The Denver Post ran an investigative report this morning in the Sunday paper on the Adams County Commissioners and how one county commissioner could be giving friends and relatives an unfair advantage.

I want to thank the Denver Post for this article and how it has exposed wasted and nepotism among the county leadership. As a resident of Adams County, I am really frustrated how our money is being wasted by our elected leaders.

This story focuses on Alice Nichol, the county commissioner for District 2 in Adams County.

In the Post’s article, they found:

• Three of Nichol’s relatives, including her husband, sit on the county Board of Adjustment, which hears appeals from developers seeking variances from county ordinances.
• The county’s public works director hired a second son-in-law of Nichol’s as a zoning inspector in 2007. The son-in-law quit four months later.
• A longtime family acquaintance who once worked as Ron Nichol’s supervisor is the dominant consultant for people with business before county boards, including the Board of Adjustment.
• Nichol steered a $1.6 million furniture contract for the new county administration building to a fellow board member at Adams County Economic Development Corp. — a contract that has already mushroomed to nearly $2.3 million.
• One of her daughters, Ronda Reagon, is a “business support specialist” at the Adams County Economic Development Corp., which received $576,064 from county taxpayers last year.
• In her two campaigns for county commissioner, Nichol paid nearly $17,000 to four family members. The main beneficiary was her daughter Renee Stark, who received $15,338 for work ranging from developing brochures and ads to “reimbursements and media.”

This is just an absurdity and shows that changes need to be made in Adams County.

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