Once again, Colorado voters have demonstrated their sharp eyes for shams and scams. They showed that lots of money, coupled with misleading ads, doesn't necessarily win their hearts and minds. They voted with common sense and a solid understanding of the issues they were asked to decide.

On Referendum A, which was strongly backed by Governor Bill Owens, voters decided that ripping the state apart over water, spending billions of dollars on dams, and giving the governor virtually complete control over their money was a non-starter. Attorney General Ken Salazar skillfully led the opposition to Referendum A, raising the money to fight it and giving voters concrete reasons to vote no.

Amendment 33 was shamelessly advertised as providing a huge infusion of money for promoting tourism and protecting open space. Little was said about its real purpose, significantly expanding gambling in Colorado. Voters saw through this sham and scuttled the measure overwhelmingly. Since this is the seventh time voters have turned down more gambling in the state, maybe it's time that its supporters, who stood to rake in big bucks from thousands of slot machines, leave us alone.

In Denver, voters strongly supported Mayor John Hickenlooper's revision of the city's civil service system. The Mayor's thoughtful discussion of the merits of reform, coupled with voters' outrage over huge sick leave payouts and automatic wage increases for city employees, even in the face of major budget shortfalls, persuaded voters to support the most important civil service change in 50 years.

What continues to be very interesting about voters' choices is their distrust of state officials and their relative confidence in local officials. They tend to be far less willing to give state government authority to spend their money than to approve local spending and tax issues. On Tuesday, voters generally approved money for school operating budgets and new schools, for open space, and better local services. They turned down those issues that gave authority to the governor and his appointees.

Voters made their priorities pretty clear. By supporting school measures, they continued to let elected officials know how much they value education. In Colorado, preserving open space remains a big priority, and voters in Arapahoe and Boulder Counties demonstrated that by imposing a sales tax increase on themselves for that purpose. They supported police, firefighters, and roads. Jefferson County residents voted to increase funds for disabled citizens.

What's obvious here is that, while not all politics is local, it is local politics that voters trust and care about the most. That is because local politics, local politicians and local decisions have the greatest impact on their daily lives. When our legislators look at their legislative priorities, they would do well to keep this in mind. Their constituents have told them in this election, as in others, that they care most about educating our kids, preserving Colorado's landscape, protecting their communities and maintaining local prerogatives.

For those who continue to try to shove their own special interests down our throats, there is another message here. Colorado voters recognize self-interest and phony promotions when they see them. They want straight talk and accountability, from businesses as well as from government. They want to be shown how a proposed policy change will really make their lives and their communities better and stronger. If they don't see that, they'll reject the idea.

As we go into the 2004 election, there will be another slew of ballot issues for voters to decide. While it would be more appropriate for our elected legislators to make some of these tough decisions during the legislative session, as they are elected to do, there will no doubt be a number of hard choices tossed back to voters. For those who will spend megabucks to influence voters one way or the other, it would be useful to look back to the election of 2003. Colorado voters aren't easily fooled. Most of us would be very grateful if you'd invest your money in really making our state better, not just the shams and scams we saw on our ballots this year.