but Weld County doesn’t!   The Junction Daily Blog (Western Colorado Talk and Opinion) had this to say about Barbara Kirkmeyer being appointed to head the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) in 2006.

“I  would have to characterize as "muted disappointment "  our local legislators’ reaction to the appointment of Barbara Kirkmeyer to head the Department of Local Affairs. Nobody from this side of the hill seems to have anything nice to say about her, but nobody wants to get on her bad side either. Kirkmeyer, a former Weld County Commissioner turned professional political appointee, seems to need constant reminders that there is more to Colorado than I-25.” (emphasis mine)

Bet I’m on her bad side.   Oh well…

Before the August primaries I blogged about my concerns over republican Weld County Commissioner candidate for District 3 (my district) Barbara Kirkmeyer.   Just to remind you, I endorsed Rob Masden rather than Claire Orr or Kirkmeyer.   Rob and Claire split the vote allowing Kirkmeyer to win the republican primary.  

At the time my concerns centered around  Kirkmeyer’s  tenure at DOLA.   Now it seems she has to answer for some other questionable practices regarding money she made for grant writing services.   According to documents available at www.completecolorado.com,  Kirkmeyer  violated Colorado state statute by profiting from DOLA grants she wrote on behalf of the town of Fort Lupton.   The law says she had to wait six months after Governor Ritter dismissed her from her DOLA responsibilities.   She didn’t, and now Weld County DA Ken Buck is investigating.  

The Greeley Tribune reported the story on Saturday.   The Tribune article provides more information about Kirkmeyer’s grant writing services and her explanation.   Kirkmeyer’s defense: “political shenanigans,” ignorance of the law, and “I’m not sorry” (I guess that she broke the law).

Several  questions came to mind:

• Yes Weld County municipalities benefitted, but did other municipalities lose out on grant money because Weld County got money illegally? Does that matter to voters?
• Does ignorance of the law absolve  one from breaking it if the reason is worthy?
• Is it “political shenanigans” to investigate a candidate if he or she may have broken a law?

Check out the comments to the Tribune story.    Some are as enlightening as the story itself.  

As for my above questions, we don’t know about other governments losing out on money,  and honestly I don’t think voters will care.  She may not be absolved legally, but voters will forgive her because they benefitted.   I suppose you could call it vote buying much  like congressional earmarks.    Finally, as for “political shenanigans,” the term implies something underhanded or questionable.   From my perspective, the only “shenanigans,” come routinely from Kirkmeyer.   Investigating someone who may have broken the law simply is good law enforcement.

If you are wondering what all this means, well I think  Kirkmeyer will win the election.   She is a republican in a conservative county, but I won’t vote for her.   Call this my Joe Lieberman moment. Remember Joe Lieberman endorsed John McCain at the Republican National Convention because he was going to put his country before his party.   I’m putting my county before my party and voting for Kirkmeyer’s democrat  opponent Tom Pettit.   I disagree with Tom on some policy issues, but I know him to be as honest as the day is long.   I would rather my county commissioner be an honest democrat than a fiscally-challenged  and ethically-questionable republican.  

Just to let you know, I invited Ms. Kirkmeyer to be on my show.  

Check out an op-ed I wrote with my fabulous intern Stephanie Kubala on transparency in Colorado.   The Denver Post published it on-line.   Most interesting to me are the comments.   Apparently if the tax increase is for a noble cause — kids and the developmentally disabled — then taxpayers don’t need a full accounting of where their tax dollars are being spent.   Sorry but I’m not persuaded.   I still want to know where every dime is spent.   If government wants my money then I want information.   Remember: No taxation without information!

As the democrat-controlled Congress and the Bush administration march the country towards a massive bailout, a question keeps nagging me.   Why are the democrats in Congress so eager to get spend $700 billion to bailout Wall Street?   They claim to be the party of the little guy.   Have congressional democrats forgotten where we ended up the last time President Bush appealed to the American people  about  a pressing problem that needed immediate attention?   Funny that it is House republicans who are showing restraint.    For answers check out this YouTube check video.  Also read Denver Post columnist David Harsanyi’s blog on the topic.   You’ll discover how the meltdown happened, who truly is to blame, who profited  and why they should never be in positions of power again!  

I’ve said on my show that now is not the time for finger pointing but I am reversing that statement because Barack Obama is running for president and he is up to his eyeballs in campaign contributions from the very people who are responsible for all this mess — as is Christopher Dodd, John Kerry and Barney Frank.   They all should be tossed out.   How in the world do we allow these people to be elected?

Watch the video.

Colorado residents have yet another reason to move north (but please don’t because I’m really selfish about NoCO) to Fort Collins.   Besides being named the second best place to live in America according to CNN/Money Magazine, now Fort Collins residents will enjoy full transparency and accountability from their city government.   According to an article in the Coloradoan, “Fort Collins officials have committed to coming up with a system through which payments made by the city may be searched online with a user-friendly format.”   City Manager Darin Atteberry supports the idea but asked that he and his staff have until June 2009 to get everything in place.  

Taxpayers need to thank City Councilman Diggs Brown for bringing transparency to Fort Collins.   Diggs’ rationale seems a bit radical!   He stated,  ”it’s the taxpayers’ money, and they should be able to readily see how we’re spending it.”  

Mayor Doug Hutchinson said of the pending transparency website “Fort Collins is ‘light years ahead of most of the rest of the world’ when it comes to making public records readily accessible.” I don’t know about the rest of world —  a whole slew of states and  Texas school districts have  embraced transparency  – but certainly Fort Collins will be light years ahead of the state of Colorado and every other municipality in the centennial state.   Fort Collins is the first Colorado city to believe residents and taxpayers deserve to know how their money is spent.

I  wrote earlier that  this is a  ”crazy idea” based on a warped philosophy that stewards of taxpayer dollars should show taxpayers how their money is spent without taxpayers having to ask and pay for what is already  public information.  

The unanimous vote in favor or transparency and accountability, proves my point from an earlier post.   Good government is not a partisan issue.   I forwarded the Coloradoan article to the good mayor of Greeley Ed Clark and all city council members and suggested that Greeley follow Fort Collins’ lead.   I will keep you posted on their responses.   Feel free to contact them yourself and remember: No taxation without information!