February 08, 2011 10:28 PM UTC

Defense Denver and Andrea Merida

•  
• by: bullshit!

I have to say again that I don’t have any dog in the fight over the attempted recall of a Denver Public Schools board member now underway. I posted this weekend about the impression I was getting from this campaign based on their behavior in response to legitimate questions.

http://coloradopols.com/diary/…

Another thing I don’t like is when people are dishonest. That sense of dishonesty about the motives and methods of the group organizing this recall leads me to look further, and ask more questions that I otherwise probably would not. I think that is the case for a lot of others here.

So I took note of this statement by DPS school board member Andrea Merida in EdNews (thanks to Defense Denver for the quote):

DPS board member Andrea Merida, a DeFENSE supporter who has publicly clashed with Easley on reform proposals, said she “will not be participating in any way with the recall effort.”

“This is between Nate and his constituents, and it presents an opportunity for him to reconnect with them,” Merida, who represents Southwest Denver, wrote in an email.

And through simple searching around the internets, I have found much evidence that Merida is lying.

There’s a new web design outfit in town, don’t know if you’ve heard of it:

http://progressivejuice.com/

It’s called “Progressive Juice.” Progressive Juice has this to say about itself:

[W]e’re here to provide that know-how to make your campaign take off.  We’re here to give you the juice to activate your progressive initiatives…

Progressive Juice is the brainchild of Andrea Merida, one of the newest and boldest progressive voices in Denver politics today.  Elected to the Denver Board of Education in 2009, Andrea won by speaking progressive truth to the mixed electorate in her southwest Denver district.

Andrea is active in progressive politics and has worked on messaging, policy statements and grassroots organizing for various campaigns.  She honed her skills with messaging and social media through work supporting small businesses in the fashion and creative industries.  Visit the portfolio page to see some examples…

And guess what you find at the bottom of that portfolio page!

http://progressivejuice.com/20…

DeFENSE stands for Democrats for Excellent Neighborhood Schools Education, and they work on promoting democratically-run neighborhood schools.

From the description of Merida’s role with Progressive Juice, I’d say she’s doing more than web design. Messaging and grassroots organizing? That’s what this recall campaign is about, isn’t it? In fact, EdNewsColorado reported last November that “in DeFENSE’s early days, Merida’s cell phone number was listed at the bottom of the page as a point of contact.” There is too much connecting Merida to this effort for her denial to be believable, even without “Progressive Juice.”

Is Defense Denver paying for her “Progressive Juice” services? They need to disclose. Are her services free? Then she is lying about having “no involvement” in the recall. Actually, either way, what she told EdNews is a lie, and it’s just a matter of the extent of her lie.

With this indisputable link between Merida and Defense Denver, the time has come for her to stop lying about her role in the attempted recall of fellow DPS board member Nate Easley. That fact is no longer in question. I don’t live in Denver, and I don’t have any interest in this other than to not let dishonest people get away with their dishonesty. Enough.