The Con Man is mad as hell and he's not going to take any more whitewashing of Pitkin County Sheriff Bob Braudis by local media lapdogs. "Oh, now I get it," he blogs. "Because Independence Pass is closed, pot dealers shut down for the season. How nice. The only problem is the drug trafficking has nothing to do with Highway 82 and everything to do with Pitkin County's established reputation as a sanctuary city for drug traffic.... This is at least the third time in two years Sheriff Bob has seen a major drug bust go down under his nose without him even knowing about it: Little Annie's, the Conoco station, and now the Aspen-Redstone pot debacle."
"Aspen is unique," writes new Post blogger ajax26 in comment #3, "and has it's own version of reality. Where else can you 'win' a lottery for the opportunity to buy a subsidized house for only $300k?"
The remarkable law enforcement career of Pitkin County Sheriff Bob Braudis continues with the news that his jurisdiction is an enforcement-free zone. "Fifteen hundred pounds of marijuana is a whole lot of pot," writes Post blogger Michael Conniff, "even in Pitkin County, but 1,500 pounds is not nearly enough for Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) officials to alert Pitkin County Sheriff Bob Braudis that a major drug ring is doing business right under his nose—until the bust was in the books. The Sheriff is, of course, enamored of those who break the law. Though now only intermittently sighted in his office in the basement of Pitkin County Courthouse—“He keeps his own hours,” explains his secretary—Braudis embraces the criminal element."
Posts filed under 'Sheriff Race 2006'
I never worked for The Sun, though my first job in journalism was at the late and not-so-great Baltimore News American. But I can tell you this: the determination of those big-city newspapermen in the real world to get the powers-that-be to answer for what they do was something I also saw firsthand in newspapers in San Francisco and Boston. That kind of attitude was nothing less than their reason for being.
The hours are bad and the pay stinks—so why else would anyone want to do such a difficult job?
And that’s what’s missing in Aspen: a sense of mission. The Fourth Estate really functions now as an extension of elected officials, with a dearth of skepticism where a dollop is long overdue. It’s no exaggeration to state the obvious: the newspapers are the establishment in a town where politics lists to the left.
Continue Reading March 10th, 2008
The Sheriff's Office's don't ask-don't smell drug policy is hardly worth talking about any more--what more can you say about drug-induced law enforcement fade-to-black ops?--but heretofore Sheriff Bob has insisted without surcease that his guys and gals keep do a bang-up job on the highways and byways of Pitkin County. So it is with some glee that critics of said Sheriff (that would be me) saw the front page story this week that lionized the Wyatt Earp of The New West for bodaciously increasing the number of traffic arrests in 2007 compared to 2006.
Continue Reading February 28th, 2008
Pitkin County Sheriff Bob Braudis is no stranger to criminals--does the name Montgomery Chitty ring a bell?--and that is perhaps as it should be for an officer of the law. But even his most slavish supporters of the new-age Sheriff may have to admit he has gone too far this time.
On official Pitkin County letterhead, Braudis wrote a letter in support of convicted felon Bert Fingerhut for his Mountain Rescue Aspen volunteer activities. Braudis also admitted he barely knew Fingerhut.
Continue Reading August 5th, 2007
Braudis was sworn in yesterday as Sheriff for a sixth term and as we reported accurately more than six weeks ago Undersheriff Lorrie White was pushed into retirement to make way for Braudis factotum Joe Disalvio to move up into White's #2 seat. Braudis again promised to serve out his term through 2010, and Disalvio promised. But then Braudis also said he was at a wellness center this summer and not in alcohol rehablitation, and he also said he had never taken drugs while serving as Sheriff of Pitkin County.
In a silver mining town, the word of the Sheriff is not exactly gold.
Continue Reading January 10th, 2007
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.
Continue Reading November 22nd, 2006
I have lived in this valley for 14 years now and NOT ONCE have I heard a peep out of the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office or from Bob Braudis himself in commercial or newsprint form about the dangers of drug use, proactively having officers at our schools, community policing, etc. To my utmost surprise the other morning while listening to the Con Games show on KNFO, but what do I hear? It is a commercial for Tipsy Taxi and the talking head is none other than our current and newly re-elected Sheriff, Bob Braudis. Yes indeed, our Sheriff that we haven’t heard a thing from in 20 years has a voice. He is actually promoting a different way to get home if you’ve been out on the town tying one on. What a revelation.
Continue Reading November 18th, 2006
In the meantime, in-between time, ain't we got fun? In the midst of all the pissiness between the Sheriff's peeps and the Aspen Police Department perpetrators of the law, everybody and their sister missed the best part: Sheriff Bob Braudis was (once again) nowhere to be seen.
Was he in France? Or California? Or, understandably and regrettably, at the funeral of his friend Ed Bradley of CBS and Woody Creek? Whatever the reason--whatever the higher cause--the Sheriff Pitkin was demonstrably not in Pitkin County.
Continue Reading November 18th, 2006
Where had I seen this movie before? Or was it a book? Maybe even a history book. But this story was blurred and not instantly knowable.
There I was election night in the bar at Jimmy’s downtown, trying to make sense of what I now knew (finally) to be true: that Aspen is a one-party town and that you bucked the Politboro at your own peril.
Continue Reading November 8th, 2006
Are you ready for this?
Are you ready to take a cold, hard look at the plethora of bloggers blasting away on the subject of the race for Pitkin County Sherriff?
In addition to Michael Conniff, there's Michael Brylawski, and PastorMustard, and even candidate Rick Magnuson himself. With the imminent election, now's the time to look back at some of the highlights.
Continue Reading November 5th, 2006
In the race for sheriff between "Saint Bob" and "Despicable Rick," I know if it is a game of hoops, I'd go with Rick. I was sorry I missed Squirm Night, I would have liked to ask Saint Bob to tell us something despicable he's done, and, how about a saintly story from Rick, or at least a story about fish. Anyway, I like Rick but, the job of sheriff kind of lends itself to someone with experience, and we all know Bob has that. What I can't understand is why the "fair and balanced" Aspen Daily News feels it needs to bury Rick. From the beginning we all knew Bob was a lock. I understand it's news, but if there was a need to "kill Rick," why not a little investigating reporting on Bob? Oh wait -- he is a saint after all. Of course, if Rick was to pull off the upset, we could then have Mayor Bob, which would be fun.
Continue Reading November 3rd, 2006
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