Brief by Central Staff
Buena Vista politics – September 1999 – Colorado Central Magazine
New BV board re-instates old police chief
On account of the successful June 8 special election that recalled four of the town’s six trustees, Buena Vista’s old police chief has his job back, and the town administrator who fired him was suspended from work.
The issue that sparked the recall occurred early this year, when Town Administrator David Clyne fired Police Chief James Tidwell for “insubordination.”
That didn’t sit well with a substantial portion of Buena Vista’s voters, who at first demanded that Tidwell be rehired. The board instead voted to support Clyne.
So Tidwell’s supporters then organized a recall election and put a majority on the town board.
The new board acted on August 10, unanimously passing a resolution directing Clyne to rehire Tidwell, with back pay. Clyne said he could not do that:
“The action taken is an illegal act of the board. Moreover, I don’t believe it is in the town’s best interest. The problems with Tidwell are not solved. I cannot in good conscience follow that directive.”
That inspired the board to pass another unanimous resolution — to suspend Clyne with pay until their next meeting on Aug. 24.
The last time we checked with Mayor Clint Driscoll (who writes our “On Mountain Time” comic strip; Lara Ravenwood draws it), he was in the beer tent at the town’s Gold Rush Days and indicated that he did not then care to discuss local politics.
He has, however, decreed that the proper spelling of the common pronunciation for the town is “Bjüni.”