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Becky Boone F-Bombs her way across Boulder: EDITORIAL
May 30th
Jann Scott Boulders voice of conscience
The city of Boulder sent out the enclosed press release in association with F-Bomb for America. We approach this entire story a bit cynically because it has omissions and spin. We are sure that the City of Boulder wish the hell they never heard of Code for America. They practically say so here. The fiasco of “Boom Boom Boone” F-Bombing her heart out from the stage of The Boulder Theater as an official city contractor speaking on behalf of the city made the city manager pull her hair out. Any denials by Boone only made it worse. She was supposed to bring the community together not start WWIII.
Code for America was an an ill conceived choice from the beginning. Here is why.
Becky “boom boom ” Boone
Bringing code for America to Boulder was the idea of pro growth Venture Capitalist Brad Feld. Boulder Startup Community Members: Help Fund the Code for America Fellowship He chipped in $75,000 to bring F U America to Boulder. But the city never reveals that anywhere. Feld is the main proponent of A Better boulder, too. They are a lobbying group that want to see more businesses , taller buildings and more crowding down town. No one reveals that.
So when the city says that Becky Boones F-Bomb speech became divisive pitting pro-growth and no growth groups agin each other, well it was part of a larger plan. She was designed to do that. She was hand picked , bought and paid for by Brad Feld and his agents to push their Growth Agenda. Another problem is there is no transparency from the city or from F– for America concerning Brad Feld.
Brad Feld He gave $75,000. to Code for America
Question: How much money does Brad Feld or his investments have invested in Code for America ?? Feld has so many investments , does anyone know?? City spokesperson Patrick Vonkeyserling said that Code F— America “Brad is one of several investors. The total raised privately by CFA is $41k.” But what about the $75,000. ??
Having Boone Speak at Startup week Boulder and then at Ignite Boulder was another move by the pro-growthers to spin her supposed objectivity. These events are run by event planner Andrew Hyde who was brought to Boulder in 2006 by Brad Feld to run Tech Stars one of Felds VC engines. Feld has backed Hyde from day one. Their plan is to turn Boulder into Palo Alto California. More specifically Downtown Boulder. Everything is smoke and mirrors with these guys.
Some media want to make a big deal that city staff knew Boone was going plead F— F— F— 8 times from the stage of the Boulder Theater and then put it on you tube. But the city never said that their staff knew….. exactly but Patrick Vonkeyserling City of Boulder PIO today said “The email pdf shows there was knowledge of the f bomb” presumable by someone on staff. But did the city know that “Car Bomb Becky” was going to blow herself up on stage with 8 invective F bombs. ?? #hmmog!
Jennifer Pahlka with he femne fatale looks nearly sunk the company.
Meanwhile , the Code for America Executive Director Jennifer Pahlka, tried to weasel her way out of this mess by saying: Well she said it was just her opinion Oh nonsense!
So the city slapped Pahlka with a $15,000 dollar fine. Code calls it a donation. Bull shit. It’s a fine. Then Pahlka goes on to imply that f bombing is the way to engage hard to reach segments of our population.
It is any wonder that the city did not hold Code in violation of contact and fire them last week.
To top it off Twitter exploded with it usual amount of hate speech from Boulder Startup employees aimed at no-growthers and media covering this story beginning with Boulder Neighbors. All of this just what the city did not want. Code for America was supposed to bring the city together not blow the place up.
The Irony of all this is no one has said F— on TV more than me. The city shut down public access TV over my use of the F— word. ( I am now on channel 22 run by the school district where there is no F—s allowed) But I did not “work for the city nor was I a contractor for the city” If I was I would have followed city decorum. Do I really have a problem with Becky Boone using the F— word at Ignite Boulder ?? I have a problem with the dishonesty of Ignite Boulder, Andrew Hyde, Brad Feld, A better Boulder and Code for America. In this case I side with the city staff all the way. They really are trying to do what’s best and keep us protected from the minions of developers who would turn our Paradise into a parking lot. — Jann Scott
Below is the city full press release.
City, Code for America complete reviews into Ignite Boulder presentation
The City of Boulder and Code for America today announced that each organization has concluded independent fact finding reviews about the May 13 presentation at Ignite Boulder regarding the authorization of the presentation and potential city staff involvement.
While the city does not believe that formal authorization occurred, the review showed that some city staff members were aware of the planned Ignite Boulder presentation and provided input on potential topics, and one member of staff assisted with and reviewed the presentation prior to Becky Boone’s delivery. The review by staff may have led Ms. Boone to conclude she had city approval.
Jane Brautigam Boulder city manager is hopping dam mad and slapped a $15,000 fine on Code.
“Boulder has very high standards for the professionalism of its staff and strong core values that every city employee is expected to uphold,” said City Manager Jane Brautigam. “The failure of a city employee to honor the city’s commitment to respect all residents and their diverse perspectives on local issues is unacceptable, and the city will address this personnel matter seriously.”
“Boulder remains committed to working with Code for America to implement new engagement tools, and we believe the final report will include additional opportunities to engage every member of our community on a variety of issues,” said Brautigam. “It is unfortunate that the progress made under this project has been tainted by a divisive presentation. In the coming days we will be working to restore the community’s trust in city government and to take appropriate actions to ensure city procedures and standards are met going forward.”
Code for America also apologized for the tone of the presentation and remains committed to increasing Boulder’s opportunities to engage more people in local government.
“Our work in Boulder to help city staff diversify public input on housing was designed to supplement the already-planned engagement process spelled out in Housing Boulder with a variety of approaches consistent with Code for America’s engagement standard,” said Code for America Executive Director Jennifer Pahlka. “This past week, that work has been overshadowed by a focus on a talk given by the Code for America Senior Fellow working on the project, Becky Boone. Code for America works in city halls around the country, and we train our staff and fellows to understand and respect the professional norms of government and to use language that supports our partners. In this case, though Becky clarified she was not speaking for the city, it created a problem for our partners for which we apologize.”
“The ability for all to participate is a core value of government and of our work with the City of Boulder and around the country. It is also a core value of the generous private donors who contributed to the project,” said Pahlka. “Code for America has been working for the past several months to encourage all the citizens of Boulder to provide input on local housing discussions. While the intent of the Ignite Boulder presentation was to engage more people in the conversation, some interpreted it to take sides, and that does not reflect the inclusive approach that city staff and Code for America staff have taken throughout this project. Code for America believes that government can work for the people, by the people, in the 21st century – if everyone gets involved. We are eager for the focus to return to the important and innovative work that the city is doing and to the share the outcomes.”
Pahlka said to underscore its commitment to inclusive engagement and support the city’s commitment, Code for America will contribute to the city $15,000 in training, education, and additional software as a service and open source technical support to continue the use of some of the tools that have helped reach a wider audience in the project so far to assist the city to continue this pioneering work.
“Engaging the full community, especially hard-to-reach members, is important and critical work. We are committed to continuing to help the City of Boulder tackle this and ongoing community engagement work,” said Pahlka.
Emails regarding city staff input and contributions to the May 13 Ignite Boulder presentation have been released to the media.
Startup Boulder week 2014: reflection
May 18th
We at Boulder Channel 1 Employ 8 full time / part time people. Four of whom are in sales. They sit on the phones and or go to
selling ads on the phone and on the streets.
see Boulder retailers and sell advertising. They come from a group known as pitchmen (women). They hit the streets and talk to Boulder about our company and our ad packages. A typical package includes a video profile of their goods for a given season. We invented this here in Boulder and have created over 1000 business profiles since 1987. We also produce banner ads on our site only. We run Social media campaigns for customers and do PR too. Then we design and build websites for our advertising customers. We do promotions for them and we run focused ad campaigns on other platforms. We also do local appearances and remote broadcasts for advertisers where we come to a car dealership and broadcast live on a Saturday during a big sale. Or we will go to a restaurant and broadcast live and talk about the food , interview the chefs and owners.
We are both traditional Television and new media with a news and production department. So what does this have to do with Boulder Startup week 2014 ?? Absolutely, nothing except it gives us a chance to pitch Boulder Channel 1 and tell you about us and why you should use us.
Reason number 1 is that we are not minimalists. We are maximists we don’t lie to you. If you are going to spend your money with us here in Boulder we feel it is our responsibility to you and your retail operation that you get immediate response from advertising with us. If you don’t then fire us.
Reason Number 2 we are Boulder. we are from Boulder. We didn’t just move here and set up shop. We have been in business since 1975. Most of our customers are our friends from years of relationships or they become our friends.
Reason Number 3 We are on TV every day and night of the week on Comcast BV-22 which plays to 250,000 subscribers all over Boulder County. They include houses, apartments, businesses and CU dorm rooms. We are also on the net right here.
Reason Number 4 We are the voice of Boulder. We show all points of view and ask the tough questions. One tough question we have for StartUp Boulder is who are you and what do you stand for ?
We know that is is organized by a hippie homeless guy who calls himself a vagabond. We know a group of so called investors from Boulders App world get together drink beer, have chair races and party day and night call themselves the community. But are they trustworthy ?? Are they really from Boulder or are they former college students cycling through our city playing at business?? They all seem to be new here without jobs living off of mom and dad. And that is part of the Boulder Story too.
CU develops solar toilet for third world use
Mar 13th
Innovative solar-powered toilet developed
by CU-Boulder ready for India unveiling
by CU-Boulder ready for India unveiling
A revolutionary University of Colorado Boulder toilet fueled by the sun that is being developed to help some of the 2.5 billion people around the world lacking safe and sustainable sanitation will be unveiled in India this month.
The self-contained, waterless toilet, designed and built using a $777,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has the capability of heating human waste to a high enough temperature to sterilize human waste and create biochar, a highly porous charcoal, said project principal investigator Karl Linden, professor of environmental engineering. The biochar has a one-two punch in that it can be used to both increase crop yields and sequester carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas.
The project is part of the Gates Foundation’s “Reinvent the Toilet Challenge,” an effort to develop a next-generation toilet that can be used to disinfect liquid and solid waste while generating useful end products, both in developing and developed nations, said Linden. Since the 2012 grant, Linden and his CU-Boulder team have received an additional $1 million from the Gates Foundation for the project, which includes a team of more than a dozen faculty, research professionals and students, many working full time on the effort.
According to the Gates Foundation, the awards recognize researchers who are developing ways to manage human waste that will help improve the health and lives of people around the world. Unsafe methods to capture and treat human waste result in serious health problems and death – food and water tainted with pathogens from fecal matter results in the deaths of roughly 700,000 children each year.
Linden’s team is one of 16 around the world funded by the Gates “Reinvent the Toilet Challenge” since 2011. All have shipped their inventions to Delhi, where they will be on display March 20-22 for scientists, engineers and dignitaries. Other institutional winners of the grants range from Caltech to Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and the National University of Singapore.
The CU-Boulder invention consists of eight parabolic mirrors that focus concentrated sunlight to a spot no larger than a postage stamp on a quartz-glass rod connected to eight bundles of fiber-optic cables, each consisting of thousands of intertwined, fused fibers, said Linden. The energy generated by the sun and transferred to the fiber-optic cable system — similar in some ways to a data transmission line — can heat up the reaction chamber to over 600 degrees Fahrenheit to treat the waste material, disinfect pathogens in both feces and urine, and produce char.
“Biochar is a valuable material,” said Linden. “It has good water holding capacity and it can be used in agricultural areas to hold in nutrients and bring more stability to the soils.” A soil mixture containing 10 percent biochar can hold up to 50 percent more water and increase the availability of plant nutrients, he said. Additionally, the biochar can be burned as charcoal and provides energy comparable to that of commercial charcoal.
Most public toilets look like this
Linden is working closely with project co-investigators Professor R. Scott Summers of environmental engineering and Professor Alan Weimer chemical and biological engineering and a team of postdoctoral fellows, professionals, graduate students, undergraduates and a high school student.
“We are doing something that has never been done before,” said Linden. “While the idea of concentrating solar energy is not new, transmitting it flexibly to a customizable location via fiber-optic cables is the really unique aspect of this project.” The interdisciplinary project requires chemical engineers for heat transfer and solar energy work, environmental engineers for waste treatment and stabilization, mechanical engineers to build actuators and moving parts and electrical engineers to design control systems, Linden said.
Tests have shown that each of the eight fiber-optic cables can produce between 80 and 90 watts of energy, meaning the whole system can deliver up to 700 watts of energy into the reaction chamber, said Linden. In late December, tests at CU-Boulder showed the solar energy directed into the reaction chamber could easily boil water and effectively carbonize solid waste.
While the current toilet has been created to serve four to six people a day, a larger facility that could serve several households simultaneously is under design with the target of meeting a cost level of five cents a day per user set by the Gates Foundation. “We are continuously looking for ways to improve efficiency and lower costs,” he said.
“The great thing about the Gates Foundation is that they provide all of the teams with the resources they need,” Linden said. “The foundation is not looking for one toilet and one solution from one team. They are nurturing unique ideas and looking at what the individual teams bring overall to the knowledge base.”
Linden, who called the 16 teams a “family of researchers,” said the foundation has funded trips for CU-Boulder team members to collaborate with the other institutions in places like Switzerland, South Africa and North Carolina. “Instead of sink or swim funding, they want every team to succeed. In some ways we are like a small startup company, and it’s unlike any other project I have worked on during my career,” he said.
CU-Boulder team member Elizabeth Travis from Parker, Colo., who is working toward a master’s degree in the engineering college’s Mortenson Center in Engineering for Developing Communities, said her interest in water and hygiene made the Reinvent the Toilet project a good fit. “It is a really cool research project and a great team,” she said. “Everyone is very creative, patient and supportive, and there is a lot of innovation. It is exciting to learn from all of the team members.”
“We have a lot of excitement and energy on our team, and the Gates Foundation values that,” Linden said. “It is one thing to do research, another to screw on nuts and bolts and make something that can make a difference. To me, that’s the fun part, and the project is a nice fit for CU-Boulder because we have a high interest in developing countries and expertise in all of the renewable energy technologies as well as sanitation.”
The CU-Boulder team is now applying for phase two of the Gates Foundation Reinvent the Toilet grant to develop a field-worthy system to deploy in a developing country based on their current design, and assess other technologies that may enhance the toilet system, including the use of high-temperature fluids that can collect, retain and deliver heat.
-CU-
