June 18, 2013 07:12 AM UTC

It Is Never Dull in Whack-a-Doodle-Landia

• 3 Comments
• by: Konola

(Indeed not – promoted by Colorado Pols)

The controversy swirling around the Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce and their continued support of a City Councilman who pled guilty to domestic abuse has reached new audiences. There is a man in Grand Junction who calls himself a Tea Party of One because he has gotten cross-wise with both GJResult/Tea Party and the nameless group formerly known as Western Slope Conservative Alliance, of Saturday Night Live fame. Yesterday he sent out a commentary that ended with a request for at least six recall petitions for Rick Brainard.

The path that got this self-described Tea Partier to support the efforts of feminists who are protesting domestic violence is quite circuitous. He supported the candidates put forth by the Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce because he was assured by one of them that they would not spend any money on the Avalon Theatre, the anchor to one end of Grand Junction’s historic Main Street. 

Redevelopment plans for the Avalon have been in the works for a long time, with downtown merchants strongly supporting the efforts. It is an old theater with seats that make your butt go to sleep during any concert or movie. There are no dressing rooms for performers. There is no way for seniors using walkers to get up to the balcony for nostalgic or other reasons. The lobby is so small that people wanting to use the concession stand may need to line up outside. The city owns this building.

Meanwhile back to the “Chambermades,” a term coined by Anne Landman, a local blogger. They voted to table the Avalon renovation proposal in the first city council meeting populated by Chambermades. Brainard, who was promoted by the Chamber because of his business acumen, said that the projections weren’t robust enough and asked for a better analysis. Speaking strictly as an ex-banker, investments should never be made based on a best case analysis. What business acumen?

Meanwhile, back at the Chamber, certain downtown business men went ballistic. Some, like the owner of Main Street Bagels, who enjoys the foot traffic when there are events at the Avalon, wrote letters to the editor of the local newspaper. Others, as the rumor goes, reminded the Chambermades of the $50,000 they contributed out of candy profits to the Chamber’s PAC in order to get these guys elected, and demanded that their financial interests in neighboring properties be protected. Whatever the truth of the matter is, the Chambermades sang a very different tune the next time they met and the Avalon renovation was back on track.

Feeling betrayed by the men who assured him that there would be no money spent on the Avalon, the Tea Party of One now wants to join forces with the feminists who want Brainard out.

The Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce could not possibly have done more damage to their reputation than if they had tried corporate suicide. They backed four candidates. One lost, the other three were elected and promptly one of them was arrested and eventually pled guilty to a misdemeanor. They are lucky that it was only a misdemeanor, a felony would have automatically removed him from the City Council. The fates love a good joke, so the one race that was lost by the Chamber may once again be within their grasp, since that Councilor has since passed away. The sitting council will appoint his successor, although people who contributed $50,000 may not be as willing to support Chambermades in the future, given the results of the first cloning.