| In a recent opinion piece posted in the Montrose Mirror by their favorite political yarn spinner David White, he declared that I was no longer the "King Maker." That's a title I certainly never claimed, but I do know a jester or two or three when I see them. At this point, White's cap n' bells have to be custom made. In my last column I shared with you the research I did into Michael Badagliacco's exaggerated bio posted on the City of Montrose candidates page. Badagliacco made a lot of claims that don't seem to pass muster. But apparently it's acceptable for certain members of the Montrose County Republican Central Committee to not look too deeply into their candidates. Which is why it's perplexing that this group would send out advertisements declaring three candidates as "vetted conservatives." Is this the same group that vetted recalled county commissioner Scott Mijares? The song "Stuck in the Middle With You" is playing in my head: "Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right" – indeed. Long time Republicans are ostracized by this group of self important elites who love to try and put their thumb on the election scale. In 2024, then-chair Scott Riba tried to tilt the District 3 commissioner race in favor of himself over Rick Dunlap. A few like former chair Ray Langston sounded the alarm, but to no avail. Langston's reward? Censure, a restraining order and brutal character assassination, but that's their modus operandi. Dunlap handled Riba easily. When Dunlap unexpectedly passed away while in office, Riba wasted no time putting his name in the hat to fill Dunlap's position. It was up to the central committee to appoint a replacement. They went with newcomer Sean Pond. He was appointed over Riba which was interesting because it was his tribe that rejected him. David White also added his name, but suffered an embarrassing defeat. You'd think the two would take a hint, but nope. White tried to manipulate himself into a spot in the county as manager through an interim appointment, but a funny thing happened on the way to a rigged permanent appointment. His buddy Mijares was recalled and Pond began to realize that fellow commissioners Sue Hansen and Mijares' replacement Kirstin Copeland weren't flaming liberals, but rather pragmatic conservatives. In a county podcast he proclaimed that the new arrangement was working very well. The county that the central committee claimed would turn blue didn't. Riba then made an attempt at the commissioner seat again for this election but he received a cold shoulder at the Republican caucus this past weekend and subsequently dropped out of the race. Even his most ardent supporters on the executive committee at Republican Central rejected him for little known Ed Lafferty, their former vice chair, or candidate Tim Stroh. Loyalty is fleeting with this group. Another former vice chair, Kay Heinschel, has also felt the sting of the dysfunctionality of this group. Heinschel is the husband of Commissioner Hansen and he'd had enough of the party leaders' and Mijares' treatment of his wife and joined the recall movement. He violated the bylaws of the local party that he helped author and was asked to resign from his precinct captain position, which he did. After over a year of mistreatment by the party, Hansen changed her party affiliation from Republican to Unaffiliated. When you're in an abusive relationship the best thing to do is remove yourself from the situation, which is what she did. She did recently change back. Heinschel, who was a loyal Republican for decades, also briefly went unaffiliated, but the pull of being a Republican caused him to shortly go back. When he asked the party chair, Monty George, to be put back on the party's email list he was denied. Second vice chair – which sounds like the assistant to assistant manager position – Jodi Woodden, the wife of city council candidate Adam Woodden, one of the so-called "vetted conservative" candidates, and secretary Tammy Jolley objected to adding Heinschel back to the email list because according to them he helped the Democrats recall Mijares,even though it was actually a bipartisan effort. They also cited his association with the Montrose Republican Women. Badagliacco and others within the central committee have claimed the women's group is out to take over the central committee. Full disclosure, I am an associate member of the group and regularly attend their monthly meetings, which are focused on presentations from the community to educate the group and fundraising for student grants. For example, this month's presentation is about fraud protection. At 62, I bring the average age of the group down. Perhaps Badagliacco and the rest have a fear of grandmas that they can't move past. Frustrated, Heinschel left the meeting and returned with a copy of Mijares' SEC violations case when he worked as a stock advisor. He asked George why the party didn't do a better job of vetting their candidate. George denied knowing anything about Mijares' SEC case – point made. The central committee vetters seem to take the Hogan's Heroes, Sgt. Schultz approach, "I know nothing! I hear nothing! I see nothing!" They see what they want to see. But conspiracy theories are a part of this gang's approach and when their tin foil hats are tuned in it can be an unbelievable experience. For example, Jodi Woodden posted this to her Facebook page back in December: "ICE needs to show up to Walmart. So annoying how entitled these illegals are. Come back LEGALLY! I feel like I'm in another country when I go into Walmart. Is it like this all over the country or just in Colorado?" Yes, if someone looks or sounds different they must be here illegally. She is one of the drivers of the "vetted conservative" advertisements that include her husband. No bias there at all! When Adam Woodden speaks I can hear David White acting like Cyrano de Bergerac and feeding Woodden his talking points and with Badagliacco I can close my eyes and see Mijares. Anger is as anger does. These two are the Wile E. Coyote of Montrose politics. Any bets on whether they have an Acme Company anvil in their vehicles? There's plenty of information out there about the candidates. Both the Forum's and League of Women Voters' candidate forums are on YouTube. The point being, do your own vetting. No one else holds the key to your voting conscience, including me. The city council is a nonpartisan body and political parties should leave it that way. The Montrose Republican Central Committee's paid advertisements bring a whole new meaning to "dark money." Dennis Anderson is publisher of the Montrose Daily Press and Delta County Independent. | 
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