Photo: Ruby Sisson Memorial Library
When the August 24 public presentation began at 11am at the library, everyone seemed committed to treating one another respectfully, in spite of the controversy.
Commissioner Medina and County Attorney Todd Weaver fielded questions — mostly from people critical of the current recall effort being handled by the group called Reclaim Archuleta. During those responses from the commissioner and her attorney, I heard a number of statements that struck me as ‘misinformation’.
About 30 minutes into the meeting, legal researcher Rachel Suh explained that her research supporting the recall was about the alleged violations of Colorado ‘conflict of interest’ laws, and that she had nothing personal to gain from the recall. (She had been accused earlier of wanting to run as a candidate for Ms. Medina’s vacant seat, if Ms. Medina were in fact recalled by the voters.) Ms. Suh then made the mistake of suggesting that County employee Ashley Springer, who had originally filed the petition, also had nothing personal to gain.
The room fairly exploded with rude comments from members of the audience, directed at Ms. Suh and Ms. Springer.
A woman in the front row turned and asked everyone to calm down and allow one person at a time to speak. She then referred to Commissioner Medina’s friendship with — and employment contract with — EXIT Realty broker Shelley Low, and how difficult it is, in a small town, for elected officials to be free of conflicts.
“I think it’s unrealistic to think that you should have to do things in such a way that you had no friendship or any kind of business association with anybody who’s involved in this situation. I just think that’s unrealistic and contrary to why many of us live here at all.”
That sentiment seemed to be shared by many in the room.
Unfortunately for people with that opinion, this issue is not about the close friendship between Shelley Low and Veronica Medina. Nor is it about “any kind” of business association. It’s about a very specific type of business association, and about a very specific Colorado law that clearly states — in my opinion, as a person who has, in the past, sued local governments for alleged violations of Colorado law — an elected official must not encourage, or vote for, an action that benefits a business with which the elected official has an employment contract. It has nothing to do with Pagosa Springs being a small, friendly town. It’s Colorado law.
Apparently, some of the people in the room didn’t understand the law, or didn’t believe these laws should be enforced against a certain elected official, or believed the law says something other than what it says.
During my attendance at who-knows-how-many government meetings in Archuleta County over the past 20 years, I’ve witnessed literally dozens instances where elected officials recused themselves and walked out of a meeting until a “conflicting” discussion was concluded. During the eight years that Republican Steve Wadley served as commissioner — for example — he recused whenever the discussion involved any restaurant whatsoever, because he was himself a restaurant owner and thus a potential competitor. In none of these cases did Commissioner Wadley have a direct employment contract with the business under consideration.
Apparently, he wanted the Board of County Commissioners to appear as ethical as possible.
As far as Pagosa Springs being a small, friendly town… you wouldn’t know it by the stream of rude comments coming from the audience over the next hour.
One of those unfriendly comments came from former Republican County Commissioner John Ranson, who happens to be running once again for a seat on the Board of County Commissioners.
“I’m in line to work with Commissioner Medina and Commissioner Brown, and first, I’d like to say, this is not Archuleta County — recalling people. That’s not the community I’ve grown up in since 1996, and I don’t know where it changed, the last few years, but shame on us…
“…Shame on us, as a community. In two years, we’re going to have a chance whether to re-elect [Commissioner Medina]… maybe. She may just get tired of all this garbage. But we’re going to have the chance to either re-elect her or not. We don’t need these people signing petitions and kicking people out. Particularly, employees of the County. So that’s all I’ve got to say. I’d love to go back to the community we all knew, that cared about each other. Cared about people who are willing to take this kind of stuff on… So shame on us for even being here today.”
I’m not sure which alternate universe Mr. Ranson has been living in since 1996. As I recall, when he was elected the first time, Archuleta County was going through a near-bankruptcy. $2.5 million dollars had somehow vanished from the County’s bank account, and people were marching outside the County Courthouse with picket signs, demanding the resignations of the current commissioners.
In fact, his attempt top shame the petitioners, did not align with comments made by Commissioner Medina herself, a few minutes earlier:
“The reason I ran for County Commissioner was because I was tired of seeing all the backroom deals that were done. And Bill Hudson, you were in there many times, you saw many of the things that were happening. You knew that deals were being done behind closed doors. That’s why I ran. Because I was tired of the same-old-same-old…”
Mr. Ranson, if he is elected in November, will be swearing an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution. He might want to review that document before he repeats his oath. The First Amendment states:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
The Founding Fathers believed the right to petition so important, it was included in the First Amendment passed by the states in 1791.
To try and shame his fellow citizens for exercising their constitutional rights seems like an odd stance, for a Republican running for public office.
Bill Hudson began sharing his opinions in the Pagosa Daily Post in 2004 and can’t seem to break the habit. He claims that, in Pagosa Springs, opinions are like pickup trucks: everybody has one.