Stand For The Constitution (SFTC), a Grand Junction group that supports President Donald Trump – despite his seemingly unconstitutional actions – invited three Mesa County leaders, and a state senator to speak at its August 18 quarterly round-robin meeting at Appleton Christian Church in Grand Junction.
Approximately 30 people attended the meeting. Before splitting into smaller groups to engage more easily with each official, a SFTC member wearing a camouflage Trump hat and a T-shirt that said “Impeached, Arrested, Convicted, Shot, Still Standing” led the audience in singing the national anthem.
Invited speakers included Alli Howe, chief health strategist for Mesa County Public Health; Janice Rich, Colorado State Senator for District 7; Todd Hollenbeck, Mesa County Administrator; and Stephanie Reecy, Public Information Office for Mesa County. Each spoke and answered questions for 20 minutes before moving on to the next table to converse with other SFTC members.
Hollenbeck was asked about unfunded state mandates, road conditions and other topics, including the Mesa County Commissioners’ countersuit against Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, who is suing Mesa County Sheriff Deputy Alexander Zwinck for unlawfully sharing information on a Signal group chat that included federal immigration agents. Zwinck had pulled over motorist Caroline Dias Goncalves before letting her go. She was later stopped and arrested by immigration officials and taken to a detention center in Aurora where she was held for 15 days – although she had committed no crime. Colorado law restricts coordination between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.
Hollenbeck said the countersuit was to clarify the law so Mesa County can provide “better direction to our deputies.”
Reecy shared with the group how the county seeks to make it easy for residents to know what’s going on in the county, via its web site, and an 8-week “Inside Mesa County” class offered each year to allow residents to tour various county departments and ask questions of local officials.
When someone asked about unfunded state mandates, Reecy responded that Commissioner Bobbie Daniel is working with counties across Colorado to address the issue of the state adopting mandates without understanding the costs to counties.
Howe, from Mesa County Public Health, expressed her commitment to rural public health – a field she’s worked in for 20 years.
“We see ourselves as partners and educators – not this big, bad government,” she told the group. (Many SFTC members adamantly opposed mask and vaccine mandates during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic). Howe explained that while mistakes were made during the global health crisis, public health agencies did their best to keep people healthy while information was evolving.
During a follow-up interview Tuesday morning, Howe was asked how Mesa County Public Health was preparing for future cuts to Medicaid and SNAP benefits, with the passage of H.R.1. (One Big Beautiful Bill Act) Howe said the cuts won’t go in effect until 2026. Meanwhile, Mesa County Public Health officials are meeting regularly with other health care leaders in the valley, including HomewardBound of the Grand Valley, Grand Valley Catholic Outreach, Hilltop Community Resources, and other groups to prepare for cuts to public assistance.
“We’re listening at the federal level,” Howe said. “There is so much uncertainty at the federal level. It’s hard to make a clear plan at the moment, but we’re ready and talking.”
As Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. winds down its mRNA vaccine development, Howe said current and already tested vaccines will remain readily available.
“We’re hoping that the scientific community will find other ways to research the next round of life-saving vaccines,” she said.
The Monday night meeting was largely nonpartisan in nature, although Rich criticized the majority party and its spending priorities. She questioned the sustainability of maintaining new programs created with one-time funding, and seemed to question the creation of new offices – such as the Colorado Office of New Americans, and the Colorado Office of Climate Preparedness and Disaster Recovery.
Rich praised the TABOR Amendment (Taxpayer Bill of Rights), saying that the law keeps Colorado “disciplined and balanced on the budget.” And, she praised groups like SFTC, while nodding to the one reporter present, saying “the media is not on our side.”
