It was a big turnoff for me to see pictures of that huge United States of America airplane parked at the Eagle County airport last weekend. I wonder how many people were in it along with First Lady Michelle Obama and her two girls, Malia and Sasha.

I don’t begrudge them taking a long weekend holiday, but couldn’t they have chosen a site closer to Washington, D.C., like maybe Vermont or New York to do their skiing?

To me it just spelled opulence and a “don’t care” attitude toward our country where trillions of dollars of debt is being discussed and in the headlines every day.

Could it happen here?

And it’s very disturbing to see thousands of union state workers inside the beautiful capital in Madison, Wis., protesting budget cuts and reductions in health insurance. I don’t have much sympathy when the other folks working in the business world are not only taking cuts, they are losing jobs. Shame on those Democrats who left the state to elude voting. Why should the education sector of our economy be spared any sacrifices? They have a wonderful benefit package, which even allows them to buy “credits” for retirement purposes and retire early.

Another turnoff

Aren’t you sick and tired of hearing about Carmelo Anthony? Let him go! As my Dad always said, “There’s always another horse to fit the collar.”

I am disappointed that Chauncey Billups is also part of the deal, but as they in the sports world tell us, “it’s just business.”

And it won’t be long before we’ll have our Rockies back in town and the jockeying for starting positions gets under way. Of course some folks will travel down to the beautiful Walking Stick complex to see both the training facility and the team. It’s first class all the way.

Closer to home

I wonder who gave our Adams County Assessor, Gil Reyes, the smart idea for him to call for an audit on his own of his business conduct. There’s an old saying of getting your bad news out before your rivals tell the story their way.

Now that JoAnn Groff, the property tax administrator, has to oversee the legality of Reyes’ handling of property tax assessments, it could get interesting, although JoAnn already states she can only rule on narrow issues and favoritism doesn’t count. What do you want to bet the outcome will be “bad judgment” and no law violations? Count on JoAnn to be fair and do her job thoroughly.

Another smart move

If our Adams County commissioners were smart they would ask the residents if the commission should be enlarged to five or even seven members. But they won’t! They like the coziness of having a threesome with all that power. So, nothing will change until we vote them out.

Meantime they are meeting in a retreat to find some common ground to deal with newly elected Republican commissioner, Erik Hansen. And Erik has to be careful not to get sucked in to the cooperation theme. However, we the residents want him to be our watchdog since the other two don’t seem to be minding the store. And with the extension of term limits to 12 years you can bet they planned to run again. What a turnoff this has been, seeing our tax dollars compromised with deals.

Let’s only hope that justice is the order of the day and that it actually happens.

Quote of the Week

“Shrewdness in public life all over the world is always honored while honesty in public men is generally attributed to dumbness and seldom rewarded.” – Will Rogers

Stay well, stay involved and stay tuned.

Vi June is past Democratic state representative for House District 35. She is a former mayor of Westminster and a former newspaper publisher. A Westminster resident for more than four decades, she and her husband, Bob, have five grown children and eight grandchildren.