Taxpayers pay increasing bills for Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters’ loony behavior

Wayne Williams, via Wikipedia, photo By Jeffrey Beall – Own work, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72780852

Item #7 on the agenda at the Mesa County Commissioners’ meeting tomorrow (Monday, August 30) at 9:00a.m., is signing a contract, (pdf) drafted by former Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams himself, that will officially make Williams Mesa County’s Designated Election Official (“DEO”) for the November 2021 coordinated election for the County. The contract says Williams will get a salary of $180/hour, discounted from his normal rate of $400/hour, and Mesa County will pay any non-lawyer assistants Williams taps from his law firm for help at the rate of $50/hour. The County will also pay Williams’ travel expenses to and from his home in Colorado Springs.

There is no stated maximum expense Mesa County will incur from retaining Williams for this position. Rather, the contract states the expense can be unlimited:

“Any estimate of fees and costs that we may have discussed is only an estimate, and is not an agreement to a fixed or maximum fee. Accordingly, we have made no commitment concerning the maximum fees and costs that will be necessary to resolve or complete this matter.”

Plus, the County is still paying Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters $7,723.42/month

Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters and the My Pillow Guy, Mike Lindell, at the “Cyber Symposium” in South Dakota

In the mean time, the County is still paying current Mesa County Clerk and fugitive from the law Tina Peters her full salary, even though the Secretary of State has banned her from working on elections and she hasn’t been around for weeks. In June of 2020 (pdf) Peters got a salary of $7,723.42/month in gross wages, not including benefits like health insurance or perks like an expense account.

Peters fled the state August 10, and is being moved from safe house to safe house by fellow election conspiracy theorist  and “My Pillow Guy” Mike Lindell. Lindell has been paying Peters’ hotel bills and security expenses while she promotes without evidence her notion that Mesa County’s voting systems are intentionally insecure and allow cheating. Peters says she has been threatened physically even though no evidence of such threats can be found.

 

  7 comments for “Taxpayers pay increasing bills for Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters’ loony behavior

  1. To “place” someone in that position that will cost tax payers such outrageous amounts is sadly typical of our local government.
    Some of the “contracts” created when hiring employees is secretive. That is until there is attention drawn to their actions. Beware the “resignation” clause where there may be a large “parting” bonus. Why is it always up to citizens to check our local government?
    Tina Peters should lose her job.
    We need to do whatever it takes to make sure she doesn’t have access to sensitive voting information.
    We need to look at her “expenses”, and be sure that we arent paying for things during THIS time, especially. Are we paying for her attorney?

  2. Well as always the allegations are getting in the way of the truth- in typical style Ann you are espousing the guilty until proven innocent model so typical of people that refuse to see the bigger picture- the truth will set you free- I just wonder if you will be willing to admit- you judged and wrote false information when the facts are revealed. Does that saying “people that live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones” ring a bell?

    • Where is the allegation? Take a look at the Commissioners’ agenda, take a look at the contract Williams wrote for himself, take a look at the county’s budget spreadsheet for 2020 that lists the gross monthly salaries for all County positions, and watch the videos in which Lindell himself said he’s flying Tina around and putting her up in hotels.

    • She is toxic and costly for a county / state that cannot afford this kind of behavior that creates doubts in the voting system (manufactured by her), self-interest and taking advantage of the public confidence. I hope the woman who ran against her (who had 10 years of experience) runs against her in 2022 and wins (no, I do not know that woman, but read her credentials)

  3. Between grifting, lawbreaking, gaslighting and headline grabbing, T.P. is proving herself a worthy competitor for Lauren Q-bert (R-CO). It’s a race to the bottom for the Banana Republican Party.

    An after-thought: since T.P. has compromised Mesa County’s voting machines, we might have to use paper ballots. Toilet paper ballots. Thanks Tina! She might get a royalty for each, er, sheet.

  4. Pretty frustrating that these meetings are scheduled Monday at 9am, because that shuts out a lot of working taxpayers who want to have their voices heard.

    Even more frustrating is that the legality of Williams’ appointment is not clear. What about Sheila Reiner who was appointed by the SoS to do this job? CPR reported on 8/18 that the it’s unclear how this dual appointment will be resolved. If it’s determined that the SoS has ultimate authority, are we stuck footing the bill for Williams? How is Reiner being paid?

    The county commissioner’s justification for Williams is that they have the authority to make an appointment when there’s a vacancy (Article XIV Section 9, Colorado Constitution), but Tina Peters is still in office and they’ve made it clear that only a recall would take her out of office. And if her position is “vacant” why is she still being paid?

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