May 01, 2007 01:07 AM UTC

A "Jefferson County" Corruption Epidemic

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• by: Colorado Pols

The widespread corruption within the Jefferson County government has been gaining more attention in recent months as one official after another ends up in the crosshairs of a criminal investigation. But Colorado apparently isn’t the only state with a problematic Jefferson County. Check out this post from “Doc’s Political Parlour” in Alabama:

In case you missed it last week, John Archibald of The Birmingham News wishes more people were outraged at the shenanigans in Jefferson County:

What do Jefferson County residents do when they find they’ve been robbed blind by debt, misspending, waste, bribery, corruption and stupidity? Nothing. They sit like lumps, still wondering if the county will build that dome.

As much as these things have been reported, you don’t hear of the citizens’ revolt that you might expect.

It’s hard to say who has the more corrupt Jefferson County: Colorado or Alabama. The latest news from Colorado’s Jefferson County is after the jump.

Former Jefferson County Treasurer Mark Paschall, one of the so-called “Kings of Corruption” (along with County Commissioners Kevin McCasky and Jim Congrove), won’t have his day in court just yet. As The Denver Post reports:

Former Jefferson County treasurer Mark Paschall had his arraignment continued for the third time this morning, until May 14.

Paschall, 52, of Arvada, was indicted in January on two felony charges of attempted felony theft and compensation for past official behavior.

He is accused of offering a top appointee, Kathy Redmond, a $25,000 bonus at the end of 2006 just before he left office and demanding she pay him $9,000 out of the bonus’ proceeds.

Redmond rejected the offer and told county officials.

Elsewhere, The Denver Post reported last month that Congrove and McCasky approved hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonuses to county employees, even though the county isn’t on very solid financial footing. If Congrove and McCasky hadn’t been so busy doling out bonuses, maybe the county wouldn’t have had to start laying people off. As The Canyon Courier reported last week:

Jefferson County administrators have furloughed two top-level managers, sparking fierce criticism from Commissioner Jim Congrove over the legitimacy of the move.

County Administrator Jim Moore apparently made the decision Friday to eliminate two high-level administrative positions – those of Jere Bower, support services director, and Judy Goebel, director of human resources.

Moore’s decision was part of a “streamlining” operation, Jefferson County spokeswoman Kathryn Heider said.

“With declining growth and revenues in the financial forecast, Jefferson County is looking at ways to cut expenses while maintaining a high level of county services,” Heider wrote in a written statement. “In the past few years, expenses have outpaced the county’s consistent sources of revenue, a trend that the county is working to reverse.”

She said Moore decided to eliminate the two positions as a cost-saving measure.

Great work, fellas!