The Greeley Tribune Editorial Board is plenty put out with one of the city’s new at-large council member, whose criminal history only recently came to light.

Eddie Mirick failed to disclose that he had been convicted of a felony in 1978, and the city code bars felons from running for office. He was elected last week, and now the city is trying to figure out how to deal with over-riding the voters’ will. One of Mirick’s opponents, Stacy Suniga, is considering going to court over it, as well.

The Greeley Tribune endorsed Mirick, but four days before the election the paper reported that Mirick was convicted of forging coworkers’ signatures on invoices to get ahold of some waterbeds worth $1,850 in San Diego. Mirick said he was set up, plus the conviction was later reduced to a misdemeanor.

Mirick had said on his documents for the City Council and his previous duty on the Greeley Planning Commission that he had no felony convictions.

“This cheats Suniga, who deserved a clean race, and it cheats us,” the paper’s editorial stated. “Many of us sent in our ballots by mail before news of his conviction broke. He wound up winning the race. We wonder what news of his conviction would have meant to voters, but we will never know.

“The sad thing is, now Mirick’s just another politician who did something shady to gain public office. Mirick could have been hailed for his courage for coming forward to address a conviction that happened so long ago. Mirick could have taken care of this, even if it meant he didn’t run for the council. We really wish he did so, rather than either hope he didn’t get caught or naively believe the weird circumstances surrounding his conviction rendered it moot.”

The newspaper’s Tyler Silvy reported about Mirick’s discovered history on Nov. 3.

“Things like that taught me a lesson,” Mirick told Silvy. “I’m a very upstanding, honest individual. Have there been mistakes people have made in their lives? Yes, but that was a long time ago.”