Part II: Voter Confidence in Park County

Let’s talk about the White Book…

The far-right Christian Nationalist Constitutional Conservative majority of the Park County Board of Commissioners, Amy Mitchell and Dave Wissel will ask and answer how to restore voter confidence during their work session on Tuesday, April 18, at 9 a.m. If you’re interested, here’s the Zoom link for Tuesday.

I can only suggest that their agenda item, “DISCUSSION RELATED TO WAYS TO RESTORE VOTER CONFIDENCE,” be worded differently to reflect reality.

Maybe this would work. DISCUSSION RELATED TO WAYS TO REINFORCE THE BIG LIE BELIEVERS’ OBSESSION WITH SEVERELY DEBUNKED VOTER CONSPIRACY THEORIES.

Or, DISCUSSION RELATED TO WAYS TO RETURN VOTING IN PARK COUNTY TO THE GLORIOUS 1950s.

Or, DISCUSSION RELATED TO WAYS TO MAKE IT A WHOLE LOT HARDER TO VOTE IN PARK COUNTY.

Or, what has lately appeared to be the case, the far-right majority on the BOCC will schmooze and smile, nod their heads, claim transparency, and conduct public meetings with their culture war agenda lurking quietly in the background. I’m sure they’ve realized giving voice to their truths–responding to pointed questions–will not serve their darker purpose.

I discussed much of this in an earlier post. Specifically, I provided Commissioner Wissel’s campaign promise to institute the bright ideas promulgated by Colorado Springs State Senator Paul Lundeen in 2021. Additionally, it is essential to note that Commission Chair Amy Mitchell voted no in October 2021 to renew Park County’s Dominion voting machine contract. At that time, she was also standing strong with Ron Hanks, shoulder to shoulder, in a conspiracy-driven lawsuit against the Colorado Secretary of State’s administration of elections.

What can I say about Ron Hanks, defunct candidate for the US Senate? The guy who shot a copy machine disguised as a Dominion voting machine with a great big rifle? The guy who wanted to purge all voter rolls, end mail-in ballots, and terminate Unaffiliated participation in Republican primaries? The guy who said the 3/5ths Compromise to the Constitution was a Northern states’ conspiracy to deny Southern states proportional representation in Congress? That’s an interesting one. Slaves were chattel property. Since when does chattel property get to be counted as a person? Well, it happened when the Framers said, Okay, we’ll make this unholy Compromise that will haunt us until the Civil War. Southern slaveholders were nearly ecstatic about the 3/5ths Compromise. Hanks also said the Compromise did not impugn anyone’s integrity. Ahem… Might I suggest the Framers who acceded to this Compromise with the devil self-impugned their integrity?

Yet Amy Mitchell stood tall with Ron Hanks in 2021.  And, to put a finer point on her allegiances, she’d previously valued another kindred spirit and apparently, the kindred spirit valued her.

      

Back to ways to restore voter confidence in Park County.

There is at least one reasonable suggestion the BOCC might consider. Do you remember the so-called White Book from the last general election in 2022? The White Book was published by Park County, supposedly to inform voters of the pros and cons of ballot measures. It’s Park County’s version of the State of Colorado’s Blue Book.

The State’s Blue Book ballot analysis process requirements are provided by the Colorado Constitution, Article V, Section I, and Sec. 1-40-1245.5 of the Colorado Revised Code. The law mandates the non-partisan research staff of the general assembly provide “A fair and impartial analysis of each measure, which shall include a summary and the major arguments both for and against the measure, and which may include any other information that would assist understanding the purpose and effect of the measure. Any person may file written comments for consideration by the research staff during the preparation of such analysis.”

Should we assume a “fair and impartial analysis” would necessarily require it to be factual, not loaded with biases unchecked for accuracy?

Colorado counties and special districts are not bound by these constitutional and statutory requirements. Unless the Clerk and Recorder wants to spend some valuable time checking the validity of any proposed comments they receive, pro or con, for Park County ballot measures. As a result, any yahoo’s biases can appear in the White Book. 

The State Blue Book ballot analysis process also includes the following: “The Legislative Council Committee meets to review the language of all ballot analyses. State law requires the 18-member Legislative Council Committee to review each ballot analysis.  To that end, the Legislative Council holds a public hearing, scheduled for late August or early September.  Anyone who is interested in testifying on the accuracy or fairness of analysis may do so at this public hearing.  The Legislative Council may modify the draft of the booklet upon the two-thirds affirmative vote of the council members.”

This clearly doesn’t happen in Park County. In fact, as I said, any yahoo can contribute to ballot analyses for the White Book knowing their “facts” will not be challenged.

Let’s concentrate on the 2022 Ballot Issue 1A. This asked voters if they wanted to impose a 1% sales tax in support of public safety in Park County. It proposed a tax that could only be spent on public safety items, personnel, operations, and maintenance costs. Here’s the gist of the relevant BOCC Resolution, which provided the basis for the ballot question:

Pains were obviously taken to specify what the 1% sales tax would be used for.

But what appeared in the Park County White Book concerning the cons of Ballot Issue 1A?

Backing up a bit, for years, it’s alleged that Park County depended on some Good Ol’ Boy to write the White Book’s con portion for any proposed tax. A fellow that was dedicated to the principle that no tax is ever good, regardless of its intent. I suspect that even if a tax was proposed to make available temporary housing for young women about to deliver the Messiah this fellow would oppose it.

Still backing up, the South Park Outsiders called on volunteers to write a Constitutional Conservative Voting Guide, with submissions to be received no later than September 30, 2022.

Amy Mitchell stepped up for the SPO, as well as Gary and Matt.

The guide was published on October 8, 2022, about the same time the White Book was published by Park County. It was issued under the auspices of Ratified 1788, the supposed non-profit offshoot of the South Park Outsiders. The con sentiment clearly echoed the SPO’s sweetheart candidate for District 3 Commissioner, Dave Wissel. Here’s the con entry in the Ratified 1788 (SPO) voter guide for Ballot Issue 1A:

Here’s the con entry in the White Book, published by Park County:

I’ve highlighted the nearly verbatim language in both documents.

So, what’s wrong with the official Park Couty voting guide mirroring the South Park Outsider’s voting guide? Actually, there would be nothing wrong with it if weren’t for the egregiously biased inaccuracies (lies) that appear in both documents. Many of which were Dave Wissel’s talking points during the campaign.

The statement that “The Park County Sheriff’s Office returned $400,000 to the Board of County Commissioners in 2021 that could have been leveraged to hire deputies, while loudly declaiming not enough money for more deputies,” is absurd. Those funds were specifically earmarked for hiring new deputies. They could not be used for anything else. The Sheriff diligently attempted to hire more deputies. What person with law enforcement experience, or a passion for becoming a law enforcement officer, would take a position in Park County when just a few miles away across the county border they could fulfill their desires at over $20,000 more to start such a position? The money was returned to the General Fund because the Sheriff couldn’t find someone foolish enough to take his offer.

“Voters likely won’t see more deputies on patrol [if the sale’s tax passes],” is another absurdity. With the new tax deputy starting salaries could be increased, hopefully equalling those in other counties. Higher starting salary, more interested parties, more deputies on patrol.

I could go on, but you get the idea. The SPO, surely taking input from Dave Wissel, managed to finagle their biases and lies into the 2022 White Book, an official publication of the Park County government. It is clear, no one in the county government insisted on accurate, truthful, factual information being disseminated to the county’s electorate with respect to ballot issues.

And this kind of slipshod, Good Ol’ Boy networking, designed to fool all of the people all of the time, is not good government. This is contrary to the best interest of the citizens of Park County.

One component of restoring voter confidence in Park County is to assure the citizens are given the full, factual, unbiased truth when it comes to the publication of the White Book. That hasn’t happened for a very long time in Park Couty. And we should not depend upon or expect the Clerk and Recorder’s office to undertake this responsibility. Certainly, they endeavor to provide relevant and accurate information in the White Book. But assuring that information is factual and as unbiased as possible, is the job of county commissioners. They must formulate a process whereby accurate and factual information is disseminated to voters prior to an election. If it takes a scaled-down mirroring of the state’s process, then so be it. We cannot let this impediment to an informed public continue.

Yahoos are not the best resource for truth.