Montezuma County Assembly March 11, 2022

By Tiffany Gray

This is reportedly one of the largest turn outs for the Republicans' County Assembly as our sleepy home town becomes more awake to the fast changing government both nationally and locally. We have seen change, but none that most are comfortable with. That feeling was shown in the numbers of people that chose to be voting delegates for their precincts.

The numbers given at the Assembly were a total of 176 ( per Jan Gardner, Secretary - Republican Central Committee ) in both delegates and officers, however the Cortez Journal reported over 250 as per,Jim Mimiaga, reporter for the Cortez Journal. Quite a few people attended as “spectators” to view the voting process and be part of the assembly.

Delegates were asked to arrive between five pm and five thirty to go through the registration process and to be assigned to their precinct section for seating, as well as to be accounted for. This process was designed so that if delegates did not show, alternates could be assigned to the absent delegate chairs.

This also gave new delegates a chance to go over the rules and review the resolutions that would be presented to the assembly for possible approval for the passage to a higher level.

Some of the rules included, that if a delegate needed to leave the floor, they must check with precinct chair, and Credentialing Committee, and must check back in when returning to the floor. If a vote was cast while the delegate was away, the precinct chair will mark the vote as void. Delegates were seated separately from the spectators.

Casey McCellan chaired the meeting as the acting Chairman of the Republican party for Montezuma County with Jan Gardner acting as the secretary of the Republican Central Committee for Montezuma County. The meeting was off to a rough start starting at six pm.

Roll call began by precinct. Alternates

began asking questions shortly after, from the spectator section. This caused a delay in time, of course, as Jan could not hear, and needed to gather herself and find her place again in the tally of delegates, numbers of missing delegates and finally who were alternate delegates to be assigned. This took approximately one hour before the assembly went back to the roll call. Once back on schedule, things went much smoother for the roll call, and alternates where able to be assigned.

An often- heard comment was made from delegates that, “we will be here at least five hours”, based off the beginning flow of the meeting. As we all now know, the Assembly lasted over midnight that night.

Steve Nowlin and Tyson Cox were assigned as Sergeants in Arms. Any disruptions were to be handled by them. They both also took seats for their respective precincts as delegates.

Candidates that spoke that are registered Republicans running for Cortez City Council included: Dennis Spruell, Mike Dobry, Rafe O’Brien, Houston Frizzell, and Bill Banks.

Shelli Shaw also spoke and was in the spectator section. Shelli is running against Barbra McLachlan, a registered Democrat, for Colorado State House of Representatives HD 59.

With the recent redistricting, part of

Montezuma County falls into that District.

Congress Woman Lauren Boebert also joined us and was given the opportunity to speak. She had a fast trip, as she traveled here just to join us and had to be in Garfield county the next morning.

When she finished speaking, she was given a standing ovation, and the Assembly broke for a time so that all would have a chance to meet with her.

In assembly voting, for placement on the primary ballot, Blake Mitchell and Gerald Koppenhafer proceeded in secret ballot, to the delegates. Koppenhafer won with 74% of the votes and with Michell obtaining only 26%. Mitchell needed 30% to gain a seat on the ballot.

Jim Candeleria for Montezuma County Commissioner was “unanimously” voted in for his precinct as he was unopposed through the nomination process. Tim Lanier and Liz Tozer are also vying for for the same seat, but are petitioning to be on the ballot.

Resolutions that were not read out loud, in the interest of time, but were just voted on in their entirety, are as follows:

Colorado Annual Changing of Clocks. This resolution entails whether we should adopt a constant time, and should we stay on Daylight Savings, or Mountain Standard Time. This resolution was presented by Precinct 7.

Congressional Term Limits. “No person who has been elected for a full term to the senate two times shall be eligible for reelection or appointment to the senate.” Precinct 5.

Election Day Holiday. “Election Day shall be declared a state/national holiday.” This was done in hopes of spreading out voter traffic over more hours of the day. Precinct 5.

Fairness and Confidence in Colorado Elections." Colorado shall ban the use of all electronic elections equipment including but not limited to poll book, voting machines, counters and tabulators. Voting shall be by paper ballot with pen/pencil on unreproducible paper.” “All other forms of mail in ballots shall be banned except legitimate absentee ballots and that results of the election shall be tallied and announced before midnight on election day.” Precinct 5.

Colorado Exit from ERIC. (Electronic Registration Information Center ) “The state of Colorado will cancel membership in ERIC and will not ever join again.” Precinct 7.

Resolution on Closing Primaries in Colorado. “Be it resolved that the Colorado Republican Party close its primaries.” This disallows Democrat party members that have registered unaffiliated from voting in Republican Primaries.

Resolution on Colorado County Legislative Representation. This will give us back Electoral College so that Denver and Boulder are not speaking for rural Colorado. Precinct 4.

Colorado Voter Rolls Integrity. All Colorado voters rolls shall be purged and erased in order that voter rolls may start fresh once again and that all legally eligible voters must re-register prior to the next election.” Precinct 3.

Colorado Election Fraud Penalty. An individual found guilty of ballot harvesting can be sentenced up to 10 years in prison. Precinct 3.

Restrict City and County Broadband Operations and Competing with Private Industry. “ City and County Governments should not be allowed to compete with private industries funded by tax payers for broadband expansion. Repeal opt out of SB 152.” Precinct 10.

Medical Freedom.” Protect the right of the Individual.” This resolution covers all health decisions. It puts the message out to the State to stop the Mandates and Executive orders as these are both UNCONSTITUTIONAL. Based upon the US Constitution Article 1, Section 1 and 16. The crucial underlying REQUIREMENT is that individuals and parents are well informed to make their decisions. This resolution also serves to prohibit both public and private entities from receiving public funds for imposing discrimination and segregation based on medical choices.

Odis Sikes is running as an Independent for Montezuma County Sheriff