It was another very interesting Custer Board of County Commissioners meeting Tuesday, July 31st. It seems that the Sentinel’s picture of a certain BOCC Commissioner’s car, a Subaru with Texas plates/registration, that we ran a few weeks ago caused one Commissioner to have another meltdown in public. Under that picture, we had asked a rhetorical question along the lines of ‘Guess which Commissioner is driving this car to work?’. This has been going on for a long time. (Note: The transcript of the temper tantrum )
Well, we found out who owns the Texas Suby on Tuesday when Commissioner Jay “Lone Star” Printz asked for some time at the beginning of the meeting to discuss an “important” matter.
Printz then launched a curse ridden, loud, insulting meltdown diatribe, first admitting it was HIS car, then attacking the Sentinel and its female BOCC reporter, Jackie Bubis, for exposing him for (we have to say “allegedly” and “possibly” ) illegally registering a car in Texas while being a resident of Colorado (therefore NOT paying the much higher Colorado registration and Special Use fees), telling a citizen who objected to his hate filled spewing to “shut up”, and finally threatening Ms. Bubis and the Sentinel that he will not put up with this anymore.
The large crowd attending the meeting was shocked at the outburst.
Folks, it is illegal to register a car in another state if you are a Colorado resident. Texas car registration fees are dramatically lower than Colorado. Apparently, this car was registered there well over a year ago. Plenty of time to change the registration to Colorado. There are hefty fines and possible criminal penalties for avoiding these Colorado DMV fees. Registering your vehicle in another state is defrauding Custer County and the State of Colorado of its rightful money. And ote that “Lone Star” Printz is a Colorado attorney (and was or is a Texas attorney) and fully knows that doing this is simply WRONG and against the law.
It gets worse. As the diatribe continues, Lone Star rationalizes breaking the law because he is saving the county some money by not taking the county’s health insurance and retirement allocation. Folks, he doesn’t need them. As he admitted to the Sentinel a few years ago when we interviewed him when he was running for Commissioners, he is “well off”. So Lone Star, as an entitled liberal, can break Colorado laws and not pay his registration fees because he is “saving” the county money? Lone Star actually states, to the penny, all the money he has saved Custer County, therefore allowing him not to pay his obligated Colorado registration fees. Good grief!
Finally, Lone Star threatens the Sentinel’s reporter, Jackie Bubis, and the Sentinel for telling “lies” about him. Hmm. Let’s examine some of these “lies”, and this is not even remotely an inclusive list: running as a conservative Republican when in fact, as seen by his actions since taking office, he was a dedicated, hard core, control freak liberal; as an attorney, he was investigated by the Colorado Supreme Court a few years ago for representing both seller and buyer in a below market value real estate house transaction, where the seller had possible mental health issues
(Multiple complaints were filed by local citizens on this. The Court investigators told the complainants that the results would be public. However, in the end, the results were sealed. In most jurisdictions, this would be grounds for disbarment); relentlessly pushing for a Building Codes ordinance for the County which the vast majority of residents did not want; shilling for the widely unpopular Dark Skies county wide outdoor lighting ordinance and repeatedly lying about the fact that it would not have criminal (incarceration) penalties (all regulations in the County’s Zoning Resolution have monetary and criminal penalties); and finally, treating Custer County citizens who disagreed with him with outright disrespect.
It is a sad day when a County Commissioner completely loses control in a public meeting. Over his OWN behavior. His attempt to deflect (allegedly) illegal activity by him by saying he is ENTITLED to it because he is not taking health benefits is an insult to our citizens and to our rule of law.
The fact that a Custer County Commissioner is driving to work in a TEXAS registered car is a statement by “Lone Star” Printz: I am an arrogant, unaccountable liberal, who is above the law.
Remember, a local newspaper’s primary mission is to shine the light on local government, in all its forms.That is our mission at the Sentinel. And we will continue to do that for our citizens.
Colorado Department of Motor Vehicles: You got the plate number….
(Note: The video and audio tapes of the meeting are available on the County’s website. For some unknown reason, the video is missing multiple, long sections of Printz’s rant, often in areas where he is close to hysterics. So please just listen to the audio version. The audio “rant” can also be found at the Sentinel’s website or go here: https://youtu.be/VCWmDsnziFo. A printed transcript on the rant is here.)
(The full BOCC report will be printed next week.)