Hush, Hush & On the QT: John Marshall Lands at Mesa Republican College

    Looking for someplace to land while waiting for the next election cycle? Or need a part-time job in between the legislative session? Or does your spouse need a good paying position? Hey, c’mon over to Mesa State College in Grand Junction and talk to college president and former Republican legislator, Tim Foster.


    It may seem that one of the most important qualifications is to be well connected to the Republican Party.

    John Marshall, former manager of the disasterous campaigns of Republican gubernatorial candidate, Bob Beauprez in 2006 and Republican Greg Walcher for the Third Congressional District, has been handed the nearly $100,000 job as “Developmental Director” at Mesa State. Hush, Hush guesses failure was an asset for this position.

    Marshall replaced Craig Glogowski, previously a staffer for former US Sen. Hank Brown (R-Colorado).

    Past State Senator Ron Teck (R-Grand Junction) also used to work for Mesa State when not in session and the wife of Sen. Josh Penry (R-Grand Junction) is currently employed in the financial aid department.

    Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketOn the Mesa State’s website there is a 34-page manual on the methodical steps the college administration should take in hiring new staff — unless, of course, you happen to have friends in high places.

    In an article by the Grand Junction Free Press:

    Foster said he made a list of potential candidates for the position, but Marshall was always the stand-out candidate in his mind. The college chose to “chat” with candidates on the list rather than advertise the open position, Foster said, because the college wanted to fill the slot quickly while in the middle of their $6 million Saunders Fieldhouse capital campaign.

    “He’s run several campaigns, political campaigns, both of which included doing significant fund raising,” a Mesa State spokesperson said. “Working with a lot of diverse populations and, I think, that was absolutely a factor, and his fund-raising experience.”

    … Mesa State is home for now, but Marshall eventually plans to try his hand at yet another career move.

      “My hope is that I can do this for some time and make progress, but I don’t anticipate being here 20 years from now,” he said.

    Now, if Foster wanted someone who really knew how to raise funds, he should have hired the former manager of Gov. Bill Ritter since their campaign at times raised twice as much as Beauprez’s.

    Mike Saccone’s story from the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel included:

    Foster said when Marshall applied for the position, his impressive resume landed him the top pick among himself and the college’s board of trustees.

    “We’ll be lucky to hang on to him,” Foster said. “His commitment to us is about a year.”

    Marshall’s hiring has sparked cries of political patronage from at least two Colorado blogs from different parts of the ideological spectrum, the Junction Daily Blog and To The Right.

    To The Right, a statewide conservative blog remarked Marshall has “run back to his sugar daddy,” Foster. The Junction Daily Blog wondered, “What the Governor thinks about patronage jobs at our public colleges at a time when higher education faces a funding crisis?”

    Well, John, Hush, Hush thinks there are a lot of uninsured people working for $8.00 an hour in Grand Junction who would love to change places with you and no doubt, would stay at a $90,000 a year job with a nice $19,000 a year benefits package for the rest of their lives.

    At least they would have been more appreciative of the golden parachute you seemed to have been handed by Mr. Republican, er, Foster.

    Photo of Tim Foster, president of Mesa State College