from past City Council campaigns reveals that candidates have consistently spent between 9 and 11 cents per registered voter on campaigns. Increasing this to 15 cents per registered voter would result in a voluntary campaign-expenditure limit equal to the upper end of the campaign expenditures seen in the 1995 City Council race, or approximately $11,000.

4) This last policy is based on the Maine Clean Elections Act, passed by the voters of Maine last November. It calls for the public financing of political campaigns. Candidates qualify for public funds by demonstrating grassroots support in the community. Once certified, all campaign expenditures would come from the public fund, with all certified candidates receiving equal allocations. How would this public campaign fund be raised? A voluntary check-off on city income-tax forms or property-tax bills is one proposal. (To equal 1995's total campaign expenditures, every registered voter would have to contribute $1.58.) A second option would be a 0.01 percent increase in the city's sales tax, equaling one cent for every $100 spent. Based on 1996 revenues, this would raise almost $200,000 per year, easily covering the candidate campaign expenditures of City Council elections. Campaign allocations would be capped by the expenditure limit described above, with excess election funds turned over to the general fund to be spent as best deemed by the community.

These campaign-finance reform ideas either are in effect in municipalities nationwide or are widely considered to be workable solutions to the campaign-finance reform puzzle. They each provide unique benefits to our political process: Better informed voters make better decisions; candidates are able to focus on issues rather than on fundraising; a level playing field provides equal opportunity for all citizens.

The relationship between money and politics is a sticky one. However, few people would argue that the unrestricted flow of money into the political spectrum is healthy for a democracy, whether on a national or a local level. Once a democracy is infected, eliminating the virus becomes very difficult. Thus we believe that it is imperative for Boulder to be proactive on this issue.

These suggestions were given to City Council on March 18. The Boulder Green Alliance is now presenting them to the public as the second step in what we hope will be a community-wide dialogue on the role that money will -- or will not -- play in our democracy.

Local campaign-finance reform is an all-encompassing issue, one that relates specifically to the health of a community's democracy. We have the power to show that we care about that democracy.

(Mark Ruzzin is a member of the Boulder Green Alliance, which has been active in community issues since 1988. Comments and questions can be sent by e-mail to Mark at mruzzin@igc.apc.org.)

NEIGHBORS FOR A LIVABLE BOULDER REPORT
by Ruth E. Blackmore

Western Mobile, the operator of the Flatirons property, sought an application with the State of Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology (DMG) on March 6, 1997, for an amendment for its approved reclamation plan to the Deepe Pit mining site. The reclamation plan amendment (file 81-302) would decrease the final reclaimed acreage of lakes from five lakes comprising 31.8 acres to two lakes with a total area of 4.2 acres.

The proposed amendment seeks authorization for a permanent land berm along the perimeter of the mined area where a temporary berm currently stands. The present reclamation plan for the Deepe Pit does not indicate that this land feature will remain after final reclamation. Western Mobile is also seeking approval for additional drainage channels along the north and east sides of the Deepe Pit through the proposed reclamation plan amendment. The original reclamation plan filed at the start of the mining over 20 years ago required the owner to reclaim the Flatiron Property, including the Deepe Pit, for wildlife habitat and agriculture uses. Since that time, however, every change, revision and amendment to the approved reclamation plan for the Deepe Pit mining site has diminished the quality of reclamation objectives for the area. This present amendment would continue this pattern, taking the reclamation plan for this site still further away from quality wildlife habitat and toward a plan that favors development.

If you wish to object to the proposed amendment, send your comments by April 22, 1997, to DMG, 1313 Sherman Street, Room 215, Denver 80203. Include in your letter that the lake reduction will not achieve the approved end use of wildlife habitat. Request that the CMLRB not approve the amendment and that CMLRB hold a public hearing concerning the amendment.

(For more information, contact either Ruth at 494-3009 or Jane at 499-5014 or else send e-mail to Ruth at ruth_blackmore@compuserve.com.)

INFOMERCIAL GOVERNMENT IN BOULDER
by Kevin Rooney

In the early 90s, intense local and global changes confronted a weak, caretaker Boulder City Government. Relying on the reputation built up through past wise decisions, the City Council emphasized image making over policy making. However, the more that image making allowed problems to fester, the harder the City cultivated its image. This vicious cycle was like the downward spiral of an addiction. Eventually, it was as if Boulder City Government had been replaced with an infomercial.

Here is the script for that infomercial.

1) Keep the current structure!

First -- and I cannot emphasize this enough -- the current structure is not a conspiracy; it is a social structure that evolved spontaneously to meet a specific goal: to prevent City Hall from being overwhelmed by its incompetence in the face of the challenges of the 90s. The problem in a conspiracy is a handful of individuals, but the problem at City Hall is the institutional structure itself. Also, the infomercial system applies primarily to new policy making. Execution of old policy continues, in some areas with considerable competence. In addition, City staff in general is not responsible for this system. Much of the staff is as frustrated as Boulder citizens.

2) Avoid decisions!

Where possible, City Council sits on its hands and lets powerful institutions make the decisions for them. The Flatirons property purchase by C.U. that effectively abolished the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan and NOAA's self-proclaimed violation of the City's height ordinance are two examples. Decisions concerning the private sector are delayed indefinitely and often wind up in court (for example, Safeway and the Mann Property).

3) Avoid challenges to power!

Such powerful interests as the University of Colorado, the Federal labs and the Daily Camera hurt the image of those who get in their way. As an alternative, City Council concentrates on peripheral programs that target those without political power (for example, downtown workers who drive to work).

4) If voters don't know it's broken, don't fix it.

Trying to fix a problem might call voters' attention to the problem. This is another reason why City Council is letting Syntex build an experimental dioxin-generating incinerator (in addition to the City's unwillingness to challenge power).

5) Avoid discussion of root causes!

Discussion might lead to a real decision or a challenge to power. Thus, transportation, traffic mitigation and residential parking-permit programs are planned without dealing with the growth that is driving the problems. Similarly, the budget is debated without dealing with the City's massive subsidies to commercial growth.

6) Support focus groups, not town-hall meetings!

At hearings, citizens are allowed to vent emotionally, but their ideas are not allowed to interfere with predetermined decisions. Predetermined decisions are of two types: (1) those already made consciously and (2) those for which rules such as "avoid challenges to power" and "avoid discussion of root causes" rule out choices favored by citizens even before City Council and its staff consciously make up their minds.

7) Govern by scripting!

Rather than banning dangerous topics outright, a script provides safe venues for City Council, similar to the carefully cordoned-off protest area at the Republican National Convention last summer. This allows the normal features of democracy -- such as challenges to the core institutions and discussions of root causes -- while safely separating Councilmembers from actual decision making. Councilmember Bob Greenlee is a good example of how this works. He is allowed to make quite sharp and perceptive criticisms of the delusory nature of many City programs, precisely because his criticisms are not followed by a sustained political effort that might actually change any of those programs.

8) When scripting fails, use personal attacks!

Anyone who violates the unconscious script of the government infomercial is subject to withering personal attacks. Thus, when Mr. Greenlee put himself forward as a candidate for mayor, former and later supporter Barrie Hartmann of the Daily Camera led the wave of personal attacks. Overnight, the "astute entrepreneur and voice of reason on council" became "a purveyor of vice and gambling den operator." Attacks for failure to conform to the script are not expressed or perceived as political, but rather as personal. This allows the attackers to remain unconscious of the script. Thus, Duncan Campbell was pilloried, supposedly for his personal character, while genuinely vicious figures such as Matt Applebaum and Ken Hotard are accepted. Another example is Mayor Leslie Durgin's preemptive attack on the private lives of Councilmembers Allyn Feinberg and Steve Pomerance to prevent them from demanding an open (i.e., unscripted) evaluation of the city manager.

9) Deny the existence of a script!

The script itself is structural and unconscious, not conspiratorial. The most important rule of the script is not to notice the script, but to perceive those who might bring the script to light as personally (not politically) repulsive. This was the ultimate reason for the terror that Duncan Campbell inspired at City Hall and the reason why the only possible responses to the contents of this article by supporters of the current system are personal attacks and straw-man attacks on misrepresentations of this article.

10) Support the deadly deal!

Even Councilmembers who do not like how the present system operates find themselves unable to change it. They are allowed to speak their minds -- within the script -- on a few issues most dear to them, but on other issues they must go along in silence with the infomercial script. The current attacks on Councilmember Pomerance by Mayor Durgin's allies show what happens to those who ask too many questions. However, if Councilmembers do go along with the script, they help keep the voters in the dark about the true state of the City government and thus undercut their own long-term support.

11) Use the done deal as the flip side of the infomercial!

Whereas policy-making is comatose for problems that affect the majority of Bouderites, powerful interests and those with the right connections at City Hall receive their favors case by case. This makes the Infomercial Government system acceptable to the powerful.

Now that we know how the City runs (or more precisely, how it doesn't run), what can we do about it? The first step is simple: speak the truth. We need to convey the facts in detail to our fellow citizens, so they have the information to make up their own minds.

Please test this "infomercial" model of Boulder City government against your own experience and improve the model with your insights.

(Kevin Rooney is a long-term Boulder activist and was a candidate for City Council in November 1996. Comments and questions can be sent by e-mail to Kevin at 76631.1360@compuserve.com.)

MEETINGS

1) A series of four Wednesday-evening meetings will be held to discuss what can be done in Boulder when welfare as we have known it comes to an end this summer. The meetings will be held weekly at 7:30 p.m. at St. John's Parish Hall, 1419 Pine St. and begin April 2, 1997. "Please attend if you are interested in trying to cope with the coming welfare mess." (Contact Jack Logan or Bob McFarland for more information.)

2) A public meeting on the Floodplain studies will be held April 9, 1997, at 7:00 p.m. in the 13th Street Conference Room, 1720 13th Street, Boulder. Taggart Engineering Associates, who have been working on the South Boulder Creek floodplain analysis, will report on the Phase I study results and progress on the Phase II study. This meeting will also provide a forum for public comment on the floodplain study and proposed mitigation planning. (Contact Ruth Blackmore for more information.)

QUESTION OF THE MONTH:

(1) "Should Boulder consider electing the mayor by popular vote and (2) paying its City Council members a respectable salary?"

Respond to the April Question of the Month by sending your answer to touchstone.news@usa.net and we will tabulate the answers and select a few for publication in the May issue of TouchStone.

QUOTATION OF THE MONTH:

"I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did. I said I didn't know."
- Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) (1835-1910)

WHAT *YOU* CAN DO

Find yourself wondering if your privacy and freedom of speech are safe when bills to censor the Internet are swimming about in a sea of surveillance legislation and anti-terrorism hysteria? Worried that in the rush to make us secure from ourselves that our government representatives may deprive us of our essential civil liberties? Concerned that legislative efforts nominally to "protect children" will actually censor all communications down to only content suitable for the playground? Alarmed by commercial and religious organizations abusing the judicial and legislative processes to stifle satire, dissent and criticism?

* Join EFF if this subject interests you. Visit http://www.eff.org/join (or send any message by e-mail to info@eff.org).

Even if you don't live in the U.S., the anti-Internet hysteria will soon be visiting a legislative body near you, if it hasn't already.

* Keep an eye on your local legislature/parliament. All kinds of wacky censorious legislation is turning up at the U.S. state and non-U.S. national levels. Don't let it sneak by you -- or by the online activism community. Without locals on the lookout, it's very difficult for the Net civil liberties community to keep track of what's happening locally, as well as globally.

* Inform your corporate government affairs person or staff counsel if you have one. Keep them up to speed on developments you learn of, and let your company's management know if you spot an issue that warrants your company's involvement.

* Find out who your congress representatives are. Writing letters to, faxing, and phoning your representatives in Congress is one very important strategy of activism and an essential way of making sure YOUR voice is heard on vital issues.

If you have difficulty determining who your U.S. legislators are, try contacting your local League of Women Voters, who maintain a great deal of legislator information, or else consult the free ZIPPER service that matches Zip Codes to Congressional districts with about 85% accuracy at: http://www.voxpop.org/zipper/. Also see Project Vote Smart (http://www.vote-smart.org).

Computer Currents Interactive has provided Congress contact information, sorted by who voted for and against the Communications Decency Act: http://www.currents.net/congress.html (Note: Some of these folks have, fortunately, been voted out of office.)

* Join TouchStone supporters! You *know* that freedom of speech, freedom from government, privacy, the ability to make your opinions heard by politicians and being informed are all important. You have probably already participated in our online activist alerts and information announcements. Do you have a cause that you want to publicize? Become a TouchStone supporter. The best way to promote your opinions and publicize your activities is to let the public and your public officials read about them in TouchStone. Let your opinions be heard. TouchStone supporters are informed and are making a difference. Join TouchStone today!

For TouchStone supporter information, send queries to Carter Johnson at carter.johnson@juno.com.

Administrivia

Copyright 1997 by Old Stage Publishing
TouchStone is published monthly by:
Old Stage Publishing
P.O. Box 17446
Boulder, Colorado 80308-0446 USA
303 444 3363 (voice)
303 546-9188 (voice)
touchstone.news@usa.net (e-mail)

Membership & donations: carter.johnson@juno.com
General TouchStone online resources & queries: danculberson@juno.com

Editor/Publisher: Dan Culberson (danculberson@juno.com)

Executive Editor: Carter S. Johnson (carter.johnson@juno.com)

This newsletter is printed on 100% recycled electrons.

Reproduction of this publication in electronic media is encouraged. Signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of the editors. To reproduce signed articles individually, please contact the authors for their express permission. Press releases and TouchStone announcements may be reproduced at your discretion.

To remove your name from the TouchStone subscription list, send a message to touchstone.news@usa.net and request that it be removed.

To subscribe to TouchStone via e-mail, send a message of "subscribe TouchStone-online" to touchstone.news@usa.net and we will add your name to the subscription list for TouchStone.

To submit articles for consideration for publication in TouchStone or to submit a letter to the editor or a notice of an upcoming event, you can send it by e-mail to danculberson@juno.com or send it by regular mail to P.O. Box 17446, Boulder, CO 80308-0446. Be sure to include your name in all correspondence. Articles and letters to the editor might be edited for space or consistency and to conform to TouchStone guidelines.

Back issues are available on request at: touchstone.news@usa.net.

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