Sixty Years Ago This Week: Gov. John Love’s administration was failing to address the many problems surrounding Colorado’s rapidly growing population, and the governor was, “frantically looking for new ways to increase taxes,” said Colorado Democratic Party chairman Robert Maytag.

Maytag lobbed the partisan attacks – as pointed as they were unsurprising – at a Prowers County Democratic Party meeting in Lamar, warning that, in his view, Colorado was staggering “toward deficit spending, reduced institutional programs and limited educational opportunities.”

Not only had Love allowed avoidable problems to ferment, Maytag exclaimed in his speech, but the governor also wanted to pull Colorado, and the nation, backwards. He referenced one of Love’s speeches in which the governor had implied his support for U.S. Sen. Barry Goldwater’s bid for president. And, to boot, Goldwater, a Republican from Arizona, had made statements opposing the United Nations, social security and the graduated income tax – inexcusable platforms in Maytag’s humble opinion.

“Apparently the governor has his gears stuck in reverse and wants to back the country into the 19th century,” Maytag said. “The list of services the federal government has provided to Colorado are numerous.”

“Since 1960, Colorado has seen, amongst others, almost $100 million in federal funding for highway projects, $20 million in REA loans and $5 million in matching funds to solve water pollution problems,” Maytag said.

“While the governor talks about the evils of turning to the federal government for assistance, his administration just received financial assistance from the same federal government for financing his investigation of unemployment compensation.”

Editor’s Note: This was an excerpt from an article that was originally published in The Colorado Democrat, a Democratic Party partisan newspaper that is part of the lineage of the former nonpartisan Colorado Statesman and today’s nonpartisan Colorado Politics magazine. As a result, the article’s original author did not look to members of the Republican Party for a response to Maytag’s claims.

Forty Years Ago: Former state Senate candidate Gerry Frank was being taken to court for nearly $5,000 in unpaid fines, which had accumulated after a he filed his required financial disclosure statement two years late.

“I’m not responsible for the fine,” Frank told The Statesman, contending that former Secretary of State Mary Estill Buchanan had promised him immunity from having to pay up unless he became a candidate in the future.

“I have no current intentions of running in the next two years,” Frank said. “So, I don’t really understand why (Secretary of State) Natalie Meyer is pressing the matter.”

Meyer, Buchanan’s successor, said that she authorized legal proceedings against Frank as a routine matter after she was elected and took over the office.

“That letter (referring to a letter from Buchanan that Frank had produced) is truly not a possible agreement for an elected official to have made,” Meyer said. “You either dismiss the fine or else fine them.”

Meyer further argued that she had no knowledge of Buchanan’s ‘”novel arrangement” with Frank and again expressed her disbelief that Buchanan would offer such an “easy out.”

Frank remained steadfast that Buchanan had authored the letter and that the fine was to be kept on record, but he was simply excused from having to pay it.

“Besides,” Frank said, “whether anyone owes a fine or not, it’s the campaign treasurer’s responsibility, not mine.”

Frank’s treasurer at the time, Walt Epting, did admit to being lax in meeting state election filing requirements. Official follow-up requests had also sent to Epting, but without Frank’s knowledge, according to Frank’s account.

“I didn’t want responsibility for the campaign finances and reports,” Frank said. “I never saw any letters from the Secretary of State’s office warning me of the penalties for late filings.”

Meyer said that while she recognized that a campaign treasurer was responsible for making sure forms were filed, the ultimate responsibility lay with the candidate. Plus, Meyer argued, the matter was now in the hands of the state’s collections agency and there was no settlement offer in the making.

“I have no plans to meet with Gerry Frank,” Meyer said. “Not even for a drink.”

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 Gazette.