Sal Pace

Three-tenths of one percent.

Now, remember Sal Pace's rush hour that starts at two in the afternoon? This is the answer they're selling you for it, three-tenths of one percent.

And then Common Sense points out that a lot of those riders-- that a lot of those rides will not even happen at rush hour, and that with all the street-level crossings that you have to put in town, there's no guarantee the train goes to-- gets you there ever, e-- faster than your car does.

Then there's the company it keeps.

The Department of State and the Clerks Association said the district did not adequately communicate the district's updated boundaries to counties following a 2026 change in law.

General Manager Sal Pace said in a statement, according to The Sun, when the legislature updated the district's boundaries this spring, we should have walked every county clerk through the change.

Although we weren't legally obligated to do so, it would have helped avoid the confusion that followed.

In a letter to the four clerks, the district's general counsel, Brent Butson, wrote that statutory provisions requiring the filing of boundary maps do not apply to the district, according to the Gazette.

Now, before I tell you what I really believe is going on, let me tell you what they tell us is going on.

Sal Pace runs this district, the cuckoo for Cocoa district.

He's a former state rep from Pueblo.

He and the bill's sponsor say they used, air quotes here, "objective criteria." So they s-- they, they will tell you, which is all bull crap, but they'll tell you that a city made the cut if at least 20% of its people live within five miles of a planned train station.

Stations and clean lines, that's their case on paper.

It's really tidy, isn't it? Here's the rest of the paper.

When Sal Pace walked lawmakers through the options back in April, he said the map they picked had some of the highest, but not the highest, some of the highest tax base So that's the general manager, manager of the Cuckoo for Cocoa train district that wants to raise a quarter of a billion dollars, you know, next year and every year after that.

That's the general manager of that district telling the Politburo, "This map was chosen specifically with an eye on the money." Now, The Colorado Sun, a paper that nobody has ever accused of being a right-wing outlet, described the new district as scaled back to the urban and more liberal centers of the state.

Well, they really stick to the idea that this was ultimately educational and that educating the public about this big train plan is part of their responsibility.

Here is Sal Pace.

He's the general manager of the Front Range Passenger Rail District.

It's critically important that we have an educational component with all the communications, you know, not only because it's our statutory responsibility to stay educational, but also to retain the trust of the constituents.

Well, they really stick to the idea that this was ultimately educational and that educating the public about this big train plan is part of their responsibility.

Here is Sal Pace.

He's the general manager of the Front Range Passenger Rail District.

It was critically important that we have an educational component with all the communications, um, you know, not only because it's our statutory responsibility to, to stay educational, um, but also to retain the trust of, uh, the constituents.

First stop, the Get More Smarter podcast.

We've got Front Range Passenger Rail District General Manager Sal Pace, my old boss, on the show to talk about how the ballot question hasn't gotten as much attention as it should have, but will be on most of your ballots this November along with a lot of other stuff.

Big show this week.

Thank you so much for having me.

Ossoff, pretty handsome.

Definitely don't vote for him.

It is now my great pleasure to introduce our guest today, Sal Pace.

First, he was my boss at the state capitol when he was the House Democratic leader.