| Bloody Monday!
When I left the Montrose BOCC work session Monday morning Scott Mijares had confirmed that he had no management ability. Apparently, he had put into action a process to try and kill the $24 million construction of the North Campus that would host amongst other departments, Health and Human Services. Mijares revealed Monday that last week for the first time he toured the beleaguered south campus. Mijares declared at the meeting that the employees who do some of the most difficult work were working in the poorest of conditions. You would think that before he was hell bent on killing a contract that has been signed and in action he would do a needs analysis. Nope, Mijares is operating on his offended emotions. Last I heard the buyout stood at $2.8 million, but work on the site is being done, the buyout is growing. Little did I know the incredible scene that was about to unfold at the county offices. Word reached me a little over an hour after leaving the work session that Mijares and Commissioner Sean Pond had asked for Montrose County Manager Frank Rodriguez's resignation, citing tensions between them and management. I ask, who has brought the tension? Mijares has been on an anger burner ever since the previous board hired Rodriguez. Rodriguez submitted his resignation. He later sent an email to community stakeholders. Here is his explanation of what happened: "This morning, Commissioners Mijares and Pond asked for my resignation; based on a misalignment of cultural values, for the best interest of the County, I decided to accept." I can't imagine the kind of pressure Rodriguez endured over the past few months. Rodriguez operates under a sense of duty and sacrifice. It's in his DNA. At the end, he sacrificed himself in order for what he seemingly hoped would move the county forward, as dysfunctional as that could be. Remember a few weeks ago when both Mijares and Pond declared that they had no intention of firing Rodriguez or Public Health Director Mirza Ahmed. One is now gone and the other was unceremoniously shunted to interim director. Nope, there was no plan to terminate, just force them out. One, they'll say, left on his own accord and the other, they'll claim, was hired by violating state statute. The latter was confirmed to have been legitimately hired by county attorney Martha Whitmore. Oh yeah, there's the Whitmore situation. The terminators moved their destructive ways into Whitmore's office. The result was Whitmore's resignation. But the Laurel and Hardy of county commissioners couldn't leave well enough alone. When our senior writer Katharhynn Heidelberg contacted Mijares he lacked the courage to speak for his actions, instead referring her to Pond. The two are on the same page, the question is obviously whether they worked outside of open meetings or executive sessions to coordinate their efforts. Pond emailed a response on behalf of the two commissioners to Heidelberg. The following is Pond's statement on what happened concerning Whitmore: "Separately, following the work session, Commissioner Mijares asked County Attorney Martha Whitmore whether her previously offered resignation still stood. Ms. Whitmore had offered her resignation on several occasions over the past few months. She confirmed that her offer still stood, looked in my direction, and I responded, "Thank you, ma'am," and walked away. Her resignation was not requested by me or by any other member of the Board during that conversation." I posted Pond's entire email on my Facebook page, prompting Whitmore to comment that this was not what happened in her office. Whitmore then emailed the BOCC, withdrawing her resignation and stating she would be reporting for work Wednesday morning. Here is her email to the commissioners: Dear Commissioners: As you are aware, I tendered my resignation earlier today after Commissioners Pond and Mijares came to my office and asked if I would resign. As I have stated on more than one occasion, the county attorney serves at the pleasure of the Board and can be fired or asked to resign at any time. There is no need for public drama. However, that does not make a resignation voluntary. Commissioners Mijares and Pond said they would like me to resign, and I stated that I would agree to resign pursuant to my contract which includes six month severance, to which they both nodded approval. I also asked if they both would waive the forty-five (45) day notice in my contract, and again, they both agreed. Imagine my surprise to then see an "official statement" from Commissioner Pond that suggests my resignation was voluntary. Let me assure you that my resignation was not voluntary. It was requested by the two of them. To the extent that the Board considers my resignation to be voluntary then I withdraw it immediately, as of 7:52 p.m. as my resignation has not been accepted and a Personnel Action Notice was not signed, and will report for work on Wednesday morning at 8:00 a.m." Do you think the two commissioners saw that one coming? Rodriguez has the same six month severance written into his contract, and expects it to be honored. Along with the resignations of Rodriguez and Whitmore came Asstistant County Manager Emily Tomlinson Sanchez's resignation. For me, Sanchez's resignation makes it clear that the two commissioners have created an environment that is too toxic to continue. Sanchez has a lifelong commitment to Montrose, her roots run deep. Players have come and gone, but Emily has been a consistent shining example of what hard work and dedication from a Western Sloper looks like. This resignation feels more emotional and more personal and a louder statement about the dysfunction that Mijares and Pond have created. Today (April 15) at 3:30 p.m. there is a special meeting at the Public Works building on Lasalle to address the matter. A public comment period is on the agenda. Show up and do your thing. But if the two commissioners dismiss the voices who don't agree with them as "out of their mind liberals," then they're not representing the constituents as a whole. It may be time for two more resignations. You reap what you sow. Their harvest is filled with toxicity. Dennis Anderson is publisher of the Montrose Daily Press and Delta County Independent. This column was published prior to the BOCC's April 15 meeting; check montrosepress.com for further developments. | 
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