| In February 2024, the three Delta County Commissioners faced an auditorium full of constituents, who were not happy with the changes to the land use code. One by one they took to the microphone and expressed their discontent. It became personal and to the credit of the commissioners — Don Suppes, Mike Lane and Wendall Koontz — they sat and took every word. I sat in the audience in disbelief of how people could treat other people. The barrage of insults lasted over an hour.
Montrose County commissioners Scott Mijares and Sean Pond have skin as thin as wet toilet paper … one ply. At the Monday work session a handful of constituents spoke, each making valid points. When Tonya Maddox spoke she invoked the names of former managers Frank Rodriguez and Emily Sanchez, along with former county attorney Marti Whitmore. That raised the ire of Mijares. When Maddox stated that, "Our county commissioners make $101,000. That's more than most people in this room make. The embarrassment that has followed is making me shake," referring to the forced resignations of Rodriguez and Whitmore prompting Sanchez to also resign, Mijares shut her down claiming that Maddox was engaging in a personal attack. That was a wow moment for me. By stating what the commissioners' salary is, which is public record, Mijares took that as a personal attack showing how defensive he is about the decision. Mijares drove it and now he needs to own it. He brought Pond along for the ride, working his ego like a gear shift. The only price he had to pay was to vote for Pond's resolutions and "come save us" letter to Donald Trump. Maddox went on to address her concern about a Facebook post by Pond's wife, Danielle, published after Maddox and others spoke out against the two commissioners and the "rumors" (which came true) that the two were going to oust Rodriguez. Here's the post, "He's been forced to sit silent while they attacked. Forced to bite his tongue while the lies spread. Made to sit on his hands while cowards threw their stones. He's listened in silence when every part of him wanted to roar. But when an outspoken, aggressive man goes quiet-it's not peace, it's precision. He's not retreating-he's reading the field. And when he moves, it's not to speak-it's to strike. In the end, they'll wish they'd just left him alone." Sounds like a threat to me. What I'm learning is that Pond fulfills an old saying I learned when I was in the army: His canary butt can't cash the checks his alligator mouth writes. But for a single mother trying to make it on her own, I can see how a statement like that could be scary. Pond doesn't seem to understand that he is a county commissioner and he wears that hat 24/7. He is accountable for what he posts or what is posted in his name by his wife. Pond, who darts in and out of social media through his personal page and his so-called official page, has this posted on his personal page: "Personal page. Views are my own. No media use or reposts allowed without written consent." Yeah, good luck with that. Pond wants to walk into a room like the old SNL Mighty Mouse skit by Andy Kaufman, singing the line from the theme song: "Here I am to save the day!" Don't believe me? His cover photo states, "THE BATTLE FOR COLORADO: FREEDOM VS TYRANNY. CHOOSE YOUR SIDE" Well, write another letter to the federal government to come save us. To answer Tonya's concern, there's nothing to fear here but a dude who has overdosed on bravado. Back to Mijares, he's playing hard and fast with the rules of the Chair. Shutting down Maddox is a great example. A couple of weeks ago before a meeting started, Mijares asked Interim County Attorney Julie Andress if someone is attacking an employee during public comment time could he shut them down. Andress said yes. Then Mijares asked if he and Pond were employees. Andress and HR Director and Interim County Manager Leslie Quann both told him they are public officials, not employees. It was a head scratching moment for me. Does he really not understand his role? If you go back and view meeting videos from the previous BOCC sessions, there's Mijares during constituent time being aggressive with then-Chair Roger Rash. Rash never shut him down except for when his three minutes expired. Never claimed his rants were personal attacks. There was one odd moment when Mijares ran out of time and Rash told him so. Mijares wanted to run over, but Rash wasn't having any part of it. So, Mijares sent his wife to the podium and she yielded her time to Mijares. Nice try. Rash wasn't playing that game either. But instead of handing his wife his notes so she could carry on his message, he argued with Rash, disrupting the meeting. Again, to Rash's credit he didn't have Mijares removed. Mijares allows certain members of the public to interrupt discussions to add their point of view, but there seems to be a criteria, reinforce Mijares' opinion then you're good to go. Barb Hulet has carte blanche, I tried to ask a question at the last meeting and was told public comment time was closed. The whole Dr. Ahmed as Public Health Director-controversy going sideways in a meeting started with Hullet stating loudly from her seat, during commissioner discussion, "he brings a biiiiias, he has a biiiiias" referring to his experience with the World Health Organization. Her hanging on the long i in bias still raises the hair on the back of my neck. She also spoke during a discussion concerning the solar moratorium and claimed that when the panels move it rattles her chiiiina — "her chiiiina" — and that solar only benefits "Chiiiina" (the country not her tableware). Hulet you may recall lead a group who wanted the previous board to count ballots by hand instead of using a machine, despite the fact that Tressa Guynes has proven over and over again the without-a-doubt accuracy of the machines. But this is who has Pond and Mijares' ear along with Montrose DOGE, whose accuracy isn't the best. Mijares should by now be resilient enough to stand by his decisions and withstand criticism, but it was evident in Monday's meeting that he's not. He and Pond made the decision to clean house without consulting Commissioner Sue Hansen, who didn't find out until she was in a departmental meeting when Rodriguez, Whitmore and Sanchez announced that they had resigned. Again, the first two were asked to resign. The rules for public comment need to be fair and consistent. There should be no perception of favoritism. Right now it seems that the two commissioners are being sensitive from their decisions and are looking for affirmation Toughen up fellas! Dennis Anderson is publisher of the Montrose Daily Press and Delta County Independent. | 
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