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Courtesy of David Singer

Above: The Sound Democrat Mill, thanks to stabilization efforts in the 1990s, now sits intact on a hillside on Placer Gulch northeast of Silverton. Top: The Sound Mill was crumbling before stabilization work.

Courtesy of David Singer

Above: The Sound Democrat Mill, thanks to stabilization efforts in the 1990s, now sits intact on a hillside on Placer Gulch northeast of Silverton. Top: The Sound Mill was crumbling before stabilization work.

It may be unsound now, but the Sound Democrat Mill, nestled at 12,000 feet elevation in the mountains northeast of Silverton, is going to get some needed nips and tucks in the near future.

History Colorado, through the State Historical Fund grants program, last week announced 24 grants for historic-preservation projects. The Sound Democrat, located in Placer Gulch not far from Animas Forks, was among those to get a piece of the $3 million pie.

A major stabilization project was done on the mill over a several-year period in the early- to mid-1990s.

What were going to do is more of a rehabilitation and restoration, said David Singer, owner of Silverton Restoration Consulting, who will manage the project.

Singer helped apply for the grant along with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management on behalf of the Mountain Studies Institute. The mill is on BLM land. The state grant is worth $160,800, said Shannon Haltiwanger, spokeswoman with History Colorado. Singer said that money will be combined with a $54,000 matching grant that the BLM gave to the institute.

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Historic mill to get a boost

The incoming director of the Department of Children and Family Services said Friday that he got one clear message during his single meeting with his new boss, Gov. Bruce Rauner:

He knows that its a problem agency, said George Sheldon. He seemed concerned and he also expressed a commitment to do what was necessary to fix the system. Hes totally aware of the need for change.

Sheldon, 67, who was credited with efforts to reform Floridas often-criticized Department of Children and Families when he ran that agency from 2008 through 2011, will be taking over the agency shortly after the Tribunes Harsh Treatment seriesrevealed that juvenile wards have been assaulted, raped and lured into prostitution at taxpayer-funded residential treatment centers.

During a 45-minute telephone interview from Florida, Sheldon said he warned Rauner that troubling headlines wont cease with his appointment.

These are tough jobs to start with, and Ill be frank with you and I told him no matter how good you get, regrettably something bad may happen, Sheldon said. He recognizes that. He clearly indicated that I would have the flexibility to do the job, and I also articulated to him how important transparency is.

DCFS has had seven directors and acting directors in three years, but Rauner did not ask Sheldon for a time commitment as head of the agency. We didnt talk about a time frame. He didnt ask for a specific commitment, and I didnt give one. Im willing to do it as long as I think I can be effective.

Sheldon added: Im no miracle worker and theres no quick fix to these kinds of agencies.

Sheldon said he plans to arrive in Chicago Monday afternoon and spend Tuesday in Springfield introducing himself to legislators and others.

While he will initially commute back to Florida to tie up loose ends, Sheldon said he hopes to quickly recruit a handful of trusted aides to play short-term consulting roles and help him analyze the agencys strengths and weaknesses.

But the liberal Democrat Sheldons top priority, he said: Right away, its listening.

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February 16, 2015|10:47 am

Mired in scandal, the longtime Democrat governor of Oregon, John Kitzhaber, finally stepped down from office last week. Plenty of Democrat politicians become embroiled in scandals yet continue serving in office for many years, so what made this different? Kitzhaber took on a powerful government union and failed to implement an Obamacare exchange, the kiss of death for a Democrat. Powerful members of his own party failed to stand up for him in the end, as well as the state's formerly adulatory left-wing newspaper, The Oregonian, which called for his resignation.

The 67-year-old Kitzhaber's problems originated with his much younger fiance, environmental consultant Cylvia Hayes, age 47. Armed with a degree in "sustainability" from one of the most radical colleges in the nation, Washington's Evergreen State College, Hayes obtained several lucrative consulting positions thanks to her relationship with Kitzhaber. She then proceeded to intermingle her private consulting work with the state's official business, holding herself out as part of the administration to exert influence in her personal capacity. Kitzhaber gave her broad authority to direct senior administration officials, which she did without disclosing who her private clients were.

Bizarrely, she gave speeches and performed services as "Oregon's first lady," even though she has never married Kitzhaber. The Oregon Business Council paid for her to have a spokesperson, which cost $35,000 in 2013. At the same time, Kitzhaber promoted the council's business plan, the Oregon Business Plan. Hayes's efforts resulted in exhaustively pushing alternative fuels, sustainability, and padding her own pocket.

In 2009, her consulting firm bid for a contract with the Oregon Department of Energy and came in dead last. Yet a $60,000 contract was still awarded to the firm. The Oregon Department of Justice launched a criminal investigation and found that state officials had steered the contract.

Kitzhaber named Hayes to a seven-member team tasked with writing his 10-year energy plan. Contracts she received no doubt due to her prestigious position of influence included $118,000 from the Clean Economy Development Center and $25,000 from Rural Development Initiatives for a mere five months of work. In January, it came out that she had failed to report the $118,000 in income she'd received over two years from CEDC on her taxes. She brazenly used government staff to book personal trips, calendar private appointments, and she met clients for private business in Mahonia Hall.

At the same time she was being paid by the New York consulting firm Demos; she was helping the state develop a controversial alternative economic measure, the Genuine Progress Indicator. The GPI includes factors like carbon imprint and social justice when measuring economic growth, or GDP. Hayes scheduled meetings of the state's top officials, signing off as Oregon's first lady, although she only became engaged to Kitzhaber last summer. Kitzhaber told a state agency director "we need to find a way" to hire a man who worked with Hayes' advocacy group, Sean McGuire. Sure enough, McGuire was hired for $65,000 to help institute GPI in Oregon. Demos are a left-wing group that is a who's who on the left. Board members include Van Jones and a Director from the National Council of La Raza.

That is just the tip of the iceberg. Willamette Weekly has a comprehensive list of the quid pro quos between Hayes and her private clients, which include Waste to Energy Group, Redmond Municipal Airport, HDR Inc., a global warming project from Resource Media, and Energy Foundation.

ORS Chapter 244, the state's government ethics law, "prohibits public officials from engaging in conflicts of interest, from using their positions for private gain and from using public resources for personal benefit."

Hayes has an equally checkered past. She has admitted she married an Ethiopian immigrant in 1997 so he could stay in the U.S., in exchange for $5,000. That same year, she bought land with her current boyfriend in order to start a marijuana farm.

Excerpt from:
How to Force an Ethics-Plagued Democrat Governor to Finally Resign

Bucks Countys Democrat and Republican organizations are lining up candidates to maintain your criminal court record, process your marriage license, and, quite possibly, autopsy your corpse.

Last week, the parties announced their top choices in four elected positions register of wills, clerk of courts, treasurer and coroner.

The Democrats want Rocco Rocky Dotto III to investigate all sudden, unexplained and violent deaths. A former deputy coroner for Bucks County, Dotto now works as a licensed funeral director at James J. Dougherty Funeral Home in Middletown.

This has been my lifelong dream, said Dotto, who proposes educational outreach presentations by the coroner at local high schools.

The Republicans are sticking with incumbent coroner Joseph Campbell, a podiatric surgeon from Doylestown. Campbell is seeking a fifth term overseeing the county morgue and crime lab in Warminster.

Meanwhile, in Bristol, Robyn Trunell wants to process your last will and testament. The borough councilwoman is the Democrats choice for Bucks Countys next Register of Wills, a seemingly benign position that nonetheless attracts controversy.

Considered a quasi-judicial post, the elected register sometimes conducts legal hearings to manage estates when someone dies. The staff, meanwhile, handles adoptions and marriages in the county.

A corruption scandal rocked the office in 2012. The longtime director Barbara Reilly was convicted on allegations she rewarded county workers for staffing the polls on Election Day.

Reillys eventual replacement, Republican Don Petrille promised transparency, initiated new security protocols, but also, unwittingly, stepped into the debate over gay marriage two years ago.

Under state law, Petrille said he had no choice but to deny the marriage license request of a same-sex couple visiting his office in 2013. The couple sued and the resulting federal lawsuit overturned Pennsylvanias ban on gay unions.

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Candidates line up for coroner, clerk of courts, wills register

Democrat Delegation Returns From Trip to Cuba
A delegation led by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi discussed a recent trip to Cuba to speak with government officials -- the first trip of its kind since...

By: Associated Press

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Democrat Delegation Returns From Trip to Cuba - Video