Nick Streza bought a $900 full page ad in the DCI. Under the guise of being a unbiased party his ad talked of none of the issues but instead viciously attacked me.  This is the second time he's paid for an attack ad.  The following is a copy of a answer to be published in the Letters to the Editor of the DCI on July 30th, my birthday by the way.  Also follows a much longer unpublished letter that is more complete for those who want to follow this sordid attempt to throw the election to my opponent Bruce Hovde.

Letter to the Editor

Nick Streza (Delta County Committee for Responsible Progress), a big developer and obvious Bruce Hovde Supporter, took a full page ad in the DCI last week.  Like his previous paid ad regarding Brian Mason and me, it is replete with errors and bias.  Bruce Hovde has outspent us 3 to 1 not including Mr. Streza’s $900 full page ad. His “ACCORDING TO THE PUBLIC RECORD” is mainly FALSE, only one accusation is true. This is nothing more than “dirty” politics.  An attempt to draw attention away from the very significant differences between the two of us.   What’s at stake is no less than our future and our freedom right here in Delta County.

The 1st is true.  We did receive elk fencing from the Colorado Division of Wildlife to protect our vineyard as do all other orchards and vineyards.

The 2^nd is false.  The county did NOT pay for a $1200.00 fire hydrant.  We paid $1200.00 to the county as a deposit.  There is yet no Fire Hydrant in CEDAR MESA ESTATES.

The 3^rd is false. The plaintiffs dismissed the case before we even knew it existed.

The 4^th is false.  Further re-subdivision restrictions were REQUIRED by the Delta County Planning Department, not by us.

The 5^th is false.  Our covenants are 2 pages long, not 137 pages.  We have no “Home Owners Association” nor “Architectural Committee”, nor $100.00 per day fines.

The 6^th is false.  Both my wife and I have degrees and lengthy careers in engineering.

 The 7^th is false and repetitious.  This court case was dismissed 8 years ago.  We were never even served.

Additional falsehoods created by Hovde supporter  Gerald L. Figueroa  (who seconded Mr. Hovde’s nomination) and published by Nick Streza are:

A neighbor claimed our dogs attacked her small-chained dogs. Predators are common on Cedar Mesa.  We doubted the story, but there was the POSSIBILITY.  As true animal lovers and responsible citizens, we paid the vet bills.  Subsequently, we installed an electronic fence and  bought shock collars that keep our dogs contained.  Even with the 7’x10’ kennel we donated for protection, the neighbor continued to keep her small dogs chained in an open field and helpless.

 Mr. Figueroa’s horse injured itself in barbed wire.  Mr. Figueroa blamed our colt.  There were no witnesses.  Mr. Figueroa never pressed the issue, further evidence that his accusation was baseless.

All of these accusations were based on events or purported events from years ago.  Mr. Streza’s full page ad with the exception of the Elk Fence is ALL 100 PERCENT LIES AND DISTORTION aimed at getting Bruce Hovde elected, a blatant attempted political hatchet job, a fine example of the type of politics of personal destruction, so frequently used by liberals and leftists.   For more information visit our website www.masonfordeltacounty.com and click on “SMEAR”.

 

 

A more detailed (longer) Unpublished letter

Nick Streza (Delta County Committee for Responsible Progress) an obvious Bruce Hovde Supporter, took a full page ad in the DCI last week.  It is replete with errors and bias.  Bruce Hovde has outspent us 3 to 1 not including Mr. Streza’s full page ad paid for by him. His “ACCORDING TO THE PUBLIC RECORD” is mainly FALSE. This is nothing more than “dirty” politics.  An attempt to draw attention away from the very significant differences between the two of us.

 

Item 1 True an Elk fence.

 

Item 2 False The county did not pay for a $1200 hydrant.  There is no hydrant in Cedar Mesa Estates.  WE paid a deposit on a fire hydrant of $600 per lot or $1200

 

Item 3 False Heavily Biased. The case was dismissed.  There are two sides to this story which has nothing to do with the commissioner race.

 

Item 4 False Further resubdivision restriction on lots 1 and 2 were REQUIRED by the planning department not us

 

Item 5 False Our Covenants are 2 pages long not 137 pages and have no Home Owners Association nor Architectural Committee nor any $100 a day fines.

 

Item 6 False Both my wife and I have degrees and careers in Mechanical Engineering (Judy) and Engineering Physics (me).  Neither of us are registered Professional Engineers (PE) and have never claimed to be so.

 

Item 7 False This “Court Case” dismissed 8 years ago never got far enough along to be even served on us.

 

FIGUEROA’S LIBELOUS LETTER

 

The libelous letter written by Gerald L. Figueroa and published as a paid ad by Nick Streza cannot go unanswered.  I am a candidate for Delta County Commissioner District 2.  My opponent, Bruce Hovde, was SECONDED for nomination by Mr. Figueroa; hence the unfounded attack. I’m a total novice at politics, but it’s safe to assume that when facts aren’t available, distortions always are.  

Mr. Figueroa cites “District Court Case Number OOCV76”, a case DISMISSED 8 years ago.  A summons or complaint was never served.  The dispute had arisen shortly before the completion of an irrigation ditch pipeline engineered by the National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and inspected on a daily basis.  The dispute was settled out of court.

Initially no one objected to my proposed pipeline.  I had a historic and a recorded, legal right-of-way.  There was neither “negligence”, “breach of contract”, “trespass”, nor “property damage”.  I personally spent well over $10,000.00 for improvements for the neighbors’ benefits.  They were NOT required by law.  There is a fallacy in Mr. Figueroa’s logic.  This legal dispute was between individuals.  We settled this dispute without government interference or regulation.  This is the essence of individual property rights.

Mr. Figueroa did get one thing right.  His statement that a major part of my campaign is “championing the protection of property and individual rights” is totally accurate.  When we bought our small ranch, we also bought shares in an irrigation ditch and a right-of-way from the head gate to our ranch. This is a common real estate transaction.  I made every attempt to mitigate any problem with the neighbors.  I broke no laws.  I protected my individual property rights just as I plan to protect those of my constituents once I’m elected to serve as Delta County Commissioner, district two.

Now to the Figueroa/Streza/Hovde assertions.  Let’s start with the neighbor’s claim that our dogs attacked her chained dogs.  Predators are common on Cedar Mesa.  Judy and I doubted the neighbor’s story, but as true animal lovers and responsible citizens, we paid the vet bills.  There were no witnesses, but there was the POSSIBILITY. Subsequently, we installed an electronic fence, bought shock collars, and kept our dogs contained.  The neighbor, on the other hand, chose to keep her small dogs on chains in the open, unprotected from predators or other dogs. Now to the wire cut injuries to Mr. Figueroa’s horse that he some how blamed on our colt.  Again there were no witnesses;  Mr. Figueroa did not follow up, legally or otherwise.

 

It should be apparent that this full page ad was nothing more than a political Hatchet job.  It is doubly offensive as Mr. Streza claims to be for “Honesty in Politics” Something he’s made a sham of here.