From the Styx by Peggy Tibbetts

He’s baa-a-aack!

Dick Cheney was in Vail last weekend, attending the uber-secretive American Enterprise Institute World Forum, where a handful of corrupt politicians, neo-con wonks, and some oil executives get together and hold closed-door meetings about world domination. On a local level, it’s sort of like how some members of the Town Board meet in secret to plot what THEY think is best for Silt.

This week The Washington Post is running a 4-part series on Dick Cheney titled, Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency. The Angler Series (Angler is Cheney’s Secret Service code name) paints a portrait of a manipulative, secretive, control freak of a Vice President obsessed with running – or ruining – all levels of government. In his End Justifies the Means Crusade, Cheney willfully and habitually disregards laws and procedures.

Reading about Cheney’s corruption brought to mind the Silt Town Board. In particular, in Part 2: Pushing the Envelope on Presidential Power, an unnamed “former White House ally” said:

The only person in Washington who cares less about his public image than David Addington is Dick Cheney. What both of them miss is that … in times of war, a prerequisite for success is people having confidence in their leadership. This is the great failure of the administration – a complete and total indifference to public opinion.

I thought about the recent resignations of Town Administrator Rick Aluise and Community Development Director Janet Aluise. How the details of their resignations have been classified as “confidential personnel matters” to shield the facts and circumstances from the people.

I thought about the June 11, Board Meeting. According to the Minutes, The Mayor said that “a mountain has been made out of a mole hill, and that he would like to see it go away”. He added that “this personnel stuff has got to stop, and that there are two sides to every story”. The Mayor also said that “he believes the investigation done by Officer Taylor was illegal”.

Then I played this little word game:

The only person in Silt who cares less about public image than the Town Trustees is The Mayor. What they miss is that in times of turmoil a prerequisite for success is people having confidence in their leadership. This is the great failure of the Silt Town Board – a complete and total indifference to public opinion.

If there are two sides to every story, let’s hear them both. Evidently there has been an investigation. The Mayor said so. The people have a right to know if any elected officials were involved in the resignations of Rick and Janet Aluise. And what, if any, laws were broken.

Make no mistake, members of the Silt Town Board are actively engaged in a cover-up of the facts and circumstances surrounding the resignations of the Town Administrator Rick Aluise and Community Development Director Janet Aluise.

Of course the BIG EXCUSE for the cover-up is that it’s for the good of the community.

Did the voters elect Board Members to decide what’s good for us? According to the Silt Home Rule Charter, Article II, Section 2-1:

The Board of Trustees shall be the governing body of the Town and shall have all policy-making and legislative powers and other powers possessed by the Town not otherwise limited or conferred upon others by this Charter.

Doesn’t say anything about the “good of the community”.

Call up Board Members, ask them pointed questions about the recent resignations of Rick and Janet Aluise. Demand answers. I’m not saying you’ll get any. It’s the asking that counts. THEY need to know WE’RE watching them.

Though don’t be surprised if The Mayor pulls a Dick Cheney and claims he’s not actually a member of the Silt Town Board. I just sayin – it COULD happen.

Mayor Dave Moore
Mayor Pro-Tem Tod Tibbetts
Trustee Doug Williams
Trustee Meredith Robinson
Trustee Ron Morgan
Trustee Jim Voorheis
Trustee Bobby Hays

They are all in the book.

At the June 25, Board Meeting the members returned from their closed-door Executive Session where they discussed their BIG SECRET and voted unanimously in favor of a training session on do’s and don’ts for Board Members.

What’s THAT about? Are they admitting they don’t know the rules? Can’t they READ? The Mayor and Ron Morgan were on the committee that wrote the damn Town Charter last year. What is it about their positions as elected officials who are elected by the people this crew does not get?

How’s about this for “do’s and don’ts”?

DO obey the law.

DON’T cover up the facts.

Somehow I don’t think I’ll get the job as training coach.

Wait a minute …

On Monday the freeway exits from here to Glenwood were crawling with government vehicles and the black helicopters circled I-70 for a couple hours. Rumor has it Dick Cheney was en route to his secret hideout in Bunkerville-North-of-Rifle. Perhaps The Sneermeister himself would be available for a training session with the Silt Town Board.

I think he’s just the coach they’re looking for – as in The Art of Obfuscation and Cover-Up.

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