What lurks behind the attacks on Democratic county commissioners West of the Divide? Who wants to tarnish reputations? Who’s afraid of more Democrats in the legislature?
Read on and remember, everything mentioned will be strictly “Hush, Hush.”If you are one of the few Democratic county commissioners on the Western Slope, duck for cover! You may be a target for a recall, or for a pubic records search of your e-mail messages, or who knows what else? And if you are considering a future legislative race, you may be especially in the political scopes of a conservative organization such as the Republican Study Committee of Colorado.
Take for instance, Montrose Commissioner Bill Patterson, the only Democratic commissioner in a red swath from Moffat to Delta County. Not long ago, Patterson and his two Republican colleagues decided to change the management at the local airport. This prompted members of the former management group, with help from Rep. Ray Rose (R-Montrose) to start a petition drive to recall Patterson-a move that even the local Republican Party didn’t support.
Maybe it’s an initiation rite that Rose has to perform to gain entry to the RSCC (read the member list here.) Or it’s an attempt to discredit Patterson, who could be an excellent future legislative candidate.
Democratic Eagle County Commissioner Arn Menconi has also been under attack of a recall effort. The recall group has claimed Menconi should be removed from office because he “ignored the wishes of voters and is fiscally irresponsible.” (Aren’t they talking about President Bush instead?)
Menconi also happens to be considering the 8th State Senate seat, a position that Rep. Al White (R-Winter Park) has been hankering to grab in 2008. (Why, White has even bought property in the 8th so he can qualify to run. Whoops, Al…gotta live there, too.)
The RSCC wasn’t so secretive when their executive director Lucius O’Dell asked for a massive five-year public records search of e-mail from certain Western Slope commissioners — Commissioner Tr
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