December 12, 2014 01:10 PM UTC

Jeffco Republicans Set Application Deadline for Commissioner Vacancy: Dec. 29th

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• by: Colorado Pols

Jefferson County Commissioner Faye Griffin was elected (again) in November to serve as Clerk and Recorder, marking another move for the serial office-jumper and yet another Republican Party vacancy committee. We wrote before about the absurdity of the 75-year-old Griffin failing to complete an elected term for the second time in 6 years, and even the editorial board of the Denver Post criticized Griffin's political incontinence.

According to the Jefferson County Republican Party, a GOP vacancy committee has 10 days to appoint a new county commissioner once Griffin resigns and is sworn-in as Clerk and Recorder on Jan. 13:

The candidate selection will be determined by the Jefferson County Republican Party County Commissioner Vacancy Committee. The seven members of this panel were elected by the Jefferson County Central Committee to represent them in this matter.

In order to ensure a transparent, open and fair process for applicants – all qualified, interested parties are encouraged to apply for this position. The deadline to apply for this vacancy appointment is midnight on December 29, 2014. Applications received after this deadline will not be accepted.

**Applicant requirements** Must be a eligible elector registered with the Republican Party. Must have resided within Jefferson County Commissioner District 1 for at least the past twelve months.

It's interesting to note a change in the "Applicant Requirements" that mandates candidates to live within Commissioner District 1 for "at least the past twelve months." You can call this the "Odom Rule."

This change no doubt occurred thanks to former Republican Commissioner John Odom, a man who was largely absent during his first term before losing his bid for re-election to Democrat Casey Tighe in 2012. Odom was appointed to fill a vacancy in March 2011 when then-Commissioner Kevin McCasky resigned mid-term to take another job, and there was plenty of dispute at the time as to when Odom became a resident of Commissioner District 2. A search of publicly-available property records shows that Odom didn't close on a new home in District 2 (he was previously a resident of District 1) until literally 24-48 hours before the vacancy committee selected him to replace McCasky.

Republicans apparently didn't want a repeat of Odom's musical homes game, which is why applicants for the District 1 vacancy must have resided within the district for at least 12 months. We haven't had a chance to check the specifics of Treasurer Tim Kauffman's residency requirements, but it's possible that Kauffman (a frontrunner to claim the vacant Commissioner spot) may be just outside the boundaries; that would be quite the political irony, since Kauffman was appointed to his job through (you guessed it) a Republican vacancy committee when Griffin was sworn-in as County Commissioner in 2009.

But if Kauffman is eligible and does receive the vacancy committee nomination, he'll have to resign from his position as County Treasurer…giving the GOP vacancy committee yet another countywide seat to fill. There are just 7 members of the Republican vacancy committee, and it's more likely than not that these 7 people will get to fill two countywide seats that should otherwise be decided by the 422,691 registered voters in Jefferson County. Yay Democracy!