When it comes to tech-related computer things, I’m nearly a Luddite. But I have a great idea, or at least one that would serve the local campaigns I’m volunteering for immensely. Since it involves computer-y stuff, I need help.
Here’s the situation: In my County, there are two excellent Progressive Dem incumbents running for re-election. Julie Westendorff & Gwen Lachelt are currently our (2 of 3 total) Democratic La Plata County Commissioners. They are excellent Commissioners, fighting back against the oil & gas extraction industries that are seeking to eliminate oversight here in my county & Colorado in general. Staunch environmentalist women who consistently show concern for our air & water here in The Four Corners, while recognizing that our local economy is driven in large measure by the extraction industries. Just last week, Commissioner Lachelt flew to Washington DC to testify for a Congressional Committee regarding the local rules we have in place regarding natural gas extraction—which are, by the way, some of the most ‘restrictive’ in the country. She testified how we manage to be so ‘harsh’ on the extraction industry, yet they continue to make a profit on the over 3000 natural gas wells in our county. Specifically she spoke to the waste/loss of gas via ‘flaring' & during the drilling process that pollutes while costing the extraction industry money in lost product. She showed how limiting & re-capturing said gas prior to releasing or flaring (burning it to prevent pressure build-up) not only saves our environment but increases extraction profits, as their product is not escaping freely into the atmosphere. She’s a Rock Star in my mind, and Ms. Westendorff is no slough either, as both are also fighting the EPA & local teabagger-types regarding the mine blow-out that greatly polluted our beautiful Animas River last Summer, all in addition to being the elected Officials running our county. I tell you this simply to let you know—I am very lucky to have great local representation, and I most definitely want to keep them in office for another term. To that end, I am volunteering for their campaigns.
My biggest task for them thus far is the installation of campaign signs—it’s what I volunteered for. In my area, there are two sizes of signs used. The first, which I am not much involved in, is a small ~18”x30”(?) yard sign, which folks generally pick up & install themselves. I suppose that would be the standard size of a “yard sign” anywhere, right? The second size, and more in my bailiwick, are much larger 4’x5’ signs that are held in place using 6’ t-stakes or metal posts. These signs are large & quite visible, even from a distance. This enables us to place them on land that is set back many feet from the road here in rural CO. That prevents theft (rare) and vandalism (much less rare), while maintaining visibility along our rural roads and highways. Signage is restricted to private property, so placement along road or highway frontage, ie., State or County property, is not allowed.
In the course of my sign installations, I am often driving along and have the thought “oooh, that would be a good spot for a sign!”. But I am not so brave so as to simply drive up the often very long driveway onto the property to ask “Are you a Democrat? Would you consider allowing a large sign on your land?”, as my county has some aggressively conservative folks… So, to that end, it would be helpful for me and anyone else anywhere installing signs to know who owns the land AND what their political affiliation is. Yes, there are many places we have identified as supporters, as well as folks who have previously allowed signs placed onto their land—but we want more. I should also tell you: this is a rural place, and many folks own enough land that a particular spot is not readily identifiable as to where the home on that land may be—or even if the home is visible from the road.
What I have, what I need: Currently, I have access to our county’s GIS map, although google maps would also be fine, and that tells me the boundaries of any given property. I am able to sit in my truck, look at a particular spot, and ascertain the address of that property as well as the owner of that property—often, not always, anyway. I also have available a list of every registered Democrat in my county. So here’s the tech help I need: If those two items—a GIS map & the list of Dems could be merged to produce one map that would identify which properties are owned by a Democrat, I could reasonably approach the best suited property to ask for sign placement. To wit: When considering an area, say a one mile stretch that would be a great sign location, I could simply open this new merged map, see who along that 1 mile stretch is a Dem, and then feel comfortable ‘cold calling’ them to ask to place a sign on their property. Does that make sense? I suppose it is to some degree a rural thing. Properties can be vast, very irregularly shaped, not easily identified with the home or property owner, and hence, I could waste a lot of time guessing where a sign COULD be placed. My ‘merged map’ idea would so streamline the identification of potentially friendly locations that my job would become much easier.
So, are you able to do this, do you know someone who would be able, or perhaps, does such a thing already exist—do you know? It doesn’t strike me that it would be a difficult thing for someone who does map work or computer work as a vocation, as it seems to me—a Luddite—that it merely involves overlaying two items to create one map. Then again, I don’t really know what it would take to do this. Do you? Can you either help me or point me in the right direction to receive assistance with this?
And since you’ve read this far, it would be remiss of me to not supply you with the opportunity to contribute towards turning & keeping Colorado blue locally. My fine candidates info is here on their websites, making your contribution easy! Any amount will help a great deal, as running against the extraction industry is neither easy nor cheap.
www.julieforcommissioner2016.com
And here’s the Durango Herald article about Ms. Lachelt testifying in D.C. last week, to give you a sense of her recognized expert knowledge on the extraction industries: www.durangoherald.com/…
Thank you very much for reading and any help you can provide!