Today is Tuesday, May 22, 2012


Walker Stapleton is turning off Republicans; won’t appear with J. J. Ament

Republican candidate for state treasurer, Walker Stapleton, is turning off me and other GOP activists with misleading and unfair attack ads against his opponent, J. J. Ament. And he’s recently refused to appear with Ament before various GOP groups six times, according to Jessica Fender at the Denver Post. Ament recently said Stapleton has stood up him and sponsoring groups eight times. Earlier in the campaign, the candidates made several joint appearances.

How is Stapleton misleading voters with his direct mail pieces and attack ads? He’s blaming the approval of Ref. C by 52% of voters in 2005 on a commission on which Ament served. Ament told me, “That’s not true.” And to blame Ref. C, which was backed by a conservative GOP Governor Bill Owens, on a commission and one member of the commission, Ament, is absurd. 

Also, Stapleton brags that he is the only chief executive officer of a publicly-owned company in the race for treasurer. Yes, he’s CEO of Sonoma West Holdings (stock symbol SHWI.PK). It is a tiny real estate business that is controlled by Stapleton’s father. The company owns a few buildings in California, and is so small that it probably takes anyone who knows how to delegate only a few hours a week to run.

For more details and links to Sonoma West’s annual report and a profile of the company on Yahoo, see this link to my February interview with Stapleton. See more links after the jump by clicking on the headline of this story.

LINKS:

GOP Treasurer’s candidate Stapleton has skipped many joint appearances. By Jessica Fender.

 

Interview: Walker Stapleton would make fixing PERA top priority as Colorado Treasurer. The Business Word, February 24, 2010.

 

Stapleton for Colorado State Treasurer.

 

Interview Part 1: J.J. Ament says he would de-politicize Treasurer’s office, eliminate losses, defend TABOR. The Business Word, 2.7.2010

 

Interview: Ali Hasan says that as state Treasurer, he’d invest in more Colorado-based companies. The Business Word, 1.17.2010.

 

Ritter signs PERA pension plan changes into law. By Patrick Malone. 

 

Colorado PERA. 

  

J.J. Ament Colorado State Treasurer.

 

Ali Hasan for Colorado State Treasurer.

 

The Political Education of Ali Hasan May Include a Run for State Treasurer.  

 

Cary Kennedy for State Treasurer.

Sonoma West Holdings (SWHI.PK). Yahoo.com.

Sonoma West’s key statistics. Yahoo.

Sonoma West Holdings Inc. 10K annual report for Fiscal Year ended June 30, 2009. 

Proxy Statement for Sonoma West Holdings.

Tipitina’s Foundation.

Denver Public Library Friends Foundation

 I do not have a candidate in this race.