Don’t believe Woodman’s claims about the sheriff’s office

Derek Woodman supporters would have you believe that the Summit County Sheriff’s Office is a mess under the leadership of Sheriff FitzSimons and that if he was elected, all would be well with the world. As a deputy with the Sheriff’s Office, having worked under both men, I have a unique perspective. The sheriff’s office is not in disarray under FitzSimons, quite the opposite. He is doing an outstanding job, and the agency is packed with an amazing group of people under him. There is not any greater turnover under FitzSimons, as the statistics have shown. There is massive support within the sheriff’s office for FitzSimons. Woodman has support from a number of disgruntled ex-employees. Please consider your vote carefully, as Sheriff FitzSimons is leading the agency in the right direction. A vote for Woodman certainly means more inter-agency turmoil, turnover and the loss of some outstanding employees.

Johnathan Lawrance

Breckenridge

What will happen if you elect FitzSimons, Polis

I’d like to make the following predictions for the current election cycle:

If Jaime Fitzsimons wins the Summit County sheriff’s race, several current employees will quit because of the oppressive recent and future dictatorship that The Jaime Show has created. There will be no checks and balances oversight by the three Democrat County Commissioners, as evidenced by his recent gag order on sheriff’s department employees. The exodus will be like rats off a sinking ship. If Derek Woodman is elected, at least 12 former quality employees will return to fairness, integrity and humility in the sheriff’s department.

If Polis is elected governor of Colorado, our state will be officially Californicated in the image of Governor Moonbeam Jerry Brown. We will become a socialist sanctuary state that will curtail the current statewide economic boom, as innovators, risk takers and entrepreneurs will seek other less regulated business friendly states.

If Proposition 112 passes, the oil and gas business that has contributed so greatly to Colorado’s economic excellence the past 3 decades will suffer significantly. It will cause massive job layoffs in that crucial statewide industry and the entire state will suffer economically.

I have no dog in this hunt. I just want what’s best for Summit County law enforcement and Colorado economic prosperity.

Kim McGahey

Chairman, Summit County Republican Party

Breckenridge

Bring Woodman back to the sheriff’s office

I am writing in support of Derek Woodman for Sheriff. He was my direct supervisor from 2010- 2016. The work environment under Derek was one of support, trust and the belief that you were hired because of your skill and ability. Employees were able to flourish under Derek. New ideas and teamwork were strongly encouraged, the Sheriff and Undersheriff respected their employees and we looked forward going to work. Former Sheriff John Minor and Derek Woodman built a solid foundation of exemplary employees.

For Sheriff FitzSimons to say that he now has “re-established a professional and ethical expectation of my employees” is offensive to me! Those who departed were the utmost ethical, moral, loyal and professional individuals that any department would be proud to have. I left in 2017 which included one year working under Jamie FitzSimons. I know that for many of us, it was an extremely hard decision to leave. We all put in years of hard work, dedication and service to the Sheriff’s Office and community.

Why did some of us leave? It was not “change of living location, cost of housing, limits on job opportunities, disciplinary reasons, workplace stress, liability and risk, and differences with management over pay, benefits, and job performance expectations” that Sheriff FitzSimons would lead you to believe as he stated on his Oct. 11 press release. Our mental and physical health were more important to us than our salaries. Myself and others left because the environment was so toxic, abusive, unsupportive and micro-managed.

To quote Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, “You manage things: you lead people.” Sheriff FitzSimons manages his employees, Derek Woodman will lead his employees. Let’s move the Sheriff’s Office to the future; a future where the employees are in a supportive, healthy, non-toxic work environment, led by Derek Woodman.

Adrienne Stuckey

Breckenridge

Yes 7D means yes CMC

This measure will not raise your taxes.

With this ballot measure, the college simply seeks to protect and preserve its current level of funding in order to continue providing affordable, high quality education in Aspen, Carbondale, Glenwood Springs, Spring Valley, Rifle, Leadville, Buena Vista, Salida, Edwards, Steamboat Springs, Dillon and Breckenridge.

For 50 years CMC has turned busboys into 5-star chefs, mountain bikers and raft guides into Wilderness First Responders and retail clerks into business owners in all of our communities. CMC has turned ski bums into ski area operators, firefighters and law enforcement officers.

CMC has trained our own local high school graduates as nurses and teachers, electricians and forest rangers to work in the communities in which they grew up.

And CMC offers College courses to all local high school students so they may earn college credits while completing their high school graduation requirements, tuition free.

CMC gives a $1,000 scholarship to all local high school graduates.

Please support Colorado Mountain College by voting YES on 7 D (at the bottom of your ballot).

Patty Theobald

Breckenridge

Chairman

CMC Board of Trustees