I just read Part 8 of Bill Hudson’s series on public trust issues, and am compelled to comment on certain facts therein — specifically those relating to the current tenure of Rodney Proffitt on the San Juan Water Conservancy District (SJWCD) Board of Directors.
I’m actually dumbfounded — and it takes a lot to breach my cynical armor.
Mr Proffitt is a disbarred lawyer. I read the 1993 Colorado Supreme Court Order of disbarment, which includes a description of the series of crimes, and serious ethical breaches, he committed over several years.
If we look up the term ‘scofflaw’ in a dictionary, we shouldn’t be surprised to see Mr. Proffitt’s portrait next to the definition. That he was not disbarred sooner is amazing.
Despite that disbarment for demonstrated ethical lapses, Mr. Proffitt was appointed to the SJWCD board (as President no less) in 2013. Then he had to resign in 2017, because (to quote Capt Renault from Casablanca), “I’m shocked …SHOCKED … to learn” that Mr. Proffitt blatantly violated his Oath of Office by profiting from the public trust.
It appears to me the concept of ethics is completely foreign to Mr Proffitt. Nevertheless, he was appointed to the SJWCD board again this year.
To top it off, Proffitt now has the chutzpa to publicly impugn Bill Hudson, on social media, for doing his job. As I said… I’m dumbfounded.
I’m not formally educated in psychology. But over the course of my career as a prosecutor I was schooled in abherent behavior by the experts we utilized in our criminal cases.
Based on that schooling the only answer I can come up with for Proffitt’s pattern of conduct is that — in my amateur opinion — he must be a sociopath. Which could also explain why he’s able to get people to continue to place him in positions of public trust — despite his demonstrated lack of compunction about betraying codes of ethics.
Will someone in a position of authority please explain to me, as an Archuleta taxpayer, how Mr Proffitt is considered trustworthy enough to be a member of the SWJCD board?
I’m genuinely curious.