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Thornton Civic Observatory

@thorntoncivics.net

310 followers 790 following 1.2K posts

One Thornton resident’s take on the civic happenings of Colorado’s sixth largest city, inviting deliberation toward a more equitable and just Thornton for all. https://thorntoncivics.net

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Thornton Civic Observatory @thorntoncivics.net · Mar 17

Want to know what the city government of Thornton is up to?

Check out the meeting calendar: www.thorntonco.gov/government/m...

When available, the calendar will provide links to Zoom links to attend meetings virtually.

#Thornton #ThorntonCO #Colorado #LocalGovernment #MuniPoli

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 13h

Colorado has not been high on the hype-list, but here's some of what's worth watching:

—statewide measures on funding free school meals
—one of the fall's big school board battles, in Douglas Co.
—labor/charter split in Denver schools
—Denver's package on infrastracture $$
—Aurora's council

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Brian C. Keegan, Ph.D. @brianckeegan.com · 10h

Golly, I wonder why Democrats hate their party.

Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 10h

Chuy Garcia, a Chicago Democrat, pulls off a maneuver to ensure his aide succeeds him in the U.S. House.

The IL filing deadline was today. Garcia's chief of staff filed to run for the seat *this afternoon,* and Garcia is now expected to withdraw, so boom, no one else is running for the open seat.

Chicago Sun-Times @chicago.suntimes.com · 11h

In a surprise move, U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia is not seeking re-election, leaving in place a succession plan for his chief of staff, the only Democrat to file for his seat on the last day to do so.
trib.al/Z6twS77

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Colorado Working Families Party @workingfamiliesco.bsky.social · 15h

One more time for the folks in the back: if you still have your ballot, it’s time to vote!
Ballots have to be turned in by 7pm tomorrow (Nov. 4th). All WFP candidates here: workingfamilies.org/candidates/

Colorado Working Families Party 2025 Endorsements
Municipal Candidates
Arvada City Council At-Large: Dr. Denise Vargas
Aurora City Council At-Large: Alli Jackson
Aurora City Council Ward 1: Gianina Horton
Aurora City Council Ward 2: Amy Wiles
Boulder City Council: Lauren Folkerts
Boulder City Council: Nicole Speer
Centennial City Council Dist. 2: Ashish Vaidya
Commerce City Council At-Large: Kristi Douglas
Commerce City Council Ward 1: Lucy Molina
Commerce City Council Ward 3: Renée M. Chacon
Fort Collins Mayor: Emily Francis
Fort Collins City Council Dist. 1: Chris Conway
Fort Collins City Council Dist. 5: Zoelle Lane
Greeley Mayor: Tiffany Simmons
Littleton City Council Dist. 3: Amanda Henderson
Longmont Mayor: Susie Hidalgo-Fahring
Longmont City Council At-Large: Crystal Prieto
Longmont City Council At-Large: Jake Marsing
Pueblo City Council At-Large: Selena Ruiz-Gomez
Salida City Council Ward 3: Salty Riggs
Thornton City Council Ward 2: John Alge
School Board Aurora (28J): Kristin Mallory
Denver Dist. 2: Xóchitl Gaytán
Denver Dist. 3: Dr. DJ Torres
Denver Dist. 4: Monica Hunter
Douglas Dist. G: Kelly Denzler
Poudre Dist. C: Karla Baise
Poudre Dist. D: Coronda Ziegler
Pueblo D60: Rae Carnevale
Pueblo D60: Tommy Farrell
Ballot Measures Prop. LL (Statewide): Vote YES
Prop. MM (Statewide): Vote YES
Adams 12 Ballot Issue 5B: Vote YES
Denver Ballot Issue 2D: Vote NO
Denver Referred Q. 2F: Vote YES
Denver Referred Q. 2G: Vote NO
Larimer County Issue 1A: Vote YES
Larimer County Issue 1B: Vote YES
City of Pueblo Ballot Q. 2C: Vote NO
City of Pueblo Ballot Q. 2D: Vote YES
City of Pueblo Ballot Q. 2F: Vote YES

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AFlora72🌹 @alexflorack4co.bsky.social · 2d

Colorado’s Medicaid system doesn’t need privatization; it needs democratization. End TABOR’s chokehold. Expand public clinics, raise pay, and invest to benefit the poor. Healthcare, education, and equity are human rights, not a profit model. We need universal care and free college, tax the rich!

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Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition @coloradofoic.bsky.social · 3d

"None of the meetings with lawmakers were publicly announced, as is required by the state’s open meetings law."

Governor Polis abruptly cancels unpublicized meeting with Joint Budget Committee

On Nov. 1, the governor is required to submit a budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year to the Joint Budget Committee. Gov. Jared Polis was scheduled to talk to the media at 12:30 p.m. Friday at ...

www.coloradopolitics.com

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Bolts @boltsmag.org · 4d

Federal threats to criminalize foundations and nonprofits that focus on helping marginalized groups have donors spooked, meaning some Native voting rights organizations are facing uncertainty, while others have already been forced to downsize.

“A Law Without a Way to Enforce It”

In North Dakota as elsewhere, Native groups face a triple threat on voting rights: judges targeting the VRA, Trump officials hostile to enforcing it, and a funding crunch depleting their work.

boltsmag.org

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Dave Karpf @davekarpf.bsky.social · 6d

Okay I’m reading it now and, no surprise, it suuuucks in exactly the ways you would expect.

Dave Karpf @davekarpf.bsky.social · 7d

Should I have a couple drinks and rip apart the new centrist dem manifesto tonight?

Y/N

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Thornton Civic Observatory @thorntoncivics.net · 4d

Tonight! @thorntonco.gov Ward 2 Meeting

Thornton Community Center
2211 Eppinger Blvd.
Thu, Oct 30 2025, 6 - 7:30pm

#Thornton #Colorado #CivicEngagement #LocalGovernment

www.thorntonco.gov/government/m...

Ward 2 Meeting

www.thorntonco.gov

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Colorado Working Families Party @workingfamiliesco.bsky.social · 4d

We know what keeps us safe, and it's not ICE. In Durango, neighbors came together to protect a family. ICE agents met them with violence.

Keep showing up. Keep speaking out. Keep building the communities that power can’t break.
www.durangoherald.com/articles/con...

Federal agents use pepper spray, rubber bullets on Durango protesters

More than 24 hours of peaceful protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Durango culminated Tuesday with pepper spray and rubber bullets being used against protester...

www.durangoherald.com

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Marissa 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🌒🌕🌘 @marissacantrell.bsky.social · 4d

At the JBC meeting Senator Kirkmeyer wanted to get food pantries $50 million, from emergency not general funds and wants the Governor to declare a state of emergency so that county emergency management can assist with logistics.

But the proposal couldn't be changed. The $10 million passed.

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Perry Bacon @perrybaconjr.bsky.social · 4d

“Deciding to Win' also displays little awareness of what winning elections is for. There is an obvious reason why the Democratic Party ought not abandon its commitment to preventing the climate crisis," writes @davekarpf.bsky.social. Excellent piece. newrepublic.com/article/2023...

Why Centrist Democrats Keep Being Wrong About Elections

A new 60-page report insists the party is too radical. But the problem isn’t the party platform. The problem is the broader environment.

newrepublic.com

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Medicinal Colorado @medicolorado.bsky.social · 5d

wetmountaintribune.com/2025/10/29/c...

Coroner’s Ball raises $19K for local trades students

Only in Custer County can the Grim Reaper raise nearly twenty grand — and give it all to the living! This Halloween, Coroner Brad Baltzly and his fiancée, Deputy Coroner Nikita Phillips, hosted the...

wetmountaintribune.com

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Katelyn Burns @katelynburns.com · 5d

For my newsletter, I took a deeper look at the electoral record of WelcomePAC, a centrist group that produced that 352 page document advising Democrats to moderate once again.

Turns out the campaigns they work for aren't winning. www.burnsnotice.com/fire-the-con...

Fire The Consultants

The Democratic party must move on from the same old stale, carefully poll-tested politics and get back to solving voters' problems. There are only three certainties in life: death, taxes, and Democra...

www.burnsnotice.com

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Elizabeth Spiers @espiers.bsky.social · 5d

Because every one of those big donors wants more centrist economic policies. They think it keeps their tax bills low and is better for business. That is what is driving this, not what the Dem base (which is not white and male and working class) wants

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Elizabeth Spiers @espiers.bsky.social · 5d

PACs and think tanks and Dem electeds and their staffers are all part of a revolving door system. These reports are paid for by donors who also fund those same electeds and the electeds are aware of that and expected to take them seriously

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Hagen Blix @hagenblix.bsky.social · 5d

Pretty crucial to ask what it would look like to put labor and money into building durable political organizing structures, rather than funding a marketing circle ("list acquisition", jfc)

If we want to become agents of history, rather than spectators cheering on a team, we better figure this out

Zeynab Day @zeynabday.bsky.social · 11d

My latest article exposes the political consulting firm that turned the Bernie movement into a $134M cash cow
"Firms like Middle Seat build myths. They provide a costume and a template for candidates to cosplay as populist change-makers, even when their records tell another story."

The $134 Million Firm that sold the myth of John Fetterman

How a so-called “progressive” consulting firm turned Bernie’s movement into a cash cow and establishment tool.

substack.com

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Colorado Charter School Watch @cocharterwatch.bsky.social · 5d

Billionaires love the returns they collect on charter schools. #COleg #COpol

Our Denver Our Schools @odoschools.bsky.social · 6d

Billionaire "Dark Money" is in Denver's school board race-to privatize the school system. @dianeravitch.bsky.social @carolburris.bsky.social @npeaction.bsky.social @network4pubed.bsky.social @cocharterwatch.bsky.social @philinvestigates.com @palan57.bsky.social

www.instagram.com/p/DQSqiFbDSLc/

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Thornton Civic Observatory @thorntoncivics.net · 5d

As noted in the article, council previously ejected Council Member Jacque Phillips for residency violations due to having multiple properties.

yellowscene.com/2023/11/04/t...

Thornton Civic Observatory @thorntoncivics.net · 5d

"The residence of a person is their primary home or place of abode at which the person has a physical presence on a regular basis and to which that person intends to return after a departure or absence. " (p. 136)

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Thornton Civic Observatory @thorntoncivics.net · 5d

....Voter registration records will be reviewed first. If residency cannot be determined through voter registration records, the Candidate will be asked to provide documentation to assist in verifying eligibility." (p. 11)

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Thornton Civic Observatory @thorntoncivics.net · 5d

"Pursuant to Thornton City Code Section 2-243, the City Clerk must verify that the statements made in the Affirmation Statement are accurate including the residency requirement....

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Thornton Civic Observatory @thorntoncivics.net · 5d

Per the 2025 guidelines, candidate eligibility requirements include:

being a resident of their Ward, or the City for the office of Mayor, for at least one year immediately preceding appointment or election;

and being a registered elector

www.thorntonco.gov/media/file/2...

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Thornton Civic Observatory @thorntoncivics.net · 5d

Northglenn-Thornton Sentinel: "Thornton city council candidate draws fire for residency."

Does Ward 4 candidate Drew Morris meet residency requirements?

#Thornton #Colorado #Election2025 #COpolitics

www.northglenn-thorntonsentinel.com/news/governm...

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Allison Sherry @allisonsherry.bsky.social · 6d

"We’re going to send a message to every Denver police officer that your employer is hanging them out to dry. We’re going to come after their personal assets, their cars, their marital estates, we’ll garnish their wages."

denverite.com/2025/10/28/d...

Where does $20 million come from? Massive jury award will test George Floyd-era police reform law in higher courts

The law attempts to hold cities and officers accountable for egregious mistakes on the job — and lawyers are trying to outsmart it.

denverite.com

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Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 5d

www.vera.org/news/what-do...

What Do Alternatives to Incarceration Actually Look Like?

Research shows that incarceration is often harmful and counterproductive. Some alternatives to incarceration can help prevent harm while keeping…

www.vera.org

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