Eddie and the Emotions sounds like a good name for a 1950’s doo wop tribute group. Perhaps they could open with the Coasters song “Charlie Brown.” The lyric “why’s everybody always picking on me” would be appropriate when it comes to Ed Ulibarri’s performance at the Montrose City Council meetings as of late. In contrast, Eddie and his emotions are no way to legislate, but it happened Tuesday night. Ulibarri in a previous work session stated that he gets approached regularly at the grocery store when recognized and city issues are discussed. These people he proclaimed don’t have a voice because either they don’t or won’t take the time to attend meetings. That’s fine, but he made it sound as if their voice was never heard. If he would have gone with the “I’m the voice for the voiceless” line, I would’ve reached for the barf bag. Folks who don’t engage in this age of communication marvels simply aren’t trying hard enough. When Ulibarri was called out during public comment for seemingly giving more credibility to the grocery store conversations over the people who show up and give public comment at the meetings, his feelers were tap danced upon. The conversation was concerning whether or not the council should select a citizen committee to sift through proposed city charter amendments and make recommendations to the council. Mayor Michael Badagliacco was opposed, then okay with the idea, then opposed again. Adam Woodden, whose Gadsden-flag boxers are worn so tight it’s seemingly cutting off the blood flow to his brain, doesn’t need a committee’s input. He could use all the counseling he can get aside from David White and his wife Jodi, the Republican Party co-chair to the co-chair to the chair. I know, it sounds made up. This is the same person who once posted on Facebook how entitled the illegal immigrants shopping at Walmart are and that ICE should come take them away. When she was questioned about her comment she then said that she knows Jesus Christ will protect Montrose County from these illegals. Yes Jodi, the Lord has a side hustle as a border patrol agent. I’m pretty sure the only border Christ is concerned with is the one between us and the heavenly Kingdom. Council members Dave Frank and David Reed have been clear they are in favor of the committee, so that leaves Ulibarri and his exposed feelings as the deciding vote. Hang in there team, when it comes to watching Ulibarri govern it’s like watching a mouse navigate a maze in a trail of molasses. To complicate matters, Ulibarri moves his own cheese but forgets where he puts it. One of the charter amendments proposed by the Mayor is true term limits. Council would serve two terms of eight years, no do-overs after a four year break. Ulibarri is making his case in real time. Ulibarri is on his third term spanning from 1998-2002, 2004-2010, and 2022 to present. Ulibarri’s schtick of his “smart phone being smarter than he is” is getting tiresome. He appears unprepared when he comes to meetings, struggles with simple computer functions and is often lost at the meetings. The laptop that’s placed in front of him would be more functional as a door stop than an informational tool for him. His “I’m just an old man” routine is becoming more difficult to be patient with because it seems to be more of a crutch than he’s trying to put on or at least I hope that’s the case. During a previous work session regarding the subject Ulibarri proclaimed he was voting for the commission because he’s a man of his word and he stated previously he supported it. That’s before he felt dissed and then pissed. Ulibarri is in the public sphere and criticism is part of the gig. Thin skinned individuals need not apply. Ulibarri stated criticisms like he’s gone to the “dark side” ranks as bullying. Pfft, that’s light weight stuff. I wonder how he would handle being called the enemy of the people, told he should be tarred, feathered and run out of town or offered to set up an appointment so someone could punch him in the face. I’ve been there and done that. There’s no room on my shoulder for tears. Ulibarri has demonstrated a bad habit of listening to one conversation and taking it as gospel. Like the time someone told him that when the Trattoria de Sophia’s received the city’s kitchen grant to move into the Flex Buildings at Colorado Outdoors it cost Ulibarri’s someone over 25% of their business. Unsubstantiated Ulibarri ran with that information as truth. When he ran for city council in 2020 he stated at a forum that he spoke with someone from Delta and they told him that the city of Delta was debt free and Montrose should operate that way. Nevermind that Delta would kill to be in Montrose’s financial state. Anytime anyone thinks Delta is debt free take a ride on the Confluence Drive bypass, the debt albatross would be under their wheels. An uninformed member of council is not as dangerous as a council member who thinks they know enough from a conversation and runs with it. Ulibarri and Woodden are falling into the latter. Ulibarri has also claimed that the previous city council treated him poorly. What I witnessed was a council that over and over again tried to stay as patient as they could with him while he tried to comprehend the issue at hand. If you need evidence of this go watch Monday's special meeting that’s available on YouTube. The meeting was about two topics regarding extending City Manager Bill Bell’s emergency orders. The order is only effective for seven days then council has to ratify beyond the seven days. The first issue was expanding the ban of fireworks sales in the city to September 1. That turned into a longer than needed discussion when Woodden classified it as government overreach because of the length of the ban. Maybe he’s not choking on the same smoke we are from the fires all around us. The other was to give Bell emergency powers so he could make decisions regarding the fires without having to come to council with every decision. The emergency declaration also would make Montrose eligible for reimbursement for any services provided. Woodden didn’t like that the orders would last as long as there is an emergency situation. He eventually voted in favor of the resolution which required a unanimous vote and not a simple majority. Ulibarri couldn’t navigate from the fireworks ban to the emergency powers because as a part of the emergency powers City Attorney Chris Dowsey attached exhibit A to the emergency powers resolution, which was Bell’s original emergency orders declaration, including the fireworks ban. Dowsey attached it so it was part of the record. Ulibarri couldn’t comprehend that while the fireworks ban was part of the original orders the council was working the ban and emergency powers separately. They had already voted in favor of expanding the ban. It was hard to watch and again tested the patience of Frank and Reed. They were both visibly frustrated. Ulibarri is a key decision maker on this council. It’s easy to see that Woodden and Badagliacco will vote the same on almost all decisions and that Frank and Reed will do the same. Ulibarri needs to be well informed and emotionally stable during his remaining term in order to be a good independent minded council member. It’s critical. He’s currently failing at both. It’s time his internal alarm rings and he wakes up to the situation at hand, leaving his sensitivities at the door. Dennis Anderson is publisher of the Montrose Daily Press and Delta County Independent. |
