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| See more Nederland Magpie survey results below |
The process of voting is central (the very backbone) to our democracy. Yet, voter apathy prevails, even in our little hamlet in the mountains.
A few weeks ago, I described the process for voting for the name of Barker Meadow Park in this blog post: Renaming Barker Meadow – Why Ned Should Declare the Magpie our Town Bird We extended the time to respond and still had limited submissions. None the less, submissions came in, and last week, on October 15th, the Nederland Board of Trustees passed Resolution 2013-12 Naming the Park Land just West of Barker Reservoir as "Barker Meadow Park".
The preliminary results have also come in, on the simple two-question survey for "Should the Town of Nederland officially declare the Magpie as the Town Bird?" I am leaving the survey open for more people to weigh-in on this issue. You will still be able vote your opinion at the bottom of this other post for quite some time.
[Related Story: Renaming Barker Meadow – Why Ned Should Declare the Magpie our Town Bird]
The analysis of these types of surveys can be useful for planning our community, but only if you participate.
Here are some preliminary findings so far:
- People who live outside the Greater Nederland Area didn't take the survey at all – and that's okay.
- Folks that live outside of town limits, but in the Greater Nederland Area, overwhelmingly favor declaring the Magpie our town bird by 88%, and the remainder (12%) think the survey is a complete waste of time.
- For all respondents in all areas, 84% agree that the Magpie should be our town bird, yet 26% think that the Mayor has lost his marbles in the process.
- There is also a trend emerging that, the closer you are to Old Town and Downtown, the more likely you are to consider the Magpie as conniving, pesky nuisance – perhaps because property lot sizes are smaller in Old Town, and get larger as you move outward, thus providing more space for these birds to be in nature, and less of a nuisance.
Other towns have indeed placed on their ballot, questions regarding what to do about coyotes and other animals, so it's not entirely as bizarre as you might think.
Our Nederland Municipal Code states that the Board of Trustees (BOT) are required to vote on every issue and BOT members cannot abstain. They are elected to have an opinion. (Reiterated here: A Call from the White House – A Lesson in Democracy)
Therefore, the Nederland Board of Trustees also passed Resolution 2013-11 in Support of Ballot Initiative 66 to Increase Funding for Education. This is primarily because it would address the state's biggest financial problem, and ease the risk that the state would further cut funding sources that directly effect our town.
The Nederland Board of Trustees also passed Resolution 2013-07 in Support of (Ballot initiative 5D) Regarding the Creation of a Public Improvement District for the Provision of the Nederland Area EcoPass. This also directly benefits our town's transportation goals, as shown in this blog post: 5 Reasons the EcoPass is Important to our Community Resiliency.
Whatever your opinions are on these issues, it is important that you do vote. You can check your voter registration here: Boulder County Check Your Voter Information. If you have questions about voting, you can call our Town Clerk, Michele Martin at (303) 258-3266 X-23, or stop in Town Hall.
Voting in itself, is our oldest democratic tradition.
[Here is a Video Valediction] This is Eivør Pálsdóttir from Iceland performing Trøllabundin. [What is a Video Valediction?]
Voting in itself, is our oldest democratic tradition.
[Here is a Video Valediction] This is Eivør Pálsdóttir from Iceland performing Trøllabundin. [What is a Video Valediction?]
