To the editor:

    There have been a few letters in the Berthoud Weekly Surveyor (BWS) recently regarding the upcoming election of trustees and specifically concerning Mr. Jeff Hindman. I have met Jeff on several occasions and have found him to be intelligent and to have several good ideas and I appreciate Jeff dedicating his time to serving the Town of Berthoud.

    There have been some letters expressing concern that Jeff will not receive a profile in the BWS and therefore new residents will not have the opportunity to find out about Jeff prior to the election in April. Because Jeff isn’t going to be profiled in the paper here are some things that you should know about Jeff. Jeff tends to be a bully and will become overly forceful to get what he wants. An example of this is a few years ago the town elected a mayor and before the new mayor was sworn in Jeff had badgered him so extensively to grant Jeff the Mayor pro tem position that the new mayor resigned before being sworn in. The official reason that the mayor elect gave for not taking office was medical reasons but I’m sure he decided that being mayor was stressful enough without having to deal with Jeff’s antics for four years. 

    Jeff tends to not be ethical or transparent in his actions. A few years ago, a candidate for the town board was seeking re-election and an anonymous smear campaign was conducted against this dedicated public servant. While that campaign was done anonymously it certainly seemed to have the fingerprints of Jeff all over it.

    I am rather certain that the real reason that Jeff isn’t going to be profiled in the BWS is because he has tried to bully the folks at the paper. He has also said in public trustee meetings that the Surveyor is not a good newspaper and the town should send their business to the Loveland paper. Why would a trustee for Berthoud not support a local business? 

    So, if you are a new resident and aren’t sure about Jeff, I suggest that you do not vote for him in the upcoming election and he will still be on the Board of Trustees. This will give you two years to observe his behavior and then you can decide if you want to vote him into a 4-year term when his two year term is completed. After all Jeff will be on the Board of Trustees whether or not you vote for him as there are four open seats and 4 people running for those 4 positions. 

    You are not required to vote for all four open trustee positions, you can vote for as few as one. My suggestion is that you do not vote for Jeff with the idea he would receive the fewest votes and thus receive the 2 year term. Don’t just take my word for it but you can read the same opinions that have been expressed in the Letters to the Editor of the BWS from our most recent past mayor and our Berthoud 2019 Citizen of the year.

    Also, in the upcoming Berthoud election you will be asked to vote to allow the town of Berthoud to keep taxes collected in excess of what the voters voted for the sales tax increase in 2018. According to the sales tax revenue listed in the Berthoud Infocus sent with the February water bill the January tax revenue for the town is almost 2 ¾ times more than was collected in January of 2019. As with most government entities no matter how much money they get from the taxpayers they want more. I suggest that you vote for the town to honor their commitment to the voters and vote no on this measure. Thanks,

Leon Palmer – Berthoud