Glenwood Springs – District Attorney Colleen Truden told Garfield County commissioners Monday she soon expects to have a full staff again after five attorneys resigned in the past month in the midst of mounting bedlam in her office.
Truden said she has hired two new attorneys for the 9th Judicial District Attorney’s Office and has interviews with three more in the next month.
But Truden’s assurances that her office, which serves Pitkin, Garfield and Rio Blanco counties, will soon be at full staff did not quell criticism of her work as district attorney.
Others say she is doing fine.
“This is nothing more than a new administration working out the kinks. I’m sure it will be resolved,” said Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario. Robert Grant, a former Adams County district attorney who heads the Colorado District Attorney’s Council, said he thinks Truden is simply going through the typical fallout of a political candidate who defeats an inside candidate.
Truden, a former municipal judge with no prosecution experience, was elected after she defeated former Assistant District Attorney Lawson Wills in a Republican primary and ran unopposed in last fall’s general election.
Since taking office in January, she has been accused of lying in a public meeting about her handling of office resignations, hiring her husband but not being honest about his job, micromanaging the cases of more experienced attorneys, hiring an assistant district attorney who was accused of sexual harassment and stalking in a previous job, and being too severe with prosecutions.
“She is legally incompetent to hold the job, and now she has shown she is not trustworthy,” said former 9th Judicial District felony prosecutor Jeff Cheney, who resigned two weeks ago.
Cheney was incensed that Truden last week went before the Pitkin County commissioners and said that none of the employees who quit were forced to leave as soon as they gave their notice and escorted out of the office.
Garfield Commissioner Tresi Houpt asked Truden about the hiring of her husband.
Truden said that he had worked as a consultant to take care of computer problems.
Truden was curt with reporters who attempted to ask her about the matter following the commission meeting.
She said she did not know how much her husband was paid or how long he worked in the office. She said she would not answer any questions about her husband or any other matters unless they were submitted in writing.
Glenwood Springs attorney Sherry Caloia said she is receiving daily calls from citizens “incensed” about Truden’s performance as district attorney. She said citizens have been offering to help with a recall effort, which cannot officially begin until mid-July, when Truden has been in office six months.
Staff writer Nancy Lofholm can be reached at 970-256-1957 or nlofholm@denverpost.com.
