Dear Editor,
Would you consider publishing a statement on Initiative 101 that is on the Denver ballot for the upcoming November election?
Other papers have just asked me to send something in. Statements similar to the one below have been published, or will be published, in the Denver Post ( see 10/5), La Voz ( see Oct. 1) Urban Spectrum (October issue), North Denver Tribune (10/16), Intermountain Jewish News (10/17), and Herald Dispatch (10/23).
This is 500 words and I could adjust it to your needs. Initiative 101 has received and extraordinary amount of national publicity and news of it has gone to many other countries in at least 5 languages. Any day now there is supposed to be a segment on Initiative 101 on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart from an interview in Denver with Samantha Bee, one of the show’s corrospondents. A team of four flew to Denver for one day just to do the interview with me an opponents of the initiative. You can see the extent of the media coverage at www.safetythroughpeace.org Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Jeff PeckmanChief ProponentVote Yes on Initiative 101303-949-9654 (unreliable cell phone)303-936-1662 (home)*** Initiative 101 Will Save Lives, Jobs and Money
Initiative 101 offers Denver a chance to lead the nation in using a proven, cost-effective approach for reducing crime, violence and the city budget deficit – simply by reducing society-wide stress. The devastating epidemic of stress is crushing our youth, crippling our economy by costing businesses over $300 billion per year and driving youths and adults to substance abuse, violence and poor health. Stress is burdening taxpayers while denying many taxpayers affordable and effective health care. Over 50% of Denver’s city budget is allocated for addressing stress-related problems. That’s why alleviating societal stress should be a high priority for Denver government. It’s just common sense.
Initiative 101 introduces the discovery, now verified by over 50 scientific papers, that society-wide stress can be reduced, which significantly reduces numerous societal problems efficiently and cost-effectively. Prestigious peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Conflict Resolution (Yale University), The Journal of Mind and Behavior (University of Maine), and others have published many of these studies. Top experts in health, economics, government, law enforcement and defense have promoted approaches for reducing societal stress to federal officials in Washington D.C. One such approach reduced total crime in Washington, D.C. by over 23% during the summer of 1993 — Denver’s summer of violence.
Many factors cause societal stress and many approaches can reduce it but no specific approach is mandated by Initiative 101. Instead, Initiative 101 allows city government to decide what to implement of “any systematic, stress-reducing techniques or programs, …that are (1) scientifically shown to reduce society-wide stress, as measure by reduced crime, accidents, …and also (2) shown to be of net financial benefit for the city”.
The city is already required to “take all measures necessary … to abate all nuisances related to environmental health of every description on public or private property.” Society-wide stress is another environmental health nuisance, and research has verified how city government can help reduce it efficiently without imposing on anyone.
Initiative 101 is estimated to produce over $80 million in net financial benefits annually for city government without raising taxes. This would result from a combination of reducing costly stress-related social problems cost-effectively, and increasing tax revenues from a stronger economy – both of which are documented results when societal stress is lifted off a community.
Initiative 101 has a built-in safeguard: If the City Council doesn’t see the results it desires, it can amend or repeal the ordinance after only six months. That’s why voters commonly remark about Initiative 101, “what have we got to lose?” To date, no one has offered any legitimate argument in opposition to Initiative 101.City workers, firefighters, police officers and needy citizens are sacrificing their income, job benefits, or community services to help balance the city budget. The least that voters and city officials should do is explore and support proven innovative, money-saving solutions, like those Initiative 101 will inspire, to avoid unnecessary and painful budget cuts.
Please vote “YES” on Initiative 101 to save lives, jobs and money. Thank you.
For more information visit www.safetythroughpeace.org Jeff PeckmanChief ProponentVote Yes on Initiative 101
