Everitt is, according to an unnamed source, a “full-on progressive,” and has been involved–from a distance–with the left-wing Democrat takeover of conservative Republican-leaning San Juan County. If this is the case, it explains the timing of his recent resignation from the manager position in Moab.
by Marjorie Haun
Fireworks continue to flare in San Juan County, Utah, where last year, following the the court-ordered race-based redistricting of the county, two Democrats were elected to the commission, overtaking leadership in this majority conservative corner of the state. Kenneth Maryboy and Willie Grayeyes, whose lack of a permanent residence in Utah continues to be a point of controversy, are also representatives of the Navajo Nation, which makes up a small geographical area of San Juan County, but now dominates two of its three voting districts. Bruce Adams remains the lone Republican on the three-man commission.
An April 29 article in the Deseret News exposed the machinations of Steven C. Boos, a lawyer from Durango, Colorado, who has been writing resolutions for Maryboy and Grayeyes, while serving as an attorney for Grayeyes in the ongoing court battle over his residency. The Boos-originated resolutions have been met with push back from locals attending county commission meetings. The article explains:
The flurry of resolutions drafted by the attorney and pushed by the two new commissioners is prompting counter threats by some residents in the community who are fed up with what they say is outside, unelected influence running the affairs of government.
“It appears the county is being governed by an attorney from Durango, Colorado,” Bruce Adams, San Juan County’s other commissioner, said Monday. “And now we lose (Pehrson), one of our most important county employees.”
At a contentious public commission meeting on April 16, Monticello resident Kim Henderson said Maryboy in particular was not acting in the interest of county residents.
“As an elected official, I would think you would choose to listen to local voices over legal or special interest groups,” she said. “The way you have been governing since you took office is not transparent, far from.”
She complained the resolutions are being passed with little public input and with little advance notice. During the meeting when she gestured toward the residents behind her, Maryboy referred to them as the “peanut gallery.”
The recent resignation of San Juan County’s Administrator, Kelly Pehrson, also brought to light the ugly politics poisoning county operations.
According to the same Deseret News article, besides subverting previous county policies, the Democrat majority on the commission is freezing out county employees from important decision making. It reads:
Kelly Pehrson, the chief administrative officer for San Juan County, has resigned to take a job as the state’s deputy director of agriculture for a new opportunity —but also because he says the two freshmen county commissioners have either ignored him or froze him out at every turn.
“Since I have been administrator, I have tried very hard to have these commissioners work with staff, but they have refused. Somehow they have been coached to not discuss anything with staff,” Pehrson said Monday.
“The commissioners are the bosses of the county. They are supposed to be working with staff to run the county, but morale has been at an all-time low because they have been listening to outside voices.”
The most recent development appears to be an attempt on the part of Kenneth Maryboy to bring in a left-wing progressive to replace Kelly Pehrson. In an email conversation dated May 1, 2019 between Commissioners Maryboy and Adams, it appears Maryboy wants to fill the vacancy within the next 24 hours, and may have been prepared to do so well in advance of Pehrson’s resignation. The email from Maryboy is below:
David Everitt, originally from Gainesville, Florida, served as Chief Operating Officer for Salt Lake City as well as chief of staff for progressive Democrat Mayor, Ralph Becker, before being hired on by Moab in an interim capacity in 2016.
Everitt is, according to an unnamed source, a “full-on progressive,” and has been involved–from a distance–with the left-wing Democrat takeover of conservative Republican-leaning San Juan County. If this is the case, it explains the timing of his recent resignation from the manager position in Moab.
According to an article in the Moab Times Independent, Everitt’s replacement was interviewed last February, possibly indicating that the new county commissioners, having been elected last November, have schemed to replace Pehrson with Everitt from the get-go. The article also states that Everitt will continue working for Moab on a part-time basis until August. That means that, in their haste to hire Everitt, the commissioners may completely overlook potential candidates for the Administrator position who know San Juan County and its residents, in favor of an out-of-town progressive.
The Professional Services Agreement (PSA) mentioned in Maryboy’s hasty email indicates that he is prepared to pay Everitt $5,763 every two weeks, or $149,838 per year, to takeover for Pehrson, who was making around $85,000 a year in the Administrator Position. Ironically, San Juan County is one of Utah’s poorest counties, with impoverished communities concentrated on the Navajo Indian reservation. The PSA suggested by Maryboy is below and can also be viewed on Scribd:
Professional Services – Independent Contractor David Everitt on Scribd
In his reply email, Commissioner Adams asked Maryboy to ensure transparency in the hiring process, to consider current employees who are familiar with San Juan County, and to follow protocol by properly advertising the open position.
San Juan County locals understand that they currently have no representation in their county government, with progressive Democrats–and a Colorado attorney–calling the shots. It’s important to note also that because Maryboy and Grayeyes are members of the Navajo Nation, they do not have to live with the consequences of their own policies. This most recent clash between progressive Democrats engineering the county takeover by radical special interests, and locals, will certainly further erode what little trust remains between the government and governed of San Juan County.
Free Range Report
Thank you for reading our latest report, but before you go…
Our loyalty is to the truth and to YOU, our readers!
We respect your reading experience, and have refrained from putting up a paywall and obnoxious advertisements, which means that we get by on small donations from people like you. We’re not asking for much, but any amount that you can give goes a long way to securing a better future for the people who make America great.
[paypal_donation_button]
For as little as $1 you can support Free Range Report, and it takes only a moment.
