Power Play In The Pitkin County Sheriff's Office

November 22nd, 2006 at 06:13am Michael Conniff 2

The misadventures of Pitkin County Deputy Sheriff Joe DiSalvo have taken on new meaning with the rumor--now confirmed--that the #2 person in the department will be  pushed out as of the last day of 2006 to make room for DiSalvo as the successor to Sheriff Bob Braudis.

Undersheriff Lorrie White is gonzo, to coin a particularly apt phrase, thereby putting to rest the open secret whispered on the fringes of the 2006 election campaign that the no-show Sheriff was merely holding the seat for his pal DiSalvo to step in as acting Sheriff after a Braudis resignation mid-term. Such a move would make DiSalvo the incumbent in a 2010 race and make it that much more difficult for a reformer to knock off DiSalvo.

In moving up from #2 to #3 in the department, DiSalvo's elevation raises yet another intriguing question about the credibility of Sheriff Braudis. In the election campaign just past against Rick Magnuson, the Sheriff swore up and down that if elected he would serve out his full term. Magnuson raised the issue in public debate because the DiSalvo-for-White-for-Braudis scenario was so widely known and discussed in among those working for the Sheriff's Office and the Aspen Police Department.

The Sheriff, needless to say, denied the possibility of that scenario up and down. He had no choice. To run for an office that he had no stated intention of fulfilling would have been political suicide. So he said what he had to say in the campaign. He also said he had never ever taken drugs as Sheriff. He might have even meant what he said and said what he meant 100 percent.

Does his campaign promise paint the Bobster into a box? How could he resign from a job that he promised to keep?

The answer for an exit strategy is painfully simple. All the Sheriff Bob has to do is to say his health is flagging and he is no longer up to the job. Fact is, his health actually is flagging, from all eyewitness accounts, despite the reprieve born of his unannounced trip to the Desert Canyon Treatment Center in Sedona, Arizona, in summer 2006 for alcohol abuse.

To get a pass on his campaign promise, all Sheriff Bob needs is a note from his doctor. And that means Deputy Sheriff Joe DiSalvo would be destined to continue the what-me-worry policies of his legendary predecessor.

Entry Filed under: Basalt, Snowmass, Aspen, Crime, Pitkin County, Sheriff Race 2006