Speaker 1: I am very pleased to have one of what I
Speaker 1: think is one of the top candidates. We have a
Speaker 1: big GOP primary, but most of the candidates that are
Speaker 1: registered with the Secretary of State, they're not really candidates.
Speaker 1: They have no fundraising, they have no websites, they are
Speaker 1: not serious people. So a couple of weeks ago, Ryan
Speaker 1: Schuling and I had the privilege of moderating a Republican forum.
Speaker 1: It was originally going to be a debate, but then
Speaker 1: when we realized we had three candidates because Victor Marks
Speaker 1: couldn't make it, we decided to go in a kind
Speaker 1: of a bigger direction and Sheriff Jason Mixel was there.
Speaker 1: He did a great I think all the candidates did
Speaker 1: a really good job representing themselves and sort of giving
Speaker 1: the people that were there a better feel of who
Speaker 1: they were and what their priorities were. And I'm happy
Speaker 1: to have Sheriff Jason Mixel in the studio with me
Speaker 1: right now to continue that conversation.
Speaker 2: Welcome to the show, Thanks, Manda. I appreciate being here.
Speaker 3: Well, I appreciate you driving up from Teller County where
Speaker 3: you are Sheriff.
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
Speaker 1: Let's start with your background. For people who are not
Speaker 1: familiar with you.
Speaker 2: Well, a couple of things people don't realize. I do
Speaker 2: own businesses. I started a small company, grew it to
Speaker 2: a large company. We my and my wife diversified down
Speaker 2: to small businesses. So we own several restaurants. We own
Speaker 2: some parking frants for those, so we own two in
Speaker 2: Woodland Park. We own one that's called the Ute Lodge
Speaker 2: Barn Grill, which is actually a steakhouse. And we own
Speaker 2: another place called One ten Reserve. It's more of a
Speaker 2: summer business type right now. And then we own some
Speaker 2: commercial rentals and some different things.
Speaker 1: Okay, I'm a big fan of the Hungry Bear. On on occasion,
Speaker 1: I will drive to Woodland Park just to get pancakes there.
Speaker 3: But that's the story for another time. Married. Obviously, you
Speaker 3: got kids.
Speaker 2: I do. I've got three boys. I have one that's
Speaker 2: in law enforcement, I have one that's security technologies in California.
Speaker 2: And I have one the one seventy third Airborne who's
Speaker 2: just been brought back to the US to serve at
Speaker 2: the hundred first Airborne or airsol Wing.
Speaker 3: Well, thank him for his service for me. I appreciate that.
Speaker 1: So they're all grown and gone and is that one
Speaker 1: of the reasons that you decided now to jump in
Speaker 1: a race for governor Because you've got a long tenure
Speaker 1: in law enforcement. Why now, why try to go from
Speaker 1: sheriff to gov.
Speaker 2: Well, I think here's the issue. I was going to
Speaker 2: the state capitol. I'm fighting things like the Second Amendment
Speaker 2: rights for people throughout Colorado. We're fighting things for businesses
Speaker 2: on my private site. We're fighting things that have to
Speaker 2: deal with safe injection sites throughout Colorado. And the problem was,
Speaker 2: I'm dealing with a lot of politicians every day and
Speaker 2: I'm not getting anywhere right. So We've had so many
Speaker 2: different governor's candidates come through the mix over the years,
Speaker 2: and I remember watching all of them and going, they
Speaker 2: can't win. They're just not that people that can understand
Speaker 2: the issues they want to do those things. So and
Speaker 2: I'd always told my boys, if you're going to complain
Speaker 2: about something, fix it. So I decided one morning, because
Speaker 2: I had been complaining so much about the way things
Speaker 2: were going, that I've got to fix it because we've
Speaker 2: got to bring back love for law enforcement. We've got
Speaker 2: to get the state back into control fiscally. And I
Speaker 2: felt like someone that was out of the box thinking
Speaker 2: I'm not an age old Republican or the fact that
Speaker 2: I'm not a politician, but I have run companies and
Speaker 2: I understand how to bring back economies and look at
Speaker 2: those things. I understood the crime issues in Colorado is
Speaker 2: one of the most unsafe states in the United States,
Speaker 2: and how do you bring that back? Well, I'm a sheriff.
Speaker 2: I know how to work with other law enforcement. He's
Speaker 2: he's across the state to do that with minimal costs
Speaker 2: and really to have an ability to decrease crime within
Speaker 2: forty percent within for six months.
Speaker 1: So you have been pretty outspoken about the way your
Speaker 1: department has figured out a way to sort of either
Speaker 1: I don't want to say get around, because I think
Speaker 1: that that is a misstatement to say get around, but
Speaker 1: how are you able to work with federal law enforcement
Speaker 1: where other sheriffs And we have a story on the
Speaker 1: blog today where the governor is like, oh, yeah, you
Speaker 1: guys can work with federal law enforcement all you want.
Speaker 1: But the reality is the perception still exists that if
Speaker 1: you do cooperate with law enforcement when it comes to.
Speaker 3: Immigration, you're going to be you could be fined.
Speaker 1: Fifty thousand dollars because that's what the law says in Colorado,
Speaker 1: and our Attorney General will most certainly prosecute.
Speaker 2: Well, he's done it, and he's doing it, and he's
Speaker 2: threatening people. That's the guy that wants to be a governor.
Speaker 2: Now here's the other side of it. Though Governor Paulis
Speaker 2: is wrong. I've said he's wrong for the last eight years.
Speaker 2: I've fought the ACLU on these issues. We've sent letters
Speaker 2: to him. He's never wanted to sit down personally and
Speaker 2: have this discussion, even though I'm the one they're going
Speaker 2: after for the programs.
Speaker 1: He just offered to sit down and make that happen
Speaker 1: with law enforcement, So you should take.
Speaker 3: Him up on it.
Speaker 2: Well, here's the thing. He will with his people right, right.
Speaker 2: He won't come down and meet with those of us
Speaker 2: that understand the real issues. And that's been across the board.
Speaker 2: We've attempted to meet with him for years, and he'll
Speaker 2: only go to certain sheriffs or certain policed agencies that
Speaker 2: work with him, right and do pretty much what he
Speaker 2: wants in the state of Colorida, which is a yes.
Speaker 2: So the problem is there is no yes to this right.
Speaker 2: There is a whole set of circumstances that are killing
Speaker 2: us here in Colorado with these issues. But it's across
Speaker 2: the board with county commissioners wanting to meet with them,
Speaker 2: all kinds of folks that have better ideas than what's
Speaker 2: being forced on them. That's what's not coming across because
Speaker 2: really it's a localized Denver government that's pushing out throughout
Speaker 2: the whole state with all kinds of issues.
Speaker 1: Oh that's true. Let's talk about your battle with the ACLU.
Speaker 1: How did it start? Well, it started. I became a sheriff.
Speaker 2: I actually was asked to come back because the sheriff
Speaker 2: pro formed me had left early. So I took ownership
Speaker 2: of the sheriff's office. Could you actually sign ownership to it?
Speaker 2: My first day back, the ACLU calls me, the head
Speaker 2: of the ACLU, and he says, hey, listen, are you
Speaker 2: going to play ball with us? Or are we going
Speaker 2: to have to sue you? So you're going to have
Speaker 2: to play ball like all the other sheriffs in Colorado.
Speaker 2: And I said, give me five minutes. I don't even
Speaker 2: know what you're talking about, right, So I called over
Speaker 2: my jail because when I left, we were working with ice.
Speaker 2: When I came back. I found out that there had
Speaker 2: been letters given to the ACLU saying that we weren't
Speaker 2: going to work with ICE, that we wouldn't support ICE.
Speaker 2: Then I talked to my staff and that we had
Speaker 2: a huge issue going on with cartel's illegal marijuana. The
Speaker 2: logistics line we're coming into Colorado was destroying our community.
Speaker 2: Knowing to taking on a fight like that, I was
Speaker 2: going to have to work with ICE. I called ICE.
Speaker 2: I said, hey, listen, you send me the first flight
Speaker 2: in and I'll start taking them today. I called the
Speaker 2: Aco you.
Speaker 3: Back, What do you mean by that? What does that mean?
Speaker 2: Well, because they the Aco you did not want us
Speaker 2: to house for ICE criminals in Colorado, same thing we're
Speaker 2: doing now. At that time, you could though you knew
Speaker 2: you were gonna be sued, but nobody had jumped into that.
Speaker 2: They just were trying to push it away and say, oh, well,
Speaker 2: you know in theory we're gonna lose, right, So, and
Speaker 2: I don't like being threatened. I'm not good like that.
Speaker 2: I just I just don't do well with it. So
Speaker 2: we immediately got the phone call back from the Aco
Speaker 2: you saying what's your what are you gonna do? And
Speaker 2: I go here's the thing. I'm landing them. They're gonna
Speaker 2: fill my jail today, sue me. I go, I'll take
Speaker 2: that battle on. So that's what happened. Three days later,
Speaker 2: I think I got my first lawsuit and we were
Speaker 2: embroiled for eight years. And through that eight years we won.
Speaker 2: I had a great attorney through the county, and we
Speaker 2: had a great strategic direction on how I wanted to
Speaker 2: make sure how we could win, and we won because
Speaker 2: we were saying, to serve the public and to protect
Speaker 2: public peace, we need to be able to work with ice.
Speaker 1: What does that look like in practice in Teller County
Speaker 1: where you're a sheriff.
Speaker 2: Well, now it's changed, right. They finally were able to
Speaker 2: get a legislation passed that would stop me from being
Speaker 2: able to use my two eighty seven G program at
Speaker 2: this point.
Speaker 1: And the two eighty seven G program is a federal
Speaker 1: program that you could partner and actually have a dedicated
Speaker 1: person who serves a dual purpose of working for the
Speaker 1: sheriff's office and immigration and customers enforcement right inside my jail,
Speaker 1: right right, So you actually have a person that was fulfilling.
Speaker 2: That role, yep. And we're dealing with people inside the jail, right,
Speaker 2: So they're not going back into the community, they're not
Speaker 2: going back on the streets. You're not having those issues.
Speaker 2: So that's how it all started. Now it's if there's
Speaker 2: a major investigation or they need us to investigate something,
Speaker 2: we can assist with an investigation, but only an investigation.
Speaker 3: So that's where it's sits I has to initiate.
Speaker 2: ICE has to initiate by sending me a memo saying, hey,
Speaker 2: we need your assistance with an investigation.
Speaker 1: Are there still law enforcement officials that believe that even
Speaker 1: that level of cooperation on an active investigation couldn't at
Speaker 1: them a fifty thousand dollars fine?
Speaker 2: Oh absolutely, Yeah.
Speaker 3: Well, I mean I don't know why they wouldn't.
Speaker 1: Phil Weiser has been very aggressive, yeah, in you know,
Speaker 1: in making sure that this law is balanced, is passed,
Speaker 1: or what am I trying to say, enforced? So, I
Speaker 1: mean he's and he's running for governor, right, I Mean,
Speaker 1: that's that's the thing. When you are thinking about Colorado
Speaker 1: overall and not just Teller County, what is the biggest
Speaker 1: issue in your mind?
Speaker 2: I think the economy right now and what we're doing
Speaker 2: to businesses. You know, between twenty three twenty four fiscal year,
Speaker 2: we lost over thirty thousand businesses in Colorado. Some of
Speaker 2: those were grocery stores. Some of those had over six
Speaker 2: hundred some employees, so you figure that's a minimum. If
Speaker 2: they only have one person each for each business, that's
Speaker 2: thirty thousand people laid off from work. In quarter one
Speaker 2: of twenty twenty five, we lost another nineteen percent of
Speaker 2: businesses in Colorado because of the way we're doing our
Speaker 2: overreach in Colorado from Denver and the legislatures on the
Speaker 2: different fees, that the way that we are handling businesses,
Speaker 2: on the regulations, it is killing businesses across Colorado. You
Speaker 2: had a thousand mom and pop gun shops that closed
Speaker 2: up early last year just based on the three bill. Right, So,
Speaker 2: how can we bring back an economy in Colorado when
Speaker 2: we are driving businesses out, we're driving oil and gas out,
Speaker 2: we're driving local farmers out. It's just across the board.
Speaker 1: I don't disagree with anything you just said, but there
Speaker 1: is a big old elephant in the room, and that
Speaker 1: is a democratic legislature. Now, even if Republicans somehow managed
Speaker 1: to peel off a few seats here and there, I
Speaker 1: think unless something catastrophic happens, like we all find out
Speaker 1: that there are aliens from another planet. The Democrats are
Speaker 1: going to maintain control of the House in the Senate,
Speaker 1: how do you begin to walk back the over regulatory
Speaker 1: burden that you were just talking about with people who
Speaker 1: are trying in this legislative session to add more to it.
Speaker 2: Well, I think you have to educate people. Why right
Speaker 2: right now you have a governor in office who's not
Speaker 2: educating people as to what the impacts are of Colorado
Speaker 2: like you should be. There's no clear leadership throughout Colorado.
Speaker 2: I think a lot of your Democrats that are in
Speaker 2: office right now, I think if they understood exactly what
Speaker 2: was the circumstances are going to happen after they put
Speaker 2: something into a bill, would understand that hurts even the
Speaker 2: direction they want to go with things. The problem is
Speaker 2: there's no education done at the Capitol unless it's in committee.
Speaker 2: And the problem with the committees are you have a
Speaker 2: Democrats side that are taking positions that have been left
Speaker 2: and their offices that they left office, and they're appointing
Speaker 2: people to those committees. So the rest of the Senate
Speaker 2: and the rest of the House Democrats may not even
Speaker 2: know what the impacts were coming out of those committees
Speaker 2: because things are moving so quickly over six hundred to
Speaker 2: seven hundred bills a year, they don't even know when
Speaker 2: it hits the floor with the full impacts are because
Speaker 2: they're not talking about it. You have a budgetary committee
Speaker 2: between Democrats and Republicans that are in battle over these things,
Speaker 2: and the problem is there's no parent going wait a second,
Speaker 2: If you do that and you pass a budget at
Speaker 2: that level without looking at the impacts, well we've just
Speaker 2: lost our budgeting for the next few years and we've
Speaker 2: put ourselves in more debt. We're now at threat of
Speaker 2: losing other programs, other things, and I think that that
Speaker 2: is something that has to be done across Colorado.
Speaker 1: So you would consider yourself more for lack of a
Speaker 1: better word, and activist governor when it comes to the legislature.
Speaker 2: I think you have to be right because we're not
Speaker 2: going to win in the Republican Party. And I hear
Speaker 2: this all the time, We're gonna win back all these
Speaker 2: seats now now, I just don't think that's gonna happen
Speaker 2: because it's been sway too many to Democratic districts, right yep.
Speaker 2: But even Democrats are not happy with progressive Democrats. That's
Speaker 2: a split that is actually happening, right, So I think
Speaker 2: that you need to push more towards those folks that
Speaker 2: was a logical understanding of things rather than a progressive
Speaker 2: side that is just advocating total destruction in Colorado.
Speaker 1: And I think the you know, John Caldera had a
Speaker 1: great column about the brewing Democrat civil war. But you know, ultimately,
Speaker 1: however that plays out, you're still going to be dealing
Speaker 1: with people in the legislature that don't agree with you
Speaker 1: know that we're overregulated.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: One of the things that I think Governor Jared Poulis
Speaker 1: has done a really bad job is exactly what you're
Speaker 1: talking about, and that is leading during the legislative session.
Speaker 1: And I'm not asking him to go in and write
Speaker 1: bills and I'm not asking him to do that, but
Speaker 1: he's been very happy to let the progressives take over
Speaker 1: the legislative process in Colorado and then selectively vetoing a
Speaker 1: few bills here or there, in my mind, to shore
Speaker 1: up his libertarian, fake libertarian credentials.
Speaker 3: But that's another story for another time. Let me ask
Speaker 3: you about energy because.
Speaker 1: You mentioned the fact that Colorado is pushing oil and
Speaker 1: gas out of Colorado.
Speaker 3: How would you reverse out?
Speaker 1: What would you do like day one when it comes
Speaker 1: to energy policy, What would be the first things that
Speaker 1: you would take.
Speaker 2: Well, the first thing I'm going to take care of
Speaker 2: is I need to sit down with those executives and
Speaker 2: understand the oil and gas industry enough to know where
Speaker 2: where our shortcomings are in Colorado on how we fix those.
Speaker 2: Because here's the problem. By twenty six, twenty eight, we
Speaker 2: have to shut down one of our last coal producing
Speaker 2: energy plants in the state of Colorado because of a legislation.
Speaker 2: We're going to go to strictly wind and solar. Here's
Speaker 2: a problem with wind and solar. If you want to
Speaker 2: turn on a an extra heater in your house or
Speaker 2: something as such, if it draws more energy that wind
Speaker 2: and solar can't jump up its production, right it can't.
Speaker 1: We talked a lot about this on the show, so
Speaker 1: my audience is very up to speed.
Speaker 2: That makes it easey. So because you can't scale, what
Speaker 2: do you do? I have in my county major snowstorms
Speaker 2: right I'm in the mountains. Several years ago we had
Speaker 2: a major snowstorm that came through because we can't have
Speaker 2: gas stoves, because you can't have fireplaces, you can't go
Speaker 2: to any thing other than this type of electrical energy.
Speaker 2: I had homes that could not get heat because you
Speaker 2: don't have a secondary source. Now that wasn't the sole
Speaker 2: cause that they'm not having sex a source yet, but
Speaker 2: that's what we're talking about doing the Colorado. Look at
Speaker 2: what happened in Texas when they had mostly all solar
Speaker 2: and wind and their energy process is broke during windstorms
Speaker 2: and snowstorms, and then all of a sudden they had
Speaker 2: a loss of energy across the state. We don't need
Speaker 2: to create people's deaths because we're too limited to what
Speaker 2: we want in Colorado. You have to bring back oil
Speaker 2: and gas, and you have to sit down as grownups.
Speaker 2: But we also have to look at nuclear energy. I
Speaker 2: think you have to bring in nuclear energy because the
Speaker 2: thing is is we want to create all these jobs
Speaker 2: with data centers and all these these big types of corporations.
Speaker 2: You can't do that without electricity reserves. You can't do it.
Speaker 3: So practically, what does that look like?
Speaker 1: Would you unseat the current Public Utilities Commission because they've
Speaker 1: adopted rules in December that have sent us down a
Speaker 1: path that is number one technolo logically impossible.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: One of the PUC members actually said, well, we don't
Speaker 1: know what the technology is going to be between twenty
Speaker 1: thirty and twenty thirty five.
Speaker 3: Are you freaking kidding me with that?
Speaker 1: You have the Chancellor of Germany coming out two days
Speaker 1: ago saying we are undergoing the most expensive energy transition
Speaker 1: in the world and we've destroyed our economy. It's the
Speaker 1: exact same thing we're doing here in Colorado. How do
Speaker 1: you begin to undo that framework?
Speaker 2: Well, there's two things, and I've done it in my career
Speaker 2: as a sheriff and or a CEO of an organization.
Speaker 2: You have to remove hurdles. And if you have an
Speaker 2: energy commission, that is being the hurdle because they will
Speaker 2: not understand, they will not listen because they don't have
Speaker 2: an understanding of the energy issues in Colorado. They have
Speaker 2: to be removed or you have to change it to
Speaker 2: where you have multiple types of energy systems in Colorado.
Speaker 2: Maybe the PUC needs to come to the table more
Speaker 2: with a governor actually standing there talking about these things.
Speaker 2: I think that's the thing is, where have you seen
Speaker 2: a governor in this state or any of those those
Speaker 2: civic leaders, mean leaders to go sit down with them
Speaker 2: and talk about it.
Speaker 1: I think that Jared Poulis probably has had long conversations
Speaker 1: with the PUC.
Speaker 3: We just don't know about them.
Speaker 1: I mean, he appointed people from the green energy industry.
Speaker 1: He has stacked the deck. Every board, the Colorado Parks
Speaker 1: and Wildlife board is full of animal rights advocates and
Speaker 1: people who don't actually hunt or do any of those things.
Speaker 2: I mean, well, you make it great because here's the thing.
Speaker 2: And I talked to the Western Sportsman of Colorado and
Speaker 2: the different sportsman's groups. I've been a hunter my whole life.
Speaker 2: I grew up here in Colorado. It's part of what
Speaker 2: my grandchildren do. You're right that commission was put together
Speaker 2: as Colorado CPW Corondo Parks and Wildlife. Here's the issue
Speaker 2: with that. It needs to be separated again. Coronto Parks
Speaker 2: need to be different than divisional Wildlife. We used to
Speaker 2: have divisional Wildlife. Their job was to protect animals in Colorado.
Speaker 2: That's not being done anymore. And I think you're right.
Speaker 2: All those committees need to be researched, looked at, and
Speaker 2: had a discussion over what direction we have and they
Speaker 2: need to do as strategically as that. Is this a
Speaker 2: five year plan, ten your plan. There's no cur planning
Speaker 2: Colorado in place.
Speaker 1: So for me and I loft at this at the forum,
Speaker 1: I'm like, would you be in favor of an elected
Speaker 1: PUC because in my mind, the Public Utilities Commission should
Speaker 1: be more on the side of the ratepayer than they
Speaker 1: are the energy companies.
Speaker 3: And right now from where I'm sitting.
Speaker 1: You have the PUC absolutely rubber stamping whatever Excel says
Speaker 1: it needs. But Xcel has cover because they're just doing
Speaker 1: what the State of Colorado's PUC requires. We've created this
Speaker 1: closed loop where everybody's in the loop except the rate payers.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think Also, I think there's another model to
Speaker 2: look at as it's you have sixty four counties in
Speaker 2: the state of Colorado. Those counties, through their commissioners, should
Speaker 2: have buy in to whom's on these or who is
Speaker 2: on these committees, right, it's their impacts. The problem in
Speaker 2: Colorado is that all the control in Colorado's been placed
Speaker 2: at the state capitol instead of back into local governments
Speaker 2: in Colorado. Truly, if a local government has the ability
Speaker 2: to vote on different people to place into those positions.
Speaker 2: It allows every county to have a discussion for their voters.
Speaker 2: If you have an elected position that's across Colorado, then
Speaker 2: a lot of it's based on money and push and
Speaker 2: just like every other election we have in Colorado, maybe
Speaker 2: instead of a governor being able to put those people
Speaker 2: in office, it needs to be counties with equal votes
Speaker 2: throughout the state of Colorado.
Speaker 1: I'm speaking with Sheriff Jason Mike Sool. He is sheriff
Speaker 1: of Teller County. He's also running for governor on the
Speaker 1: Republican side. If you have questions for him, now's the
Speaker 1: time to get him in and you can you stick
Speaker 1: around absolutely, Okay, We're going to stick around have him.
Speaker 1: Like I said, guys, I'm going along with these candidates
Speaker 1: because I want you guys to be able to make
Speaker 1: an informed decision when you vote in the primary. I'm
Speaker 1: taking upon myself to get people to vote in the primary.
Speaker 1: That's what we're doing today.
Speaker 2: They need them.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I do have one comment though that I want
Speaker 3: to share before we take a quick break. Mandy.
Speaker 1: While listening to your interview of Jason mike Sel, I'm
Speaker 1: also looking at his campaign website. I noticed that his
Speaker 1: campaign logo uses a similar font for his last name
Speaker 1: as my favorite brand of potato chips while growing up
Speaker 1: in Ohio.
Speaker 3: Mike Cell's interesting.
Speaker 1: I like it, is there a connection because I like.
Speaker 3: Those chips too.
Speaker 2: There's no connection, but Mike's still such a There's not
Speaker 2: as many of us out there, so I'm sure it
Speaker 2: does have a connection. I've had the potato ships. They're wonderful,
Speaker 2: but yeah, not that I'm aware of.
Speaker 1: All Right, we'll be right back with more of your questions.
Speaker 1: You can text them to five six, six nine zero.
Speaker 1: We'll be right back. Keep it on, KOA. I don't
Speaker 1: even know how many. I mean, there's like fifteen people running,
Speaker 1: and I'm putting air quotes around that, but there's like
Speaker 1: five serious I would say, serious candidates with fundraising and
Speaker 1: websites and whatnot.
Speaker 3: Right maybe now, maybe just four?
Speaker 2: I mean I think we're down for a real candid.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it feels that way because Mark Baisley
Speaker 1: left the race to go run for Senate and Greg
Speaker 1: Lopez changed his party affiliation as running as an independent,
Speaker 1: so we don't have to deal.
Speaker 2: With that anymore.
Speaker 1: A lot of people have questions for you, Jason, and
Speaker 1: I want to see if I can find the ones
Speaker 1: that Mandy, please ask Jason what he could do for
Speaker 1: our roads in Colorado.
Speaker 2: You know, here's the thing. I drive all over Colorado
Speaker 2: and I found that our roads is to be just horrible, miserable.
Speaker 2: And there is an urban rule divide that we all
Speaker 2: talk about, right, but you really see it if you're
Speaker 2: not a nine to twenty five and on a nine seventy.
Speaker 2: Our road infrastructure is just crumbling.
Speaker 3: Oh even outside of the Metro, I seventy falls apart.
Speaker 2: It's embarrassing, it's horrible. And here's the thing. We need
Speaker 2: to put quit spending so much money on special interest
Speaker 2: issues and really put it back into road infrastructure. They
Speaker 2: need to get a schedule of different highways and roadways
Speaker 2: throughout Colorado and how to fix those quickly. They need
Speaker 2: an adopt a plan that starts dealing with small infrastructure
Speaker 2: projects that make a larger splash than some of the
Speaker 2: bigger ones. And to what I'm saying about that is this,
Speaker 2: do we need a bridge downtown Denver to the capitol,
Speaker 2: or do we need a bridge infrastructure that's falling apart
Speaker 2: rush or in a small town in Colorado like Steamboat
Speaker 2: or Woodland Park or clear out in Bent County on
Speaker 2: their roads and the potholes. I mean, that's the things
Speaker 2: that people want to know. And I think too giving
Speaker 2: more money back to local governments to work on their
Speaker 2: municipal roadways too. Not for bigger Denver areas or auroras,
Speaker 2: but these are small cities throughout Colorado that just have
Speaker 2: no infrastructure at all. But you got major highways crossing
Speaker 2: through them, big impacts.
Speaker 1: Well, who would you what sort because I'm assuming you
Speaker 1: would cut the current Sea Dot director loose? Please cut
Speaker 1: the current sea dock director loose? What sort of Sea
Speaker 1: Dot director would you look for? What kind of experience
Speaker 1: would you want them to have? Because I'm got to
Speaker 1: tell you, I think that in order to fix our
Speaker 1: roadways you have to fundamentally change the direction that has
Speaker 1: been given to the Department of Transportation, which focuses now
Speaker 1: on multimodal transport. The fact that we're talking about doing
Speaker 1: anything to paying you boulevard other than adding freaking lanes
Speaker 1: is absurd to me. But that's what you get when
Speaker 1: you put all these green maniacs in charge of our transportation.
Speaker 2: Well it is, and then here's the other side, leaving
Speaker 2: open ending contracts to get roadways done to where is
Speaker 2: Here's what happens Colorado. We pay upfront for our contracts costs.
Speaker 2: I don't know if anybody else that does. That's crazy business.
Speaker 2: But then as you get closer to the end of
Speaker 2: a contract, what happens is those contracts are always going
Speaker 2: to go over on costs. Right, so now we're having
Speaker 2: to double down on giving somebody more money to finish
Speaker 2: a project to get it done. That needs to be
Speaker 2: looked at us. How we do that, how we give
Speaker 2: our contracts in Colorado, how we write those contracts in Colorado.
Speaker 2: The other piece of it, I would want somebody to
Speaker 2: sit in that chair that understands as an engineer, what
Speaker 2: parts and pieces need to be fixed in Colorado, make
Speaker 2: roadways last longer, not just quick patch jobs, so that
Speaker 2: we're not constantly doing it. The other side of it, too,
Speaker 2: is finding a structure that looks at the needs of
Speaker 2: the population growth for an area, not just what has
Speaker 2: been sustained and it's been a band aid for these
Speaker 2: areas for multiple years. Those things that need to be fixed.
Speaker 2: I see it all over Colorado when I go just
Speaker 2: the amount of debris that's dropped on roadways. Now the
Speaker 2: Sea Dot can't get too because they don't have the
Speaker 2: amount of personnelity.
Speaker 3: Now it's dirty.
Speaker 2: Now it's just dirty, and it's just destroying the roadway. Anyways,
Speaker 2: you wouldn't leave The amount of front endlignments tires I
Speaker 2: go through with patrol cars throughout the year, it's ridiculous.
Speaker 2: The amount of injuries on the roads just dealing with
Speaker 2: roadway maintenances. So there's a lot of issues and I
Speaker 2: think that needs that we need to have a look
Speaker 2: at with all the counties at the what their major
Speaker 2: projects are and that we fund those major product projects
Speaker 2: within those certain areas.
Speaker 1: I'm trying to get as many of these questions as
Speaker 1: we can. This one is a big one. It's been
Speaker 1: asked in a various way, three or four different times.
Speaker 3: Mandy.
Speaker 1: Let's face it today, it's all about person than party
Speaker 1: then policy. How will Jason Mike Sell overcome the cult
Speaker 1: of personality, momentum and associated big funding that Victor Marks
Speaker 1: currently has to gain the GOP nomination.
Speaker 2: Here's the thing, right, I've been a Colorado, a Carraado
Speaker 2: on for three generations in my family. My got my
Speaker 2: granddaughter here. I'm from Colorado. Here's the issue you run into.
Speaker 2: Nobody is getting a lot of donations in Colorado. And
Speaker 2: I looked at Victor Marx's stuff. If you spend three
Speaker 2: hundred and some thousand dollars to make six hundred thousand dollars,
Speaker 2: you don't You're not going to get through an election
Speaker 2: cycle with that. And here's the other side. The moneies
Speaker 2: that are involved in getting somebody election in Colorado come
Speaker 2: from iecs. They do not come from a governor's candidate.
Speaker 2: I even talked to Hiding and All before I started this.
Speaker 2: The most she raised throughout her her push to become
Speaker 2: a governor in Colorado, I think that came from donations
Speaker 2: from Colorado ins or throughout Colorado was five hundred thousand
Speaker 2: dollars total. You don't win any election on that, right.
Speaker 2: You have to run it on issues and base because
Speaker 2: what Colorado we've done in the past is we get
Speaker 2: this big name, we throw money at that person, thinking
Speaker 2: they're going to win because they have made money. Right,
Speaker 2: Dan mays, Right. And here's what happens if we put
Speaker 2: a bad candidate first, even if they're well funded, it's
Speaker 2: still going to be a well funded loss.
Speaker 1: But there is a culture personality around Victor Marx. I
Speaker 1: got a really thoughtful email from a listener who said, look,
Speaker 1: he just came in to our church and though he
Speaker 1: didn't say anything detail wives, he's a very interesting man
Speaker 1: and he came out and he's very charismatic and everybody
Speaker 1: at the church seemed to really like him. But okay, great,
Speaker 1: then come on my show, Victor. We're trying to invite you.
Speaker 1: No one's responding. Let us know how to.
Speaker 3: Get you on the show. But how do you whoa geez?
Speaker 1: How do you overcome that? How do you get past that?
Speaker 1: Because you're you're a very low key guy. You present
Speaker 1: yourself beautifully, you speak really well, you were great on
Speaker 1: the stage, you have great presence.
Speaker 3: But if you do have someone who is.
Speaker 1: Sucking up all the oxygen for whatever reason, how do.
Speaker 3: You get through that?
Speaker 2: Well? I mean, I'm consistent, right, My plan is it's
Speaker 2: a marathon race. I'm consistent. I've been a Republican most life,
Speaker 2: or all my life. Here's where it's going to start
Speaker 2: to split here soon. If a candidate does not have
Speaker 2: an ability to understand what's happening really in Colorado, I
Speaker 2: think that's hurt some here's the other side. If what
Speaker 2: you have done in your life, and you talked about
Speaker 2: that you have done in your life is unverifiable by
Speaker 2: anybody in the world, well there's probably an issue. And
Speaker 2: the problem with voters, I think today, and voters have
Speaker 2: to look at it is verify what your candidate's saying
Speaker 2: they have done. If you don't look at that, then
Speaker 2: why are they your candidate. I mean, I've seen a
Speaker 2: lot of candidates come and go throughout my career, and
Speaker 2: I think the more that candidate speaks, I think the
Speaker 2: more people start to see through it. He can go
Speaker 2: to churches, right, that's great. But here's what I will
Speaker 2: tell you. I'm not trying to run to be the
Speaker 2: best Christian in the race. I'm a Christian, but I
Speaker 2: want to be the best governor's candidate in the race.
Speaker 2: And if I start talking weird things and just saying
Speaker 2: what you want me to hear, I don't win an
Speaker 2: election either. And I think that's the difference.
Speaker 1: I do think, and this is one of the reasons
Speaker 1: that I've been trying to help people have the bigger issues,
Speaker 1: the bigger discussions, is because ultimately, to your point, I'm
Speaker 1: concerned that a pastor can get elected statewide like less
Speaker 1: than twenty percent of Colorado's regularly attend church.
Speaker 3: So I have concerns about that.
Speaker 1: And I think electability has to matter in Colorado, where
Speaker 1: we have seen nothing but a shellacking for Republicans over
Speaker 1: the last few years. Some great candidates got shellacked because
Speaker 1: they had an R behind their name. How do you
Speaker 1: present yourself as what the reasonable Republican to those unaffiliated
Speaker 1: voters that maybe are thinking I could never vote Republican.
Speaker 3: Hold that thought. We're going to take a break.
Speaker 1: I'm with Jason Mike swel He's the sheriff of Teller County.
Speaker 1: We'll get that answer when we get back. I asked
Speaker 1: you before the break.
Speaker 3: Essentially the question that was.
Speaker 1: Embedded in my statement was how do you win independents?
Speaker 1: They're not enough Republicans. For a Republican to get elected
Speaker 1: with just Republican votes, you have to win independence which
Speaker 1: have voted about sixty forty in favor of Democrats as
Speaker 1: of late.
Speaker 3: How do you win them?
Speaker 2: Well, I think through the issues right, understanding real issues
Speaker 2: that are impacting them, and having those discussions. Because here's
Speaker 2: the thing about independent voters that I know of and unaffiliateds.
Speaker 2: They don't vote party lines. That's why they left both parties.
Speaker 2: They want to vote on issues that impact them on
Speaker 2: a daily basis, and I think that's the difference in
Speaker 2: the type of candidate and having those discussions. So I've
Speaker 2: been talking to the sportsmen of Colorado, which are majority
Speaker 2: of or are unaffiliated and independent. They voted for Polis
Speaker 2: even though they're hunters and sportsmen in Colorado, because they
Speaker 2: thought he was libertarian.
Speaker 3: Right ah, they didn't pay attention.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, here's the thing. The media is really
Speaker 2: what sets the ability for somebody to kind of get
Speaker 2: away with it, and Polis was a master of it.
Speaker 2: I don't like to get in his head, but he
Speaker 2: was smart when he ran because he was able to
Speaker 2: cloud so many people judgment on things that look where
Speaker 2: he's at now. So I think in Colorado that's what
Speaker 2: independents are looking for. They're looking for a truth, an
Speaker 2: understanding of things with somebody that actually talks about issues
Speaker 2: that impact them and are not so involved in the
Speaker 2: social issues right now.
Speaker 3: Right, I agree wholeheartedly.
Speaker 1: Big issues that people are concerned about, and the blanket
Speaker 1: statement of affordability is a big one.
Speaker 3: Affordability is one of those words.
Speaker 1: My level of affordability is different than your level of affordability.
Speaker 1: But I think what people really mean is everything here
Speaker 1: is so damn expensive.
Speaker 3: I've just made reservations. For example, my.
Speaker 1: Family's going to pay off a Christmas gift. We're going
Speaker 1: to San Antonio, Texas for a short weekend. I made
Speaker 1: reservations for Valentine's Day and one of the nicest restaurants
Speaker 1: in San Antonio for me, my husband, and my daughter.
Speaker 1: I looked at the menu. Every menu price is a
Speaker 1: good twenty dollars lower than what you would pay for
Speaker 1: a similar restaurant here in Denver, YEP. People cannot afford
Speaker 1: to buy a house the medium. Home prices are so high,
Speaker 1: property taxes are insane, homeowners insurance is insane. In our
Speaker 1: last five minutes, solve all those problems for me?
Speaker 2: Well, leadership, right, it's having somebody that looks at where
Speaker 2: we're at in Colorado with farms and whatnot, and understand
Speaker 2: that things need to be produced in Colorado. We're shipping
Speaker 2: everything into Colorado. Now we have through all the different
Speaker 2: REGI stopped organ or companies and farms and construction companies
Speaker 2: from having production here in Colorado. They've moved it out
Speaker 2: of Colorado, which increasingly causes problems for our market. So
Speaker 2: when you go buy eggs or you buy groceries for restaurants,
Speaker 2: our costs are astronautical because it's coming in from out
Speaker 2: of state.
Speaker 1: Oh by the way, eggs three dollars cheaper in Ohio
Speaker 1: than they are here. But go ahead, lumber all of
Speaker 1: our lumbers coming from Canada. We sit on massive amounts
Speaker 1: of lumber, but we have shut all of our lumber
Speaker 1: mills down pretty much.
Speaker 2: In Colorado. Oil and gas, we have to ship all
Speaker 2: of our fuels from out of state because we have
Speaker 2: shut down all of our refineries.
Speaker 1: Something interesting just happened. The Bureau of Land Management just
Speaker 1: had a lease sale. Zero bids on the leases in.
Speaker 2: Colorado, yep, because there's zero lumber mills to take it to.
Speaker 2: So the oily gas, oil and gas.
Speaker 1: Zero zero bids on the leases here in Colorado. Other
Speaker 1: leases and other states sold, but our lease is here
Speaker 1: and they had zero bids. I think that's really telling
Speaker 1: the business environment.
Speaker 2: Heyah, absolutely, And that's what the regulations are doing to us.
Speaker 2: It's destroying our state of car.
Speaker 1: So let me just see if I can encapsulate our conversation,
Speaker 1: because what I'm really looking for from candidates in these
Speaker 1: discussions is not detailed, bullet pointed, you know, because there's
Speaker 1: no way you can do that you're not in office yet.
Speaker 1: But what I am looking for is sort of an
Speaker 1: overarching view of how you would be as governor. And
Speaker 1: it sounds to me like you would be a governor
Speaker 1: who would number one, put yourself out with the legislature
Speaker 1: to actively lobby. Would that be a fair assessment the
Speaker 1: things that are important to you and have conversations with
Speaker 1: people about how to maybe move the needle and take
Speaker 1: some of the pressure off business.
Speaker 3: So would that be fair?
Speaker 2: Yes?
Speaker 3: Okay?
Speaker 1: And then how would you communicate on a regular basis
Speaker 1: with the people of Colorado? Because all I get from
Speaker 1: Jared Polis is everything is awesome on his ex account.
Speaker 2: Well, here's the thing I believe in direct contact to people.
Speaker 2: Look how many times has polls come out of Denver? Right,
Speaker 2: He's been to my county twice, He's been to some
Speaker 2: counties he's never even been to. I think you have
Speaker 2: to take those road trips around Colorado and have active
Speaker 2: discussions with people. You have to work with podcasts Colorado.
Speaker 2: Not your own podcasting. I do my own podcaster in
Speaker 2: my sheriff's office. I do it a lot, right, I
Speaker 2: am my own podcasting in the campaign, we do it
Speaker 2: a lot. Those are great ways to get things out.
Speaker 2: But when you stand in front of a camera at
Speaker 2: the Capitol and you're discussing something on the legislative floor
Speaker 2: in front of a legislative body on why you won't
Speaker 2: sign something, that's educating, and that's that leadership that I
Speaker 2: think is being missed in Colorado. If you're a governor,
Speaker 2: you should be out ahead of things. You should be
Speaker 2: working on things. I have a belief that I wouldn't
Speaker 2: fire everybody in the state government right, Democrat, independent, unafield.
Speaker 2: I'm not going to go in and just fire it
Speaker 2: like other candidates have talked about, right, because some of
Speaker 2: most people may be really good at what they do, right,
Speaker 2: they just need a new direction and a leadership. You
Speaker 2: don't see even that the president now doesn't go in
Speaker 2: and fire every person that works in every position, because
Speaker 2: then you're rebuilding something and it's going to take more
Speaker 2: time and more cost to get up and running. Whereas
Speaker 2: it's better to give a direction and then make sure
Speaker 2: and follow through with that direction, right. That's what you
Speaker 2: do when you take over a company or a business,
Speaker 2: and Colorado does not have time to rebuild a whole
Speaker 2: organization to be able to get everybody's money back and
Speaker 2: where we need to be in the next five years
Speaker 2: to get that struggle moving forward.
Speaker 1: We are out of time. This has been a very
Speaker 1: informative hour. I'll make sure that the podcast is up
Speaker 1: right away so people can listen to it, share it.
Speaker 1: I'm going to be having the other candidates on for
Speaker 1: at least an hour as well. I'm sure i'll talk
Speaker 1: to you again before the primary. Why should people vote
Speaker 1: for Sheriff Jason Mixel.
Speaker 2: Well, I'm the only one that can win at general election.
Speaker 2: And I say that because I'm the only normal candidate
Speaker 2: that's actually running. It's not a politician. I'm understanding of
Speaker 2: what needs to be done in Colorado, and I will
Speaker 2: make sure that I support our citizens in this state
Speaker 2: because I've been doing it and I've been a constant
Speaker 2: leader in Colorado. So that's why I'll be voted in
Speaker 2: this Governor.
Speaker 1: Jason Mixel's a link to his blog, which I believe
Speaker 1: is just Mike Soel for Colorado is it m I
Speaker 1: K E.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, and you guys put the number in there.
Speaker 3: It messes me up. Mike Cell M I K E.
Speaker 3: S E l L the.
Speaker 1: Number four gov dot com to put a link on
Speaker 1: the blog today if you want to find it that way. Jason,
Speaker 1: I appreciate your time to da a great conversation. I
Speaker 1: look forward to talking to you again in the future.
Speaker 2: Thanks Mandy,