From the Styx by Peggy Tibbetts

So Mayor Moore is thinking about running for county commissioner after all, according to The Paper on Tuesday.

Garfield County commissioner race is already heating up
Larry McCown not running for re-election
By Dennis Webb

With one incumbent planning to seek re-election and another not, several possible challengers are considering runs for Garfield County commissioner.

Commissioner John Martin of Glenwood Springs could face a potential challenge from fellow Republican Dave Moore, who as Silt’s mayor currently is the target of a recall campaign. And Democrat and No Name resident Greg Jeung has yet to decide whether to make another try for the job after narrowly losing to Martin in 2004 …

… Both Martin and McCown were first elected as commissioners in 1996. Although the county doesn’t have term limits, McCown said he thinks 12 years of service will be enough for him.

“I just chose to go ahead and retire. I’d like to think it’s like (John) Elway, I’d like to think it’s at the top of my game,” he said, in reference to the Denver Broncos quarterback who retired after winning a second Super Bowl.

McCown’s decision comes despite the fact that there are some county projects he would like to have seen through past next year, such as improvements to the county airport.

“I think there’ll always be those,” he said. “Sooner or later you have to decide it’s enough.”

Martin said he also hasn’t accomplished everything he’d like to do.

“I’m still enthusiastic about every aspect of the job,” he said.

Whether he gets to continue serving past next year is up to general election voters, and first the Republican Party, which will decide on its candidate through its primary process, he said.

He could face a challenge from someone who faces a major challenge of his own right now. Silt voters are scheduled to decide April 1 whether to recall Moore based on accusations that he has violated codes and statutes and been involved in conflicts of interest. Moore hopes to find out how the recall turns out before deciding whether to run for commissioner as a Republican, but apparently can’t afford to wait that long.

Moore said he also could consider running as an independent.

“I feel it would be a lot easier to beat John Martin in a general election than in a primary,” he said.

The reason is that Moore supported Democrats Houpt and John Gorman in their successful election campaigns last year. Gorman was elected county assessor. Moore has faced some fallout from Republicans for his endorsements.

Moore said if he survived the recall effort and were elected commissioner, the next decision he would face would be whether to try to serve as mayor and commissioner at the same time …

There he goes again! Good ol Dave just doesn’t get it.

Is he The Mayor?

Or a candidate for county commissioner?

Or Dave the Developer?

It’s kinda hard to tell these days.

I did some research on what’s known as dual office-holding. In Colorado, state legislators are allowed to “hold a second county or municipal office if those offices are not ‘incompatible’.”

I couldn’t find any information about the legality of being mayor and county commissioner.  Although I wouldn’t exactly call the two offices compatible.

Currently the town is knee deep in a lawsuit against the county over energy revenues to fix the roads – a lawsuit that Dave the Mayor lobbied for and still supports.

Can we say conflict of interest?

Hey, I say go for it. Pure entertainment and blog fodder for months and months. Run, Dave, run.

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