Local good government watchdog, Adams County Reform Project, has come out swinging with three new hard-hitting mail pieces highlighting Adams County’s history of ethical lapses within its leadership.  The five leaders the organization has focused its efforts on include County Commissioner Alice Nichol, County Assessor Gil Reyes, County Sheriff Doug Darr, County Treasurer Diane Christner, and County Coroner Jim Hibbard.

The first of three mailers highlighted the county’s “sad tradition” of terrible governance with a lengthy timeline of the corruption.  The timeline also is featured on the web site.

The second mailer featuring some of Adams County’s worst leaders connects the dots regarding the cost of corruption.  The mailer states that Hibbard cost the county $1.6 million in sexual harassment lawsuits, Nichol was involved in the Quality Paving scandal in which the county paid for $1.8 million in work that was never done, Darr’s violation of an employee’s rights led to a settlement of $730,000, and Reyes helped his donors evade paying $800,000 in property taxes to the county. Fortunately, for Adams County, Reyes has agreed to re-value his donors’ properties at the appropriate amount, which would allow the county to collect the tax dollars its owed.  Of course, that was after Reyes was charged with criminal misconduct.

These four ethically-challenged leaders alone in Adams County have wasted nearly $5 million in taxpayer dollars.  This at a time when families in Adams County are struggling to make ends meet and education in the county is becoming more and more important for families to ensure the American Dream for their children.

Unfortunately for Adams County, the third mailer show that the corruption is not limited to just four or five of its leaders.  County Commissioner candidate Chaz Tedesco recently was highlighted by CBS4 for lying about his police record.  Following that incident, the Adams County Reform project sent another mailer highlighting Tedesco challenges, along with a pretty sweet mug shot featuring Tedesco and his mullet.  What is it about Adams County that brings out the worst in its leadership?  From where does this culture of corruption originate?  Is it a coincidence that all of the leaders struggling with corruption are Democrats?