Tag Archives: Jay Printz

2018, BOCC

BOCC: Printz Has Epic Temper Tantrum Over His Texas Registered Subaru

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. Continue reading BOCC: Printz Has Epic Temper Tantrum Over His Texas Registered Subaru →

Uncategorized

Ben Rusher Day Proclaimed

 

The Custer County Board of County Commissioners solemnly declared January 31st as Ben Rusher Day in memory of Ben Rusher’s heroic effort to save his drowning brother last summer. Shown is Commissioner Printz reading and presenting memorial plaques to Ben’s father, John Rusher, and mother, Elin Parker Ganschow.

Photo by George Gramlich

2017, Archives, BOCC Meetings

The New BOCC: November 30 Meeting

The New BOCC:
Old Court House Hours Restored,
Committee Formed to Review
New Personnel Policy,
CCEDC Grant Questioned Hard

Board of County
Commissioners (BOCC)
—November 30, 2017
WESTCLIFFE, Colorado

by Jackie Bubis
The meeting started at 9 a.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance and Roll Call. Introductions of the public in attendance followed.
Commissioner Items
All three commissioners reported on the CCI (Colorado Counties Inc) conference. The new commissioners commented on the quality of the training. Mr. Printz spoke with DOLA manager Christy Doon regarding broadband, Dark Skies and building issues. There were discussions with Representative Crowder about losing the Underfunded Courthouse grant. They were encouraged to apply again at the next opportunity.
Chairman Flower stressed the importance of making sure that the voters know how each commissioner votes on each issue. Kelley Camper stated that she lists these details in the minutes.
Attorney Items
Mr. Smith reported on the Planning Commission workshop. The Dark Skies issue was postponed until the December 11th meeting (1:30 in the court room.) He also reported on two airport billing issues that he’s working to resolve. Continue reading The New BOCC: November 30 Meeting →

2017, BOCC Meetings

The New BOCC: November 22 Meeting

Commissioners Bill Canda, Tom Flower and Jay Printz.
Photo by Jackie Bubis

The New BOCC: Action Started
on Personnel Policy and Courthouse Hours – Printz in Opposition
CCEDC Getting $1 Million DOLA Grant

 

Board of County Commissioners (BOCC)
—November 22, 2017
WESTCLIFFE, CO
by Jackie Bubis
The meeting started at 10 a.m, after Tom Flower and Bill Canda were sworn in, with the Pledge of Allegiance and Roll Call. Due to the size of the crowd, the meeting was held in the courtroom.
Attorney Clint Smith and Clerk Kelley Camper drew lots for a temporary chairman to open the meeting. Commissioner Printz won the draw. He opened the meeting. All three commissioners wanted the chairman position and reported why they would make a good chairman. The men then voted in a chairman (Tom Flower) and vice-chairman (Bill Canda) to serve until the first meeting in January.
Commissioner Canda and Commissioner Flower then took an opportunity to express their thanks and their priorities for the job of commissioner. Both expressed that the citizens are their boss.
Commissioner Items
Commissioner Printz reported on a meeting with the Wetmore Community Center board. He stated that the Board accepted the idea that, with the future online streaming of meetings, the frequency of meeting in Wetmore might change. He also reported on the E911 meeting. Continue reading The New BOCC: November 22 Meeting →

2017, Archives, BOCC Meetings

Custer County Ballot Results: The People Have Spoken

The People Have Spoken:
RECALL: Two Out of Three Commissioners RECALLED
Third Barely Hangs On
Ballot: No to Building Codes, Yes to School Bond

by George Gramlich,
News and Commentary

An an astonishing display of voter revolt, the citizens of Custer County have successfully recalled two out of the three current County Commissioners with the third barely hanging on to his office by a mere 122 votes. Commissioners Bob Kattnig and Donna Hood were both successfully recalled by substantial margins.

Kattnig, who had only two years to go on his four-year term was recalled by a vote of 1,354 to 1,174, or 54% to 46%. Hood, who was just elected last year, was recalled by an even greater margin, 1406 to 1,130, or 55% to 45%. Commissioner Printz, who also was elected last year barely managed to survive the recall effort with a vote of 1,323 (52%) against his recall and 1,201 (48%) for his recall, or by a razor slim margin of only 122 votes.

Continue reading Custer County Ballot Results: The People Have Spoken →

2017, Archives

Citizens: We Have Liftoff!

County Clerk Certifies Recall Petitions
1st Time in Colorado History
All County Commissioners on Recall Ballot?


KOAA 5 interviews Ann Barthrop and Ann Willson of the
Custer County Recall Committee  Photo by G. Gramlich
by George Gramlich

In a possible historic first for Colorado, on August 24th, 2017, Custer County Clerk sent a letter to the Custer County Recall Committee stating that sufficient recall signatures have been certified thereby placing the entire Custer County Board of County Commissioners up for recall in the upcoming November 7th general election. (See page 23 for the letter.)
Research by Sentinel staff indicates that this is apparently a first for Colorado in that an entire county commissioner board has been successfully been placed on a ballot for recall.
County Clerk Kelley Camper also provided the recall petition statistics in her letter. Considering there are only about 3,700 registered voters in Custer County, the number of signatures gathered in just four weeks is impressive.
For Commissioner Bob Kattnig, there were 79 petitions turned in with a total of 833 signatures. 470 were required to put Kattnig up for recall. Out of the 833 signatures submitted, only 70 were disqualified leaving an impressive 763 valid ones.
A similar story for Commissioner Jay Printz with 814 signatures submitted on 78 petitions. 582 signatures were required to place Printz on the ballot for recall. Out of that, only 69 signatures were rejected leaving an emphatic 745 accepted.
A somewhat different story occurred in Commissioner Donna Hood’s recall effort. Due to the voting history in her district, a high number of signatures were required to recall her. That number was 735. The Recall Committee submitted 79 petitions for Hood with a total of 849 signatures. 71 of those submitted signatures were rejected leaving 778 valid ones, ensuring that Hood would be up for recall albeit with a tighter margin than Printz or Kattnig.
So, what’s next? After the recall was certified (August 24th), there is a 15-day dispute period where petitions can be challenged. After that, Colorado law has a five-day “Resignation Period”, where if one or more of the three Republican Commissioners resign, the Custer County Republican Central Committee (CCRCC) gets to appoint a successor(s) to fill out the entire term of the resigned Commissioners. The CCRCC has ten days to fill any vacancies.
On the November 7th General Election Ballot, there will be a recall question for each commissioner. There will also be a recal petition statement and a commissioner statement from each commissioner The question will look something like, “Shall John Smith be recalled from the office of Custer County Commissioner?” There will be a “Yes” box or a “No” box to check. If there are more “Yes’s” than “No’s”, that commissioner is recalled. If there are more “No’s” then the commissioner will finish out his or her term.
Underneath the recall question will be list of one or more potential successor candidates that have successfully petitioned to be placed on the ballot for that district. Whether you vote “Yes” or “No”, you can vote for a successor candidate. The successor candidate with the most votes for that district will be the new Commissioner for that district.
Note that there will be a recall “Yes” or “No” for each commissioner and a separate list of successor candidates for each commissioner.
As we go to press, we know of seven citizens seeking to be placed on the ballot. Three of them, Bill Canda (District 1 against Commissioner Kattnig, Sandra Attebery (District 2 against Commissioner Printz) , and Kit Shy (District 3 against Commissioner Hood) are running as a “Slate” or team. Also announcing they will run are Dan Fischer (District 1), Richard Posadas (District 2) , Tom Flowers (District 3) and John Johnston (District 3). All Republicans need 300-plus valid petition signatures to be placed on the ballot.

Archives

Rockin’ the RECALL!

‘We The People’ Have Spoken
Huge Signature Counts to Recall
All Three Commissioners

by George Gramlich

Monday, August 14, 2017, marked a milestone in Custer County politics as the Take Back Custer County Recall Committee delivered 236 notarized recall petitions with enough signatures to have a recall election for each of the three Custer County Commissioners, Bob Kattnig, Jay Printz and Donna Hood. The recall election would be placed on the regular November 2017 election ballot at no extra cost to the county.
The Recall Committee was formed as a grass-roots, non-party affiliated, effort to replace the current Custer County Commissioners due to the Commissioners activities since Commissioners Printz and Hood were sworn in January 2017. Commissioner Kattnig took office two years ago. Some of the items that motivated the Recall Committee to form included the incredible mismanagement and lies surrounding the Colorado Extension Agent Robin Young affair; the seemingly endless drive to impose a building codes ordinance on Custer County despite the obvious vast majority opposition to it; the attempt to impose a ‘dark skies’ outdoor lighting amendment to the zoning ordinance that has criminal and financial penalties if you use the wrong outdoor light bulb or fixture; the continued public false statements by Printz concerning whether he is indeed returning the 30% salary increase to the county and not taking the county health benefits; more false statements by Printz concerning his repeated assertions that a building codes ordinance was required to get federal flood insurance; the failure of the BOCC to listen to the people in the public meetings on Young, building codes and dark skies; the obvious arrogant attitude by the BOCC towards the citizens of the county, both in public meetings and on the street; the disrespect shown to the Custer County Republican Central Committee (CCRCC) by all three Commissioners when after they were elected in (Kattnig in 2015 and Hood and Printz in November 2016) and using the CCRCC to get elected, then failed to come to any of the regular monthly meetings. In addition, they incredibly refused to attend the most important CCRCC event of the year, the Lincoln Day Dinner (with Kattnig attending the Democrat dinner instead!); and the lies of omission during the campaign last year by Printz and Hood in failing to mention that their intention their top priorities after getting elected were building codes and dark skies.
The trio leading the recall effort and the signees on the applications for the recall were Custer County citizens Ann Barthrop, Ann Willson and Mike Haga. They in turn recruited a non-partisan Recall Committee team consisting of 61 Custer County residents who turned in a astounding 79 petitions handed in for Kattnig, 79 for Hood and 78 for Printz.
The Recall Committee needed the following number of signatures to place each Commissioner on recall in the November 2017 election: Hood – 735; Printz – 582; and Kattnig – 470. The Committee easily beat each number with citizens delivering an amazing 839 recall signatures for Hood, 780 for Printz and 780 for Kattnig. All in just four weeks!
The petitions were delivered to Custer County Clerk Kelly Camper last Monday who will review and certify each signature. If enough signatures are certified for each Commissioner, their name will be placed on the November ballot for recall. The ballot will ask if one wants to recall the specific Commissioner, yes or no, and will also allow one to vote for any candidate who successfully petitioned to get on the ballot.
Ann, Ann and Mike stated that they were honored to have a committee that worked countless hours and gave of their time to represent the voice of the Custer County citizens. The citizens have shown Courage, Bravery and Strength to have their voices heard in this recall effort and need to continue this effort and VOTE on November 7, 2017.
This is possibly the first time in the history of the State of Colorado that all of a county’s commissioners have been placed on the ballot for recall. This is huge, folks.

 

2017, Archives

No Printz, Once Again, The Sentinel DID NOT LIE

The TRUTH About Commissioner Printz’s Salary “Give Back”
Let’s Set the Record Straight

by George Gramlich
In a Letter to the Editor in the July 20, 2017 edition of the Tribune (which was not sent to the Sentinel), one Louis Devanney of Westcliffe states that The Sentinel recently “lied” about the fact that Printz is NOT giving back the 30 percent salary increase that he said he would once he took office. Mr. Devanney alleges that since Printz is not taking his county health benefits (around $15,000) that this counts as not taking the salary increase. This false narrative has been repeated often lately by the Printz camp as the recall campaign proceeds.
The problem is that this is a lie of omission. Last year Printz repeatedly stated that he would NOT TAKE THE SALARY INCREASE AND ALSO NOT TAKE BENEFITS PACKAGE.  Note, Mr. Devanney, that Printz said he would not take BOTH.
Can’t seem to recall that Mr. Devanney? Want some written proof, sir? In the January 22, 2016 edition of The Sentinel, (link will take you to original pages) in an interview conducted by this reporter and Fred Hernandez, Printz unequivocally, in person to both of us, stated that he would NOT TAKE BOTH. This article draft was sent to then candidate Printz before printing and he approved it. There was also no notice afterwards from Printz of anything wrong in the article. In fact, Printz had stated that position multiple times in public before that.
Here’s the quotes from the article, Mr. Devanney, of what Printz told The Sentinel: “Mr. Printz said he is legally bound to take the salary but will refund to the county the new 30% raise.” And, “As for the health benefits he would not accept that either which would be additional savings for the county.”
As you stated in your letter to The Trib, “So much for the Sentinel’s credibility…” I posture, Sir, that it was well known last year that Printz stated that he would not take both. Lies of omission and rewriting history seems to be a stable of the liberal political mindset. So much for credibility…
We prefer the truth here at The Sentinel. As do most Americans.

2017, Archives

The New Custer County: Change an Outdoor Light Fixture, Go To Jail

Commissioners Proposed “Dark Skies” Ordinance
Criminalizes Light

June 30, 2017 issue- Sangre de Cristo Sentinel

by George Gramlich,
News and Commentary

At a public meeting last week, the three Custer County Commissioners, Bob Kattnig, Jay Printz and Donna Hood, finally revealed their proposed “Dark Skies” or “light pollution” ordinance they have been talking about since the two new Commissioners (Printz and Hood) were sworn in this January. Note that there was barely a mention of it during the campaign last year.

The Commissioners’ proposal wants to amend the Custer County Zoning Regulation of 2016 to regulate outdoor lighting throughout the county (The Towns of Westcliffe and Silver Cliff have their own zoning laws.) They want to change the current non-enforceable, zoning law definition of “Light Pollution” to “Light Pollution defined as any adverse effect of the use of artificial outdoor lighting at night. See Section 8.2.G and Appendix D.3(p) for further information.”

The new Section 8.2.G reads like this:

“8.2.G: In order to minimize light pollution, all outdoor lighting shall be rated correlated color temperature of 3000 Kelvins or less, and any light source exceeding 500 initial lumens must be fully shielded. A “lumen” is measurement of the brightness of a particular light bulb or lamp. The following is a “lumens to watts” table:”

No need to print the whole table. (See Ordinance Proposal.) The first line is all you need to know. It says a light source of 600 lumens is equivalent to a 40-watt incandescent light (old school light bulb), a 10-watt florescent light and a 5 – 9 LED light. If my math is correct, any incandescent light bulb over 33.3 watts is subject to this ordinance.

Continue reading The New Custer County: Change an Outdoor Light Fixture, Go To Jail →

2017, Archives, BOCC Meetings

July 6th BOCC Meeting: “Running of the Bulls”

Wetmore:”Running of the Bulls”,
Shipping Container Complaint

Board of County
Commissioners (BOCC)

-July 6, 2017

WESTCLIFFE, Colorado

by Jackie Bubis,
Reporter

The meeting started at 9 a.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance and Roll Call.  Introductions of the public in attendance followed.

During public comments, one citizen asked about the statutes cited by the recall committee.  Attorney Smith stated that he was attorney for the Board and would not answer the question.  He also asked if the Board would consider putting the county in the air ambulance program formerly Eagle Med (Now React.)  The Board said they will consider it as a public item.

Commissioner Items

Commissioner Hood reported that Jeffrey Wood and the architecture students would be there later in the afternoon to finish their courthouse assessment.  She also requested that the Board have another evening meeting.  The meeting was set for Tuesday, July 25th at 7 p.m. in the Courtroom. [Now canceled]

Commissioner Kattnig reported a conversation with the brand inspector regarding Mr. Hamilton’s bulls (see article for July 5th meeting). The inspector said that his office will only check a brand if the stray is corralled and if the owner is unknown.

Continue reading July 6th BOCC Meeting: “Running of the Bulls” →