Anne Landman

Ethics, Janet Rowland, Mental health, Public health, Safety

The complaint against Mesa County employee Lisa Mills that led the Social Work Board to sanction her

by Anne Landman • June 9, 2023 • 9 Comments

Lisa Rickerd Mills, Behavioral Health Strategies Manager for Mesa County, who reports directly to Commissioner Janet Rowland and who appears to have been the person who prompted Rowland to start attacking Dr. Jeff Kuhr, longtime Director of the Mesa County Public Health Department (Photo: Facebook)

Lisa Rickard Mills is Behavioral Health Strategies Manager for Mesa County, reports to Mesa County Commissioner Janet Rowland and is administering programs funded with $1 million in combined grants from the Colorado Department of Human Services Office of Behavioral Health, St. Mary’s Hospital and the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office.

According to text messages (pdf) obtained between Janet Rowland and Mills, Mills also appears to have been instrumental in prompting Mesa County Commissioner Janet Rowland to start her recent attacks Mesa County Public Health Department Director Dr. Jeff Kuhr.

Mills is a Licensed Social Worker (LSW) with the State of Colorado. Public records show that in 2020 she was sanctioned by the state Board of Social Work Examiners.

Janet Rowland convinces newly-installed Public Health Board members to put Director Jeff Kuhr on paid leave

by Anne Landman • June 5, 2023 • 30 Comments

Janet Rowland at the Board of Public Health meeting June 5

Mesa County Commissioner Janet Rowland succeeded in convincing the three new temporary members of the Board of Public Health (BOPH) to vote to put Mesa County Health Department Director Jeff Kuhr on paid leave.

Rowland has been working to push Kuhr out of his job for months.

The stunning part of the BOPH meeting was who was there to support Kuhr.

The audience was packed with prominent longtime local Republican political figures, including former Mesa County Commissioner Kathy Hall, former Chamber of Commerce President Diane Schwenke, former CMU President Tim Foster (now Kuhr’s attorney in this matter) and Doug and Jamie Simons, owners of Enstrom Candies. Former County Commissioner Jim Spehar was there, as well as the owners of the Winery and Crossroads Fitness. All spoke in support of Kuhr and urged the BOPH to keep him in his job. Many said how Kuhr has done an exceptional job as head of the Health Department, how grateful they are to him and that these attacks on him amount to some kind of personal vendetta. Many of those who spoke were previously long time supporters of Janet Rowland.

One attendee remarked after the meeting that,

“Every business leader or former community leader that walked out of that room said that Janet has lost her mind.”

The Mesa County employee behind the effort to fire Public Health Department Director Jeff Kuhr

by Anne Landman • June 4, 2023 • 13 Comments

Lisa Rickerd Mills (Photo: Facebook)

Lisa Mills is a behavioral health strategies manager for Mesa County’s Department of Health and Human Services and by all indications seems to be a key figure in the County’s recent ongoing, unhinged efforts to take down Dr. Jeff Kuhr as longtime Director of the Mesa County Public Health Department (MCPHD).

County teeing up new Public Health Board members to fire Dr. Jeff Kuhr as longtime Director of Mesa County Public Health Dept., despite being told there is “insufficient evidence” of wrongdoing

by Anne Landman • June 3, 2023 • 8 Comments

Jeff Kuhr won plaudits for helping Mesa County get through the Covid-19 pandemic.

If Mesa County Commissioner Janet Rowland gets her way, the new, temporary members recently intstalled on the Mesa County Board of Public Health (BOPH) will do the Commissioners’ bidding and fire longtime Mesa County Health Department Director Dr. Jeff Kuhr, even though there is insufficient evidence of any financial wrongdoing by Kuhr and even though a large majority of the local public thinks the county commissioners are engaging in a blatant overreach of their authority.

Rep. Lauren Boebert misses vote on debt ceiling bill

by Anne Landman • June 2, 2023 • 8 Comments

For all her railing against the debt ceiling bill, Colorado’s 3rd District House Representative Lauren Boebert missed voting on the bill entirely on Wednesday night. The vote passed by an overwhelmingly bipartisan margin of 314-117. The Senate passed the bill this morning by a vote of 63-36. The bill had to pass before Monday to avoid a potentially catastrophic, historic federal government default on paying debts the nation has already incurred.

Boebert had vowed to vote “no” on the bill, saying “Our base didn’t volunteer, door knock and fight so hard to get us the majority for this kind of compromise deal with Joe Biden. Our voters deserve better than this. We work for them. You can count me as a NO on this deal. We can do better.”

Can the Board of Mesa County Commissioners sink any lower?

by Anne Landman • June 1, 2023 • 7 Comments

The Board of Mesa County Commissioners (BOCC) have been in full attack mode against Mesa County Public Health Department Director Dr. Jeff Kuhr for months. All their efforts to remove him have been shown to be without foundation. (L-R: Bobbie Daniel, Cody Davis and Janet Rowland). Photo: Mesa County

EDITORIAL from the June 1, 2023 edition of the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. Reprinted in full, with permission. Link to original editorial is here.

This editorial explains what’s been going on with the Commissioners’ months-long, defamatory attack on Mesa County Public Health Director Jeff Kuhr.

Can the BOCC sink any lower?

“Let us not assassinate this lad further, senator. You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?”

— Joseph Welch, special counsel for the U.S. Army, to Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy during hearings in 1954 on whether communism infiltrated the U.S. armed forces.

Mesa County commissioners are in the midst of a relentless campaign to remove Dr. Jeff Kuhr from his position as executive director of Mesa County Public Health.

They’ve tried every trick in the book, some a little more unseemly than others, but none as low as the character assassination they’ve planted in the public record that unfairly swipes at Kuhr’s reputation without giving him an opportunity to defend himself.

Commissioners are acting much like the disgraced Sen. McCarthy, whose role in the Army-McCarthy hearings was described as “judge, jury, prosecutor, castigator, and press agent, all in one,” by Harvard law dean Ervin Griswold.

Boebert’s son called 911 over domestic episode prior to her divorce filing

by Anne Landman • May 30, 2023 • 4 Comments

Colorado House Rep. Lauren Boebert’s teenage son called 911 on Sunday, December 11, 2022 to report that his father, Jayson Boebert, was “throwing me across the house.” The son sounded hysterical, and was sobbing and breathless at the beginning of the call.

“He just started yelling at me and he started throwing me,” the teen said. He then added that his dad had told him to leave the property and yelled at him to get away.

The teen added, “He just does this to me so much.”

Shortly after that, the teen made a second 911 call in which he essentially recanted his story of abuse. Lauren Boebert can be heard talking in the background of the second call, in which the boy explains that he and his dad were starting to yell and and “he didn’t really get physical with me. It was just like, I was just overwhelmed.”

Mesa County Commissioner Janet Rowland has used county agencies to advance her personal ideology and interfere in personnel decisions before

by Anne Landman • May 27, 2023 • 9 Comments

Board of Mesa County Commissioners. (L-R: Bobbie Daniel, Cody Davis and Janet Rowland). Photo: Mesa County

District Attorney Dan Rubinstein announced he’s closed the investigation into the Mesa County Commissioners’ allegations of financial wrongdoing by Mesa County Public Health Director Dr. Jeff Kuhr, saying,

“We lack sufficient evidence of anything criminal…” and “…[We] lack sufficient evidence that Mr. Kuhr was personally involved in, or personally directed, any level of reporting that would make him criminally culpable for material misstatements.”

With Janet Rowland at the helm, so far the Commissioners have spent $49,000 in taxpayer funds on a financial audit of Kuhr in an attempt to try find some reason to fire him, in addition digging up and spreading around negative personnel comments about Kuhr from as far back as 2011. So far, everything they’ve found, including a $219 alcohol purchase that has since been reimbursed, have fallen flat. Even four members of the Mesa County Board of Health have said nothing they’ve seen about Kuhr so far rises to the level of a fireable offense. Then they all resigned in protest after learning the Commissioners were going to fire them if they didn’t agree to fire Kuhr.

Drinking Liberally hosts Mesa County Clerk Bobbie Gross & D-51 School Board candidate Darren Cook

by Anne Landman • May 24, 2023 • 8 Comments

Drinking Liberally is a non-partisan social group that holds get-togethers in town at food and drink establishments while hosting guest speakers. The event focuses on protection of our civil liberties, like freedom from government and corporate overreach (for example denying workers the right to organize, denying women the right to access abortions and preventing transgender people access to medical care). On Tuesday, May 23, the event was held at Edgewater Brewery at 905 Struthers, by the Colorado River.

The packed crowd included notable conservatives like Tom Keenan and Cindy Ficklin, members of the far right wing group, Stand for the Constitution. The event featured two Speakers: newly-elected Mesa County Clerk Bobbie Gross and Darren Cook, former longtime D-51 teacher who is running for D-51 School Board.

Mesa County Commissioners working to seize control of Mesa County Board of Public Health

by Anne Landman • May 19, 2023 • 34 Comments

MCPHD Director Jeff Kuhr, Ph.D. won plaudits for helping Mesa County get through the Covid-19 pandemic

Mesa County Public Health Department (MCPHD) Director Dr. Jeff Kuhr has been under attack by the Mesa County Commissioners, who for some reason have been working for months to generate credible reasons to fire him. Commissioner Janet Rowland in particular has targeted Kuhr, accusing him of financial impropriety and grievous errors in MCPHD’s procurement processes. The Commissioners have ordered the Mesa County Board of Public Health to fire Kuhr, but they refused, saying there is no actual evidence that he’s intentionally done anything wrong. Not only that, but the State of Colorado rates MCPHD as having the lowest possible financial risk (pdf) in its compliance with federal and state contracts, making it clear that the state trusts MCPHD, but our right wing commissioners don’t. (This financial risk rating is done every three years, but the state skipped it during the pandemic. The MCPHD is currently undergoing this analysis again.)

Red Rock Kia charging customers more for paying cash

by Anne Landman • May 19, 2023 • 1 Comment

You used to get a better deal if you could pay cash. At Red Rock dealerships, it’s now the opposite.

Red Rock Kia is advertising a 2018 Nissan Murano on Facebook Marketplace with two different prices: one if a customer finances the car, and another almost $900 higher for customers who pay cash.

The ad points to the financed price, and crows “Saves money!”

Come on, Red Rock. We’re not idiots.

Any form of financing will cost a buyer far more than they can ever save on this deal.

Even under the best circumstances, for example a customer who finances $27,000, has an excellent credit score and a 48 month loan at a 5% interest rate, after adding taxes and fees to the deal, the interest on that loan will cost at least $3,350.

Small potatoes compared to the what Red Rock wants to charge people who pay cash.

It’s legal for them to do this. After all, they’re telling you about it right up front, as they should

But that also gives people the ability to vote with their feet by patronizing businesses that don’t discriminate against customers based on form of payment.

Charter schools, Children, Health, Public health, Safety

Ascent Classical Academy auctioning off fixtures from Rocky Mountain Gun Club

by Anne Landman • May 18, 2023 • 1 Comment

Ascent Classical Academy’s auction. There is no notification that these items were taken out of a lead-contaminated building

A classified ad in today’s Daily Sentinel gives notice that an auction is being held online to benefit the new Ascent Classical Academy charter school. All of the fixtures that were in the old Rocky Mountain Gun Club building, the building to be used to house the school, are being auctioned off to raise money for the school.

Since lead contamination is a well-known hazard at former shooting ranges due to the very fine lead dust thrown off by bullets when they are fired, the building is undergoing remediation for lead. All of the fixtures previously inside the building, including the HVAC system, cabinets, furniture, artwork, lumber and other items were also contaminated with lead.

Lead poisoning caused by exposure to lead can cause serious health problems, especially in young children.

Unaffiliated Black Nigerian immigrant elected Mayor of Colorado Springs, defeating Republican Wayne Williams

by Anne Landman • May 17, 2023 • 4 Comments

Yemi Mobolade, the new mayor of Colorado Springs, defeated long time Republican political figure Wayne Williams.

In a seismic political shift for Colorado Springs, Yemi Mobolade, a Nigerian immigrant with no political experience, defeated Republican Wayne Williams in the city’s mayoral race.

Mobolade describes himself as a “progressive political newcomer,” according to Axios,

Mobolade won by a wide margin.

The unofficial results reported as of 9:40 p.m. last night show Mobolade ahead with 57.47% of the vote to Wayne Williams’ 42.53%. Wayne Williams has conceded the race to Mobolade.

Wayne Williams was a veteran Republican political figure on the front range and state wide.

Lauren Boebert files for divorce

by Anne Landman • May 16, 2023 • 12 Comments

Lauren Boebert, embarrassing Mesa County by shouting rudely at President Biden during the State of the Union address, while Biden was discussing his deceased son, who contracted brain cancer after being exposed to toxic burn pits in the military

Updated 5/17/23 to add affidavit of process server.

Colorado House Rep Lauren Boebert filed to divorce her husband of almost two decades, Jayson, on May 11, 2023.

Boebert had long championed conservative family values and claims to be a Christian. She has claimed we are living in the “end times” and hinted that Jesus could have prevented his crucifixion if only he had owned an AR-15 rifle.

While citing no specific cause beyond irreconcilable differences, in a statement emailed to the Denver Gazette, Beobert said “I’ve always been faithful in my marriage.”

The Daily Beast describes Jayson as being “furious” upon getting served with the divorce papers. According to The Daily Beast, which obtained the affidavit of service of the papers, Jayson was cleaning a gun and drinking a beer at the time he was served, and was caught off guard by the development. According to the Daily Beast, the affidavit of service says, “He chased away a process server with an expletive-laden tirade and let his dogs loose when he was served with the divorce papers.”

The Colorado Sun reports that Boebert’s divorce petition is 46 pages long and was filed in Mesa County Court on May 11. The Court filing says the couple’s separation started on April 25, 2023.

Affidavit of service of divorce papers against Jayson, by the process server.

Activism, Andrea Haitz, Education, Elections, Ethics, Extremism

Text of the Petition to Recall District 51 School Board President Andrea Haitz

by Anne Landman • May 16, 2023 • 3 Comments

Andrea Haitz, District 51 School Board President

Some people have asked where they can read the text of the petition to recall District 51 School Board President Andrea Haitz.

You can read the entire petition here.

The petition is available for signing every day from 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 noon at Lincoln Park. The table with circulators and petitions will either be at 12th and Teller by the Barn, or at 12th and Gunnison.

Good things about Mesa County, Public health

Peer 180 Community Recovery Support offers free addiction recovery & support services downtown for individuals and families

by Anne Landman • May 15, 2023 • 1 Comment

Building at 201 South Ave. next to Union Station that houses Peer 180 All Recovery Community Center

Just south of the old Grand Junction Union Station Train Depot at 119 Pitkin Ave. (that is soon to be be refurbished) is another, smaller building at 201 South Ave., that also says “Union Station” at the top and is also kind of historic in its own right.

This building is now the location of Peer 180 Community Recovery Support, a new, grant-funded non-profit organization that helps people recover from addiction by providing services, support, education, advocacy, activities, and non-religious recovery programs. What sets Peer 180 apart is that it welcomes not just individuals, but entire families and even their friends, is free to everyone and is not religious-based. They even have a play room for children so parents can easily attend recovery events and activities. The building is located downtown, just a 4 minute walk from the downtown Van’s Car Wash.

Vehicle Buyers Beware: Many former Red Rock employees have moved over to Grand Valley Auto, and are plying their trade there

by Anne Landman • May 13, 2023 • 15 Comments

AnneLandmanBlog has received credible information that a large number of former Red Rock employees have moved over to Grand Valley Auto, where they are continuing to use the same tricks they learned at Red Rock.

How to implement Colorado’s Red Flag law in Mesa County

by Anne Landman • May 12, 2023 • 4 Comments

Are you aware of someone who owns firearms and is presenting a danger to themselves or others?

Colorado’s new Red Flag law was passed in 2019 and went into effect in January of 2020.

A Red Flag law is an “if-you-see-something-say-something” law put in place by the Colorado Legislature to give Coloradans a way to alert law enforcement to people who have guns and are posing a threat to themselves or others.

Red Flag laws, also called Extreme Risk Protection Orders or ERPOs, give judges the ability to seize the firearms of people who are posing a danger to themselves or others, to protect public safety.

The law was created to give people a way to try to head off incidents of lethal domestic violence, suicides and mass shootings like those currently proliferating across the U.S. in schools, shopping malls, theaters, grocery stores, universities, in parking lots, at parades, in offices and other places Americans go in the course of their everyday lives. As of May 8, 2023, there have been more mass shootings than there have been days in America, so the threat of mass killings being committed by people who own or possess firearms is very real and happening more frequently now than ever before in our history.

The law was used 73 times in the first 7 months after it was enacted and as of the end of 2022, it has been used more than 350 times.

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