Oak Creek
There are times when life in a small mountain town is so good that it makes you want to kick up your hiking boots and go scratch an elk behind the ear.
A stuck tractor brings the villagers running. A pickup truck in a ditch creates a response that would make FEMA blush.
But today in this town of 940 people at the base of the stunning Flattops Wilderness Area, well, this is definitely not one of those times.
Frankly, the story of Oak Creek would make a terrific soap opera.
The mayor. Tough woman. Goes by the name “Cargo.” From the hippie school. Been in handcuffs so many times they might as well be fashion accessories. But she was overwhelmingly elected three times and brought the town about $6 million in government grants and loans. Then a few of her one-time buddies turned on her. And she abruptly quit.
Karen the town clerk. Was the mayor. Got the clerk’s job with help from Mayor Cargo. Then led a town-employee revolt and filed a grievance accusing the mayor of – gasp – being too involved in the town’s business.
Tom the Town Board member. Swears a lot. Once loaned the mayor his truck for five months. Today he says: “She hates my guts, and I don’t care. This is some serious (expletive)!”
Violet Shaffer the former mayor. Says Mayor Cargo has done more for Oak Creek than any mayor, including herself. Says the mess is the work of a few jealous town employees.
Linda Koile the police chief. Friend of Cargo’s. Says “if they put it up to a vote, she’d win again, hands down.” Koile wonders “how something so good, could go so wrong.”
The wrong came to light Oct. 15 when Kathy “Cargo” Rodeman, 53, first elected in 2002, submitted a shocking letter of resignation to Town Board members.
“I can take criticism,” it said, “but the vicious personal attacks and ungodly attitudes from members who were my friends a few months ago made me certain that I never wish to sit at the table with them again.”
Which leads to the obvious question: What’s with the name Cargo?
“My parents divorced when I was little,” she said. “My dad moved to California. I got shipped back and forth. Like cargo.”
Born 45 miles away in Kremmling, Rodeman found Oak Creek when she was 18. Was it the solitude of the place? The good vibes cascading from the mountain ranges?
Not exactly. She was following a rock band. She and the other hippies decided to have a potluck dinner. Little bit of dinner. Lot of pot.
She stayed.
“Just an old hippie”
She was arrested in 1996 when cocaine was allegedly found in her Chrysler LeBaron convertible. The case was tossed out. She has been convicted twice of driving under the influence and once for resisting arrest.
“I am,” she said, “just an old hippie.”
And one the voters love.
In 2003 she also became the town’s grant writer. She got as much as $6 million from government agencies for town projects. A new, state-of-the- art water treatment plant. New sewer lines. Even a roof over the town’s hockey rink.
Here’s where things get iffy for the hippie.
Turns out the roof was constructed without building permits. And the grants might cost the town more in matching funds than previously thought, said Routt County Commissioner Nancy Stahoviak, a 31-year resident of Oak Creek.
“Cargo wanted to do positive things for our town,” she said. “She loves Oak Creek, but she didn’t follow any rules.”
The cauldron began to boil Sept. 25 when the Town Board held a closed-door executive session – later deemed an illegal violation of the Colorado Open Meetings Law – to hear concerns about the mayor from Town Clerk Karen Halterman, billing and court clerk Vivian Johnson and public works director Jim Photos. The mayor was told to leave the room before that meeting began.
The Steamboat Pilot and Today newspaper last week forced the town to release tapes of the meeting at which the three workers complained that Rodeman was too involved in town matters and often left them out of the process.
Halterman and Town Board member Tom Breuer no longer speak with their ex-friend/mayor.
“The mayor was overstepping her bounds and not listening to anyone,” Halterman said.
Breuer said giving the mayor a contract to be the grant writer was “a miserable failure,” but he said he had nothing to do with Rodeman’s resignation.
“I’m so (expletive) sick and tired of being framed as being hateful,” he said, angrily.
Mayor Cargo sighs.
“He loaned me his truck,” she said. “I used to go to his house for dinner. It’s like something fell on him.”
Cargo said Breuer called her a “liar” the last time they met.
But she says she’s not dismayed with the town.
A generous spirit
A few months back a friend came to Rodeman for help. His family was about to lose the gas station they owned. Rodeman took out a second mortgage on her home and handed him a check for $112,000. She will be paying off the loan until she’s 67.
“This town is sheepherders and ranchers and bikers and old hippies and yes, even some pot smokers,” she said. “We’re all here together. And we’ll do anything for each other.
“With all that’s happened, Oak Creek is still a kind town.”
Staff writer Rich Tosches writes each Wednesday and Sunday. He can be reached at rtosches@denverpost.com.
