Colorado House District 19: Joe Johnson
Oct. 16—Name: Joe Johnson
Party: Libertarian
Website: None
Age: 58
Family: Five sisters, one brother, (my) mother still alive, father (is dead)
How long have you lived in Frederick: 20 years
Professional background: Sales
Political/community experience: Former member of the Frederick Board of Trustees and former chairman of the Libertarian Party of Boulder County
Education: High School graduate
Do you have any thoughts on how the state can lessen the financial burden of childcare that is placed on families while ensuring that child care providers make enough to live in Colorado or the Weld County area?: The best childcare is provided by involved parents. I will work hard to roll back the taxes, fees and regulations that the government has imposed on all of us making it impossible for one working spouse to support a family. In just over a generation's time, this has gone from being the norm to being virtually impossible because of these government taxes, fees and regulations. Every dollar taken from the pockets of working families and put into the coffers of government is one less dollar driving the economy and feeding families.
Do you have any thoughts on how the state can expand the light rail and bus system to serve Carbon Valley residents as well as the rest of the state?: This presupposes that RTD is not a failure, and that it would actually be a good idea to keep (and) expand it. I challenge that assumption. We should sell RTD, to any private company willing to complete the commitments RTD has made and failed to complete. This would eliminate the burden of the regressive tax collected to fund an agency that is chronically over budget, behind schedule and unable to provide innovative service to areas and people willing to pay for it. I will not work to increase the financial burden on families by expanding RTD. RTD must be made self-sustainable. This can only happen in the private sector where the financial consequences for failure fall on the company and not on working families.
What needs to be done to better protect Colorado's climate from worsening air quality and the ever-increasing risk of wildfires? How would you support initiatives to improve these issues?: I will not pretend to be a scientist. Hopefully other politicians will likewise admit that they do not know all of the answers to complex questions. The issues of air quality and climate will not be solved in the current political vacuum. "Climate change" is a hot political topic, and dialog has become one of "one is either 'on board' with the official narrative or one apparently 'hates the earth.'" I challenge this presupposition. The cause and effect of climate change is not settled, there is much science has yet to teach us. I oppose silencing voices. I will work to bring minds smarter than my own — of all viewpoints — together. Only through a sincere quest for knowledge and enlightenment may we avoid costly mistakes with potential dire consequences.
