Neighborhood Battle - need tips

Jim Brennan

Jim Brennan

VHS Member Old Skool
Apologies in advance for the length of the post:

I live in a suburb of the Denver metro area in a stereotypical subdivision. For a few years now a small number of residents (mostly members and former members of the HOA board) have been trying to take advantage of a city-sponsored program that would tear down the wooden fences that border the subdivision and put up a masonry wall. That sounds great, but it will cost us over 2 million dollars.

I am against the project, and along with other residents have put up signs, handed out flyers and had meetings. The initiative is on the November ballot and there is definitely some hijinx going on.

For example, every election year the county sends out a crib sheet with all the ballot issues, a simplified explanation and pro/con piece. When someone called the city and county and asked to put some legitimate things in the "con" section they were told that no ballot info was going out this year. 2 weeks later, we all get the ballot books, but there is no "con" on the initiative, only a "pro"

I recently received a letter from the committee trying to pass the initiative with a 10-point layout of why the fence would be a good thing. I want to send out a rebuttal, since I disagree with nearly all of the points, but I don't know how to access the names and addresses of the residents. The person at the head of the pro-fence committee is a long time board member, and current president of the HOA. So she has that info (but so far has not supplied it to me, even though I asked)

I have been all over my county website looking for the info, but can' find it. I know it's public record. Any tips?
 
you should be able to look up the names of who owns what house on your county's tax assessor website.
 
Call your local FOX news station. They are rabid for news like this.

They can probably twist it into a story about how the fence will destroy families, threaten our freedom and cause China to foreclose on America.
 
Jockomo said:
Call your local FOX news station. They are rabid for news like this.

They can probably twist it into a story about how the fence will destroy families, threaten our freedom and cause China to foreclose on America.
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Seriously? Do you even watch Fox? I mean, it would not be a bad idea to contact a news station on the matter, but to say something like that is just pure stupidity.
 
Jim Brennan said:
... I want to send out a rebuttal, since I disagree with nearly all of the points, but I don't know how to access the names and addresses of the residents. The person at the head of the pro-fence committee is a long time board member, and current president of the HOA. So she has that info (but so far has not supplied it to me, even though I asked)...
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If she is obligated to provide the information then she should be called to task.

In the meantime, perhaps your state and local representatives can be of assistance. It sounds like a cliche; however, I've found them to be interested and useful on several occasions in my area.
 
Jockomo said:
Call your local FOX news station. They are rabid for news like this.

They can probably twist it into a story about how the fence will destroy families, threaten our freedom and cause China to foreclose on America.
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I'm going to assume you've never worked in TV News...

Unless the Denver Fox affiliate is an O&O, you can't lump them in with Fox News, the cable network. That's like lumping every Ford dealership in with one another. For the most part, they're all separately owned and operated, with different corporate philosophies, and different individual news directors and management.

Just because you have a beef with Fox News the cable channel, doesn't mean the local non-cable affiliates are operated the way you perceive the cable channel is operated.

(And for the record, I work for a CBS affiliate... so I'm neither for or against Fox)
 
ugafan said:
what county?
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Arapahoe

jordandov said:
If she is obligated to provide the information then she should be called to task.

In the meantime, perhaps your state and local representatives can be of assistance. It sounds like a cliche; however, I've found them to be interested and useful on several occasions in my area.
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She's not really obligated. I just know that as the president of the HOA, she has all that info. But for some time she has claimed this has nothing to do with the the HOA. So if she is using information entrusted to her as president for a private issue, that seems unethical.

As for our elected officials, our city rep has stated quite clearly that he is for the fence...no matter how it happens.
 
She just sent me an e-mail saying she got it from a list of registered voters. Any tips on tracking that down?
 
Jim Brennan said:
She just sent me an e-mail saying she got it from a list of registered voters. Any tips on tracking that down?
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I know in WA, the state will give you a master list of all registered voters for $15 or something like that. I would call whatever department is in charge of CO elections. The county might have that as well.
 
Save the Dirt Shrew.

ialcr_fullxfull.60404.jpg


Boom, done. No wall goes up.
 
How many houses are we talking about? You could pay some kids $15 to delivery it by hand. Or, if it's not too time consuming, do it yourself. That may be a whole lot more effective.
 
ugafan said:
link

just type in the street name and press enter. as long as you know the streets in the subdivision, this should give you all the names.
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Thanks man. That will save me some time.


We were going to just deliver them by hand, but we thought people would be more likely to open and read them if they were personally addressed.
 
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Most places, the tax assessor's office will supply a name & address list of the registered owners of property within a subdivision on request. On my last such request, they emailed it to me in a matter of hours.

Voter registration lists are also public record, you could request applicable precincts and then narrow down by street address. The Colorado statewide list is $500 - ouch.

every election year the county sends out a crib sheet with all the ballot issues, a simplified explanation and pro/con piece. When someone called the city and county and asked to put some legitimate things in the "con" section they were told that no ballot info was going out this year. 2 weeks later, we all get the ballot books, but there is no "con" on the initiative, only a "pro"
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I'd look for where to file a formal complaint - start with the Secretary of State's office - elections division. With any luck, you might get it thrown off the ballot.

Or you could demand an environmental impact statement, but they'd probably thank you and do one - more stimulus $$$

Good luck.
 
Darn! From the thread title, I thought you were going to ask for some good ol' fashioned guerilla warfare tactics.
 
pixelated said:
Most places, the tax assessor's office will supply a name & address list of the registered owners of property within a subdivision on request. On my last such request, they emailed it to me in a matter of hours.

Voter registration lists are also public record, you could request applicable precincts and then narrow down by street address. The Colorado statewide list is $500 - ouch.



I'd look for where to file a formal complaint - start with the Secretary of State's office - elections division. With any luck, you might get it thrown off the ballot.

Or you could demand an environmental impact statement, but they'd probably thank you and do one - more stimulus $$$

Good luck.
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I would love to file a formal complaint, but I wasn't the one who made the calls. The two people who did seem less than willing to take it that far since all they have is their word.

As for the list, one of the people who fought the initiative from the beginning has one she used to verify the names on the petition to get it on the ballot. I'm picking it up today.

Thanks for the tips guys.
 
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