Glenn Vaad

Glenn Vaad
Member of the Colorado House of Representatives
from the 48th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 10, 2007
Preceded by Dale Hall
Succeeded by Stephen Humphrey
Personal details
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Mollie
Profession transportation engineer
Religion Protestant

Glenn Vaad (born c. 1941[1]) is a legislator in the U.S. state of Colorado. First elected to the Colorado House of Representatives as a Republican in 2006, Vaad represents House District 48, which encompasses western Greeley and southwestern Weld County, Colorado.[2]

Early career

Vaad earned a bachelor's degree in industrial construction management from Colorado State University.[1] He spent most of his professional career within the Colorado Department of Transportation in many roles, including highway engineer, a management consultant, auditor, and legislative liaison.[3] During his time at CDOT, Vaad spent 10 years working on the extension of Interstate 70 near Vail, Colorado. He retired in 1998,[4] after 31 years with the department.[3] He also served as Secretary of the Colorado Transportation Commission.[5]

A volunteer fire fighter and emergency medical technician, Vaad has been elected to the Mead, Colorado Board of Trustees, the of Saint Vrain Valley School District Board of Education,[5] (where he served for nine years,[6] including a stint as board chair.[5]), the Weld County Board of Commissioners,[3] and served on the Weld County Planning Commission, the Mead Sanitation Board,[5] the State Child Welfare Allocation Committee,[7] and was a charter member of the Skyline High School Education Foundation.[5]

On the Weld County Commission, Vaad represented District 2, which covered the rapidly growing southwestern portion of the county, including the communities of Dacono, Frederick, Firestone and Mead.[7] First elected in 1998,[8] Vaad, who rose to chair the board of commissioners, faced no opposition in his 2002 run for re-election.[9] As a Weld County Commissioner, Vaad was noted for pressing for a regional airport in rapidly growing northern Colorado,[10] and for a northern Colorado regional Council of Governments.[11] Vaad also served on the North Front Range Transportation and Air Quality Planning Council, a regional group that proposed a Northern Colorado regional transportation authority,[12][13] another of his regional priorities.[9] Vaad also pushed, unsuccessfully, for the creation of a business incubator in Weld County.[8][14]

Vaad is married and has lived in Mead for three decades; he and his wife, Mollie, have two children, Joel and Nicole,[1] and three grandchildren.[3] He has been an elder at LifeBridge Christian Church near Longmont, Colorado.[15]

Legislative career

2006 election

In June 2005, Vaad, term-limited as a county commissioner, announced his intention to run for House District 48, a seat being vacated by term-limited Rep. Dale Hall, who ran for the state senate.[7] Vaad faced Democrat Michael Dugan in the 2006 race to in a race where regional growth and transportation funding were key issues.[16] Vaad won the November 2006 general election with about 58 percent of the vote.[17]

2007 legislative session

After his election, Vaad named transportation, public safety, and economic security his top legislative goals.[18] Because of his experience with transportation issues, Vaad was named the ranking Republican member of the House Transportation Committee and co-chair of the General Assembly's Transportation Caucus in his first term.[19] Vaad also sat on the House Appropriations Committee.[20] Vaad sponsored only two bills during the 2007 session, both of them concerning disclosure of confidential information (insurance records and employee salaries) by government entities.[21]

During the session, Vaad crossed party lines to support a controversial tax freeze proposed by Democrats to expand education funding.[22]

Following the 2007 session, Vaad was appointed by Gov. Bill Ritter to a 30-member committee studying transportation funding options,[23][24] the Blue Ribbon Panel on Transportation Finance and Implementation.[6] and also served on the interim Transportation Legislation Review Committee.[25]

2008 legislative session

In the 2008 session of the Colorado General Assembly, Vaad sits on the House Appropriations Committee and the House Transportation and Energy Committee. [26]

In the 2008 legislative session, Vaad plans, as part of a package of transportation legislation proposed by Republicans, to introduce a bill to turn over responsibility for state highways within city limits to each municipality,[27] and to give cities a greater share of state transportation funds.[28][29] The bill died in committee, as did legislation to allow citizens to form a regional transportation authority by petition.[30] Vaad plans on continuing to advance his transportation agenda within the Transportation Legislation Review Committee, which meets between legislative sessions.[31] In particular, he plans on reintroducing a version of his transportation funding bill in the 2009 session.[32]

Vaad also sponsored bills, signed into law, required that old license plates be destroyed to prevent fake plate from being installed on vehicles,[33] and to specify the location of registration stickers on license plates.[34] Another bill to be introduced by Vaad would prohibit money from Colorado's College Opportunity Fund for being used for remedial university coursework.[35]

2008 election

Vaad announced his intention to run for a second term in January 2008[6] and was nominated by acclamation at the Republican assembly in February,[36] although he faced a primary election challenge from Mark Charles Yingling,[37] who petitioned onto the primary ballot.[38]

Yingling ran a campaign positioning himself as more conservative than Vaad on issues including abortion, immigration, and taxes;[39][40][41] Vaad, however, accused Yingling's campaign of distorting his legislative record.[42] Yingling's campaign against Vaad also drew support from groups opposing gun control and illegal immigration.[43][44]

Vaad narrowly won the Republican primary, prevailing with 53 percent of the vote, less than 500 votes more than Yingling—an unexpectedly strong result for a challenger who entered the contest relatively late[38] and who did not even set up a web site.[44] Vaad will face Democrat Bill Williams in November's general election.[43] Vaad's re-election bid was endorsed by the Greeley Tribune,[45] the Denver Post,[46] and the Longmont Times-Call,[47] and the Windsor Beacon.[48] He won re-election, defeating Williams with about 60 percent of the popular vote.[38][49]

2009 legislative session

For the 2009 legislative session, Vaad was named to seats on the House Appropriations Committee and the House Transportation and Energy Committee, where he was the ranking Republican.[50] Vaad sponsored legislation to transfer control of some transportation projects to local communities,[51] and to allow Berthoud, Colorado to be added to the taxing district area for Aims Community College, pending voter approval.[52][53]

In January 2009, while at the state capitol, Vaad injured his hamstring and subsequently fainted, requiring him to be transported out of the capitol on a stretcher; he had no serious injuries.[54]

2010 legislative session

In October 2009, after learning that the Colorado Department of Corrections planned on leaving a newly constructed maximum security prison in Cañon City unused due to state budget cuts, Vaad proposed selling the facility to a private prison operator, and planned on offering legislation during the 2010 session to accomplish this.[55][56]

Vaad also planned on sponsoring legislation in 2010 to establish a "priority-based budgeting system" for the state of Colorado,[56][57] and also legislation to have a private firm perform a "contingency recovery" audit of state spending, in which a fraction of the savings found by the audit would be awarded to the company performing it.[56]

2010 election

In October 2009, Vaad announced his intention to seek a third term as a state representative in the November 2010 legislative elections; he identified his "priority-based budgeting" proposal as a centerpiece of his campaign.[57]

2012 election

Vaad ran in the 2012 Republican primary election for Colorado State Senate District 23. He was defeated by Vicki Marble in the Republican primary on June 26, 2012.[58][59] Vaad is succeeded by Republican Stephen Humphrey.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Staff Report (2006). "Glenn Vaad-Republican". Loveland Reporter-Herald. Retrieved 2007-12-18.
  2. ↑ "State House District 48". COMaps. Retrieved 2007-12-08.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Rep. Glenn Vaad, HD-48". Colorado House Republicans. Retrieved 2007-12-18.
  4. ↑ Bartels, Lynn (7 February 2008). "Citizen Legislator, February 7". Rocky Mountain News. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 "Representative Vaad". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved 2007-12-18.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Staff Reports (10 January 2008). "Vaad to seek re-election". Greeley Tribune. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Murphy, Doyle (20 July 2005). "County commissioner Vaad seeks House seat held by Hall". Greeley Tribune. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Fanciulli, Jesse (10 January 2002). "Commissioner Vaad to run again". Greeley Tribune. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Fanciulli, Jesse (18 October 2002). "Vaad unopposed". Greeley Tribune. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
  10. ↑ Piotraschke, Julie (6 September 2005). "Airport near Ault?". Greeley Tribune. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
  11. ↑ Waddingham, Rebecca (28 March 2005). "ARegional council may come to Front Range". Greeley Tribune. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
  12. ↑ Waddingham, Rebecca (15 January 2006). "Big changes in transportation may be coming". Greeley Tribune. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
  13. ↑ Fanciulli, Jesse (10 July 2001). "Group pushes transportation taxing district". Greeley Tribune. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
  14. ↑ Hottenstein, Erin (13 July 2001). "Greeley incubator study says 'go slow'". Northern Colorado Business Report. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
  15. ↑ Huntley, Annie P. (9 July 2003). "Weld County, Colo., Officials Approve Plans for Megachurch.". Greeley Tribune. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
  16. ↑ Larez, Joanna (October 11, 2006). "Growth, transportation, immigration highlight District 48 race". Greeley Tribune. Retrieved 2007-12-18.
  17. ↑ Larez, Joanna (8 November 2006). "Vaad takes 48th Congressional District". Greeley Tribune. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
  18. ↑ Vaad, Glenn (7 December 2006). "Focusing on effectiveness will help bridge partisan gap". Greeley Tribune. Retrieved 2007-12-18.
  19. ↑ Vaad, Glenn (14 February 2007). "More tools for Colorado's transportation tool chest". Greeley Tribune. Retrieved 2007-12-18.
  20. ↑ "House Committees of Reference". Colorado General Assembly. Retrieved 2007-12-11.
  21. ↑ "Vaad Has a Two-Bill Day". Wide Streets Network. 26 March 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
  22. ↑ Boyle, Rebecca (13 May 2007). "2007 Legislature: Bipartisan and green". Greeley Tribune. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
  23. ↑ Boyle, Rebecca (13 May 2007). "Lawmakers still plan on working after session wraps up". Greeley Tribune. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
  24. ↑ Bartels, Lynn (27 March 2007). "Gov. Ritter completes 30-member panel on transportation; summit April 5". Rocky Mountain News. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
  25. ↑ "Transportation Legislation Review Committee 2007". Colorado Legislative Council. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
  26. ↑ "House Committees of Reference". Colorado General Assembly. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
  27. ↑ Paulson, Steven (12 November 2007). "GOP wants cities to take over highway repairs". Denver Post. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
  28. ↑ Brown, Jennifer (13 November 2007). "Cities may get highway duties". Denver Post. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
  29. ↑ Washington, April P. (13 November 2007). "Highway upkeep a hot potato". Rocky Mountain News. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
  30. ↑ Boyle, Rebecca (15 February 2008). "Inside Politics: Going Nowhere Fast". Fort Colins Now. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
  31. ↑ Munshaw, Kacia (5 March 2008). "Transportation bill postponed". Longmont Times-Call. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
  32. ↑ Vaad, Glenn (18 May 2008). "A reflection on the legislative session". Greeley Tribune. Retrieved 2008-06-13.
  33. ↑ Boyle, Rebecca (11 April 2008). "Bills Becoming Laws". Fort Collins Now. Retrieved 2008-04-12.
  34. ↑ Fryar, John (10 May 2007). "From sports ticket sales to solar energy, 170 bills were locally generated proposals". Longmont Times-Call. Retrieved 2008-05-11.
  35. ↑ Casey, Chris (6 January 2008). "Higher education remains statehouse puzzle". Greeley Tribune. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
  36. ↑ Staff Reports (26 February 2008). "Weld Republicans choose candidates, will hold primaries for two commissioner seats". Greeley Tribune. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  37. ↑ Fryar, John (12 June 2008). "Area DA candidates without major-party foes". Longmont Times-Call. Retrieved 2008-06-14.
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 38.2 Ortiz, Christopher (13 August 2008). "Vaad wins District 48 primary". Greeley Tribune. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
  39. ↑ Villegas, Andrew (2 August 2008). "Vaad looks to dispel rumors ahead of primary election". Greeley Tribune. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
  40. ↑ Fryar, John (3 August 2008). "Southwest Weld Republicans to pick House 48 candidate". Longmont Times Call. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
  41. ↑ Staff reports (8 August 2008). "Elections 2008: A look at other House races". Rocky Mountain News. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
  42. ↑ Vaad, Glenn (8 August 2008). "In their words: Glenn Vaad". Greeley Tribune. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 Fryar, John (12 August 2008). "Vaad survives GOP challenge". Longmont Times-Call. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 Sealover, Ed (13 August 2008). "Sitting state lawmakers won't return to Statehouse". Rocky Mountain News. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
  45. ↑ Editorial Board (19 October 2008). "Vaad is best to represent Dist. 48". Greeley Tribune. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
  46. ↑ Editorial Board (17 October 2008). "Post's picks in Colorado's House of Representatives". Denver Post. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
  47. ↑ Editorial Board (21 October 2008). "Vaad, Lundberg, Mitchell should return to Capitol". Longmont Times-Call. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
  48. ↑ Norris, Wendy; Bob Spencer (3 November 2008). "State candidate endorsement watch". Colorado Independent. Retrieved 2008-11-07.
  49. ↑ "Colorado Statewide Cumulative Report - 2008 General Election". Colorado Secretary of State. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  50. ↑ "House Republican Committee Assignments Announced" (Press release). Colorado House Democrats. 18 November 2008.
  51. ↑ Carter, Rachel (30 January 2009). "Longmont leaders worry proposed laws could hobble local economies". Longmont Times-Call. Retrieved 2009-04-23.
  52. ↑ Villegas, Andrew (4 January 2009). "Economy looms over lawmakers". Greeley Tribune. Retrieved 2009-01-10.
  53. ↑ Fryar, John (28 March 2009). "Berthoud offered way to join Aims district". Longmont Times-Call. Retrieved 2009-12-24.
  54. ↑ Staff Reports (15 January 2009). "Rollcall". Rocky Mountain News. Retrieved 2009-02-08.
  55. ↑ Harmon, Tracy (25 October 2009). "Legislators disagree about prison sale of prison of prison". Pueblo Chieftain. Retrieved 2009-12-24.
  56. ↑ 56.0 56.1 56.2 Porter, Steve (18 December 2009). "egislators outline priorities for 2010". Northern Colorado Business Report. Retrieved 2009-12-24.
  57. ↑ 57.0 57.1 Staff Report (30 September 2009). "State in brief". Longmont Times-Call. Retrieved 2009-12-24.
  58. ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, - 2012 Primary Candidate List
  59. ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, Official Primary Election Results

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