Colorado’s 8th Congressional District is widely considered by political watchers around the country as one of, if not the, top battleground districts in the nation; the outcome of the CD 8 election in November could very well determine which party controls the House of Representatives for the remainder of President Trump’s second term.

The seat is currently held by Republican Congressman Gabe Evans, who is not facing a primary. On the Democratic side, two candidates are vying for the nomination in the June 30th primary,  former State Representative Shannon Bird and current State Representative Manny Rutinel.

Commerce City Council recently concluded a productive two-day retreat with a clear sense of direction and a shared commitment to moving the city forward on its most pressing challenges. The session brought all nine council members together alongside senior city staff to align on a refreshed strategic plan, update budget priorities, and chart a new course for city leadership. The result was a cohesive set of strategic goals — Economic Investment, Public Safety, Health and Wellbeing, Housing, Infrastructure and Transportation, and Transparent and Accountable Government — that will guide city decisions and spending in the years ahead.

Election season is upon Commerce City again, and among the most important local races this year will be replacing term-limited Commissioner Steve O’Dorisio in the Adams County Commissioner District 4 seat. Two candidates are vying for the Democratic nomination in the primary election, which will be held on June 30: Karen DeAguero and Tyler Quick. There is one Republican running for the seat, Joseph Domenico, who is not facing a primary challenge.

Seven candidates are running for two At-Large seats, including incumbent Kristi Douglas. Like the wards 1 and 3 seats, the winners will serve four-years terms on the City Council; however, unlike wards, voters are asked to vote for TWO candidates. Here is a look at all seven contenders, in the order they will appear on the ballot:

Three candidates are running for Commerce City Council in Ward 3, including the incumbent, Renee Chacon, during this November’s election. Here is a look at the three contenders, in the order they will appear on the ballot:

City Council had yet another opportunity to show Commerce City residents and small businesses where their priorities lie, as they voted last week on whether or not to approve an amendment to the City budget to construct a desperately needed police substation. Four council members – again – showed that their priority is not public safety.

Three candidates are running to replace the term-limited Oscar Madera for Commerce City Council from Ward 1 during this November’s election. Here is a look at the three contenders.

Given how much the violent crime rate has increased in Commerce City, coupled with projected population growth and the fact that Commerce City has fewer police substations than other municipalities of our size, you would think that approval of a fully functional police substation in the northern part of the city would be an urgent priority for City Council, right?

Well, for a slim majority of Council, yes, it may be. That slim, 5-4 majority does not, for some reason, include Mayor Steve Douglas, Mayor pro tem Susan Noble, and Councilmembers Renee Chacon and Kristi Douglas.

Those four voted against a motion brought forward at the August 18 Council meeting by Councilman Sean Ford to approve $16 million of unencumbered funds to go towards a new substation, after four years of discussion and back and forth.

Renee Chacon, ostensibly a Commerce City Council Member, made the news again recently. Not for anything having to do with what some might consider the important job of serving as an elected official of Commerce City’s government, but for yet another of her many civil-justice-warrior antics.

And this time, she is being joined by fellow-traveler and wanna-be city council member Lucy Molina.

Colorado Public Radio ran a story about how Chacon and Molina have banded together to help thwart federal law enforcement. This adds to a long list of examples, in which Chacon eagerly bandies about her “city council member” title, while engaged in far-left activist pursuits that have nothing whatsoever to do with governing Commerce City.

While some on Commerce City’s City Council are obsessed with things like gas stations, grocery carts, Suncor and residential development, residents of our beleaguered city are facing the daily reality that it is becoming increasingly more dangerous to live here.

Commerce City’s well-known crime problem is not just anecdotal. The numbers display very clearly what everyone – save a few on City Council – already knows; that crime is a growing problem with a severity that is unique to our community.

The figures, taken from the official data compiled by the state, are stark and don’t lie. The rate of violent crime in Commerce City has been on an upward trend since at least 2020. Last year, Commerce City recorded 620 violent crimes, comprising murder, aggravated assault, sexual assault, and robbery.

But the reality is clearly revealed when those raw numbers are compared to neighboring jurisdictions. Let’s consider the cities of Westminster, Thornton, Northglenn, and Brighton.

At its June 2nd meeting, City Council took up one of the most pressing issues facing our community, addressing a problem so egregious, that it is keeping citizens awake at night, making Commerce City virtually unlivable, and stopping growth and progress in its tracks.

Was this issue crime? Homelessness? Deteriorating infrastructure?

No, it was gas stations.

Yes, the principal issue taken up by Council was not what to do about the crime rate or the homeless problem (which two citizens during public comment showed up in person, pleading the council to do something about), or anything so trivial as that – but a proposal by Council Member Chacon to draft an ordinance imposing a moratorium on gas stations and convenience stores.

Faithful readers of Eye may recall the post we did resurfacing the video that Adams County School District 14 board member Lucy Molina took of herself having a meltdown over Commerce City council member Craig Kim’s attendance at an Adams 14 public meeting on April 16.

Well, that story has just gotten both weirder and worse.

By way of background, the whole thing started when Kim publicly raised objections to the district’s hiring of Tiffany Narcisse as the new Adams 14 Junior High School Principal. In an email to the Board, which he later made public in the interests of transparency, Kim raised reasonable concerns related to Ms. Narcisse’s previous job as a school administrator in Fairfax County, VA. Specifically, those concerns focused on a serious lapse of judgment over her reaction to the death of a student at the school, for which she was forced to apologize following an outcry from parents; as well as a damning financial audit of the school while she was principal.

There is a school of thought – a rather commonly held one, we would think – that holds if you steal something from someone, then you – not the person from whom you stole it – should be held accountable.

That is apparently not a universally held principle by some elected to represent Commerce City residents and businesses.

At a study session last week, City Council discussed a proposed ordinance to ban shopping carts from city parks and other public spaces; generally, shopping carts that were stolen from local grocery stores and used by homeless folks as mobile storage. Those caught with a shopping cart in such a place would receive a citation. This would in fact be a broadening of a current ordinance that prohibits shopping carts from being removed from the premise that owns them, enforceable by fining – the business from which the cart was removed.

Now the good news is that the cooler heads charged with enforcing this law report that no businesses have actually been fined for this.

Last month, the Adams County School District 14 held a public meeting, which was evidently attended by A14 board member Luz E. (Lucy) Molina-Aguayo (otherwise known as Lucy Molina).

We say “evidently” because a video has surfaced, recorded by Molina herself, in which she exhibits a rather visceral reaction to the presence of Commerce City Council Member Craig Kim. The video was initially posted – briefly – to social media, and has apparently been taken down, a copy has surfaced. Here is an abridged version to give a sense of what transpired.

In the video, Molina accuses Kim of a number of offences, saying repeatedly that he “walked in very aggressively” and started “yelling” at her, later adding that he “attacked” her and “another black woman” who seemed not to be present. She stated that she was “tired of men feeling entitled to disrespect women of color” and called for him to dbe escorted out, claiming repeatedly that she felt “unsafe.”

If you have ever wondered how it is that Commerce City came to receive its reputation as a dysfunctional sit-com where a lot of bureaucratic activity happens but nothing ever actually gets done, then we present Commerce City Council’s special study session on March 24.

At the top of the agenda was a request to hold a public hearing at the Planning Commission on two plat approvals for the Reunion Center development, which consists of 180 residential units and 10 commercial. Now, in any sane, well-run city, these would be approved administratively, having already been thoroughly reviewed by professionals on the city staff to ensure they meet all the requisite criteria, as was done in this case. The plats have nothing to do with zoning, or land use, or what is eventually going to be built on them; they are essentially just lot maps.

This, however, is Commerce City. So naturally, the request was made to send these staff-approved plats over to the Planning Commission for a full public hearing. Council Member Craig Kim asked, quite reasonably, what was the purpose of doing so? Council Member Susan Noble answered him: “This is to address the criteria in the final plat, and adequacy of meeting that criteria, and to make that determination at public hearing.”

A recent article in Westword tells of a RiNo art gallery where a local artist and around 50 high school interns have collaborated on creating pieces centered around the theme of what it would be like if the Suncor refinery was not the Suncor refinery.

We think it’s great that this gallery is giving these kids something to do, and are intrigued by the theme – imagining a Commerce City without Suncor and its jobs, energy products, tax generation, and economic contribution. It’s an interesting thought experiment, and we figured we’d give it a shot!

Just to start, we imagine the pipelines that would have to be built to transport Colorado natural resources to distant refineries. Failing that, we imagine how many more oil tanker cars it would require on the the railroad lines that run through the city and through the state.

Then we imagine how much more expensive gasoline would be, with all those locally produced gallons gone.

With all of the important local issues facing Commerce City – crime, infrastructure, housing, economic development, and, yes, air quality – one would think that our City Council members would have their hands full dealing with these issues. Sometimes that may include a trip to the State Capitol to advocate for the city on important issues like local control, transportation, and so forth.

Back on Feb. 13, two Commerce City Council members, Kristi Douglas and Renee Chacon, showed up (Douglas in person, Chacon online) before the House Energy and Environment Committee – to oppose a bipartisan bill including nuclear as a clean energy source.

If Council members Douglas and Chacon hate nuclear energy enough to take the time to testify against it, more power to them. That’s what democracy is for.  But they should make very clear that if they do so, they are doing so as private citizens, NOT as official representatives of the City.

Improved transparency and efficiency in local government are among those things that we can all agree on, right? Not so fast…

Among other issues at the City, the increasingly insufferable lengths that some council meetings go to is, quite frankly, absurd. Hours-long sessions featuring public comment phases that reduce the proceedings to redundant and tedious political theater, are not what most people would consider conducive to the effective workings of good government, especially when several of the most time-consuming items on the agenda are slipped in last minute on the agreement of only two council members.

During the December 16th Council hearing, a resolution was brought up to approve an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between the City of Commerce City and South Adams County Water and Sanitation District (SACWSD) for water infrastructure improvements along 96th Avenue. Now objectively, this IGA would be to the great benefit of all parties, and to the city as a whole; basically, it allows for new water and sewer lines, needed to service the planned new development east of Tower Road, to be installed during the widening of 96th Ave. when the road will already be under construction. The alternative is to come along later, after the road is finished, and tear it back up to install those lines, at a much greater cost, and potentially causing problems with the brand-spanking new road. So, the IGA would seem like a win-win on the merits. 

Here is how Mayor Pro tem Susan Noble considered the issue:

“The resolution says that South Adams Water has appropriated the funds but they may be coming from rate payers since that is their source of revenue. And I would just like to take a moment to point out that on October 2nd the city council voted unanimously to support South Adams County Water and Sanitation District's ballot measure that would enable them to apply for state grants. That was the understanding we were given. We were also told that there would not be a rate increase. The rate increase was announced this past week of 7.5% to all rate payers in South Adams County Water and Sanitation District. To say I am disappointed that that has occurred when we asked specifically is an understatement, and I on that basis will be voting no on this resolution.”

Commerce City Mayor Steve Douglas can’t seem to find much love lately – even among his erstwhile supporters.

At the City Council meeting of January 6, 2025, during the public comment session, David Polley, a local activist who was among Mayor Douglas’ biggest supporters during his election, stood in front of Council and essentially unloaded on the Mayor, calling him out for “acting in an inappropriate, unethical, and immoral manner.” If Mr. Polley’s allegations are even partially accurate, it suggests some truly disturbing behavior on the part of Mayor Douglas.

During his three minutes at the microphone, Polley accused Douglas of running a detailed background check on him, which included accumulation of personal data, including phone numbers. Polley further alleges that when he confronted Douglas about this, that he lied.

“The short version is the mayor ran an unknown and unconsented background check on me to collect personal information including details of every phone number I have had going back for the last 25 years,” Polley said, addressing the Council. “When confronted by this, he denied it and said I gave him this information while I was drunk. I never did any such thing. I have asked him to tell the truth and to offer his apologies formally, yet he refuses to do so in an appropriate manner.”