- Montezuma County commissioners refuse to take part in a Master Leasing Plan proposed by the Bureau of Land Management.
- Former Montezuma County Sheriff’s deputy will receive a settlement of nearly $159,000 from the county.
Calling it unneeded, expensive, and possibly illegal, the Montezuma County commissioners are refusing to take part in a Master Leasing Plan effort proposed by the Bureau of Land Management. The Master Leasing Plan is intended to guide oil and gas development on certain public lands in an area that includes western La Plata County and much of Montezuma County. However, the commissioners say they oppose any new restrictions on energy development because those could cost jobs. Late Monday, the commissioners voted unanimously to send a fiery five-page letter to the state director of the BLM demanding that the county be removed from the leasing-plan area altogether. The letter states, “If La Plata County wants it they can have it but we want no part of it in Montezuma County.” The letter is highly critical of the Wilderness Society, which advocated for the leasing plan, and calls the environmental group “not trustworthy.” It warns that if the agency moves forward to create a citizens’ working group to represent the county in the planning effort, the board will have its attorney look into the matter.
In other news, a former Montezuma County Sheriff’s deputy will receive a settlement of nearly $159,000 from the county. The Cortez Journal reports that Patricia McEachern was terminated in November 2013 shortly after she filed a discrimination complaint against the sheriff’s office, which was then under the administration of Sheriff Dennis Spruell. McEachern had charged that she was subjected to a pattern of harassment and excessive discipline because of her gender. The settlement, which does not include an admission of wrongdoing by either party, calls for the record to reflect that McEachern resigned rather than being fired. The Journal reports that it took a half-dozen requests to the county and the sheriff’s office to obtain records regarding the settlement.
