The vacancy in the state treasury office, created by Treasurer Walker Stapleton’s term limits and run for Colorado governor, will be filled by either Democrat state Rep. Dave Young or Republican Brian Watson, a commercial real estate investor.
Colorado’s treasurer is the top financial official in the state government, overseeing the more than $1 billion state coffers. The treasurer also invests a pool of money to fund pensions for government employees, while working to return lost assets to residents.
Stapleton was first elected in 2010 and won his reelection bid in 2014. The winner of this year’s election will hold the office for four years and will face big challenges on strengthening Colorado PERA, the struggling pension program for government workers like teachers, firefighters, and administrators.
Rep. Dave Young has represented as a state lawmaker residents in Greeley and surrounding towns since 2011. He has most notably served on the state’s Joint Budget Committee for four of those seven years. The committee is comprised of three Democrats and three Republicans who focus on budget issues.
He is also chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, a top job in the state House that oversees funding for government agencies.
Young said his work on the budget committee is a record of high-level experience managing billions of taxpayer’s money. He said that work even included close examinations of how Stapleton managed funds in the Treasury.
DAVE YOUNG
Dave Young is a Colorado native. He taught junior high for almost 25 years in Greeley before running for office. He’s also worked as a coder for a Department of Defense contractor. Young once biked across Europe and has climbed Mt. Rainier, a challenger 14er in Washington St.
BRIAN WATSON
Brian Watson was born in Olathe, a town on the Western Slope of Colorado. He studied at CU Boulder and became a commercial real estate broker representing landlords and tenants. He founded Northstar Commercial Partners 18 years ago. The firm is based in downtown Denver and owns properties in 16 states, according to Watson.
“I know how important it is for Colorado to have a treasurer who has a complex knowledge of finances,” Young said.
His priorities in office would be fixing PERA, the Public Employee Retirement Association, which is estimated to have somewhere between a $30 billion and $80 billion shortfall in the coming decades.
The treasurer sits on the PERA board of directors and influences policy by investing taxpayer money that is used to fund pensions. PERA directors said last year that pensions could be severely underfunded in the future, after Stapleton raised concerns and aimed to cut costs.
Stapleton was absent for many recent PERA board talks to fix the under-funding.
“I’m glad that that conversation was happening, but the treasurer should be a problem solver and not just raise issues,” Young said. “My number one priority to make sure that money is invested transparently, make sure that money is managed safely, and the goal is to invest the money in the state economy.”
Young also said he would prioritize leadership and good management of the thirty-some employees in the Treasury office.
Watson said his experience co-founding and leading $1.3 billion commercial asset company, Northstar Commercial Partners, makes him a better choice to invest billions in taxpayer money.
“My opponent has never invested capital,” Watson said. He added that he would bring a “fresh perspective” to government.
Watson said he developed a realistic view of the economy – and investing – by surviving the 2008 economic collapse.
“What comes up must come down, and if you don’t have the experience of going through 2008, that’s the perspective that I would bring to the state treasury office,” Watson said. “Eventually (the economy) cools off and even takes a dip.”
However, he’s come under fire from Democrats for failing to pay debts to the IRS before the election, and criticized for dodging taxes.
PERA is also a priority for Watson. He aims to raise the retirement age for the next generation of public employees from 64 to 67, which would cut costs in the future.
He added that he would take a non-personal view of PERA by refusing both the $68,500 treasurer salary and PERA benefits.
However, Watson said he has been advised not to divest from his role overseeing over a billion dollars in investments because there would not be a conflict of interest. He said he has a 401(k) retirement fund with Northstar Commercial Partners.
Young criticized Watson’s decision not to divest from his assets or move assets into a blind trust in which he would have no decision making.
“That presents a definitive conflict of interest in that regard,” Young said. “He should be removing himself from that company.”
Watson said PERA does not invest in commercial real estate, which is not true. According to the Colorado PERA website, real estate accounted for almost 9 percent of its total investment assets as of March 2018.
Candidate Questions for Dave Young
QUESTIONS ABOUT YOU
1. What food do you hate most?
Sushi
2. Do you indulge in recreational marijuana?
No
3. Who would play you in a movie about your life?
Matthew McConaughey
4. What Olympic sport do you wish you could win gold in?
The Marathon
5. What was your favorite childhood candy?
Butterfinger (still is)
6. If you could be an eyewitness to one event in history, what would it be?
The moment before the Big Bang
7. If the Secret Service gave you a code name, what would it be?
Penny Pincher
8. If you had to sing karaoke, what song would you sing? Car karaoke counts.
Suite: Judy Blue Eyes — Crosby, Stills & Nash
9. What epitaph would you like written on your tombstone?
I’m not planning on having a tombstone.
10. Is a hot dog a sandwich?
Nope
11. What is the last concert you attended?
BB King at the Denver Botanic Gardens
12. What movie do you never tire of watching?
(tie) 2001: A Space Odyssey, Wizard of Oz, Dr. Zhivago
13. Dogs or cats?
Like them both, but cats
14. What’s the most overrated thing about living in Colorado?
Recreational Marijuana
Candidate Questions for Brian Watson
QUESTIONS ABOUT YOU
1.What food do you hate most?
Only the ones that show the calories on the menu.
2.Do you indulge in recreational marijuana?
No or No Mon!
3.Who would play you in a movie about your life?
George Costanza from Seinfeld, Jack Black, or Kevin Hart.
4.What Olympic sport do you wish you could win gold in?
Curling.
5.What was your favorite childhood candy?
Skittles because I thought they were a serving of fruit…
6.If you could be an eyewitness to one event in history, what would it be?
The signing of the U.S. Constitution
7.If the Secret Service gave you a code name, what would it be?
Captain America
8.If you had to sing karaoke, what song would you sing? Car karaoke counts.
“Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey
9.What epitaph would you like written on your tombstone?
Well done, good and faithful servant.
10.Is a hot dog a sandwich?
No, it is in an American category all its own!
11.What is the last concert you attended?
Luke Bryan, Sam Hunt, and Jon Pardi this past August at Mile High Stadium!
12.What movie do you never tire of watching?
The Patriot
13.Dogs or cats?
Dogs, and preferably a black lab.
14.What’s the most overrated thing about living in Colorado?
Nothing, as we live in the best place imaginable!