| Thursday evening I showed up at the Montrose County School District's conference room, a public building, to attend the monthly Montrose County Republicans meeting. In attendance were six public officials, including two county commissioners. I was there ten minutes early, caught up with some old friends and took a seat prior to the 6:30 p.m. start time. The meeting started late because someone jumped the curb in the parking lot and got their vehicle stuck. They must have been a Democrat, because a Republican would never do such a thing. Around ten minutes later the meeting was set to start. Montrose County Republican Chair Monty George rose from his seat. I started to rise thinking we were going to pledge allegiance to the flag. But no one else stood. George announced that before the meeting started he wanted to address something. Well, this is getting interesting I thought. "I'm going to ask someone to leave the room before we get started," George said. Dang, I thought, did that pesky Democrat make their way into the meeting? Pretty bold. Then George, who I passed twice earlier in the evening, said my name and asked me to leave. He said the meeting was private. I responded that there were public officials present, so it was a public meeting. George argued, then told me that I slandered a board member in my writings. Does anyone have a dictionary he can borrow? Does he know the meaning of slander? Then George said that I've been attacking his Republican County commissioners. Guilty! I have been, armed with a spotlight and the truth as my weapons of choice. "I let him stay at the last meeting because I was hoping he would see we're not just a bunch of crazies."George said. I never thought anyone was crazy except for maybe me for attending but I wanted to observe, learn and inform. Not to delay the meeting any longer for my friends that were in attendance, I did leave. I almost turned around because I heard a smattering of applause. Far be it from me to miss a standing ovation. Earlier in the evening at the Horsefly Brewery, Commissioner Sean Pond came up to our table and said hi and shook my hand. Aww, we're going to let bygones be bygones. Pond, who says he will stop anyone who tries to violate our constitutional rights, surely defended me when I left the meeting. Or, maybe he draws the line at freedom of the press? And here I thought the BOCC meeting in Nucla would cap the week as far as adventure goes. The most anticipated item on the agenda was the naming of the public health director. For a recap, a couple of months earlier the board unanimously voted to name Dr. Mirza Ahmed as the director. Then it was announced on Facebook and some folks lost their minds because he's not an American citizen and because of his previous employment with the W.H.O. — not the classic rock band. The two commissioners got cold feet and a technicality was discovered and when the board needed to vote to correct it the resolution died and Ahmed was no longer director. He was offered an interim status until the county could go through the hiring process and he was offered to reapply. Weeks later, on Wednesday, Dr. Ahmed was confirmed as director again. No one gets an atta-boy for righting a wrong decision that was self inflicted. Ever feel like you're in a round room and you're searching for a corner to sit in — these boys are playing with our collective minds. But before all that happened there were public comments. Here we were in Sean Pond's backyard, the line formed early, it was about ten people deep. I was ready to hear comments of support for Pond since he's been hearing the opposite at meetings in Montrose. The first seven speakers spoke to Commissioner Sue Hansen. Each thanking her for her dedication to the West End while former Commissioner Roger Rash was dealing with a family tragedy. Through tears each described different times that Hansen helped them, braving terrible driving conditions to make the trek to meet with them. Doylene Garvey presented her with a gift. The remaining speakers spoke on other issues and the meeting carried on. Pond's silent majority, as he likes to describe his supporters, is still silent. Earlier in the week, County Assessor Brad Hughes sent an email to the Montrose Daily Press stating that four current office holders would be announcing their bid for relection on the steps of the library. Hughes for county assessor, Tressa Guynes for clerk and recorder, Rosemary Murphy for treasurer and Gene Lillard for sheriff. But then there was a surprise announcement from Sean Pond that he was going to, for the first time, run for county commissioner in District 3. Talk about crashing the party. His announcement takes the lead in the story, but really the big news is that offices the other four currently hold have the opportunity for stability through 2030. We'll see if there are any challengers. Do you suppose Monty George and the central committee will take credit if the four are reelected? He did when Sue Hansen was reelected, even though she ran unopposed. He spoke to it at a commissioner's meeting when he called her out for changing her party affiliation from Republican to Unaffiliated. She had been run through the wringer the previous few months by her own party. A person who by all accounts, from constituents to staff, had worked hard for not only her district but for Rash's as well. I'm sure Keith Caddy's district has felt it too. She's proof that in local politics the letter behind the office holder's name shouldn't matter. Whether it's an R, a D or a U, what really matters is the letter C, which in this instance stands for compassion, competence and care. Hansen has demonstrated those qualities in spades. Being kicked out of the Republican meeting Thursday night is a no-hard-feelings moment for me, but after exposing some issues following the April meeting I can see why George doesn't want their conversations revealed. I do have one bone to pick with him though, it's when he described the other two county commissioners as their Republican County Commissioners. They don't belong to the central committee, they belong to the citizens. There's another C they should carry behind their name. Dennis Anderson is publisher of the Montrose Daily Press and Delta County Independent.
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