A weekly dive into the pages of Colorado Politics’ predecessor, The Colorado Statesman, which started in 1898:

Forty Years Ago This Week: Bemoaning the expenses involved in attending presidential inaugurations, Adams County Republican Party Chairman Hal Shroyer told The Colorado Statesman that he and his wife Maxine were excited to be heading to Washington D.C. to see President-elect Ronald Reagan be sworn into office and attend the subsequent festivities – but they also had some sticker shock.

Shroyer said that when he had attended Nixon’s Inauguration in 1973, bleacher seats for the ceremony cost him $25. The same seat to Regan’s inauguration now cost $100. Shroyer said that he’d spent $1,400 on tickets for inaugural events, which didn’t include his expenses on airfare, hotels or food.

In other news, Paul Mohn, a former (1980) Libertarian candidate for House District 57, was convicted of six counts of failure to deposit federal withholdings and Social Security taxes, amounting to $4,500, from his employees. At his sentencing hearing, Mohn was given one year in a federal prison camp in Arizona. But in true Libertarian form, Mohn invoked the 13th Amendment and said that he was being “forced to involuntary servitude” and that his case should be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Twenty Years Ago: Rep. Gayle Berry, R-Grand Junction, introduced House Bill 01-1005, which sought to grant state tax relief to individuals who were unaware that their spouse did not report certain income on a joint tax return.

Federal law provided for “innocent spouse relief,” but existing Colorado law still held both parties liable for any unreported income. Berry’s bill pushed for Colorado to come into conformance with federal law.

“Although figures are not available to know exactly how many people will be affected but this legislation, we know of divorce cases and other instances where this has become an issue,” Berry said. “I believe it is unfair to penalize a wife or husband for an inaccurate filing when they do not know about income their spouse has failed to report and do not benefit from.”

HB 01-1005 went on to pass the House with a unanimous 64-0 vote.

Fifteen Years Ago: The Colorado Statesman published a scathing article by attorney and former Rep. Gerald Kopel, D-Denver, in which he took Gov. Bill Owens to task for overstepping his authority when he fired former Secretary of State Natalie Meyer from her position as chair of the Colorado Gaming Commission.

Vice-Chairman Robert Millman was also fired after he and Meyer complained about the intrusion of Department of Revenue Director Michael Cooke into the Commission’s affairs. 

Kopel said that it was his belief that Owens fired Meyer and Millman under Colorado’s gaming statues, which stated that “Any member of the commission may be removed by the governor at any time.”

But, Kopel argued, constitutional amendment supersedes statute, and by Article 4, Section 6 of the state constitution the governor had the authority to nominate with the “consent of the senate, appoint all officers whose offices are established by the constitution … and may remove any such officer for: (1) incompetence, (2) neglect of duty or (3) malfeasance in office.”

“In my opinion, the governor did rely upon the statutory authority, but that authority made into law by the legislature contradicts the right of an appointed commission official to be found to have been incompetent, neglectful of duty or having committed malfeasance before being removed from office,” Kopel said. “And that can be adjudicated by the judiciary.”

Rachael Wright is the author of the Captain Savva Mystery series, with degrees in Political Science and History from Colorado Mesa University, and is a contributing writer to Colorado Politics and the Colorado Springs Gazette.