| We're coming down to the last couple of weeks until we know the election results. In Montrose County the hottest issue is whether the voters will retain or recall Commissioner Scott Mijares. Judging from social media and an email exchange between the commissioner and Phoebe Benziger — one of the leaders of the recall committee — Mijares is feeling the heat of the situation and is in full hand-to-hand combat mode or at least post-to-post combat mode. He's getting salty. Pond, who responded separately, is feeling it, too. Pond has a lot to lose, as well. This past week, by a vote of two to one, the commissioners voted to open a search for the county manager position. Currently, the position is occupied by former county commissioner David White. The move opened the resume gathering process for three days internally and externally. The two who voted for this extremely short window — Pond and Mijares — can play coy all they want, their intention is loud and clear: Hire David White and remove the interim tag. What could possibly go wrong? The discussion before the vote between the two and the lone dissenter, Commissioner Sue Hansen, was intense. The commissioners a week earlier voted to extend White as the interim through the end of the year. This would give them time to cast a wider net for their search. Plus, the way that Hansen saw it, it would give them the opportunity to see how the recall went before making a final decision. The other two weren't having it. Let's flash back to 2024 when Mijares raised objections with the previous BOCC that they should wait until a new board is in place before they hired a new county manager to replace the departed Jon Waschbusch, who left in August 2024. Mijares ran unopposed in the general election. District three was still being contested between Rick Dunlap, the Republican candidate, and Trisha Murray, the independent. Both also asked the BOCC to wait. They didn't, but they did give all three the opportunity to meet the finalists. All three agreed that Frank Rodriguez — who would be named to the position — was the best candidate. Mijares still wasn't happy that they hired Rodriguez instead of waiting. Here we are again — we're in the same position but now Mijares and Pond are hot and heavy to hire White. That's been the plan long before these past couple of weeks, at least for Mijares. Back in February rumors were swirling that Mijares wanted to move on from Rodriguez and put White in the position. White had been an advisor to Mijares during his campaign and when he first took office. Once the public discovered that Mijares was wanting to remove Rodriguez and it looked as though he had a willing partner in Pond, citizens began to speak out. At that time public comments were welcomed at weekly work sessions and every other week at commissioner meetings, but criticism towards both Mijares and Pond grew so much that Mijares removed public comments at the work sessions. Mijares campaigned on public involvement at meetings, but he did a 180 when it became clear the public wasn't happy with what he was doing from personnel decisions, his attempts to delay construction on the north campus, including negotiating a contract buyout with Stryker Construction, which was not within the scope of his duties as a commissioner. The buyout amount reached $3.2 million. Mijares would later declare after touring the south campus that a new building was needed because working conditions were poor at best. He claimed it was the first time he toured the campus. It wasn't, but he is so determined to reverse decisions made by the previous BOCC that facts have become pliable. Mijares claims the previous board rushed the north campus contract decision even though the county had been working on the contract for over 18 months. Recent developments on the project include a change in the decision to install cubicles on the third floor, but after actual costs came through a decision was made and presented to the BOCC to change back to the original plans of building offices. The change means a delay in the timeline by an additional five to seven months. Mijares claimed on social media that he was surprised by the delay and that he didn't know what caused the delay. This is another reason he wanted to pause the project for him to review the contract. But the delay was explained to the commissioners after the decision was made to go back to the original plans and the offices. There's been other questionable decisions including supporting Pond on his resolutions and the clunky wolves ordinance. For full disclosure I voted against the wolf reintroduction referendum, so stopping the program which hasn't appeared to be successful is fine with me. But the ordinance that was approved at the last BOCC meeting isn't enforceable and if the county tries it will lead to litigation. How much can the county afford to fight for this ordinance? It's not Pond's money, but it's his notoriety that he's chasing — no matter how dramatic his grand standing becomes it's about him. Mijares grabs Pond's shirttails and goes along for the ride. Back to Benzinger's separate email exchanges with Mijares and Pond. She expressed her concern with the short window and the appearance that it's a foregone conclusion that this is designed to hire White. Both commissioners in their response praised White and the job he's done in his first 90 days, the fact he was a two term commissioner and his institutional knowledge. Mijares also criticized the previous board for Ken Norris' resignation that he claims was forced and the hiring of his replacement, then Asst. Manager Jon Waschbusch, who was named interim and then eventually manager. Waschbusch was a long term county employee who worked his way up the ranks. Norris was retained as building and projects manager. The concern about White is the amount of litigation the county endured during his time as commissioner. It cost the county millions of dollars. But instead of being sensitive to that narrative both Pond and Mijares were combative towards Benzinger. Mijares ended his email with this "P.S. I think what you have done to our county has been destructive. Not just this year but over years past." Mijares has lived in Montrose County for a little over three years. There is no comparison between what Benzinger has done for Montrose County and what Mijares or Pond has done, from her work to create the rec center, the city public safety fund — which is the envy of surrounding communities — to her work with the Women's Giving Club, who has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to worthy causes throughout the county. Pond in his response claimed that Benzinger and the recall committee is accepting dark money from the Western Organization of Resource Councils, claiming that the organization receives money from the Hansjörg Wyss Foundation, the Swiss billionaire who funds environmental groups. The group that the foundation has provided funds for is Western Resource Advocates, which is an environmental group not associated with Western Organization of Resources. But falsely disparaging their opposition is nothing new or surprising from these two or their supporters. No matter the result, Nov. 4 can't get here fast enough.
Dennis Anderson is publisher of the Montrose Daily Press and Delta County Independent. | 
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