Steve Yurash for State House District 52

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Channel 7 interview minor party status ( 2 min )
Steve explains his candidacy ( 1 min )

My Platform       Note – There is NO REPUBLICAN in this race.

  • Support real property tax relief, not deceptive tactics like proposition HH
    • Many legislators supported HH and yet voters defeated it by a 20% margin
  • Preserve LOCAL control of Land Use policy, not a one-size-fits-all from the State
    • I support PreserveFortCollins.org and carried petitions for them
    • Our Quality of life is at stake with uncontrolled housing density increases
  • Maintain TABOR tax refunds and tax increase limits and control spending
  • Protect Women’s reproductive rights and freedoms
  • I support the PRPA ( Platte River Power Authority ) Integrated Resource Plan ( IRP )
    • Smallest utility bill increase to still add renewable energy to the local grid
  • I support protecting our environment from polluters and preserving open space
  • Housing affordability can be improved by amending the Construction Defects Law
    • Condos are not being built because of the Defects Law only benefits lawyers
  • My opponent supports elimination of Cash Bail for defendants. I support maintaining current cash bail requirements.
    • San Francisco eliminated Cash Bail and suffered terrible crime increases
    • The San Francisco District Attorney was recalled because of the terrible crime situation.
    • Elimination of Cash Bail created a revolving door at the jail where repeat criminals are never held to account.
  • Support School of choice, Charter Schools, local elementary schools
  • Fight crime by supporting our police and cash bail
    • Cash Bail is required to keep repeat offenders in jail
  • Stop the flow of additional illegal migrants that cost us millions of dollars
    • Do not allow sanctuary for criminal migrants and gangs
    • Treat those already here humanely with temporary work permits
    • illegal migrants must be given emergency medical care and vaccinations and treatment for communicable diseases that pose a public health risk, but not free Medicaid
  • Stop further erosion of 2nd Amendment rights for law abiding citizens,
    • and keep red flag laws to get guns out of the hands of known safety threats
    • The gun controls we have today are sufficient, enforce them!
  • Teachers need better pay
    • Too much money goes to administration and not enough to the classroom
    • I do not support the PSD mill levy increase because it is too big and ill defined for how the money will be spent
    • PSD spending is already up 43% since 2020!
  • My opponent supports Medicare for all, I do not support it.
    • The American Medical Association is against Medicare for All
    • The Colorado Hospital Association is against Medicare for All
    • Medicare and Medicaid do not reimburse Hospitals and doctors for the full cost of care provided to patients. Hospitals make up the difference by charging privately insured patients more. They survive financially by balancing the number of government support patients with a sufficient number of privately insured patients.
    • Doctors and Nurses should not be afraid of losing their jobs if they refuse to participate in abortions.

Steve on why he is running:

“Working Americans live pay check to pay check, living on the financial precipice, overloaded with debt and crushed by inflation and threatened by crime. We need a voice for the majority in the middle in our State Capital to balance the competing interests and focus on common sense solutions instead of strident ideology. We should not tip the scales too far in any direction and keep things fair and just for everyone.”

“The first rule of economics is that scarcity is real. The first rule of politics is to ignore the first rule of economics. I will not ignore economics or common sense. We need to spend our tax dollars judiciously on real priorities to help those really in need and prevent taxes and spending from growing faster than inflation. We need new political leaders grounded in the reality of our difficult and complex lives willing to make the difficult choices of what government should do and what it should not.”

“Our government should preserve our TABOR refunds and stop trying to trick us like they did in proposition HH. We need to maintain local control of our land use code to preserve the character of our neighborhoods and limit the housing density to where it is most appropriate. We need to support our police and maintain cash bail to reduce theft and keep repeat offenders locked up. Our Healthcare system is financially at risk, we must act now to work WITH hospitals and doctors on cost control, not against them, and not let government take over the system like would happen with the so called Medicare for all. Our students are falling behind in their test scores so we need to keep our focus, and our money, on what happens inside the classroom and protect the existence of charter schools.”

“Politics today is far too divisive with too much acrimony. Families can’t even talk to each other anymore. I can bring the voice of commonsense and civility back to our State government to get to work on real solutions that our citizens deserve. I want to be the voice for the Moderate Majority, and that is why I’m running for State House district 52”.

Steve Yurash is a candidate for House District 52 which encompasses the southern part of Fort Collins.

Steve has served on the Larimer County Board of Health and the Fort Collins Electric Board. Steve currently serves as the State Chairman for the Colorado Center Party. Public service is important to Steve.

Steve’s first job in high school was the cleanup boy at the local butcher shop. Steve appreciates hard work. Steve got his degree in Physics from San Jose State University while living at home and worked 38 years in the computer chip industry, 23 years at Intel Corp, mostly in Design For Test Engineering. Steve first moved to Fort Collins in 2003 with his wife and 3 kids.

District 52 is the southern part of  Fort Collins West of I 25 between Horsetooth and Carpenter Road, and a section south of Mulberry and East of Lemay and another section south of Drake and east of Shields.

If you would like to send a message to Steve please send email to steve@ColoradoCenterParty.org.

My two grand children are of mixed race and I want them to live in a country without hate or discrimination. I will work hard to make sure our government supports liberty and justice for all so that everyone of us has a fair opportunity at achieving their dreams.

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steve helpful neighbor

I am proud to have the following endorsements for my candidacy

Steve Johnson - Former State Legislator and County Commissioner

The two major political parties have been taken over by the extremes and are largely unable to govern with any common sense. We need people in government who are committed to addressing the challenges facing us rather than being so obsessed on accumulating power and defeating the other party. That’s why I’m supporting Steve Yurash for State Representative, an independent, moderate voice for all of us.

Trudy Haines – Retired VP of HR at Hewlett Packard and current HOA coalition leader

As a lifelong Democrat, I believe that Colorado Democrats no longer listen to regular citizens. They have passed massive, one-size-fits-all land use mandates with no regard to City Home Rule.  I have worked for years on open space tax initiatives and boards to ensure both our City and County purchase and preserve open space.  I have worked in a leadership role against Statewide and City land use code changes that will accelerate growth and destroy our well-planned neighborhoods.  I have known Steve for years and know that he shares the same values for our environment and habitat, women’s rights and safety, education, preserving City and County Home Rule in land use–and what makes Colorado so special.  Steve Yurash as our State Representative will truly listen–and treat us all with respect.

Steve Brutscher – Retired Urologist and Chief of Staff at Poudre Valley Hospital

In my 35 years in medicine, 18 in administration, I’ve seen a lot of changes. I have major concerns for the financial health of our hospitals. I fear unsound proposals like single payer will break the Healthcare system. I know that Steve agrees with my concerns, and wants to keep our Healthcare system financially sound so that our seniors are well cared for and we focus on true operational cost savings to make healthcare as affordable as possible without breaking the system. That’s why I support Steve Yurash.

Diggs Brown – Former Fort Collins City Councilman and Retired Special Forces Officer

With all the overreach of our state government I believe Steve Yurash is the best choice to bring a level of reason back to the state capitol. He is a firm believer in local control for local matters. I have known Steve for many years and have always been impressed by his dedication, integrity, and passion for serving the community. He has a deep understanding of the issues that matter most to our community and is willing to listen to the people he represents. He will bring a fresh perspective and effective leadership to our state government. I am confident that he will work tirelessly to represent our community and advocate for policies that will benefit all of us. Steve is my choice for the House 52 seat, and he should be yours.

Eric Hamrick – Former Fort Collins City Council member and retired CSU Procurement & Contracting Specialist

I enthusiastically support Steve Yurash for Colorado State House District 52.  Steve is a longtime Fort Collins resident who has been active in local government and is attuned to the many issues facing us.  He believes in transparency in government and giving a genuine voice to the residents of the community.  Steve has been a tireless advocate for real property tax relief, continuation of TABOR tax refunds, preservation of local control and believes each community must have a right to self-governance.  Steve believes that public participation is based on the principle that those who are affected by a decision have a right to be involved in the decision-making process. As the Center Party candidate Steve will bring a fresh perspective and pragmatic approach to governance.  Please join me in voting for Steve Yurash for Colorado State House District 52.

Kathy Wolf – Retired Biology Professor and Nurse Practitioner

As the former chairperson of the Steamboat Springs planning commission, I know how important it is to understand the land use code and how it determines the character of every neighborhood. I’m really impressed with how Steve is committed to preserving our neighborhoods and understands how this code and the state level issues will impact us. I also really like that he’s served on the Larimer Board of Health because Public Health helps the whole community. I trust Steve to do a great job in keeping Fort Collins and Colorado a great place to live.

Glen Colton – Retired HP Finance Manager and Environmentalist

I have worked for decades on preserving our environment, our local neighborhood character, preserving open space, natural areas, and making sure everything we do is sustainable, even our population growth. I’ve known Steve long enough to know he shares my concerns and will work hard at the State Capitol to preserve local control over land use and city growth so that Fort Collins will always be a great place to live.

Peter O’neill – Retired Agilent Engineer, Former Fort Collins Energy board Chair, Water Board director

Energy

Steve is passionate about developing practical solutions to difficult problems that most people can support.  In the necessary transition to a clean, carbon-free energy system, he believes that reliability and affordability are paramount.  Renewable energy sources can only be added in so far as their intermittency can be firmed by increasingly capable storage and smart grid technologies while perhaps new dispatchable carbon-free sources are added.  He believes that while the schedule for this transition must be ambitious, it must be fashioned in conjunction with a funding plan that is affordable to the ratepayers and taxpayers.

Housing

Steve believes that housing is a local matter that should not be driven by state mandates.  The residents of a city and its institutions in which they can participate are better situated to create and administer land use decisions than less accessible and informed state and federal officials.  Colorado’s current housing challenge is a much a matter of excessive demand as it is of short supply.  The real goal is to achieve the distribution of housing types and prices needed to house the range of people needed to form and support the community in which they live rather than to grow capacity.  Steve understands that there are limits the population Colorado can support and maintain the quality of life that attracts so many people to our state.

Steve's convention speech ( 5 min )
Who is Steve Yurash ( 5 min )

Steve Yurash for House 52 Voice of the Moderate Majority

Here is how I am voting on the propositions on the ballot:

YES – Amendment G: Modify Property Tax Exemption for Veterans with Disabilities

YES – Amendment H: Judicial Discipline Procedures and Confidentiality

YES – Amendment I: Constitutional Vail Exception for First Degree Murder

YES – Amendment J: Repealing the Definition of Marriage in the Constitution

YES – Amendment K: Modify Constitutional Election Deadlines

YES – Amendment 79: Constitutional Right to Abortion

YES – Amendment 80: Constitutional Right to School Choice

YES – Proposition JJ: Retain Additional Sports Betting Tax Revenue

NO – Proposition KK: Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax

NO – Proposition 127: Prohibit Bobcat, Lynx, and Mountain Lion Hunting

YES – Proposition 128: Parole Eligibility for Crimes of Violence

NO – Proposition 129: Establishing Veterinary Professional Associates

YES – Proposition 130: Funding for Law Enforcement

YES – Proposition 131: Establishing All-Candidate Primary and Ranked Choice Voting General Elections