By Cory Gaines | Colorado Accountability Project
We have finally approached the end of our settlement.
I won’t go into the gory details (if you want more, I linked to Rachel Gabel’s contemporaneous op ed below), but back in January of this year, I testified at a Colorado Parks and Wildlife commissioners meeting. I was quite critical of the way that they handled their business.
I was cut off by the head commissioner and then booted from this meeting. Thanks to the Public Trust Institute taking my case pro bono, I was able to do more than just gripe to friends.
I truly appreciate their taking my case, because, outside of Mrs. Gabel and a tiny mention by Shaun Boyd, no one else in the media seemed to care about the loss of my First Amendment rights and a flagrant violation of Colorado Open Meetings law.
And outside of my state senator and the legislative liaison for Dept of Natural Resources (which houses CPW), no one at the state government level seemed to care either.
That is, no one at the state seemed to care until Public Trust Institute took my case and threatened to sue. That got the Attorney General’s attention.
Perhaps if I had said I was denied an abortion, it wouldn’t have taken this much to get Mr. Weiser to care, but nonetheless …
Part of the settlement with the AG’s office is a change in CPW commission policy about the guidelines for public comment and some training by the board. It will also include something I tried and was unable to find: someone to talk over disagreements about whether or not one was treated fairly with regard to Free Speech issues prior to having to go to court.
I was told that this policy will be migrated to other boards around the state, and I hope it will.
I chose to go before the CPW Commissioners at their 6/12 -13 meeting to remind them of what happened publicly and to remind everyone else at the meeting (and at the state level) that their silence about a violation of my rights and their ignoring my questions about what policies I violated are just as much wrong as my being silenced and kicked out.
If you want to listen to my testimony, look near the end of the 6/13 CPW Commissioners Meeting.
I hope they, along with other government officials took note. Whether or not they like what you have to say, it is your right to say it.
Speak up. If you are denied that right, don’t go away quietly.
Fight, and don’t let some closed doors stop you.
Related:
As a quick aside, waiting my turn to testify at the 6/13 meeting I had a chance to hear a lot of testimony about a new rule concerning things like a rancher being able to use night vision scopes to protect their herds.
I was glad (heartened) to hear so many people speaking up. In particular, I liked to hear so many speaking up and sharing their stories of what it’s like to actually live with wolves and not just vote them into someone else’s yard.
If you wonder about whether or not you should get involved, if you wonder whether or not you can, take the example of the wide variety of genders and ages I heard speaking at the CPW commissioner’s meeting and get involved.
If they can, if I can, you can.
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