Fox 31 news in Denver has been deceived by opponents of the Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission ballot initiative headed for the August primary election. The proposed commission, if voted into law, will post on the city government web site, credible evidence about UFOs and visitors to Earth of extraterrestrial origin. The opponents fraudulently used information that Denver Budget Director Ed Scholz e-mailed to Bryan Bonner, Treasurer of the political committee "Mission for Inhibiting Bureaucracy - M.I.B.", which opposes the ETA Commission. On April 29, Fox 31 reporter Tammy Vigil said that M.I.B. claimed the proposed commission will cost the city of Denver about $23,000 a year.
Bonner even posted, on the Fox 31/KDVR web site, an estimate of $22,800 for alleged city costs that he said came from city staff. But Bonner's claim contradicted not only the legally binding language of the ballot initiative, but comments from Scholz, the city staff member Bonner was referring to.
A copy of the e-mail was obtained May 11. In the e-mail to Scholz, Bonner asked, "If the commission does not collect enough 'gifts, grants and donations' to operate will the commission have to become City funded because it is an official City Commission?" Scholz reply to Bonner was, “No, if operating costs impact the General Fund, it will be the responsibility of the Commission to reimburse the General Fund for those expenses in a timely manner." However, on the Fox 31 web site, and possibly during the interview with Tammy Vigil, Bonner deliberately concealed the part of Scholz reply that confirmed no cost to the city from the proposed commission.
Budget Director Scholz' comment is in line with the initiative text that states the Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission must be funded "entirely from grants, gifts and donations, without requiring any fiscal outlay from the city budget." Reimbursement to the city, for any costs incurred from the commission's activities, is also mandated by the initiative's language. It states that the city "shall adopt all measures necessary for... the enforcement..." of the proposed ordinance, which means ensuring that the commission does not cost the city money.
This recent deception by Bonner and Baxter is consistent with their nearly two-year obsession with trying to trick voters into rejecting the ETA Commission ballot initiative. Their methods have mostly included amateur hoaxes and misrepresentation of the facts.
Even Emmy Award-winning Fox 31 news anchor Libby Weaver was tricked by Baxter and Bonner. Fox 31 reporter Tammy Vigil stated in the news segment that "[Jeff] Peckman says the commission wouldn't cost taxpayers anything. The cost of the web site would be paid for through grants, gifts and donations. But M.I.B. says that's not true. They say it would cost the city $23,000 a year in incidental costs."
Weaver, obviously unaware that Baxter's and Bonner's claims were fraudulent, ended the story by wrongly implying that the commission would raise taxes when she said "that's going to be a hard sell. People don't want to raise their taxes for anything". Fortunately, for the voters and news media, the e-mail from Scholz has destroyed the key argument and deceptive claim against the initiative from Baxter and Bonner.
Related article:
Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission initiative re-launched in Denver [Contains full text of ballot initiative]
For more information: www.extracampaign.org, www.disclosureproject.org
Comments
So it is ok to waste money as long as it doesn't come from taxes but from donations and grants instead? Nice one.
Jeff is absolutely correct on this one. It is too bad that everything we said was edited for time. The incidental costs that we referred to are to only come out of the city's general fund if the commission does not have the funds from grants, gifts, and donations to cover them. Let's hope that Jeff can guarantee us that he will get the outside funding. The $100,000.00 that he cost us in this election, however, is ours to cover... Thanks for clarifying that. What horrible confusion, Jeff!
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