Tag: Mesa County Republicans

Cody Davis, Conservatives, Economics, Elections, Mesa County, Mesa County Republican Party, politics

Mesa County Ballot Issue 1B: Can the County keep tax revenue above the Tabor limit and use it to fix roads and bridges?

by Anne Landman • October 19, 2024 • 8 Comments

Mesa County Ballot Issue 1B asks voters if the County can keep almost $11.5 million that’s already been paid in taxes, use it to maintain roads and bridges and raise the TABOR limit in the future so they can keep more tax money. So Ballot issue 1B asks Mesa County voters to let County government avoid complying with the state’s TABOR law.

What’s TABOR?

Tax-and-Spend Republicans?

Colorado’s TABOR (Taxpayer Bill Of Rights) law says state and local government can keep and spend only a specific amount of money based on their prior fiscal year’s revenue, an amount called the TABOR limit. If they collect money above that amount, it must be refunded to the taxpayers. The TABOR limit can only be adjusted according to a “population plus inflation” formula. The intent of the law, which was promoted by Republicans, was to constrain government to keep it from growing, a long-held conservative ideal.

Meet ‘n’ Greet event this week for JJ Fletcher, the Republican running against Janet Rowland for County Commissioner in the 6/25 primary election

by Anne Landman • May 5, 2024 • 3 Comments

UPDATE, 5/8/24 @ 10:30 a.m. – JJ Fletcher has cancelled this event.

Claudette Konola will host a Meet ‘n’ Greet this week on Wednesday, May 8 at 7:00 p.m. for JJ Fletcher, the candidate running against Janet Rowland for County Commissioner in the June 25, 2024 primary election.

The event will be at Claudette’s home, so she requests people use the blue “message” button on her Facebook page to RSVP and get the location.

In seismic shift for the local GOP, Tim Foster endorses Janet Rowland’s opponent, J.J. Fletcher, for county commissioner

by Anne Landman • April 5, 2024 • 5 Comments

Endorsement posted on the “JJ Fletcher for Mesa County Commissioner” campaign website

In what amounts to a subtle but seismic shift in local politics, former Colorado Mesa University (CMU) President Tim Foster publicly endorsed Janet Rowland’s opponent, J.J. Fletcher, for Mesa County commissioner, formally ending his years-long support for Rowland.

Mesa County Commissioner Janet Rowland vs. former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters: Lots of similarities

by Anne Landman • July 16, 2023 • 2 Comments

When their behaviors as elected officials are compared, Mesa County Commissioner Janet Rowland and former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters have more in common than people may realize:

Mesa County Commissioners avoid getting bids for $49k forensic Health Dept. audit & Dufford, Waldek law firm contract

by Anne Landman • June 26, 2023 • 6 Comments

Mesa County Commissioner Janet Rowland failed to get 3 bids for multi-thousand dollar contracts

Mesa County Commissioner Janet Rowland has cited the awarding of contracts without first getting competitive bids as reason enough to fire Mesa County Public Health Department (MCPHD) Director Jeff Kuhr:
According to an article in the 6/14/23 issue of the Daily Sentinel, titled “More turmoil on the Public Health Board,”
“At the June 5 public health meeting, [Mesa County Attorney Todd] Starr presented a largely one-sided view of a partial audit done earlier this year on the department, some of which said Kuhr hired contractors without going through a competitive bid process…” [Italicized emphasis added.] Rowland complained that awarding sole source contracts without first getting bids or going through review by County finance departments “puts the County at high risk because [the contracts don’t] go through a legal, risk or finance review.”
But she and the other Commissioners award high-dollar contracts without first getting competitive bids where such bids and oversight are merited, according to County policy.

Mesa County Republican Party resolutions seek to “register and regulate” journalists, put voting machines in Faraday cages

by Anne Landman • March 29, 2022 • 33 Comments

AR-15 Assault Weapon, the “weapon of choice for mass shooters”

Updated 3/30/22 @ 10:10 a.m.

The Mesa County Republican Party has reached a whole new level of crazy in 2022, as indicated by a handout at their assembly at the DoubleTree hotel last Saturday, March 26, that lists the party’s recommendations for the statewide GOP platform. The local party will vote on which of these resolutions to forward to the state party for inclusion in the statewide platform.

According to the handout, some Mesa County Republicans now want to register and regulate journalists “to protect against the Marxist agenda.” They support “private ownership of AR-15s, 30-round magazines and semi-automatic weapons,” firearms described by CNN Money as “the mass shooters’ go-to weapon.” Local Republicans also support “making Ivermectin an over-the-counter (OTC) drug.” Ivermectin is an anti-parasitic drug commonly used as a horse-dewormer and in dogs to prevent heartworm.

At a Christian church, Mesa County GOP Chair Kevin McCarney repeatedly calls CO SOS the name of a porn star

by Anne Landman • October 1, 2021 • 19 Comments

Mesa County GOP Chair Kevin McCarney [Photo from video on AmericasMom.net]

In a video of a talk at Appleton Christian Church on September 16, 2021, Mesa County Republican Party Chair Kevin McCarney repeatedly calls Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold “Jenna Jameson,” the name of a famous adult film actress known as the “Queen of Porn.”

McCarney spoke at Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters‘ first appearance since she returned to Mesa County after fleeing the state August 10 to speak at an election conspiracy conference in South Dakota organized by My Pillow Guy Mike Lindell. After the conference, Peters went into hiding in unknown locations out of state for about 5 weeks.

Video of the political rally at the church is posted on the website of far right wing activist, conspiracy theorist and “mobile day spa instructor” Sharronna Bishop, who has dubbed herself “America’s Mom.” The rally was organized by the local extremist right wing group “Stand for the Constitution.” That’s the same group that has been pressuring the County Commissioners to declare Mesa County a “Constitutional sanctuary,” where federal and state laws don’t apply.

Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters in her own words

by Anne Landman • August 13, 2021 • 5 Comments

Instead of being in Grand Junction dealing with the breach of security in the Elections Office that’s going to cost County taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars to remedy, Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters fled the state to appear as a featured speaker at the My Pillow Guy’s “Cyber Symposium” in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at which Mike Lindell, CEO of the My Pillow Company, promised to finally reveal long-sought-after proof that there was widespread fraud in the 2020 election. By all accounts, Lindell’s symposium imploded spectacularly. Lindell also heard during the conference that a judge allowed a $1 billion defamation lawsuit (pdf) filed against him last February by the Dominion Corporation, which manufactures the voting machines used in Peters’ office, would be allowed to go forward.

Peters was lauded as a hero at the event, and was introduced to the crowd as “an amazing patriot who is doing exactly what she should be doing and protecting and defending the vote.”

G.J. citizens get anonymous racist hate mail in response to yard signs promoting social justice, inclusiveness

by Anne Landman • August 2, 2021 • 3 Comments

An example of the yard signs Grand Junction, CO, that are prompting far right wingers to target homeowners with anonymous, racist hate mail

Grand Junction’s undercurrent of hatred showed itself again this week after several City residents reported they’ve gotten anonymous racist hate mail that they think was prompted, at least in part, by signs in their front yards indicating support of social equity, inclusion and justice.

A bi-racial downtown resident reports having gotten a total of nine racist hate letters so far, saying they have been coming steadily, approximately monthly, for about a year now, starting in 2020.

A Redlands Village resident got the following racist poem in the mail, authored by a “A. Wyatt Mann,” a pen name used by an American filmmaker named Nick Bougas, who produced racist, homophobic and anti-semitic material under the pseudonym. She also got a “Fuck Biden and fuck you if you voted for him” note, also posted below:

More hate in Grand Junction

by Anne Landman • September 25, 2020 • 6 Comments

Some of the 30-40 racist, sexist and homophobic memes and cartoons sent anonymously to the author in the mail this week

Grand Junction’s “Inclusivity Proclamation” notwithstanding, there is plenty of hate and racism in Grand Junction. The above represents a small fraction of the 35 to 40 hate-filled memes and cartoons someone took the time to copy, cut out and mail us in an anonymous snail mail letter, received on Tuesday, 9/22/20. The rest were similar, many were worse, and many focused on Trump worship, denigrating Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, liberals, non-white people, etc.

Activism, Conservatives, Elections, Ethics, Extremism, Fake patriotism, Grassroots advocacy, Mesa County Republican Party, politics, Trump Insanity, Weird Grand Junction Stuff

Anti-Trump sentiment emerging in Grand Junction

by Anne Landman • September 7, 2020 • 23 Comments

Truck seen on I-70B in Grand Junction September 6, 2020

Note: Comments are back! Thanks for your patience during the fix.– Anne

The body politic in Mesa County used to be in lockstep with the Republican Party, but no more. An increasing number of area residents are proudly displaying signage opposing Trump, and for good reason.

It’s becoming extremely difficult for anyone, even Republicans, to continue supporting the President, especially after the past week.

Anti-Trump garden flag seen in northwest Grand Junction

On September 3, Trump urged North Carolina voters to commit felonies en masse by trying to vote twice.

On September 4, the Trump Administration ordered an end to programs aimed at promoting racial sensitivity among government workers (pdf), calling them “un-American propaganda.”

Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters stonewalling list of voters whose ballots were lost

by Anne Landman • July 19, 2020 • 1 Comment

Mesa County citizens are trying to recall Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters for inept operation of her office, including forgetting 574 ballots in a collection box from the November, 2019 general election.

Embattled Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters (R) has not complied with several Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) requests seeking a copy of a spreadsheet her office created containing the names of the 574+ disenfranchised voters whose ballots her office failed count in the November, 2019 general election.

The ballots were left in a collection box after the election and were not retrieved or counted. Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold called the oversight a “serious dereliction of duty.”

Clerk Peters ordered the creation of the list.

Several former Clerk’s office employees report that Ms. Peters asked Sandra Brown, another Clerk’s Office employee, to create a spreadsheet of the names of all the voters whose ballots weren’t counted so Ms. Peters could send them each a written apology.

Internal emails from the County Clerk’s office support claims that the list in fact exists. In the emails, Peters asks other employees not to distract Ms. Brown from the task of creating the list, so she could finish it quickly.