Category: Ethics

Restore the Balance is bringing Cassidy Hutchinson to Grand Junction

The promotional poster for Cassidy Hutchinson’s appearance in Grand Junction. RTB will have more details on this event as the time draws closer.

Cassidy Hutchinson is a former White House aide who served as assistant to Chief of Staff Mark Meadows during the Trump administration.

Hutchinson testified at the June 28, 2022 public hearings of the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, providing testimony on President Donald Trump’s conduct and that of his senior aides and political allies before and during the January 6 United States Capitol attack. As a Trump administration member and direct eye witness to the events that unfolded that day, Hutchinson’s testimony received significant national attention, with several media outlets calling it “compelling” and “explosive.”

Hutchinson had to flee Washington, D.C. for her safety after testifying to the January 6 Committee. She says she is still a Republican but will not be supporting Donald Trump’s bid for the White House in 2024 after what she witnessed.

Hutchinson’s memoir Enough was published in September 2023.

Mark your calendars to attend the appearance of this extraordinarily brave young woman.

Lauren Boebert’s eldest son arrested on 22 charges amid alleged crime spree

Rifle Police Department’s Facebook post about the Tyler Boebert’s arrest yesterday.

House Rep. Lauren Boebert’s eldest son, Tyler Jay Boebert, 18, was arrested yesterday, February 27, 2024 (pdf) by the Rifle Police Department on a mix of 22 charges of felonies and petty offenses. The arrest came amid a spree of car break-ins and property thefts in Rifle.

Local owner of Red Rock Auto pushed out

Bryan Knight, the now former part-owner of Red Rock Auto dealerships

The sole local owner of the Red Rock Auto dealership chain, Bryan Knight, has been pushed out of the company.

Documents from the Colorado Department of Revenue show Mr. Knight, who oversaw the Red Rock dealerships and had long been listed as a partner and minority owner of the Red Rock GMC and Honda stores, is no longer an owner of record for any Red Rock stores.

The rumor that Mr. Knight had been pushed out of Red Rock Auto came on January 19, when someone in the local auto industry contacted AnneLandmanBlog to say “Bryan Knight no longer works at Red Rock.”

Rumor: In a reversal, Red Rock got fleeced by a customer

Buyer Beware: Mesa County does not license homebuilders, and state law makes it hard to hold builders accountable

BAD DECISIONS – Mesa County Commissioners approved construction of this Redlands home years ago in which setbacks were inadequate to save the house from sliding down the bluff towards the Colorado River. Mesa County does not license home builders and county building codes and inspections were inadequate to prevent this situation.

If you are planning to build or buy a newly-built home in Mesa County, be forewarned that Mesa County has no licensing requirements for homebuilders and Colorado laws make it hard to hold home builders accountable when things go wrong, and lots can go wrong.

Soils report at heart of lawsuit against Cody Davis & Chronos Builders recommended alternative foundations, but plaintiffs say Davis never disclosed the report to them as Colorado law requires

Swelling clay soils can triple their volume when they get wet, causing them to exert tremendous force on a home’s foundation, and hence damage, if no measures are taken to mitigate the potential damage. Clay soils are very common across Mesa County. [Click photo to enlarge for better view.] (Photo: Colorado Geological Survey)

The geotechnical soils investigation (pdf) done on a building lot on Horseshoe Drive in Fruita where Mesa County Commissioner Cody Davis and his construction company, Chronos Builders, built a spec home in 2015-2016 stated clearly that expansive clay soils were present on the site and that “Based upon our experience with the Mancos shale in the vicinity of the site, the shale is anticipated to be slightly to moderately expansive.”

Michael A. Berry, the professional engineer who authored the report, recommended three types of foundations that would better protect the structure from “heave related movements” than a typical shallow foundation, but also admitted such foundations are “usually cost prohibitive.”

Former Mesa County Commissioner Rose Pugliese elected state House Minority Leader

Rose Pugliese supported disastrous former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters in the 2018 election despite the fact that Tina was completely unqualified to be a County Clerk. Tina was running  against Bobbie Gross, who was already certified to run state and local elections, was managing the DMV and had more than a decade of experience in the Clerk’s office.

Former two-term Mesa County Commissioner Rose Pugliese, who moved to Colorado Springs in 2020 to run for the state House District 14 seat (and won the seat), has been elected Republican House Minority Leader in the Colorado Legislature. She replaces Rep. Mike Lynch (R), who resigned as Minority Leader on Wednesday, 1/24/24 after it was revealed that he had been arrested in September, 2022 on suspicion of driving under the influence (DUI) and possessing a firearm while intoxicated. Lynch pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 months probation and 150 hours of community service.

FTC finalizes CARS Rule to combat Red Rock-style auto sales scams that have plagued customers

Last minute update: The FTC’s CARS Rule, which is the subject of this article and was intended to put a stop to shady dealerships’ worst abuses of customers, was scheduled to go into effect July 30, 2024, but was officially postponed (pdf) on January 18, 2024 as a result of lobbying by the Texas Automobile Dealers Association and the National Automobile Dealers Association, which oppose the rule.

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On December 12, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) finalized the Combating Auto Retail Scams rule (CARS) to end the most common abuses that dealerships like Red Rock Auto in Grand Junction have long perpetrated on customers when selling cars. The CARS Rule was scheduled to go into effect on July 30, 2024. [See above last minute update].

Mesa County Board of Public Health Chair Stephen D. Daniels owes the state over $10,000 in unpaid taxes

A court issued a distraint warrant against the property of Stephen D. Daniels in Eagle County on 12/28/10 for unpaid property taxes in the amount of $10,200.19. As of January 3, 2024, the judgment is still listed as “UNSATISFIED”

Update: As of February 1, 2024, the debt is still listed as “Unsatisfied,” and appears to date back to the filing period of 12/21/2003.

Stephen D. Daniels, Chair of Mesa County’s new and supposedly more financially responsible Board of Public Health, has owed the State of Colorado $10,200 in unpaid income taxes since at least 2010. Court records accessed on 1/3/2024 currently list the debt as “UNSATISFIED.”

In 2010, the Colorado Department of Revenue (DOR) filed a lawsuit against Daniels for $10,200.19 in unpaid taxes (Case No. 2010CV800822). On December 28, 2010, an Eagle County Court entered a judgment against Daniels for the amount and then issued a distraint warrant against Daniels’ property. After the judgment and warrant were filed with the Eagle County Clerk and Recorder, the warrant became a lien on all of the real estate Daniels owns in Eagle County.

Daniels apparently has ignored the judgment, debt and warrant for over 13 years.

Mesa County Commissioner Cody Davis uses offensive term in public hearing about the county budget


To be fair, Mesa County Commissioner Cody Davis (R) probably had no idea what he was saying when he said it, but it was highly offensive.

23 minutes or so into the Commissioners’ meeting on December 12, 2023 to approve the annual budget (video), Commissioner Davis discusses how difficult it is for him to understand the budgeting process and said,

“Mongoloid” is an offensive term used to refer to people with Down Syndrome

“If I didn’t have help sometimes, reading this budget I’d feel like a knuckle-dragging Mongoloid.”

He was apparently unaware that “knuckle-dragging Mongoloid” is a highly offensive term.

The term “Mongoloid” for a long time was a pejorative term used to refer to people affected by Down Syndrome. It is also a racist term used to refer to people of Asian descent.

District 51 quietly working on plan that involves firing over 50 teachers in Fruita

Fruita 8/9 School, August 2022 (Photo: Facebook)

AnneLandmanBlog received the following communication this morning titled “A Huge Concern,” from a D-51 teacher who wants to get word out about the School District quietly moving forward with a plan to fire over 50 Fruita-area teachers, many of whom have over 20 years of experience:

What’s wrong with “Medicare Advantage” plans?

Frame from a TV ad by a local agency that sells Medicare Advantage plans

At this time of year, ads hawking “Medicare Advantage” plans flood every possible media outlet, imploring seniors to call 1-800 numbers and contact their local insurance brokers for “free Medicare evaluations” where brokers can sign them up for Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, also called Part C plans, that offer premiums a bit lower than traditional Medicare and freebies like vision screenings, dental cleanings, gym memberships and a monthly allowance to spend on drugstore merchandise.

These plans definitely sound alluring, but don’t be fooled.

Board of Public Health & county commissioners violated state public health law with their new intergovernmental agreement

Stephen D. Daniels, new Chair of the Mesa County Board of Public Health,  violated Colorado Title 25 by giving control over the health department’s budget to the elected county commissioners. No provision in the state public health law permits that.

When the Mesa County Commissioners had the Board of Health (BOH) sign their new Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA), the commissioners, County Attorney Todd Starr and all 7 members of the new BOH all either knowingly or unknowingly violated Colorado Revised Statute Title 25, Article 1, Part 5(k).

Tina Peters sues to overturn her $15,400 campaign finance violation fine

Tina Peters in a November 2, 2023 video posted on YouTube

Tina Peters filed a lawsuit (pdf) November 8 against Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold to overturn the $15,400 campaign finance violation fine an administrative law judge levied against her on October 4, 2023, claiming the fine is “unfair” and that it has “irreparably injured” her.

The Court fined her for soliciting donations to run for re-election as Mesa County Clerk in 2021-2022 without having first filed the necessary paperwork with the state that requires she report the money she raised and spent on her campaign. The fine pertained to Tina’s campaign for County Clerk that she dropped out of in 2022 to run for Colorado Secretary of State instead. Tina lost the primary election for that seat to her Republican competitor by 14 percentage points, but she is telling people in interviews that she won that election.

Transparency out the window in selecting new Director for the Mesa County Public Health Department

For Mesa County residents trying to find out how the search is going for a new County Public Health Department (MCPHD) director, the County is acting like it’s really none of your business, unless you belong to their secret circle of private citizens and friends to whom they are giving private access and input into the decision.

Janet Rowland, Chair of the Board of County Commissioners, told people when she was running for office that transparency in government is “absolutely critical,” but the search for a new MCPHD director has been anything but transparent.

“Stand for the Constitution,” which still supports Tina Peters, is working to get Evanson & Skalla elected to D-51 School Board

A slide shown at a mid-October, 2023 Stand for the Constitution meeting that indicates the group still supports criminally-indicted, election denier Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters. The same group is supporting Evanson and Skalla for D-51 School District Board.

It seems like Mesa County never seems to learn from its past mistakes.

Stand for The Constitution (SFTC), the local extremist group that pushed to get Tina Peters elected County Clerk in 2018, that continued to support Peters even after her loss of 574 of ballots in 2019 and even after her indictments on multiple felony criminal charges related to election tampering, is now working to get Barbara Evanson and CynDee Skalla elected to the District 51 School Board in the November 7, 2023 election.

Stand for the Constitution also backed the three conservative school board members Haitz, Lema and Jones who have brought rancor, questionable ethics, uncertainty, disruption and hatred to the school board.

Tina Peters takes the 5th Amendment repeatedly in deposition about soliciting illegal campaign contributions

Tina Peters’ mugshot for her arrest on 3/9/2022

On September 29, Colorado Administrative Law Judge Timothy Nemecheck fined former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters $15,400 for illegally soliciting and accepting contributions to a 2022 re-election campaign for county clerk without first registering as a candidate with the State.

The fine was the end result of two campaign finance complaints filed in 2021 by Scott Beilfuss, who is now a Grand Junction City Councilman. The first complaint was dated August 16, 2021. Beilfuss wrote a single sentence:

“Tina Peters flew up to Mr. Pillows cybersymposium on a private plane provided to her and is staying as a guest of the Pillow foundation in a clear violation of accepting gift laws.”

School Board candidate forum cancelled after threat of violence posted on Facebook


A school board candidate forum that was planned for last evening, Monday, October 16, was cancelled abruptly the day of the event after the venue hosting the event, Good Judy’s Bar & Club downtown, received a violent threat on Facebook.