Is it possible to build a bridge too far and a bridge to nowhere at the same time. David White is proving this to be true in his latest attack on the City of Montrose and his so-called election integrity deep dive published in the Montrose Mirror. He goes deep for sure, so deep that the reader needs chest waders to venture into the depths of manure that rivals a west Texas feed lot. The stench is even greater. There appears to be a dust up between the city of Montrose clerk’s office and Montrose County over the April city elections. The city clerk Lisa DelPiccolo, with 42 ballots left to count, got spooked with what seemed to her to be a bias within the county clerk’s office. She hand counted the remaining eighty-three ballots, which included ballots that needed to be cured, plus others that were confidential. She then closed out the election, which was then legally certified. When it comes to election integrity, I completely trust Montrose County Clerk Tressa Guynes and her staff. Over and over again she has proven that she deserves that trust. What happened that night, I have no idea. DelPiccolo’s concerns could have been valid. She was the election officer in charge and she made the decision, in her words, to maintain election integrity. I fully trust DelPiccolo as well. White is trying to expose something that has no there, there. But that’s nothing new for the unelectable and unwanted wannabe public figure who seems to be envious of those whose public service success has left his time in office on city council and county commissioner board in the dust. It seems to be the only motivation for his unfounded and visceral attacks on public officials. His greatest nemesis, for whatever reason, is City Manager Bill Bell. While it must be difficult for DelPiccolo to set his attacks aside, she should realize the ultimate target is Bell. Keep in mind, White’s boys won the election. Even in his own words, in this latest attack White comes close to admitting that his attacks may be – “Conspiratorial?” Well, he opens his second wave of attacks with a quote from Russian Dictator Josef Stalin concerning elections, which is very Tucker Carlson of him. I prefer my election quotes from those who believe in freedom and democracy. White’s headline in his second unfounded attack implies that city officials are circling the wagons. I can only conclude he’s basing that on the response he received from the city in some of his CORA requests. He states in his piece what his requests were in which he received this response: “This is a question that does not request any public records. On that basis, this request is denied.” Which is the correct response because White doesn’t actually request records, but rather asks questions about policy and such. The CORA process is not a process in which one conducts an interview. It’s apparent White has no idea how to conduct an investigation as a journalist, nor should one expect him to know. He’s nowhere close to being a journalist. He’s simply a narcissist with an axe to grind and unfortunately Caitlin Switzer and her publication gives him a platform to do so. They grasp the same axe. What is unfortunate as well is that when council member Dave Frank addressed White’s attacks on DelPiccolo at Monday’s work session, denouncing them as vile and unfounded, only council member David Reed spoke up in agreement. Mayor Bagadliaco and members Ed Ulibarri and Adam Woodden sat on their hands. Not that I expected them to speak up against their influencer, particularly Woodden, whose wife Jodi, the co-chair to the co-chair to the chair of the county Republican central committee, had already questioned the integrity of the election before the counts even started. She sent an email to city officials questioning the security of the drop box outside of city hall. The city follows the state statutes for their drop box security. White from the beginning claimed a breach of contract between the two entities. In an email response from County Attorney Julie Andress to City Attorney Chris Dowsey that White included in the second part of his attack, she clearly states there was no breach of contract. Well, that wasn’t good enough for White because, well, as we know, he’s the smartest person in the room. If you don’t believe me just ask him, I’m sure he’ll confirm. Where White really overstepped was in his closing of his first attack of DelPiccolo and the city elections when he claimed “in some respects what happened in the last election was worse than what Tina Peters did.” Is there another Tina Peters besides the convicted felon out of Mesa County for election integrity crimes? Nope, he actually identifies the correct Tina Peters. That’s an outrageous and slanderous statement with no basis of fact. Back to White’s second wave of attacks. White quotes Bill Bell’s email to Switzer concerning White’s relentless false attacks, “Ms. Switzer… As I have requested many times before. Please stop printing lies and misinformation designed to harm my reputation and the reputation of my city employees through your partnership with writer David White. It is your professional responsibility to make sure what you are printing is accurate, and once again, you have failed to do so and you are causing harm to others. Thank you for your consideration on this matter.” Bell’s response is spot on. When it comes to where the buck stops with journalistic integrity of a publication, it is on the publisher’s desk. I wouldn’t let White offer commentary on high school sports, much less local politics. White responded with this to Bell’s response, “Really? All that this man can think of is himself and infringing on the free-speech rights of Ms. Switzer and myself by trying to shut us down and calling us liars and spreaders of misinformation? Facts are facts Mr. Bell. Trying to throw your weight around by trying to control the media might work with other outlets but that isn’t going to fly with me. This is why we call it a free press.” Well, if the shoe fits, Mr White … at best, your writings are tabloidish, faux journalism. You sir, are not a member of the press, do not resemble anything close to a journalist or a credible opinion writer. Even opinion pieces have to be rooted in fact. My only question at this point is, does David White throw his keyboard at a life size poster of Bill Bell every time his false narratives don’t land outside of his small group who believe in his conspiracy theories? White promised part three of his deep dive soon. There is time to exchange your chest waders for full-on hazmat suits. Gas masks are included. Dennis Anderson is publisher of the Montrose Daily Press and Delta County Independent. |
