Morrison touts property rights

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

Darren Morrison of Fort Collins, candidate for the Colorado legislature from House District 53, believes he can best represent ordinary people in his district.

"I know what it's like to live from paycheck to paycheck," he said. "I could better represent blue-collar workers." Morrison wants to show others that public office is open to all and hopes his candidacy will encourage others to run for election.

Morrison, 44, is a custodian at Colorado State University. He is a member of the American Constitution Party, which stands for individual rights and limited government.

If elected, Morrison's top priority would be property rights issues. "I would stop the misuse of eminent domain by government and private parties," he said, although he approves of eminent domain for public projects such as roads and railroads. He would also like to put a stop to forced annexations of neighborhoods that have existed for a long time. The residents of those neighborhoods, he said, worry about increased property taxes, especially if they live on fixed incomes.

Morrison would like to make higher education more affordable and accessible. He proposes making better use of community colleges, and connecting them to courses at state universities via the Internet. "Having more college-educated people would be better for the state's economy," he said.

A side benefit, Morrison said, would be less urban sprawl in the university towns if more students attended community colleges.

As a veteran himself, Morrison would like to see preference given to veterans for higher education and also for state jobs. In addition, he thinks private veteran clubs such as those run by the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars should be allowed to choose whether they allow smoking or not, as casinos in Colorado can do.

Morrison said there is "no way of creating new revenue" in Colorado because of TABOR restrictions, so the state will have to cut spending. He would look at some social services programs as areas to cut. He would also keep close tabs on state spending to curtail fraud, waste and abuse.

As a believer in user taxes, Morrison said he favors toll roads as a means of generating money for state highways. He would especially like to see a toll on trucks entering Colorado, so they could help pay for wear and tear on the roads. Other states already have such tolls, he noted.

"A small fee would put big money into the highway system and free up money for other things," Morrison said.

On other state issues, Morrison had the following comments:

• Immigration laws: He favors the laws recently enacted by the state legislature.
• Same-sex marriage: While he is personally against same-sex marriage, he believes the state should not be in the business of granting marriage licenses at all. This should be left up to churches and other faith organizations, he said.
• Referendum C: He was opposed to this referendum because he didn't think the legislature was up-front about how the funds would be spent.