Peculiarities in the November election in Saguache County have sparked allegations the election was stolen, and they merit a thorough investigation. Voters need to know that elections — the cornerstones of our democracy — have integrity.
Clerk and Recorder Melinda Myers and County Commissioner Linda Joseph, both Democrats, appeared to be losing their re-election bids on the night of the Nov. 2 election. Three days later, a retabulation organized by Myers’ office overturned those results, according to a Denver Post story by Sara Burnett. Myers says it’s a case of unfortunate events and honest mistakes, and welcomes an investigation as a way to clear her name. We learned this past week that a statewide grand jury will consider allegations of election fraud.
The Secretary of State’s office, then led by Bernie Buescher, sent an envoy to the county after troubling allegations arose during the August primary. However, the election watcher left before the votes were counted — a huge mistake in our book. New Secretary of State Scott Gessler says his office will work to correct any mistakes before the next election, but voters deserve to know what happened in the last one, too.
No bonus, but there are some pink golf balls left. Finally, a little sanity comes to the Pinnacol Assurance board. One year after some board members dined and played golf with Pinnacol executives at a lavish Pebble Beach retreat, the board, newly empowered with two appointees from Gov. John Hickenlooper and one from Bill Ritter, voted 5-4 to strip Pinnacol chief Ken Ross of his whopping $163,115 bonus.
Not only did Ross’ boorish behavior on the trip — lunging at a TV reporter who was questioning him about the pricey outing — sully Pinnacol’s reputation, the entire junket, which cost $318,000 (including $325 for pink golf balls), also called into question Ross’ management of the quasi-public workers’ compensation company. Pulling his huge bonus is only the first step. As we’ve said before, Pinnacol, which was established by the state as insurer of last resort and enjoys large tax breaks, ought to tell Ross “goodbye.”
Is it now or never for RTD? The Regional Transportation District’s board of directors was told this past week by political consultants that if it seeks a tax hike this year for FasTracks, it likely will lose. Perhaps, but this year might be the best chance it will get. After all, next year is a presidential election and we’re guessing it could be a Tea Party-inspired referendum on government spending — not exactly the best time for a tax hike. In 2013, after two years of steep state budget cuts, it’s likely there could be a state tax hike on that ballot as well, or at the very least, an important measure to untangle the conflicting web of measures locked into the state constitution, such as the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights and Amendment 23. So that likely wouldn’t be a good year, either. This might be RTD’s best chance.
Short Takes is compiled by Denver Post editorial writers and expresses the view of the newspaper’s editorial board.
