One of the many things I took away from watching the December 12 Westcliffe Board of Trustees meetings was their complete and utter disrespect for the First Amendment rights of their employee and the disregard shown to the local press. At one point during the meeting, Mayor Paul Wenke completely mischaracterized an article that had run in the Tribune when our reporter Elliot Jackson interviewed the Town Manager, Caleb Patterson. Mayor Wenke stated, “I just read the Wet Mountain Tribune in your interview where you said ‘that Westcliffe is dying, that you are in charge of everybody, that you are in charge of planning, you work jointly on the budget.’ Why would you say those things?” This statement by Mayor Wenke is false, and he…
