Robert Rowland, Elbert County Commissioner, District 1 has announced that he has seen the handwriting on the wall and is backing out of the upcoming election after serving a single, disastrous term in office.
Good riddance, Bobby. Don’t let the door hit you in the butt on the way out!
Rowland stated in his letter to the legions of those he believes will miss his antics that this decision took extended prayer plus much discussion with his family and friends. He neglects to point out whether his trusted circle included legal counsel. If it didn’t, it should have. He rambled on and on about a rock solid team that he helped to assemble. This unnamed group, according to Robert, has “restored county finances, put together a business team, healed wounds between departments, cut ‘the fat’ from budgets, improved efficiency and improved cooperation between elected officials.”
Of course, another perspective that is pretty common is quite different from Commissioner Rowland’s. Robert might be surprised to hear that many in this county of all political persuasions are not feeling like the county’s finances are improved. I am willing to wager that almost no one in this county has any idea exactly how bad the books really are because the “new team” makes it virtually impossible to see anything whatsoever about their doings.
Pitting employees against one another in public meetings while on the clock hardly sounds like an harmonious working environment. Actually having employees being paid to attend public meetings, some wearing their uniforms, sounds more like a violation of the Hatch Act (http://www.oge.gov/Topics/Outside-Employment-and-Activities/Political-Activities/ ) and is nothing that should inspire pride. And, if costing the taxpayers of Elbert County $23,000 to save Robert Rowland $1,000 is “cutting the fat,” then I am quite certain he needs to look up the phrase in a dictionary, because he does not get the concept.
Rowland then went on to pontificate on his distorted perspective of how a government is supposed to work. He admits that he is now the minority opinion. That is unfortunate because he believes that only he is capable of understanding the conservative direction the BOCC should be taking. There are two other elected Republicans on the BOCC, but they are not “real” or pure, or know the secret handshake, or are friends with the newly assembled business team.
Whatever the reason, Bobby does not want to play in the same sandbox as Ross and Dore. It may be as simple as Mr. Rowland understands that his new super secret team is about to be fired for ineptness, unnecessary litigation, and lack of transparency.
Just when you thought that he could not get any weirder, Rowland goes after Larry Ross and anyone else who might seek to destroy his imaginary legacy. He states he will brandish the facts, the records, and the truth to take down anyone who stands in the way of forward progress. He talks water, infrastructure and planning like we have seen great progress in the past three years. It may just be me, but much of this language smacks of developers who have long tried to run roughshod over our county. When I see Kurt Schlegel turning up at these contentious meetings and learning that he is working for Diane Miller (http://www.miller-rosenbluth.com/team.aspx), I have to wonder, “Exactly who are the members of this new team?” Diane Miller has ties with every major water group along the Front Range. If losing our water to speculators is forward progress then I suggest we throw the train in full reverse.
And finally, in his best Donald Trump impersonation, Rowland warns us all that he will no longer be politically correct and that he will not be apologizing for his defense of all that he has accomplished in rebuilding Elbert County. He is only going to endorse those candidates in Districts 1 & 3 who meet his lofty standards. He is also going to defend the county against, “...that small, radical and loud group whose mission seems to be only to disrupt and damage the county in ways that are dishonest and that simply do not make sense.” He further states, “...I will do my best to oppose and expose anyone who collaborates with these destructive persons, including my fellow Commissioners.” Of course, if the commissioners are doing their jobs they need to listen to all perspectives, even those that are in opposition to their own. This is a fact Robert Rowland will never grasp.
The remaining portion of his letter goes into how the voters must be vigilant so they won’t be duped into voting for some incompetent, blowhard who has padded his resume and is preaching some unrealistic and self-serving ideology. You remember…like when they voted for him.
So long, Commissioner Rowland. In a twist on an old Irish song, may we say, “Bobby, we hardly knew ye!”
