Filed under: Colorado, Silt, Supreme Court, annexation, betsy suerth, consulting, development, gale carmoney, gene duran, harassment, janet aluise, planning, tibbetts, town board, town government, unathorized practice of law
Janet Aluise received an unwelcome surprise in the mail recently. It was a packet of information from the Colorado Supreme Court Attorney Regulation Counsel notifying her that Silt Town Attorney Gene Duran had filed a complaint against her for unauthorized practice of law. Duran also requested an investigation. Aluise must respond with a letter by May 2.
Who is Janet Aluise?
From 2000-2007, Janet Aluise served as the Community Development Director for the Town of Silt. After her departure from that position, she formed Aluise Planning Consultants. Until January 2008, her firm was hired as a consultant to the Town of Silt. After she stopped working for the town, Aluise submitted her first application on behalf of her client, Janice Girodo, for annexation and zoning of her 2.3 acre property west of town (site of A-1 Traffic Control and Barricade Company). The client’s son, Cal Whitman worked with Aluise on the application. Fifteen months later the Girodo Annexation has not been finalized, a process that should only take about 6 months. And instead of addressing the applicant’s complaints, Town Attorney Duran is attacking Aluise.
Costly delays
After a year plagued with delays in setting meetings with the Town Planning Department and delays with the Town Engineer’s review process, the Girodo Annexation Zoning and Site Plan Application finally came before the Board of Trustees for a first reading on January 12, 2009. The Ordinances passed at the first reading and the second reading on January 26. At that meeting Aluise pointed out to the Board that the ADA (Annexation and Development Agreement) and the IIA (Infrastructure Improvements Agreement) had not been included in the Board’s or the Public’s copy of the packet for this application, and expressed concern that these documents were referenced in the ordinances and the resolution that the Board had just approved. The staff expressed utter shock at this omission on their part, and stated that although the ordinances and the resolution had just been approved, the Board was required to review the ADA and IIA at the February 9 Board meeting.
However at the February 9 meeting, Trustee Tibbetts stated that the minutes from January 26 did not accurately reflect the motion for approval as he had stated it, and he asked for clarification. Aluise also pointed out at that meeting that the staff had made changes to the agreement that did not reflect what the Board had approved. Because of all the problems with staff stating the Board motions incorrectly and making unauthorized changes to the ADA, the Board agreed to bring the applications back for another discussion at the next meeting.
On March 9, the Board of Trustees again considered the Girodo Annexation. Because the annexation process had taken so long, Cal Whitman informed the Board that he could not afford the conditions in the ADA. The Board requested what conditions could be modified, and then directed staff to work with Whitman and Aluise to complete the project. Yet again it was continued to the next meeting.
Even though they had been directed to do so by the Board, the staff did not request any meetings with Whitman or Aluise between March 9 and March 23. On March 23 the Board approved all of the annexation documents with a few modifications, and again directed staff to make the changes as approved. On March 24, Community Development Director Gale Carmoney sent to Aluise changes to the documents that still did not reflect the Board’s motion. Whitman reviewed the changes made by Carmoney and instructed Aluise to communicate to the Town his disgust for the “back and forth” process and the Town’s inability to get the Board’s motion reflected in the various agreements.
As it stands now, the Board has approved all agreements regarding the Girodo Annexation but the actual ADA documents do not reflect what the Board and the applicant agreed to, therefore the documents have not been signed by the applicant. All of which has cost the applicant nearly $100,000.
Meanwhile trouble was brewing behind the scenes
While the Girodo Annexation was unraveling, instead of working out the issues, the staff set out to discredit Aluise.
On January 16, Aluise submitted an application for out-of-town sewer tap for Simon Casas of the Herons Nest RV Park. Carmoney referred the application to Town Administrator Betsy Suerth. After Aluise’s second request for a status update on February 11, Suerth wrote a scathing email to her and sent copies to Casas and Whitman, whose application was not even involved in the status update request. Suerth stated that Aluise was unprofessional, inappropriate, and incompetent for not knowing the chain of command, claiming that Carmoney was actually in charge of the application, even though he had said he was not. Because of Suerth’s email, Casas fired Aluise on February 16. Aluise demanded an apology from Suerth. However she did not apologize and further defamed Aluise in another email, which she again copied to the applicants. Aluise notified Suerth that she was contemplating legal action.
Duran conjures up a trap
The very next day, February 12, Town Attorney Duran emailed Aluise and requested the name of Whitman’s attorney. Whitman told her to ignore Duran’s request. On February 20, Duran again requested the name of Whitman’s attorney. Whitman instructed Aluise to tell Duran that he did not want to accrue more legal costs and therefore would not divulge his attorney’s name. On March 25, Duran wrote to Whitman and again requested the name of his attorney.
On April 6, Duran contacted Aluise’s attorney, Christopher McAnany, to bully him into divulging the name of Whitman’s attorney, even though McAnany was not involved in that application and didn’t know Whitman. Duran claimed that he needed to verify with Whitman’s attorney that the legal documents had been reviewed, implying that if he was not provided with the attorney’s name he would have to assume Whitman does not have an attorney and he would be obligated to ensure that there is not an unauthorized practice of law.
Duran claimed that at the February 9 Board meeting, Aluise stated that Whitman’s attorney had recommended that the ADA could not be signed until the Board approved the amendment. Therefore Duran felt he needed to identify the attorney, and if he wasn’t able to then he would be required to report Aluise for unauthorized practice of law.
According to Aluise, her attorney insists she is not obligated to disclose the attorney’s name and the fact that she has not done so, does not prove that she engaged in unauthorized practice of law. “Duran’s complaint is outrageous,” Aluise said. “All I did at the February 9 meeting was pass along to the Board what my client told me his attorney had advised. That advice certainly did not come from me.”
In his April 13 complaint letter to the Colorado Supreme Court, Duran wrote, “despite my efforts neither Ms. Aluise nor her client has identified the attorney. Therefore, I have concluded that Ms. Aluise is practicing law by drafting legal documents, negotiating the terms of the legal documents, and representing her client in legal maters before the Town of Silt.”
However Colorado Supreme Court documents state: “Local government authorities may also allow engineers or development planners to participate and represent others in county commissioner and land use planning matters.”
In her own defense Aluise said, “All of my agreements, as well as other applicant agreements, are and have been negotiated in the same manner. There is no code forbidding agreements from being negotiated in this manner.” Aluise says no one from the town staff ever notified her of any changes in that policy, adding, “Neither Mr. Duran or the Town has ever altered the manner of negotiating these agreements. In fact, Mr. Duran was not present at any of the meetings during the Girodo Annexation. Not one. Mr. Carmoney negotiated all the terms with me.”
The only response from Board members has come from Trustee Tibbetts who resigned. When asked if he resigned in protest, Tibbetts responded, “I think my letter speaks for itself. I did not want to be associated with the town staff’s heavy-handed tactics against not only Ms. Aluise but other citizens as well.” Tibbetts resigned on April 7, almost a week before Duran filed his complaint. When asked about the discrepancy Tibbetts said, “There’s no discrepancy. Attorney Duran made it perfectly clear to the Board what his intentions were. I felt I had to resign before he acted on those intentions in order to make it perfectly clear that I did not approve of his actions and furthermore for my own peace of mind, make sure that I was not involved. It is not clear to me whether Duran even obtained Board approval for his complaint against Ms. Aluise. That is a question that certainly needs to be answered.”
Tibbetts added that he believes Duran’s complaint against Aluise has no merit. “It’s ridiculous. Ms. Aluise was just doing her job.”
Aluise maintains her innocence and is currently in the process of filing an affidavit with the Colorado Supreme Court.
Filed under: Colorado, Silt, baby, baby leg covers, baby toys, cloth diapers, green bambino, green business, handmade
From Peggy: My guest blogger today is my daughter, Ema Kwiatkowski. She would like to introduce my readers to her new business venture Green Bambino. Check it out!
Greetings,
My good friend Danielle and I are starting our own retail business. We eventually want to sell cloth diapers and other green baby gear both locally and on the internet. We both feel that this is the perfect time to get into a business like this. It is great for the environment, and people are choosing cloth over disposable diapers for financial reasons…as with everything else, the price of diapers has gone way up.
We say ‘eventually’ because right now we are both full of ideas, and crafting skill but desperately cash poor. Neither of us are in a position where we can go ask the bank for money, so we are stuck raising startup capital ourselves. This is where you can help us!
We have started a store called Green Bambino. Right now we are selling small handmade baby toys, wetbags, diaper rash powder and baby leg covers (for crawling and cooler spring weather) at our online store at Green Bambino at Etsy.
Take a minute, and go check out our store. If you have a new baby, buy s/he a new handmade toy. If you know someone who just had a baby, pass on our link. We are adding new products every day! The more we sell, the quicker we can get on to making and carrying brands of cloth diapers, which is what people really want.
Don’t want to shop, then head on over to our Green Bambino website and sign up for our mailing list and a chance to win a wetbag. You will receive announcements on new products, sales and cloth diapering information and tips.
You can also become a fan of our store at Facebook, and follow us on twitter.
Hope to see you at our store!
Ema Kwiatkowski
& Danielle Campbell-Monger
Green Bambino on Etsy
Green Bambino website
And here he is, our new little star, Bodi
Filed under: Akbash, CCD, Silt, aggression, alaskan malamute, anxiety, canine, canine compulsive disorder, cesar millan, clomipramine, crazy bitch, dog behavior, dog story, dog whisperer, dogland, dogs, harassment, health, hypersensitivity, lab, obsession, rehabilitation, tibbetts, town board
This is Part 14 in the Crazy Bitch series about our Akbash/Lab mix Venus. She has Canine Compulsive Disorder (CCD) with aggression. Links to the previous episodes can be found at the end of this post.
Please note that the incidents described here are part of an ongoing investigation therefore some names have been changed and/or omitted.
How We Live Now
Some people would say we brought this on ourselves. Me and my snarky satire of public officials, including my own husband. And there’s Tod with his whole obsession with the rule of law thing. Just who do we think we are anyway?
If we brought this on ourselves, we have certainly paid the price. Venus and Zeus have suffered because of us. It’s easy to look back on the past 2 years and see the mistakes we made. What really matters is what we have learned from our mistakes.
Venus is doing just swell. She is still on 75 mg of Clomipramine twice daily. Veterinary researchers claim it can take up to 6 months of medication and rehabilitation before recovery can be fully assessed. We’re at 5 months now. She has not attacked Zeus or any other dog since November 3. We can let her off leash at Dogland and she socializes well with other dogs, like she did before her breakdown.
Sometime during the winter her brain let go of the intruder threat. She forgot about it. Until March 1 we left her indoors whenever we were not home, not because we were worried she might attack Zeus. We were concerned that if something happened while we were gone, if she was harassed again, we would risk another breakdown.
We bought her the Illusion collar to help control her territorial behavior on walks. It helps us train her not to lunge at other dogs and kids. At home I took her outside the fence when kids and dogs walked by. Sometimes I let her meet the kids. Mostly I made her sit or lie down calmly. Now the frantic barking and anxiety dance are gone. She still barks sometimes when kids or dogs walk by, then she calms down. She always barks when someone comes to the door or parks in our driveway, but that’s normal behavior, and she always calms down. She also barks at Mr. Bully or his boys when they go to the mailbox. Her distrust of them is palpable.
She still goes to the office in the morning with Tod. She really enjoys it, so there’s no reason to stop. We were right about putting her food in the downstairs bathroom. Her phobia of bathrooms has disappeared. Even when the light is off, she will go in the bathroom and eat her food.
We learned from Cesar that stroking a dog under the chin builds self esteem, especially a dog that was smacked around in a previous life. Venus responds much better to chin stroking than head patting. The look of fear and anxiety is gone from her brown eyes, replaced by warmth and trust. She’s the same Venus, only better – calmer.
Venus and Yogi (Becky's dog) sharing calm energy
We’re still working on play. The oxymoron says it all. The problem is, Venus works too hard at play. She gets carried away and plays too rough. She needs to lighten up. For the past couple months we’ve been meeting up with our friend Jodie at Dogland. Her 1½-year old lab mix, Hunter is extremely playful. He gets along great with Venus. He’s showing her how to chill out and play again.
Venus playing fetch with Hunter and Jodie
She’s really getting the hang of it. She’s even playing tag again, which is her favorite game of all.
Venus and Hunter playing tag
Venus and Zeus have come through this with a much healthier relationship. She respects his space He appreciates her companionship.
Before Venus’s meltdown, both dogs used to sleep on the floor in our bedroom at night. After her meltdown, Zeus slept downstairs on the rug in my office in front of the door, like an escape plan. One night in mid-January, Zeus walked into the bedroom and plopped down on the rug at the foot of the bed. Venus curled up on her spot next to the bed and it has been that way ever since. He trusted her again. Lately I have awakened in the middle of the night and found them sleeping nearly nose-to-nose. The way he communicates with his behavior fascinates me.
The Bullys are another story – the neverending one.
In December when Tod was walking Venus, Mr. Bully overran a stop sign like he was threatening to hit them. One night during the first week of January, I went out to get the mail. It was dark so I wore my nifty little headlamp. As I turned to walk back toward the house, Mr. Bully pulled out of his driveway and drove toward me. He sped up and his vehicle came within 2 feet of me, even though I was also under a street light.
During the last week of January when I left on a walk with the dogs, Mrs. Bully arrived home with her boys. When the boys stepped out of the car, the dogs fell apart in the middle of the street. Zeus sat down and started shaking. Venus spun in circles at the end of her leash, trying to flee. I calmed them down as best I could with the Bully boys watching, and eventually got them moving in the opposite direction. As we walked away, Zeus repeatedly turned around and looked back, checking to see if they were following us.
Even though we had been leaving Venus inside while we were gone, we wondered if the Bullys were harassing Zeus. We started paying more attention to his behavior when we returned home. A couple of times he didn’t meet us at the front door gate like he usually does. We found him in the garage and he seemed agitated.
Rather than jump to the conclusion that he was being harassed, we thought perhaps we should start leaving Venus out with him so he wouldn’t be alone. The weather had gotten warmer and we didn’t think it was good for her to be cooped up in the house anymore.
On March 1, we went downhill skiing. The plan was for Ema to come over and let Venus outside in the afternoon for a few hours with Zeus. When Ema arrived at 2:30 she found Zeus in the garage. He wasn’t happy to see her like he normally is. He was agitated and grumpy. He nearly knocked her over getting into the house and refused to go back outside, even after she let Venus out. That evening he was in a terrible mood, very nervous and agitated. He growled at Venus and snapped at one of the cats. He slept downstairs in my office. The next day at Dogland when Venus tried to play tag with him he knocked her to the ground and growled at her. Luckily she didn’t fight back. In all those instances I responded to his aggressive behavior with a “bite”, a poke on the neck with my two fingers.
After our evening walk he normally goes in the house and eats his food. That evening, March 2, when we returned from our walk, Zeus parked himself on the grass patch next to the sidewalk and stared at the Bullys’ house. No amount of coaxing made him budge. He stayed out there for about 20 minutes and he continued the ritual all week.
His body language and the look on his face said it all. Vigilance. The ancient Inuit people relied on the Malamute for protection from the polar bears. Zeus was being a Malamute. Something happened to him on March 1. It had something to do with the Bullys. At first he was angry, then he became vigilant. After everything he’s been through he’s communicating stronger than ever. Because now he knows we’re paying attention.
We learned something else from the Dog Whisperer – the power of the video camera. I had resisted putting in a home surveillance system. We have a home surveillance system – Venus and Zeus. It took us a while but we finally acquiesced. If we ever hope to be able to return to normal life and leave our dogs outside when we’re not home, we have to protect them from harassment. The only way to do that is to put in a surveillance system.
When the system went live, Zeus stopped his after walk ritual. I don’t think he understands how cameras work, although he watched Tod put them up and string the wires so he knows something was added to the porch. I think he reads our minds. Cesar would say he senses our energy has changed.
The system has been active for a month. We’ve been leaving both dogs out when we’re not home. Some dog experts and dog owners believe strongly that dogs should never be left unattended in their owners’ yard. We learned the hard way what can go wrong. We never dreamed that neighbors we’ve known for more than 10 years would turn on us and harass our dogs. We never would have believed that police officers would park in our driveway and provoke our dogs to bark. Never before in our lives have we experienced anything remotely like what has gone on these past two years.
I don’t think dogs should be left unattended in a fenced yard or kennel for long hours, day after day. And puppies should never be left unattended. Dog owners should decide what works best them and their dogs.
We feel lucky that we don’t have to kennel Venus and Zeus in the house while we’re gone. We have always given them the run of the house and they have always been well-behaved. Keeping them in the house is not the issue. Venus and Zeus have communicated to us that they would rather be outside. When we get ready to leave they don’t plop down in front of the TV. They both go to the door to be let out. They are watch dogs. It’s what they do.
Seeing the video replay has made that abundantly clear. When we’re gone they keep an eye on our property and the surrounding neighborhood. Nothing escapes their attention. We’ve fast forwarded through hours and hours of two dogs’ heads turning, eyes watching. Every now and then they take turns walking around the yard. They sleep a lot and they hardly ever bark. Our other neighbors were right when they told they are good watch dogs.
A friend asked me if Venus barks less now because she’s on the Clomipramine. The answer is no. When we’re home, she barks the same amount as she did before she took medication, so it would follow that she behaves the same way when we’re not home, and the video replay has proven our assumption. Clomipramine hasn’t made Venus stop barking. It doesn’t actually calm her down. Instead it allows her brain to focus so she can calm herself down. As I’ve said before, I’m not a big phan of the pharmaceuticals. But this stuff really works for Venus. I wish I could find a naturopathic or homeopathic remedy that works the same way.
I don’t mean to be sappy but I have learned so much from Venus and Zeus these past 5 months. I wish every dog owner could achieve the kind of symbiotic relationship with their dog(s) that we have found with ours. Even though they depend on us for everything they have so much positive energy to give back when we let them. Their energy is life-sustaining. Learning to better understand their wordless communication through behavior and energy has been a gift. Perhaps my hearing impairment has given me a deeper understanding and appreciation of vibrational energy. Venus and Zeus have taught me how to use it – to communicate, to find answers, to improve my life and their lives.
Will there be more harassment in retaliation for telling this dog story? I expect so. This time we’re prepared for it. We’ve been told repeatedly that we’re being watched. Well now we’re watching back.
The next time Tod gets a barking dog citation he will plead not guilty. He resigned from the Town Board this week, for reasons other than the harassment we have endured, which he outlined in his letter of resignation. However as our dogs’ story has unfolded over the past 3 months and it became all too clear that the harassment had affected Venus and Zeus’s health, we saw the true cost of public service. It is too high a price to pay. For Tod, other issues culminated over the past few months that piled on top of the spiteful, vindictive things done to us and our dogs, led him to the realization that he doesn’t want to be a part of town government that treats people this way. I came to that conclusion last summer.
Zeus probably would have eventually become hypothyroid. Perhaps the CCD would have manifested in Venus anyway. We’ll never know. But her aggression was a separate issue. We do know it was redirected territorial aggression. She perceived a threat to her pack’s safety. She didn’t imagine the threat. She had been conditioned by harassment.
Aggression is not a death sentence and it’s no reason to give up on a dog. Aggression can be cured with medication and/or rehabilitation. Cesar Millan’s dog psychology method has been our guidance system and it works for any dog. Identifying and removing the source of the aggression is another important step toward recovery. Since we can’t move and we can’t remove our neighbors, we will keep Venus on the Clomipramine for longer than six months. We don’t want to risk a relapse, and history has shown that we don’t have any reason to trust the neighbors.
More than anything, this is a dog story with a happy ending. We see improvements in Venus every day. We’re more than optimistic about her recovery. We’re convinced of it.
Stay calm and assertive!
* Check for updates in the Crazy Bitch Series links on the left side of the page
The two funny new signs at Dogland were brought to you by Mayor Pro-Tem Meredith Robinson and Trustee Bobby Hayes, neither of whom has ever used the park. So we wouldn’t expect them to know that dog poop decomposes rather quickly in the natural environment. And the park is heavily wooded so the dogs poop in the woods. And the geese and deer and owls and lizards all also poop in the park.
I have to admit we Doglanders have had a lot of fun with the signs this week, imagining all sorts of mischief. Like chasing our dogs through the woods so we can bag their poop. Then leaving the bags of dog poop at the Town Hall. Or Or taking a handful of bags and tacking them on trees around town since there are no poop pickup bags in town where a dog owner might actually need to use one or two.
It’s always entertaining to watch public officials create a problem that doesn’t exist and then come up with such an amusing solution. There’s no end to this kind of nonsense in Silt.
Filed under: Silt, mayor, recall, rule of law, tibbetts, town board, town government, trustee
Today Tod Tibbetts resigned his position as Trustee for the Town of Silt with the following letter:
Town Administrator and Town Board,
In late 2007, I led a re-call effort because I felt the actions of the Mayor that caused the resignations of the Town Administrator and the Community Development Director would lead the Town down the path of poor government. The potential problems for the Town that I envisioned at that time are no where near as bad as I feel they have gotten now. Our Town government has a Board that has abdicated their duties and authority to staff and a staff that is more interested in protecting their jobs than doing what is best for the Town.
I have tried to be a positive influence in addressing the problems in our Town government, but I believe the process has gotten totally out of control. I was contacted by two citizens who tried to follow up on a stray dog they found and turned in, only to end up being cited by the Police Department. We have a Community Development department that is ineffective and obstructs applicants. We have a Town Administrator who has forgotten that the Town government serves the people. We have a Town Attorney who uses tactics that I find dishonest. I can no longer be a part of a Board of Trustees that allows this to happen.
Over the years, I have been proud to represent the people of the Town of Silt and I have worked diligently to be a voice that respects the law and be part of a group that cared about making a better community. There have been good times and tough times, I have continued in service because I had always felt that my voice made a difference and, while all of us may not agree on some issues, we were all working for the common good. Not anymore. In the last few months, I have seen too many instances of the Board making decisions based on their own personal interest and Town Employees putting their own personal interest above that of our constituents. My continued presence on the Board would give the appearance that I support this type of government. I do not.
With a heavy heart, I am tendering my resignation as a Town Trustee effective immediately.
Sincerely,
Tod C. Tibbetts
With Tibbetts’ resignation the Town has lost a valuable voice of reason and experience. Many people are sad to see him go. We thank him for his 12 years of dedicated public service with the Town of Silt.
