CO-04 (Special Election) See Full Big Line

(R) Greg Lopez

(R) Trisha Calvarese

90%

10%

President (To Win Colorado) See Full Big Line

(D) Joe Biden*

(R) Donald Trump

80%

20%↓

CO-01 (Denver) See Full Big Line

(D) Diana DeGette*

90%

CO-02 (Boulder-ish) See Full Big Line

(D) Joe Neguse*

90%

CO-03 (West & Southern CO) See Full Big Line

(D) Adam Frisch

(R) Jeff Hurd

(R) Ron Hanks

40%

30%

20%

CO-04 (Northeast-ish Colorado) See Full Big Line

(R) Lauren Boebert

(R) Deborah Flora

(R) J. Sonnenberg

30%↑

15%↑

10%↓

CO-05 (Colorado Springs) See Full Big Line

(R) Dave Williams

(R) Jeff Crank

50%↓

50%↑

CO-06 (Aurora) See Full Big Line

(D) Jason Crow*

90%

CO-07 (Jefferson County) See Full Big Line

(D) Brittany Pettersen

85%↑

 

CO-08 (Northern Colo.) See Full Big Line

(D) Yadira Caraveo

(R) Gabe Evans

(R) Janak Joshi

60%↑

35%↓

30%↑

State Senate Majority See Full Big Line

DEMOCRATS

REPUBLICANS

80%

20%

State House Majority See Full Big Line

DEMOCRATS

REPUBLICANS

95%

5%

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
January 04, 2018 11:42 AM UTC

Will Greeley's Felon Republican Councilman Be Allowed To Serve?

  • 38 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

THURSDAY UPDATE: The answer to our question appears to be no.

A Weld District Court Judge removed Greeley City Councilman Eddie Mirick from his seat Thursday, determining Mirick’s nearly 40-year-old felony conviction in another state remained on his record.

The Greeley City Charter prohibits residents with a felony conviction from serving on city council, and Mirick pleaded guilty to felony forgery in 1978 in San Diego, Calif.

Mirick’s at-large position on council is now considered vacated, and the Greeley City Council must now appoint a replacement.

—–

Eddie Mirick (R).

The Greeley Tribune’s Tyler Silvy follows up on the story of Eddie Mirick, Republican of Greeley who won an at-large seat on the city council after a nasty election battle that turned into a proxy fight involving the energy industry and a prominent Colorado Democrat:

Greeley City Councilman Eddie Mirick had his day in court Tuesday, arguing through his attorneys that the felony forgery charge he pleaded guilty to nearly 40 years ago was automatically reduced to a misdemeanor after Mirick completed jail time and probation…

The plaintiffs, a group of Greeley residents represented by attorney Martha Tierney, argued the opposite. They say proof would exist if Mirick’s felony was changed to a misdemeanor, and there’s no proof of that. [Pols emphasis] Meanwhile, they say there’s plenty of evidence, including Mirick’s own testimony, that Mirick pleaded guilty to a felony all those years ago.

Mirick will have to wait a little longer before he knows whether he’ll be able to continue to serve, as he and residents who are protesting his eligibility await Weld District Court Judge Marcelo Kopcow’s written decision.

Mirick won election to the Greeley City Council at-large seat Nov. 7, just days after The Tribune reported he had once pleaded guilty to a felony. The Greeley City Charter prohibits people who have been convicted of a felony from serving on Greeley City Council, and the revelation that Mirick pleaded guilty to a felony threw the city council race into chaos in its waning days.

During the recent municipal elections in Greeley, an “independent” group directly funded by well-known oil and gas industry political advocacy organization Vital for Colorado spent some $50,000–an unprecedented amount by Greeley election standards–to vilify Rep. Jared Polis of Boulder for donating a mere $1,500 to three different city council candidates including Mirick’s opponent.

The contention that Mirick’s felony was reduced to a misdemeanor does not appear to be supported by court records, forcing Mirick to assert it had been done “automatically”–which we assume would also appear in the record, since it’s a very important distinction and presumably Mirick would want to know for sure. And Greeley’s charter is unambiguous about disqualifying convicted felons from serving on the city council.

What’s the moral of this story? Run a background check on your candidates before you spend tens of thousands of dollars supporting them. And if you want to turn an obscure municipal election into a stick to beat your regular political opponents with, make doubly sure you run that background check.

Because the people who look like idiots in this case are not named Jared Polis. That honor is reserved for Vital for Colorado, who spent tens of thousands of dollars to get a felon elected to the Greeley City Council.

Tweet
Share

Comments

38 thoughts on “Will Greeley’s Felon Republican Councilman Be Allowed To Serve?”

    1. I agree. He has paid his debt to society but how does that overcome the Greeley city charter that prohibits convicted felons from serving on the city council?

        1. I don't have to prove anything. Mr. Mirick is the one who is asserting his felony conviction was automatically reduced to a misdemeanor. Once upon a time I was a prosecutor and when a defendant pleads guilty to a charge that is the end of the process. Never in my career have I ever heard of a felony being reduced to a misdemeanor after the defendant has served his sentence.

          But assuming Mr. Mirick is telling the truth and it was one of the terms in his plea bargain then it will be reflected in the court records. If it isn't in the records it didn't happen and he isn't telling the truth.

          And lets assume you’re correct about your assertion of hypocrisy. What does that have to do with the Greeley city charter? Even if someone involved is a hypocrite that doesn’t change the fact Mr. Mirick pleaded guilty to a felony and doesn’t change the consequences of his plea.

          1. There is a process in California under which an individual convicted of a "wobbler" (i.e., an offense that can be charged as either a felony or a misdemeanor) can have a felony conviction converted to a misdemeanor conviction, provided that the individual was sentenced only to county jail and/or probation.

            However, it requires that the individual file a petition–it doesn't happen automatically. If Mirick had gone through the process there would be a judicial record of the proceedings.

             

    2. So, now you're mad because you assert that we would cover for him if he was "one of ours", but you're mad because we're doing the exact opposite to Steve Lebsock, who is by your definition "one of ours".

      1. Clarification: there are some felonies for which an explicit commutation should be required to regain certain rights.

        If you commit fraud or obstruction against the election system, you should be barred from voting for life. If you commit fraud against the government, you should not be allowed to hold a government position of trust. A commutation of this extra penalty recognizing your efforts at reform should be the only way out of this IMHO.

    4. They should seat him. He has paid his debt to society.

      Besides, the only difference between him and many other Republicans is that he got caught, prosecutor, and did his time.

      He should retain Judge Roy Moore to represent him in his court case.

        2. That's an interesting standard. The US Constitution requires that Senators be 30 years old and Representatives be 25 years old.

          Is it your position that an 18 year old elected to the Senate or the House should be seated?

          Assuming not, since you'd have to be a moron to think otherwise, how is that different from the situation in Greeley? 

            1. You mean they didn't have "Agers" demanding to see proof that he was over 30?

              If only they had Trump PI who went to Hawaii "and you wouldn't believe stuff he uncovered" back then…..

              1. Even more amazing fact about Henry Clay.  He eas elected speaker of the House in his First term in the house. Obviously, it wasn't that powerful at the time.  He made the speakership a very powerful post and I don't think a freshman will ever win it again.

  3. Is the Greeley Tribune's description of the arguments of counsel accurate? Who can say, seeing as how the state of legal reporting is and long has been almost entirely atrocious. Unless you're reading a piece authored by someone with actual knowledge of and experience with the procedural and substantive legal issues involved, you can safely assume that whoever wrote what you're reading is fulla shit.

    But let's assume for discussion's sake that the Trib reporter who wrote the above-quoted article isn't a clueless ninny and accurately described the proceedings. On that assumption, the lawyers are the clueless ninnies.

    The relevant Greeley City Charter provision (Article II, Section 2.4) says that "[a] person who has been convicted of a felony shall not be eligible to become a candidate for a City office." That being true, whether or not Mr. Mirick's felony "was automatically reduced to a misdemeanor after Mirick completed jail time and probation" is utterly bereft of relevance. He was "convicted of a felony," namely forgery. That's a matter of historical fact that no post-conviction hocus pocus can change.

    If Mirick's attorneys really want to get anal, they should argue that the charter provision only precludes convicted felons from becoming candidates; it doesn't preclude them from actually holding office. The candidate ship has long since sailed and reached its new port. Yeah, I know, but sillier arguments than that succeed with shocking regularity.

    The more interesting question is whether municipal voters (the plaintiffs in this case, according to the Trib) have standing to contest a candidate's eligibility for municipal office after an election.

    1. Isn't there a Monfort that can just tell someone what they want?
       

       

      I've always been a fan of grammar. For one, unlike football, it doesn't cause brain damage.  "If Mirick's attorneys really want to get anal,…"
       

      That and your user name have me thinking all kinds of things about politics, which are always local.

  4. I wrote about this last December.  This is apparently the lawsuit  filed by his opponent’s sister (and campaign manager) and other interested residents.

    Greeley is a home rule city. Its home rule charter says that a convicted felon may not serve on its council. It should be an easy call for the judge.

    1. Only the Colorado Pols' Official Take© can be referenced in future versions of this story. Pols-sters (that's us peons with only Commenter status) will not be FP'd unless they follow the approved language and topic guide for Republicans (Boo!) and Democrats (Yea!)

  5. Good …….. they should promote you more often. 

    They need an El Paso Pols correspondent as well……unless EPC doesn’t matter and can be politically ignored.

    1. EPCO is so corrupt, it's like you just break the surface and nastiness bubbles out…but I haven't tried to break the surface and no one's giving me EPCO tips right now.

      For a while there, the different factions in the GOP were reporting the mess on each other, and that was cool. Apparently, that is no longer a thing, though. You can usually count on the real journalists (the Gazette and Independent) to bring out EPCO news.

    2. Moderatus says:

      It's doesn't change the fact that if Mirick was a Democrat Colorado Pols would be ignoring the entire story.

      If you were my student, I'd be having you do some remedial work on the difference between fact and opinion.

      Your opinion is that if Mirick were a Democrat, Pols would be ignoring the story (just as they did NOT do with Lebsock, Nelson, probably others I don't remember.) That is not a fact.

      A fact is measurable, and verifiable via an objective source, i.e. unedited video or independent witnesses.

      An opinion exists primarily in the thinker's mind. "Alternative facts" are not a thing in the real world.

      Glad to help out.

       

Leave a Comment

Recent Comments


Posts about

Donald Trump
SEE MORE

Posts about

Rep. Lauren Boebert
SEE MORE

Posts about

Rep. Yadira Caraveo
SEE MORE

Posts about

Colorado House
SEE MORE

Posts about

Colorado Senate
SEE MORE

153 readers online now

Newsletter

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay in the loop with regular updates!