God Bless Estes Park!
On December 9th (”Wrong Recall“) we reported that trustees of Estes Park, Colorado were attempting to recall one of their own- - David Habecker, a trustee for twelve years who objected to mandatory recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance (Under God) at board meetings. Well, they got him.
The Estes Park Trail-Gazette published the story on their web site this evening. Habecker was recalled by a vote of 903 to 605.
According to Trail-Gazette writer John Cordsen, “Residents initiated the recall in October citing a loss of confidence in Habecker’s ability to represent citizens after what they felt was the trustee’s use of his public office to promote a personal protest concerning reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at Town meetings.”
Well, John, that’s not exactly the truth and nothing but the truth, is it? A little editorial bias perhaps?
The move to recall Habecker was initiated by fellow trustee Lori Jeffrey-Clark, through her non-trustee husband Richard Clark.
Jeffrey-Clark persuaded the Board to recite the Pledge at meetings last May, while Habecker was away on business. At some meetings he recited the Pledge, omitting the words “Under God,” but nobody noticed. At the board’s first meeting in September he made a brief speech to the effect that mixing a religious test with public office was unconstitutional, and sat down during the recitation. So… at the next meeting, Jeffrey-Clark arranged for a Cub Scout pack to attend the meeting, and placed enlarged copies of a dollar bill with the words “In God We Trust” highlighted, on each chair. When Habecker refused to stand and recite the pledge, the woman went in for the kill… Here’s what she said, according to a Rocky Mountain News report on December 8th:
“I excused myself from the board, said I was speaking as a
citizen and asked how many of them had noticed that Mr.
Habecker was sitting down during the pledge,” she said. “I
said it’s his constitutional right, but there are
consequences,” said Jeffrey-Clark, who voted for Habecker
and sat next to him at meetings for four years. “Then I said
you (Habecker) don’t represent me, and I want my vote back,”
Jeffrey-Clark said.
She claimed that she thought the visit to the board meeting would be a good lesson in civics for the cubs. It was in fact a lesson in the worst kind of politics, with a little sidebar on “mature adult behavior” thrown in for good measure.
In getting signatures on the recall petition, supporters claimed “it’s not about religion, it’s about patriotism.”
And now the Trail-Gazette is saying that it was about “a loss of confidence in Habecker’s ability to represent citizens after what they felt was the trustee’s use of his public office to promote a personal protest concerning reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at Town meetings.”
The only person using a public office to promote anything in this case is Jeffrey-Clark. Just to show you how mean and vindictive she is, Habecker would be out of office next year anyhow due to term-limits. Nasty!
Habecker moved to Estes Park 29 years ago, established a business, served as president of the Lions Club, and was a town trustee for twelve years. Jeffrey-Clark is retired military; she moved to Estes Park 10 years ago, and has been a Trustee for 6 years. The Jeffery-Clarks are raising their 10-year-old nephew (one of the Cub Scouts mentioned earlier). Raising him, and using him to promote a personal protest, one could say.
The husband’s role in this is interesting too– here’s what he had to say about the September meeting (RMN 12/9/04):
“I was there to take pictures of the Cub Scouts, but when he
sat down during the Pledge of Allegiance, my camera went
click, click, click,” Clark said. “His actions made me sick,”
said Clark, who retired from the Greeley police force and
moved to Estes Park in 1985. He repairs guns and buys and
sells weapons.
Here’s Lori’s info from the official Estes Park web site, just in case you want to say hello to her:
Mrs. Lori Jeffrey-Clark
P. O. Box 453
Estes Park, CO 80517
(970) 412-0188 (CELL)
(970) 586-9159 (H)
E-mail: ebu@charter.net
There are a lot of lessons to be drawn from this, but let’s allow Habecker himself to have the last word (RMN 12/9/04):
“My recall is not the issue,” he said. “This has to do with what the town stands for and whether we are a tolerant community or not.”
Guess you got your answer, Mr. Habecker. Good luck and God Speed.
–SG
What do you think? Please enter a comment below.
March 24th, 2005 at 5:50 pm
Aren’t you going out on a limb publishing Jeffrey Clark’s contact information. It could be harassment! She deserves it, but still. Also I don’t live in Estes Park but I don’t think I would trust anybody who refuses to say the Pledge of Allegiance.
March 24th, 2005 at 7:54 pm
Not at all! In the first place, the e-mail blitzkrieg is a standard tactic of the Christian Coalition and turnabout is fair play (not to be confused with the town of Fairplay, another mountain town in CO).
Secondly, the information is already available on the town web site– you wouldn’t have questioned a direct link to it, would you?
Finally, during the “campaign” to oust Habecker, Jeffrey-Clark herself said that she was getting e-mail from all over the country, running 5-1 in favor of the recall. Remember, those folks are ORGANIZED! Since she obviously thinks the opinion of non-EP-residents is important, I’m sure she’d welcome the feedback even if it doesn’t support her own totalitarian/religious view.