Davidson leaving Clerks Assoc.

Former Secretary of State Donetta Davidson announced this week that she is stepping down as executive director of the Colorado County Clerks Association on June 30.

Davidson has headed the organization for four years but has been working with county clerks for more than four decades. She began as a part-time worker in the Bent County clerk’s office in 1972 and then was the county’s clerk from 1978 to 1986, when she took over as the state’s director of elections. In 1994 she was elected Arapahoe County clerk and recorder. Davidson held that office until 1999, when she was appointed secretary of state by Gov. Bill Owens following the death of Secretary of State Vicky Buckley. She was appointed as a commissioner on the federal Election Assistance Commission in 2005 and served there until 2010.

“The workload for clerks is heavier than it’s ever been,” Davidson said in a statement announcing her retirement. “They are all doing more with less as they deal with requirements of federal law and Colorado law, which in turn requires more from the Executive Director of the association.”

The County Clerks Association counts the state’s 64 county clerks and their designees as members. It has launched a search for Davidson’s successor and is encouraging candidates to apply via the association’s website.

James Donald Eddis, 87, passes

James Donald Eddins, 87, the husband of Chief Clerk of the Colorado House Marilyn Eddins, died on April 5 in Louisville. Eddins was born on Jan. 6, 1928, in Arlington, Va. In addition to his wife, he is survived by their children Tiffany Trevenen and Diane Hose, and three grandchildren. The family is suggesting donations to Tru Community Hospice in Lafayette.

House Speaker Dickey Lee Hullinghorst, D-Boulder, and Minority Leader Brian DelGrosso, R-Loveland, issued a joint statement on Eddins’s passing. “Chief Clerk Eddins has never made a secret of her preference for doing things in bipartisan fashion,” Hullinghorst and DelGrosso said. “Today we speak with one voice, on behalf of all 65 members and the House staff, to extend our deepest condolences to our beloved Chief Clerk and her family, and to let them know that our thoughts and prayers are with them in their time of bereavement.”

Kennedy tosses hat for HD 23

Former Jefferson County Democratic chair Chris Kennedy announced last week that he’s running for the House District 23 seat that will be left open next year when state Rep. Max Tyler, D-Lakewood, faces term limits.

Kennedy, who ran U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter’s campaign in the last election, has worked at the Capitol for Tyler and for state Reps. Millie Hamner, Jeanne Labuda, Matt Jones and for Mark Ferrandino when the Denver Democrat was speaker. He worked as a structural engineer before turning his attention to politics and government.

“I’m running for the Colorado House of Representatives because I want everybody to have the kinds of opportunities I’ve had — to work hard and pursue their dreams, whatever they may be,” Kennedy said in a statement announcing his candidacy, adding that he “would be honored to keep working hard to preserve and grow the middle class and our beautiful state for the next generation of Coloradans.”

The Lakewood-based seat leans Democratic. Tyler won his last election over Republican nominee Jane Barnes by 10 points and defeated Republican challenger Rick Enstrom in 2012 by 7 points.

Town of San Luis turns 164

Colorado’s oldest continuously occupied town, San Luis, in Costilla County, celebrates its 164th anniversary this week. On April 9, 1851, San Luis gained recognition as an official town following the acquisition of a million-acre tract near the border with New Mexico by Charles Beaubien under the Sangre de Cristo Grant. The town was established by Hispanic farmers who settled the area but had been inhabited by prehistoric cultures for thousands of years, History Colorado noted in a release trumpeting the town’s birthday.

San Luis took shape from 1851 to 1878 because of its proximity to a road running south to Taos and north to Fort Garland, and it became a regional trade hub between Denver and Pueblo when the railroad went through in 1879. While the town’s population has dropped over the last 100 years, it maintains numerous historic buildings, including the courthouse, the Church of Most Precious Blood, and residences.

Coffman names leadership team

Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman this week announced several appointments to her senior leadership.

Melody Mirbaba is the new deputy attorney general for the office’s State Services Section, overseeing legal representation for the governor, other elected state officials, the administrative parts of the judicial branch, the State Board of Education, the state’s universities, colleges, and community colleges, and state departments. The position had been filled with an acting deputy after former Secretary of State Bernie Buescher, who had held the position, departed last summer. Mirbaba was most recently an administrative law judge for the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. Before that, she spent 11 years as assistant attorney general in the Human Services and Public Officials Units of State Services.

Scott Turner takes over as deputy attorney general for the Criminal Justice Section later this month. Turner has been a prosecutor in Colorado for nearly a decade, having worked as the assistant district attorney in the 5th and 9th Judicial Districts and as a line prosecutor in the 4th Judicial District. Turner has prosecuted more than 100 cases in federal, state and municipal courts, Coffman’s office said.

Cory Amend, a 23-year veteran with the Broomfield Police Department, is the attorney general’s new director of the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Board. He is commander of the Broomfield Patrol Division and is a former commander of the force’s SWAT Team.

Larry Adkisson, a former investigator with the attorney general’s Special Prosecution Unit and the Violent Crimes Assistance Team and participant in the Justice Review Project, has been promoted to the newly created position of chief investigator. He has worked with the Lakewood Police Department, Arapahoe District Attorney’s Office, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, and the family violence unit of the Denver District Attorney’s Office.

Russell Klein will be the deputy attorney general for the office’s Business & Licensing Section starting in May. He has worked for the attorney general’s Financial Unit for a decade and was most recently first assistant attorney general for the Financial & Health Services Unit, which includes the Division of Securities and a number of boards and programs under the Division of Professions and Occupations.

Gettin’ hitched? Young’uns on the way? Tossin’ a hat in the ring? Let us know at wayposts@coloradostatesman.com