From the Styx by Peggy Tibbetts

A good article appeared in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel on Sunday:

Investigation of mayor, former trustee adds to furor of Silt recall controversy
By Mike McKibbon

SILT — Police investigated Silt Mayor Dave Moore and a former town trustee over allegations they violated of town ordinances and state statutes regarding two former town employees, backers of an effort to recall Moore said last week.

While the investigation did not result in any criminal charges, Mayor Pro Tem Tod Tibbetts said it shows Moore has not followed the town’s code of ethics or ordinances regarding personnel matters and is another reason he should be recalled. Tibbetts chairs a five-member recall committee that has started that process.

Moore attended the Thursday night meeting of the recall committee but was denied a chance to answer Tibbetts’ allegations. Outside town hall, Moore “categorically denied” all the claims.

Mayor Moore did not reserve the Town Hall to speak. Tod Tibbetts did. The Mayor was not invited to speak. However his right to speak was not denied. We simply told him that he was free to speak outside the Meeting Room. And he did.

If Senator Barack Obama reserves a Meeting Room to give a speech, and in that speech he makes allegations against President Bush, that doesn’t mean Bush has the right to answer the allegations at that same gathering. He is free to answer them at his own venue.

In this case, The Mayor USED our venue to speechify on his own behalf. So don’t let anyone tell you he was denied the right to speak or answer the allegations. That DID NOT happen. He preached to his posse outside the Town Hall.

He called the investigation illegal and noted former trustee Doug Williams was never interviewed.

Doug Williams DECLINED to be interviewed for Detective Taylor’s investigation.

Detective Taylor’s investigation WAS NOT illegal. As Mayor Pro-Tem Tod Tibbetts explained in Something is Simmering in Silt: “The allegations surrounding the departures of three key employees had to do with violations of state statutes and town ordinances, therefore the Town Administrator had no choice but to order an investigation. He was just following town ordinances.”

A copy of the investigation report, with the names of all involved except Moore and Williams removed, said Williams had a family illness during the investigation in May.

Neither Moore nor Tibbetts would talk about the details of the investigation, which looked into claims of improper involvement in town employee management by Williams and Moore.

“I ask this committee to withdraw this petition and not turn town hall into a dog and pony show,” Moore said.

Oh come on! What’s not to love about a dog and pony show?

I have 2 dogs. But no pony, even though I would really like a pony. Actually my dogs are the size of small ponies but they don’t perform any standout Stupid Pet Tricks. Although when we say Dick Cheney over and over to Venus we can get her to sneer and show her teeth. It’s high-larious!

Zeus can swim which is odd for a Malemute. So we’ll have to move the show to Dogland – excuse me – River Park.

Hey! This sounds like a lot of fun!

Williams was present Thursday night to support Moore and said he recently resigned for family reasons, not because of a potential recall planned against him by Tibbetts’ group.

“Silt was just too much stress with all the stuff that was going on,” Williams said. “This power struggle these few people are trying to achieve is a travesty. If everyone else stood up for the town of Silt like Mayor Moore has done, Silt would be a much better place.”

There he goes again. This is not a power struggle. This is an exercise in democracy. We are presenting the facts to the people, and if they don’t like The Mayor violating state statutes and town ordinances then we’re giving them the opportunity to make their voices heard by signing the recall petition. Through this process we are reclaiming open government in Silt. The outcome of this exercise is not up to the Recall Petition Committee, it’s up to the people.

Tibbetts said if the petitions to hold a recall election are successful, he will seek the mayoral position.

“This is not a witch hunt,” he said. “It’s a public process so voters can see the facts. If that’s a power play, so be it.”

Recall backers have until Sept. 14 to gather the signatures of at least 111 registered town voters in order to put the issue on a special election ballot.

Registered voters who live in Silt are eligible to sign the petition. If you need more information or would like to sign the petition please contact Peggy Tibbetts, Tod Tibbetts, or Bev Thompson.

Click here to add From the Styx to your RSS reader.