Tag Archives: BOCC 2023

2024, BOCC, Uncategorized

DISMISSED. Hedberg Files Spurious Criminal Complaint Against Commissioner

Hedberg Attacks Another
Custer County Citizen
Files Spurious Criminal Complaint Against Commissioner Canda

by George Gramlich,
News and Commentary

updated January 5, 2023
(See links to more documents at the end of the article.)

In a scene that regrettably seems to happen over and over again, the Editor of The Wet Mountain Tribune, Jordan “Red Bug” Hedberg, has again viciously and without merit, attacked another Custer County conservative citizen. This time it was Custer County Commissioner Bill Canda.

In September, Hedberg filed a Criminal Complaint against Canada alleging Criminal Forgery and Abuse of Office. Wow! To get to the bottom of this, we contacted Commissioner Canda to get the facts, and as you will see, reality collides with Hedberg’s false allegations. Again.

As a preface to our findings, below is background on the scandal and Canda’s comments on what went down.

Where did this start, you may ask? It is about the Braden Wilson/County Manager fiasco that Commissioners Kevin Day and Tom Flower manufactured, which in the end, predictably, caused the County great harm and money. The one guy who tried to stop the County Manager (CM) inside job was Commissioner Bill Canda. And for his completely legal and courageous move to attempt to block the blood money severance paycheck to Wilson because he believed the CM Contract was invalid, Hedberg then, out of pure malice and vengeance, filed a criminal complaint in September with the Custer County Sheriff and the 11th Judicial District Attorney alleging that Canda committed criminal Forgery and Abuse of Public Office when he went to the local bank which has the county’s accounts, and filled out a Stop Payment Form on a $54k check written to Wilson after he was fired. The $54k check was composed of regular salary and benefits from Wilson’s last days as Finance Director and a $45k “severance” payment (which was included in Wilson’s CM contract upon the insistence of Day and was in effect the moment Wilson was hired. Day inserted the poison pill penalty in an attempt to restrict any future BOCC from firing Wilson. It was completely unethical.)
As we will see, as Canda pointed out in our interview, Hedberg’s complaint was completely devoid of merit, filled with erroneous facts and allegations, and motivated solely by Hedberg’s long time push to discredit Canda due to a variety of past issues: Canda led the way to “open up” Custer County during the Covid debacle which Hedberg histrionically resisted in his newspaper; Canda also defended our Public Health Director against Hedberg’s unrelenting and unproven accusations against the Director; and Canda’s voting to give the Sangre de Cristo Sentinel the County’s Legal Notices contract instead of to the Tribune (which hurt poor Jordy’s feelings.) (Hedberg’s irrational hatred for Canda recently manifested itself again, with Hedberg, a very recent “registered Republican”, endorsed a very left-wing unaffiliated candidate running against life long Republican Canda in the recent election cycle by displaying her campaign posters in the Trib’s window. Note no other candidates’ campaign signs were visible. That sign posting, folks, is all you need to know about Hedberg’s RINO leanings and his hatred of Canda.)

So, what happened? During Commissioners Day and Flower’s battle to force the county to create the County Manager position last year, and bully their candidate, Wilson, into the position, Commissioner Canda fought tooth and nail to stop it. Day and Flower cut corners, refused to post the job for a reasonable length of time and violated multiple provisions of the Colorado Open Record Act, Section 3.5 which states the procedure that must be followed to create an executive position in a county. The two commissioners  ignored the statutory provisions and voted to create the position, write a CM employment contract with an unethical poison pill severance clause and then hire their pre-chosen candidate, Wilson, for it.

This was flat out dirty, dirty, inside politics. Like stuff you see in Denver. No place for that here.

Commissioners Day, Epp, and Canda

Just after they hired Wilson, recall candidate winner, Lucas Epp replaced Flower as County Commissioner. In one of the very first meetings after Epp was sworn in, Canda and Epp voted to eliminate the CM position and Wilson. That happened near the end of the meeting. Right after that, hearing that Wilson no longer had the job, the new Finance Director, without being authorized by the BOCC, cut a $54k severance/salary/benefits check for Wilson and stamped Day’s name on the check as signor. She then immediately gave the check to the fired Wilson. Wilson had only “worked” as CM for five days. (So he got $45k of our tax money for nothing. Thanks, Day.) The Commissioners knew nothing about this outrageous act. (Internal controls? Nonexistent in the Custer County Finance Department.)
When Canda found out about it, he immediately went to United Business Bank and asked to fill out a Stop Payment Form to stop the check. According to Canda, his basis for doing this was his belief that the CM contract was invalid and void as the BOCC did NOT follow the state law on creating the CM position and the hiring process was bogus.
Canda said that he believed the CM contract was invalid and void, and thus the severance payout was invalid. At the bank, Canda requested a Stop Payment Order. When the bank clerk produced the computer-generated form. The form had the County’s Treasurer, Virginia Trujillo name preprinted on the form in the signor area, under the signature box.  See below:

Canda, as a VALID ACCOUNT SIGNOR, and as a County Commissioner, lined out the Treasurer’s printed name and title, and signed his name and printed his title, “Vice Chair”. Perfectly legal. Zero forgery.

Not much later, after Day called Trujillo and told her what happened, Trujillo called the bank and said Canda did not have the authority to do that and to cancel the Stop Payment Order. As we will see, Trujillo did NOT have the authority to do that. Only the County Commissioners, all three of them, have the SOLE authority to distribute county funds (with some minor and narrow exceptions for the County Clerk and Treasurer to execute their duties in those offices.)
The Treasurer has NO authority to control BOCC disbursements. Note that CRS 30-10-707, “Treasurer to Receive and Pay Moneys”, explicitly states that the BOCC is totally in charge of disbursements, “It is the duty of the County Treasurer to receive all moneys belonging to the county, from whatever source they may be derived, and all other moneys which are by law directed to be paid to him. All moneys received by him for use of the county shall be paid out by him only on the orders of the board of county commissioners, according to law, except where special provision for the payment thereof is otherwise made by law.” (Emphasis GG.)
The Commissioners decide who gets paid. Not the Treasurer.

At the next BOCC meeting Day made a big deal about Canda not having the authority to do what he did and what he did was bad, but, as it turns out, Day was again dead wrong.
Canda said that CRS 30-11-107, “Powers of the Board”, clearly states that only the BOCC can disburse county funds. (Plus, Canda was a registered, valid, signor on the account.) Thus, based on the shaky legal standing of the CM contract, and the fact THAT NO COUNTY COMMISSIONER SIGNED THE CHECK (the Finance Director, without any BOCC authorization, stamped Day’s signature on the check), Canda PROPERLY signed the Stop Payment Order. Trujillo, who does not have authority over disbursements, then later called the bank and cancelled the Stop Payment Order. So, Wilson got his $45k severance pay for a few days’ work and the county took a beating.
According to Canda, Trujillo did not have the authority to overrule a County Commissioner regarding the County’s bank account (e.g., the County’s bank account disbursements). The Commissioners have total control over disbursements according to Colorado law. In fact, the Treasurer’s name should not have been on the Stop Payment form. (It was there as a “place holder”. The form should have been blank as any Commissioner signor can sign a Stop Payment Order for disbursements.) Thus, Canda, with full legal authority, properly signed his name and title on the form.

Now, let’s take a look at Hedberg’s Criminal Complaint against Canda alleging criminal Forgery and Abuse of Office. In the Complaint, Hedberg alleges, “He committed these crimes when he went to United Business Bank in Westcliffe to attempt to place a Stop Payment Order on a check that was written by Custer County Treasurer Virginia Trujillo to former Custer County Manager Braden Wilson. William Canda knew that he was not the account holder, and he also knew that he had no authority to access the account or place a Stop Payment Order. Regardless, he falsely convinced the Bank Teller …”

This statement is at the very beginning of the Complaint. It is so wrong, it is laughable. Apparently, Hedberg, “Mr. Journalist”, failed to do any research or due diligence before filing this error filled and bogus Complaint. Note that the check was NOT “written by Custer County Treasurer Virginia Trujillo”. The signor was Kevin Day, as improperly stamped by the Finance Director. (Hedberg can’t even get right who signed the check! Good grief! This is the level of accuracy throughout the whole complaint. Totally incompetent.) And, “William Canda knew that he was not the account holder” is flat out wrong. He was indeed an account signor. In fact, he was one of the three people (the three Commissioners) who are actually in charge of disbursement for the account.

Hedberg alleges that Canda in signing his own name and title, as a valid signor on the account, and acting as a County Commissioner (who have sole control over disbursements in the account) somehow committed criminal FORGERY is a malicious attempt to harm an
innocent man.

Hedberg then states in the Complaint, “the document makes it clear that the only listed person on the account with authority is Virginia Trujillo and her office of the Custer County Treasurer.”

Just because a computer preprints the Treasurer’s name on the form DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE TREASURER IS THE ONLY PERSON ON THE ACCOUNT! Good grief, Hedberg knows the checks coming out of the County’s A/P system have Kevin Day’s signature on it. Maybe that is a clue that there might be more than the Treasurer on the account, Hedberg? In fact, if you had simply asked the bank or a Commissioner, they might have told who were the signors on the account and that Canda was one of them. The Treasurer has NO authority to control BOCC disbursements. (As noted above in CRS 30-10-707.)

Hedberg’s second criminal allegation, that Canda Abused his Public Office was stated like this:
“In addition, when William Canda fraudulently altered the document and signed the document with his officially elected position as Vice Chairman of the Board of Custer County Commissioners in an attempt to maliciously cause financial harm to Braden Wilson, he Abused his Public Office under Colorado law § 18-8-404 which states:
(1) A public servant commits first degree official misconduct if, with intent to obtain a benefit for the public servant or another or maliciously to cause harm to another, he or she knowingly:
Commits an act relating to his office but constituting an unauthorized exercise of his official function; “

This claim is absolutely fraudulent. Like real fraudulent. Canda had literally ZERO malice here. As explained above, he had every right to try to protect the County based on the violations of the CORA provisions that occurred during the CM debacle which put the actual CM contract in dispute regarding its validity and the fact that no Commissioner authorized or signed the huge check. In fact, Canda was under a DUTY to protect the county and he did the right thing in signing the Stop Payment Order. (Remember, delaying the payment was not denying the payment. Canda wanted to determine if the CM contract was valid or not before paying Wilson. It was more than a fair reason to do it. It was a LOT of money.)

Section (1) (a) also was not violated. He was totally authorized as a County Commissioner and as a a Signor on the account to sign the Stop Payment Order. So that was another bogus allegation.
Let’s look at one more Hedberg false allegation, near the end of Complaint lament,
“William Canda has already claimed in a public meeting on August 31, 2023, that he had the authority to place a stop-order payment to Braden Wilson and denied wrongdoing. But in my conversations with Virginia Trujillo and looking at Custer County laws, it is clear that William Canda has never had authority on the Treasurer’s bank account, and his actions of altering bank documents prove that he knew he had no authority whatsoever.”

Hedberg’s statement, “it is clear that William Canda has never had authority on the Treasurer’s bank account” is delusional. It is the County Commissioner’s bank account with regards to distributions according the Colorado law. Not the Treasurer’s.  And, Canda WAS a signor on the account. Also, Colorado state law determines what the Commissioners’ authority is  not “Custer County laws”. (Hedberg is so far off here it is unbelievable, and it looks like he is just making things up.)
Hedberg doesn’t stop there in his attempt to shame Canda; he called his homies at KRDO and told them about this and they start drooling like dogs over road kill as it is a Christian, Republican, career ex-military, Custer County Commissioner who is being accused of Forgery and Abuse of Office. For KRDO this couldn’t be any better. Canda says KRDO called him up but he wouldn’t talk to them as it was an ongoing criminal investigation. So without ANY verification of Hedberg’s (false) claims, they ran the story big time on their TV station and website.  ( NOTE THIS LINK takes you outside the SDC Sentinel Website)

Thus, Canda was shamed publicly by Hedberg and KRDO FOR DOING THE RIGHT THING with the proper authority. Situation normal for libs.
And again, much government time and money is wasted on a false Hedberg allegation.
(The DA had to process this bogus complaint, assign an Investigator to it and waste time writing up the report. At the same time, the DA has got a Custer County triple homicide case investigation case going on. Nice.)

(This story will be forwarded to the reporter who wrote the story at KRDO. And the GM. We’ll see if they issue a retraction or a follow up noting that Canda was falsely charged. We also will see if Hedberg issues a retraction.   I doubt it.)
So Hedberg filed a bogus, malicious Criminal Complaint against the Christian, conservative, Republican, had his lib media homies, KRDO, play it up big time, and tried to destroy a good man’s reputation. SOP for Hedberg. The Complaint will be dismissed by the DA.  But Hedberg doesn’t care. He’ll just look for the next victim.
Bill Canda did the right thing and he can walk tall.   A shame allegation won’t ruin a good man’s reputation. The “man” that made the allegation is the shamed one. And everyone now knows where the shame, deceit, and dishonor lies. And it ain’t Canda.

(See Bill Canda’s Statements  HERE. )

Also see the 11th District’s statement concerning investigation which the Sentinel obtained after going to press  HERE which shows that Commissioner Canda is indeed a signor on the County’s bank account.

2023, BOCC, Uncategorized

Nov. 30 BOCC: Audit Progress,Day Continues to Try to Kill Hiring a New Finance Director

BOCC: Some Audit Progress, Day Continues to Try to Kill Hiring a New Finance Director, Has Another Temper Tantrum

by George Gramlich,
News and Commentary
The November 30, 2023 Custer County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) meeting started at 9 a.m. in their gilded throne room across the street from the main county building.
All three commissioners were in attendance: Chair Kevin Day, and members Bill Canda and Lucas Epp.
In Commissioner Items, Canda brought up the Justice Center project. (Remember, the BOCC and the ex-county Sheriff, Shannon Byerly, spearheaded an effort to build a new “Justice
Center” a few years ago that would include a big new jail, offices for most of the county officials, and a court complex that would rival Genghis Khan’s royal quarters. They said it would cost about $18
million to build but the county would wind up eventually paying over
THIRTY MILLION DOLLARS for the 30-year bonds. The voters shot this down big time. The deal now is they are trying to build just a courthouse complex.)
Canda said the architect working on the project has a preliminary drawing of the building which would hold a courthouse, a courthouse employee complex and an area to house prisoners. He said it will be a modular design so additional sections can be added on later. Canda noted that the county “will decide later” on funding. (At the last courthouse committee meeting, based on the architect’s drawings and similar recently built courthouses in Colorado, we are talking around $18 million to $28 million to do JUST THE COURTHOUSE. That number is just the construction costs and NOT the finance cost. Based on current interest rates, the actual cost to the county could be $35 to $40 million. Insane.)
Canda said he was making good progress on getting the two TV stations’ broadcast translators up and running. He got the engineers from the two stations up to the hill and is getting firm prices on the job and the equipment needed. He is hopeful that it will be up and running by the end of January. (If you recall, this was Day’s job but he couldn’t get it done. Canda volunteered to take it over and is now making it happen.)
Epp then gave the Finance report. He said he and Finance are still gathering all the lease information from the various departments. (Remember, this lack of information on the county’s lease obligations was the big audit flag from the 2022 audit.) Epp then reviewed the progress they are making on the various other audit issues. He mentioned that the county’s accounting software company, CIC, is coming December 15th for a training session. The price that the county is paying for CIC also came up. It was previously mentioned that we are paying CIC around $200k a year. Epp said that was wrong, that we are paying them $50k a year.(Epp is doing a good job on cleaning up the Finance mess.)
In New Business, Canda said he is getting the 11 taxing districts in the county (e.g., library, Wet Mountain Fire, hospital district, etc.) together with the county’s assessor to figure out the deal on them lowering their mil levies to reduce our tax burden that the new property assessments will have on the taxpayers. (Note that the taxing districts don’t have to lower their rates. It is up to each district to make the call.) Canda said he hopes that the county’s property tax increase will be around two to four percent higher next year if they adjust down the mil levy. He said the school district has already lowered their levy 1.5%.
In Public Comments on this topic, the the West Custer County Hospital District spokesman said their ex-enses have skyrocketed over the last few years and they might not be able to reduce their tax burden
on us.
After some other comments, the head of the Custer County Democrat Party, James “Dr. Doom” Gilbert then blessed the audience with a rambling, convoluted discussion on “inflation”.
After this MENSA level discourse, he stated he was fine with NOT reducing the mil levy and having everybody cough up huge money for the county and the tax districts. (What alternative universe are these libs living in? Nice to be rich, Dr. Doom.)
The TV station fix was up again. Canda said the contractor recommended a self-contained cabinet for the TV translators. The contractor will submit a bid shortly.
It was mentioned that there were three or four applicants for the Human Resources Director’s job.
The contentious County Finance Director job posting then came up. Canda said he would like the county to post the job next week and have it widely posted and kept up for a long time so we can get a good number of candidates. This, of course, opened up a can of worms.

Epp then asked what the new Finance Director’s duties were going to be and how this will affect the current two people in the Finance Department. (Note that the BOCC voted in the last meeting to post the job, with Day voting no on that.) Day, refusing to accept the prior vote, then attempted to kill the move by saying the current staff in the Finance Department are getting the audit issues resolved (supposedly), finally saying, “I question the need of a new person.”
(The BOCC, in the last meeting decided to go forward with getting a new, QUALIFIED, Finance Director. Day is continuing to try to sandbag that decision. Folks, the county’s budget is around $9 MILLION a year. We have around 90 employees. A whole bunch of different departments. Tons of state and federal regulators to comply with. THIS IS NOT A BOOKKEEPING JOB. WE need a person with a real accounting degree, and good accounting and finance experience in this position. Plus, it looks like we might have to get a new county accounting system which means another conversion. We need a person who truly understands accounting to lead that conversion. Note that the recent conversion to CIC, under the ex-Finance Director Braden Wilson was very problematic. Wilson did not have an accounting degree.)
This discussion on getting a new Finance Director went on for a bit with Day refusing to get on board.
When Public Discussion was opened on this subject, the pro, new Finance Director advocates, and the ‘nay’ crew saying the current Finance Director, Lisa Bivins, can do the job, all went at it again repeating the same arguments as the last few meetings.
Of all the commenters, citizen Bill Parker made the best observations on the subject. (Parker is a very successful, retired businessman.) Parker started out saying “the qualified audit is a big red flag” and it is “not taken serious by you guys.” He addressed Day saying, “Kevin, you said the current staff is fixing the issues and you said we don’t need a new Finance Director.” Parker then went on to demolish Day’s position. Parker said, “We need professional help. We need a trained accountant in here to manage the Finance Department. You are kicking the can down the road again.” Addressing the staffing issue, Parker said, “I understand your concern about current county employees” but, “What about the concerns of the citizens about proper financial management in this county.” He continued, “We don’t want another qualified audit. We want the audit and books done in time. We need a trained financial manager.”
Addressing the fact that the commissioners want a workshop to determine the structure of the Finance Department and the employees’ duties, Parker stated the obvious, “The person who you are hiring knows how to organize the department. Why are YOU trying to do it. Let the new guy do it.” (Parker’s point is well taken. The commissioners want to discuss the whole structure of the department without knowing anything about how a professional Finance Department works. LET THE PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTANT WE ARE GOING TO HIRE FIGURE THAT OUT. HE KNOWS WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE AND HOW TO DO IT. Letting three people who don’t know squat about this trying to do it is a disaster waiting to happen plus it is a colossal waste of time. If you don’t know what you are doing, get some professional help.)
Nadine Petersen then spoke up. Trying to get things done rather than delay this forever, she asked, “Is there any reason why that job can’t be posted now?” (The answer is NO, except Day is trying to kill it.) She then said, “No reason not to post it today. We need a new Finance Director. Please post this immediately.”
Jimmy “The Plumber” McMahon took the stage at one point and did his ‘Day doesn’t know what he is talking about’ routine. Usual Jimmy. A little aggressive but nothing we haven’t seen before. His main point was Day is making bad decisions and hurting the county. Again.
A few more people commented pro and con on this. Joy Anderson, then spoke, “All three have no finance or accounting backgrounds.” (Meaning Wilson, Bivins, and the new Finance Director’s assistant. Which is insane. A $9 million dollar Finance Department with NO trained accounting people in it. You wonder why we are in trouble.) Attacking Day’s position, Joy said, “You really don’t want somebody in here with finance experience to see what is going on in the county. You don’t want a qualified person. You should be fighting for the most experience. YOU ARE KNOWINGLY BACKING PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT QUALIFIED FOR THE JOB.” Joy continued with, there is “evidence that you do not know what you are talking about. What do you have against experience? Get the expert in there to organize the department.” (Duh!)
Somewhere during this melee, Canda said that most of the counties that he contacted during this Finance Director deal had Directors with accounting degrees. This comment somehow set Deb Adams, our lefty transplant from California, who is the county’s Tourism Board Director, off. She loudly and aggressively jumped on Canda saying, “You are lying” about the fact that other county’s Finance Directors have accounting degrees. She yelled at Canda saying prove it. Canda replied that he will get a list together and publish it or send it to Adams.
(This was way out of line. The bottom line is Adams hates Canda cause she lost to him in the last county election and is seeking revenge in the usual lefty, hate filled way. Plus, Canda represents the left’s worst enemy, a career military veteran and a devout Christian. This little vignette represents exactly the battle going on here in Custer County and in many parts of our country. The progressive left, like Adams, from failed leftist cities and states, move to rural America to escape their own failures, and then try to change our moral, Christian places into the stinking, godless cesspools they came from. Self destructive, self hating, sick people, folks.)
Some more jousting went on and finally it was quiet. However, it was not over. Day had another temper tantrum apparently triggered by McMahon’s comments and possibly Parker’s (Parker’s were absolutely polite while Jimmy’s was a little aggressive but not over the top). Day, visibly angry, raises out of his throne, points his finger towards the back of the room, yells, saying you “three” back there are “disrespectful” and he will not put up with it. If it happens again, he is going to have them leave. Day is all red in the face when he is saying this. He was pointing and yelling at McMahon, Parker and Len Arrigo. Parker said nothing wrong and Arrigo DIDN’T EVEN SPEAK AT THE MEETING! (Day, if you can’t take constructive criticism from the citizens of this county you are in the wrong job, dude. If it wasn’t for these guys, Nadine, Joy and Miles, trying to help the BOCC through difficult times, we would be in a world of hurt. You should be thanking these folks for all the time and research they have done. It is the citizens’ RIGHT to criticize public officials when they have done bad. Put your big boy pants on and thank these people for the help they are bringing to the table. And put that temper to bed. No room for that here. You are a politician, Day. Not a dictator. And somehow, Day, Adams aggressively calling Commissioner Canda a liar with NO evidence at all, is “respectful”? Why wasn’t she called out? Hmmmm….)
Yup, that was it. Another wasted BOCC meeting. We’ll see what happens next week.

2023, BOCC

Submissions – Concerned Citizens of Custer County

Disclaimer:

This page contains links to documents, recordings, letters to the editor and announcements submitted to the Sentinel by a loosely formed group of concerned citizens who have probed and done discovery on Custer County’s governing bodies, particularly,  but not limited to the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) ,  on  issues of fiscal accountability, transparency,  adherence to written State and County policy, and performance.

The Sangre de Cristo Sentinel is providing the group with this page free of charge. The content may or may not align with our views and we do not make any claims  concerning the  accuracy of the group’s content.  This is not a place for vitriol or nasty personal attacks and we reserve the right to deny concerned citizens the right to publish on this page. The intent is to allow them to publish their findings and inform county citizens.

For your safety, we will inform you if a clicking on a link takes you outside of our website or requires that you download a document file
or audio file that we have not checked for viruses.

____________________

PUBLIC NOTICE
October 10, 2023
We would like to inform the public that an independent audit has revealed alarming findings in the operations of county government and they will be presented at the 9 AM October 18th meeting in Wetmore and we would like to encourage as many people as possible to be in attendance, whether in person or via zoom.

K. Joy Anderson and Other Concerned Custer County Citizens
(The Wet Mountain Tribune has also been requested to post
this notice.)

____________________

Download the audio for August 15, 2023 BOCC Executive Session here. This meeting took place in Wetmore.  To read a transcript of the meeting click here.  

NOTE: After the transcript was distributed to the newspapers,
an error in transcription was found.

Correction to the August 16, 2023 transcript of the Executive Session.
The citizens who transcribed the recording of this meeting would like to offer their sincere apologies to Chairman Day for this mistake;

The transcript error:
Page 10, Line 23-25 of the transcript were assigned to Kevin Day.
All three lines should be assigned to Tom Flower.

23 CHAIRMAN DAY: I don’t work for them.
24 I represent them. It’s all
25 philosophical. I get that.

__________________________________________________________

Download the Transcript for the June 29, 2023 BOCC Executive Session transcript  HERE.  Audio  files were to large to load here.

_______________________________________________________________________

The group of Concerned Citizens presented their findings to the Custer County Board of Commissioners at the October 18, 2023
mid-month meeting. The presentation was an Agenda item.

To read an account of the presentation by George Gramlich, see SDCSentinel.com.  or go to the county website to view the taped Oct. 18 meeting.  For just the presentation portion of the meeting, click here.

The presentation included three posters, laying out the questions and findings. Those PDF’s are here;

Presentation for 101823 Board 1

Presentation for 101823 Board 2

Presentation for 101823 Board 3

_______________________________________

2023, BOCC, Uncategorized

August 16 Executive Session Transcript

Download t audio from SDC Sentinel website:  HERE

by George Gramlich
As we promised last week, the Custer County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) August 16, 2023 Executive Session (ES) transcript can be found here. If you recall, this ES was supposed to be about “the process for contract negotiations” with the proposed County Manager candidate Braden Wilson. It is against Colorado law to discuss things not listed as a subject for the ES, and as we noted last week, much of the meeting was definitely “off topic.”
What is really troubling about the transcript, is the utter disdain shown by Commissioner Flower, and to a certain extent by Commissioner Day, for the concerned citizens who show up at the BOCC meetings. Flower even uses curse words to describe the tax payers. Also, the reckless and unethical effort by Day to push the County Manager position through before the recall results were finalized shows a complete lack of competent and ethical leadership.
All in all, the transcript tells us a story of arrogance and disregard for the tax payers of this county. Hopefully, with Lucas Epp replacing the recalled Flower, things will proceed in a more ethical manner.

Here’s the transcript.
NOTE: After the transcript was distributed to the newspapers,
an error in transcription was found.

Correction to the August 16, 2023 transcript of the Executive Session.
The citizens who transcribed the recording of this meeting would like to offer their sincere apologies to Chairman Day for this mistake;

The transcript error:
Page 10, Line 23-25 of the transcript were assigned to Kevin Day.
All three lines should be assigned to Tom Flower.

23 CHAIRMAN DAY: I don’t work for them.
24 I represent them. It’s all
25 philosophical. I get that.

Subsequently, the error appeared in the Sentinel on page 22 of the September 29, 2023 issue.

 

2023, BOCC

BOCC Shocker! Secret Meeting to Force County Manager on Custerites

BOCC Shocker! Secret Meeting
Initiated by HR Wilson Gets The Despised
County Manager Position Approved and Wilson Hired as CM!
No Others Considered! Illegal?
Day, Flower, Wilson Guilty of Dirty Politics

by George Gramlich,
News and Commentary
We’ve seen some pretty shaky things at the Custer County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) meetings over the last ten years but the meeting on June 29, 2023, takes the cake. In describing what happened that Thursday the words duplicity, arrogance of power, sneakiness, secret discussions, disdain for the citizens and flat out dishonesty come to mind. And it is all about the proposed County Manager (CM) position. Oh my! Continue reading BOCC Shocker! Secret Meeting to Force County Manager on Custerites →

Uncategorized

BOCC: Flower wants to vote on CM again, Gilbert wants BOE takeover again

BOCC: Flower Proposes County Manager
Position Again: Gets Shot Down
Doktor Doom Wants Libs to Take Over the Board of Health

by George Gramlich,
News and Commentary

The drama continues. This March 30, 2023 Custer County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) meeting had a few Broadway moments, but as usual, life goes on in Happy Valley.
The meeting started at 9 a.m. with the usual suspects all present: Chair Kevin Day and members Bill Canda and Tom Flower in all their ranger rocket three musketeers power thrones. There were a lot of peasants in the gallery as the Agenda had “County Manager” (CM) on it which us taxpaying serfs don’t want. Sort of unexpected like. And guess who put it there? Traitor Tom.
Canda was first up under Commissioner Items saying he had his team there that he put together after he was assigned to look at options other than hiring an expensive County Manager. He said they were ready to discuss where they were at. (Canda brought the team there because Flower had put County Manager on the Agenda. Canda and his team were not done with the research and were going to present it at a later meeting but Flower is trying to sabotage his efforts by forcing a vote on hiring a CM at this meeting. Flower is counting on Day going with his move to hire a CM. But will Day go along? Stay tuned.)
Continue reading BOCC: Flower wants to vote on CM again, Gilbert wants BOE takeover again →

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Feb 16 BOCC: Big Attorney Kerfuffle, Justice Center Update, Veterans Trust Fund News

BOCC: Big Attorney Kerfuffle, Justice Center Update,
Veterans Trust Fund News

by George Gramlich,
News and Commentary

The February 16, 2023 Custer County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) meeting started at 9 a.m. with all three mighty musketeers at the helm: Chair Kevin Day and members
Bill Canda and “Traitor” Tom Flower (AKA “TT”) present.
Under Commissioner Items, Canda said the Upper Arkansas Water Conservation gang signed an Inter Governmental Agreement (IGA) with the Round Mountain Water District. He also said the county and town’s broadband effort has gotten some new money put in.
Traitor Tom opened with talking about the death of ex-county attorney Clint Smith. (He will be missed.) (Smith was also the attorney for County Clerk Kelley Camper in the lawsuit filed against Camper by the Recall Tom Flower Committee. Since Smith can no longer handle the case and the county needs an interim and a permanent county attorney, the muskies at last week’s meeting agreed to look for candidates.)
Flower then said the VFW would apply to run the Veteran’s Trust Fund grant. Last year’s volunteer director had decided not to do it again and without a director there is no grant. The VFW stepping in is great news for our local veterans.
(Editor/GG: American Legion is also applying. See page 5.)
TT then brought up the news that Canda had found an attorney for Camper and it was one Brenda Jackson (she is the Fremont County Attorney and also has a private practice). Flower didn’t seem to be a happy camper when saying this. County Clerk Camper then spoke and said Bill had spoken to Jackson last week and now she is my attorney on this case. Camper said Jackson had, “put it in.” (That is, notifying the court trying the case, that Jackson would be representing Camper, a “Notice to Appear”.) Camper said she was going to meet with Jackson Tuesday. Camper then addressed Canda saying to him, “I need to handle this on my own. Thanks Bill, but this is my case.” (She was not happy that Canda had gotten Jackson to fill in. )
Continue reading Feb 16 BOCC: Big Attorney Kerfuffle, Justice Center Update, Veterans Trust Fund News →

2023, Uncategorized

BOCC Feb 7&8, County Attorney Resigns, Big SO Report, County Maintenance Prop

BOCC: Big Sheriff’s Office Report, County Maintenance Proposal,
Two STRs Approved,
County Attorney Resigns

by George Gramlich,
News and Commentary
February 7, 2023 BOCC Meeting:

The February 7, 2023 Custer County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) meeting started at 9 a.m. with all three royal commissioner musketeers present: Chair Kevin Day and members Bill Canda and Traitor Tom “TT” Flower.
It was the usual blah, blah fest during Commissioner Items.
Staff Reports were next. The Veterans Service Officer reported that the Veteran Trust Fund is no longer operational in the county as there is no volunteer administrator available to run it. Fund was $75k a year and will be sorely missed.
Sheriff Rich Smith was next. He said the closing of the jail went smoothly. He noted that there were ten transports to/from the Fremont County Jail and they were nicely done by the Posse. Smith said 16 other Colorado county jails have also closed due to the new insane jail regulations from Denver. He also told the muskies that bond hearings in Custer can be done via video to the Fremont jail which eliminates the need for a transport.
Smith also said that they had completed the yearly mandatory Evidence Audit and in 2022 there were 25 pieces of evidence missing, mostly “electronic” evidence like body cam footage. Smith told the muskies that every vehicle the Sheriff’s Office used now has a trauma kit and that all the Posse members now have rifle rated bullet proof vests. He thanked local Mike Pennica for donating money for the SO’s canine bullet proof vest. Continue reading BOCC Feb 7&8, County Attorney Resigns, Big SO Report, County Maintenance Prop →

2023, Uncategorized

January 31st BOCC: An apology, Moolah for Housing, County Maintenance Mgr.?

BOCC: Day Apologizes for County Manager Workshop Fiasco, More Moolah for “Attainable Housing”, County Maintenance Contractor, Big Flower Gaffe

by George Gramlich,
News and Commentary

Warning: Clown Town Show Below: Some Taxpayers Might Find This Article Disturbing.

The January 31, 2023 Custer County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) meeting started at 9 a,m, with all three glorious commissioner musketeers present: Chair Kevin Day and members Bill Canda and “Traitor” Tom (“TT”) Flower. Continue reading January 31st BOCC: An apology, Moolah for Housing, County Maintenance Mgr.? →

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BOCC: Board Appointments, Coroner Hrs, Maintenance Contract

by George Gramlich,
News and Commentary
The January 10, 2023 Custer County Board of County Commissioners meeting started at 9 am. All three royal musketeers were present: Chair Kevin Day and members Bill Canda and Tom Flower.
There was the usual dribble from all three muskies under Commissioner Items. Day said he wanted to bring back the Invocation at the beginning of the meeting. Canda and Flower said that was good.
Under New Business, the first topic was the annual county board appointments. The muskies had reports from the various boards on who they wanted and Day went through them. Of note was the Board of Zoning Adjustment recommended that Mary Mallory not be chosen. Also, the Planning Commission said they did not want the failed county commissioner candidate, Deb Adams, on their board. After some banter, the muskies voted to accept the recommendations.
Flower then talked about another grant he wants to get to help build a barn for the baled cardboard at the recycling center. After a bit, the muskies approve the grant application.
Next item was whether the coroner’s position should be full time or part time. It currently is part-time. Our newly elected coroner, Brad Baltzy was present and he said he just finished a week long coroner training course in scenic Denver. He then said he was on call 24/7. 365 days a year and the job should be considered full time. (The current part time pay is $33,340 per year.) The muskies voted to keep it part-time.
The Upper Arkansas Coalition of Governments (UACOG) “Self Help Housing” project was the next subject. Flower said they wanted to build some houses in Custer County and if the muskies donated seven lots the county owns in Silver Cliff it would be a big help to getting them built. The muskies pondered this item for a bit and then decided to give the county property to UACOG.
The muskies then went over the county’s Organizational Chart. They made a few changes then deemed it good. (This chart shows who works in each position and who they directly report to.)
Canda then brought up the county maintenance contractor proposal that was talked about a while back. He wants the muskies to enter into an agreement with a contractor to supply/fix any electrical, plumbing, or general contractor work issues that might arise re the county’s buildings. This company would be the sole contact point for this work. Currently, the muskies have to bid out each project that comes up and that takes time and hassle. Canda wants a “bidders conference” and have several contractors present proposals. The muskies agree.
And that was that.