Former Jeffco Treasurer Mark Paschall on Trial Again

The Denver Post reports on Round 2 of former Jeffco Treasurer Mark Paschall's trial for allegedly soliciting a kickback from his former secretary.

For the second time in six months, former Jefferson County Treasurer Mark Paschall is on trial for allegedly soliciting a kickback from a former top aide.

Paschall, 54, was acquitted of attempted theft in February. The jury deadlocked on a charge of receiving compensation for past official behavior, and the Jefferson County district attorney's office decided to re-try Paschall on that charge.

In opening statements Tuesday, prosecutor Sean Phillips said Paschall offered an $18,000 bonus to his political appointee, Kathy Redmond, shortly before he left office in late 2006.

Paschall twice solicited Redmond to split the "ridiculous-sized bonus" with him, Phillips said.

Redmond testified in the first trial that she reported the alleged offer to Jefferson County Commissioner Jim Congrove, who notified District Attorney Scott Storey.

Last month, Congrove asked Storey to drop the charge. Storey refused.

Paschall's attorney, David Lane, said the case is about political payback, not a kickback.

"At no time did he solicit a kickback," Lane told jurors.

Congrove and Paschall were political allies from when both served in the state legislature, Lane said.

When Paschall was elected Jefferson County treasurer in 2002, he made Congrove a political appointee in his office.

Lane said a "major blowout" occurred between the two men when Congrove, who was elected commissioner in 2003, became angry when Paschall would not reveal his testimony to a grand jury that was investigating Congrove. The grand jury failed to reach a decision.

I've been walking neighborhoods throughout Jefferson County since January, and people are (justifiably) tired of this nonsense. I'm running for Jefferson County Commissioner to help put a stop to this incestuous culture of corruption that had turned Jeffco government into a veritable circus. We need elected officials who are more interested in the business of running the county than in playing their own political games with each other.

Help me to make this change by voting for Jason Bane in November. In the meantime, please sign up to volunteer, to take a yard sign, or to make a donation at www.JasonBane.org.

Elect Jason Bane Outraises Every County Candidate

This is great news. Thanks to hundreds of great supporters, we really have the momentum in this campaign. Take a look at the press release we sent out yesterday:

LAKEWOOD (July 23, 2008)—Jason Bane, candidate for the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners (District 2), announced today that his campaign raised more money in 2008 than any other candidate for county office in Jeffco.

The committee “Elect Jason Bane” reported 300 individual donors and $37,445 raised in just under six months (Bane began raising money in February 2008), which is more money than any of the other candidates running for County Commissioner.

“I’m thrilled with the amount of money we were able to raise in such a short period of time, but I’m most proud of the fact that more than 300 people contributed to my campaign,” said Bane, who noted that 125 contributions were for $50 or less. “My contributions come from hundreds of Jeffco residents who are eager for a new direction in Jefferson County, not in a handful of big donations from developers and landowners.”

Bane’s 300 donors in six months are more than his opponent, Kevin McCasky, raised in the entire year when he first ran for commissioner in 2004.

Last week Bane received the endorsement of Congressman Ed Perlmutter, and he has already been endorsed by the Arvada Police Officers’ Association.


ABOUT JASON
Jason Bane is running for the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners in District 2, although every Commissioner is elected by countywide vote. He is an award-winning journalist and longtime community activist who currently serves on the Board of the Jefferson County PTA. Jason and his wife, Julie, are lifelong residents of Jefferson County (Jason’s family has been in Jeffco for three generations); they live in Lakewood with their 2-year-old daughter, Stella, and are expecting their second child in September.

For more information, go to www.JasonBane.org.

Second Paschall Kickback Trial Starts Monday

As The Columbine Courier reports:

The second kickback trial of former Jeffco treasurer Mark Paschall is scheduled to begin July 28, a proceeding that could once again shine a light on the county’s inner political turmoil.

Paschall, who was acquitted of a charge of attempted theft in February during the first trial, still faces a charge of compensation for past official behavior for allegedly offering Kathy Redmond, one of his two political appointees, an $18,000 post-tax bonus on the condition she give him half.

The alleged offer to Redmond reportedly came in the waning days of Paschall’s job as county treasurer in December 2006. Redmond then reported the alleged offer to County Commissioner Jim Congrove, who notified Jeffco District Attorney Scott Storey.

Paschall was originally charged with two felonies, criminal attempted theft and compensation for past official behavior. He will be retried on the second charge after the first jury was unable to reach a verdict on it.

In a strange twist, Congrove called Storey recently and urged him to drop the charges against Paschall.

"I have talked to him about not prosecuting that," Congrove said in a phone interview July 15. "It serves no purpose. It does nothing for the community."

Congrove's opposition to the upcoming trial stands in stark contrast to the fact that he initiated the investigation into Paschall. In addition, Congrove said after the first trial that Paschall's attorney used "smoke and mirrors" to get him acquitted.

Congrove was on the prosecution's witness list during the first trial in February but did not testify. Paschall's defense attorney said the charges against his client were "political payback" by Congrove — because Paschall had refused to tell Congrove about his testimony before a grand jury investigating the commissioner in yet another case.

Congrove and Paschall have a political history that includes time as allies while they were serving as state lawmakers. Later, Paschall gave Congrove a political appointment when he was elected county treasurer and before Congrove became a commissioner.

Congrove didn't see anything odd about his reversal.

Maybe Congrove doesn't see anything odd, but I do. Paschall's defense in his first trial was that Congrove set him up to be caught soliciting a kickback, but now Congrove wants the second trial to just go away? We've had enough of this nonsense in Jefferson County, and that's exactly why I'm running for County Commissioner.

Ed Perlmutter Endorses Jason Bane for Commissioner

Great news! Today Rep. Ed Perlmutter formally endorsed my campaign for Jefferson County Commissioner. The full press release is below:

Rep. Ed Perlmutter Endorses Bane for Commissioner
Says Bane “Will Serve Residents Well”


LAKEWOOD (July 17, 2008)—Jason Bane, candidate for the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners (District 2), announced today that he has received the endorsement of Congressman Ed Perlmutter (D-Golden).

“Jason Bane and his family have deep roots here in Jefferson County,” said Perlmutter. “I believe Jason will serve residents well with his intelligence, passion, and commitment to the things that are important to us in Jefferson County, like responsible government, open space, and conservation.”

Said Bane: “Ed Perlmutter has worked tirelessly for Jefferson County for many years, and I am proud to have his support. I look forward to working with him to continue to improve our county while maintaining the quality of life that makes Jeffco such a beautiful place to live.”

Congressman Perlmutter represents Congressional District 7, which encompasses the majority of Jefferson County, including Lakewood, Golden, Wheat Ridge and Arvada. His endorsement comes just weeks after Bane was formally backed by the Arvada Police Officers’ Association.


ABOUT JASON
Jason Bane is running for the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners in District 2, although every Commissioner is elected by countywide vote. He is an award-winning journalist and longtime community activist who currently serves on the Board of the Jefferson County PTA. Jason and his wife, Julie, are lifelong residents of Jefferson County (Jason’s family has been in Jeffco for three generations); they live in Lakewood with their 2-year-old daughter, Stella, and are expecting their second child in September.

For more information, go to www.JasonBane.org.

Developers: 2, Jefferson County Citizens: 0

I was quoted in Saturday's Rocky Mountain News in a story about Commissioner Kevin McCasky's curious decisions to ignore the pleas of hundreds of Jeffco residents in order to approve controversial rezoning cases that favored developer friends:

Jefferson County Commissioner Kevin McCasky said at a recent hearing that he had no connection to a developer whose project he approved.

But the developer contributed $500 to his 2004 election campaign, and angry homeowners have raised questions about a possible conflict of interest in this and another controversial project. McCasky said he doesn't recall the contribution in 2004 or whether there have been any since, but he said contributions have no effect on his decisions…

… Disgruntled residents urged McCasky to recuse himself from the vote June 10, saying his ties to developers presented a conflict of interest.

At the time, McCasky said, "I have no connection to Shea Homes or Colorado Christian University. I made an independent, unbiased decision in this case."

But campaign contribution records show Peter Culshaw, of Shea Homes, made a $500 contribution to McCasky's election campaign in 2004. The commissioner also drew fire over his vote in May to approve a controversial expansion of the Rock South Baptist Church in Littleton.

Among the critics is Jason Bane, a Democratic candidate for commissioner.

"It's not the amount of the money," Bane said. "It is the issue of trying to lie about the fact that you have these connections. I have a vested interest, obviously, but I also think this is wrong."

"I think the real shame in all of this is that the will of the people is completely ignored," he said

"The Lords of Payback" Show Yet Again Why Jeffco Needs New Leadership

Westword ran a great in-depth story about the ridiculous efforts by Jeffco officials to attack a private citizen:

Since Congrove and two other commissioners took office in 2005, the board and the county attorney's office have been the targets of numerous ethics complaints and law-enforcement investigations, most of them revolving around alleged retaliation against Zinna. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office spent months puzzling over the disappearance of 8,000 pages of Zinna-related documents from the county attorney's office. The Arvada Police Department and a grand jury looked at possible bank fraud after someone forged Zinna's name on documents dealing with business transactions involving Congrove. A special prosecutor and the CBI poked around the hiring of a private investigator to tail Zinna. But while the investigations have uncovered what one prosecutor calls "troubling" behavior, to date no one has been charged with doing anything illegal.

I'd strongly encourage you to read the entire article - it is truly frightening to see what can happen when elected officials decide to embark on a vendetta against a private citizen.

McCasky's Words Don't Match His Deeds

I couldn't have said it better than this op-ed from The Canyon Courier:

By The Candid Curmudgeon

County Commissioner Kevin McCasky (Canyon Courier June 18) does an outstanding job summarizing commissioners’ responsibilities regarding land use decisions. But he doesn’t practice what he preaches. He writes of preserving “charm and beauty,” sustainability and improving property values. Many of his decisions do the opposite. He notes that, legally, his decisions cannot be subjective, yet his votes often ignore the bulk of citizen and expert testimony, community plans and county staff recommendations. If it comes down to new development versus rights of existing residents — the residents rarely win.

McCasky says he values citizen input but often overrules citizen-written community plans. Many citizens worked on these plans, and everyone had the opportunity, including developers. McCasky says government shouldn’t interfere with rights to own property and accumulate wealth. Fine, but government should also not take actions that harm existing residents.

McCasky says, “commissioners must be steadfast and properly consider legally protected property rights.” We fully agree, but his actions bear scant resemblance to his words. Developers come before the commissioners not to use existing property rights but seeking to change those rights to let them do something not currently allowed. Commissioners McCasky and Jim Congrove nearly always side with the developers, even when affected citizens overwhelmingly object.

McCasky and Congrove are destroying county planning. They don’t want to hear about problems, and they dismantled Jeffco’s Long Range Planning Group, which worked on issues affecting citizens in both the near and distant future. Planning coordination has mostly evaporated, so the big picture is ignored. The award-winning head of the group was sacked, ostensibly for budgetary reasons. Ridiculous — losing her knowledge, decades of experience and interagency contacts leaves a huge void. Commissioners claim they don’t get involved in personnel matters, but their political-appointed lackeys do, with their guidance and blessing.

McCasky and Congrove have delegated decision-making powers to appointed bureaucrats who answer to them and not the public. That takes land use decisions out of the public arena with its messy citizen hearings, and lets their administrator waive the rules behind closed doors. They have made a backroom deal to let a developer use Cub Creek Road as primary access contrary to what was agreed to in a public hearing; waived limits on subdivision size without emergency access; and ignored questions of sustainability of groundwater.

McCasky claims regard for communities and planning, but he appointed a planning commissioner who has publicly said mountain citizens should not expect Jeffco planning to look out for their rights, and if you live in the mountains, you take your chances. If McCasky believed in planning, he should have adopted the long-range group’s recommendations, not eliminated the group and its leader. The master plan McCasky advocates is being prepared by the planning commission and county staff, not by citizens, who can’t comment until completion. It would become county policy and could override citizen-prepared community plans.

Jefferson County has many unresolved long-range planning issues, including limited water supplies and obsolete high-density plats of thousands of tiny lots in the mountains. Difficult problems to resolve, but now they’re deliberately ignored.

Go back and read McCasky’s column. He states very well what a commissioner’s duties are and what the citizens want in a commissioner. He fails on both counts. His actions betray those duties and belie his words. Remember in November.

This Candid Curmudgeon column was provided by Jim Peterson, geologist and attorney. Columns reflect the views of most Curmudgeons, but not always everyone. The Evergreen Curmudgeons are a group of retired professional men who are citizen advocates.