I am sure many of you saw the 'editorial' by Mike Peters this weekend. Here is the link in case you missed it: http://www.greeleytribune.com/news/opinion/8483894-113/state-money-spend-ballot

Jeffrey Hare

I have submitted the following response:

Sorry Mike Peters and Dave Young, you have it all wrong about the 51st State Initiative

Mr. Peters, I guess you’ve bought into the theory that if you repeat something enough times people would come to accept it as truth. The whole premise of your article lies with the assertion that Weld County would have to spend a lot of money in order for the 51st State to become a reality. We reject that notion.

First, we have formed a non-profit called the 51st State Initiative. It is registered with the Secretary of State – check it out. Any journalist with your credentials is sure to find it. We have been the public face of the movement from the beginning. Website, Facebook, stickers, handouts, etc. have all come from our non-profit. It may be a shock to you that none of the money donated to our non-profit has come from Weld County or any other government entity – yep – all private donations!
Second, new political entities can be formed with little funding. Do an internet search on the creation of Sandy

Springs, GA. We intend to follow a similar model. We anticipate all of the work to form the new state will be done by volunteers. If we need to hire experts, we will do so with private donations. We, like you, believe this initiative should be citizen driven and not funded by any government entities.

As it relates to our assertion that this initiative is a ‘joke’ – well we obviously disagree. If you would take off your partisan blinders for a moment and look at the history of our country – you’d recognize that our country has nearly doubled in population since the 1964 ‘one man, one vote’ Supreme Court decision which forced all state legislatures to be based solely on population.

In the past 50 years, the population of the United States has nearly doubled with most of that growth coming in urban areas. As a result of the urbanization of America, the agriculture-based rural population has had less and less of a voice in their state legislatures and in Congress. This is a real issue that needs to be solved and, yes, it is a matter of national security as well as an assault on the bedrock of America.

The fact that you mock the movement so much and you write on behalf of a newspaper whose success has been based on an agricultural community is a strong indicator of the disconnect. Yes there is a disconnect and that disconnect is a problem. Rather than to mock the movement, perhaps use your bully pulpit to suggest alternative ways to resolve this disconnect. And let me tell you it is going to take a whole lot more than ‘better dialogue’ as is suggested by HD50 Rep Dave Young. We’ve been trying to get our state legislature and Governor to listen for a long time and it isn’t working. Continuing this one- way conversation with folks in Denver is a bit like the Lucy and Charlie Brown syndrome. It is time for us to Send a Message to Denver. We’ve had enough abuse and it’s time to go our separate ways.

Submitted by Jeffrey Hare – spokesperson for the 51st State Initiative