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State office OKs recall petition

Ryan Graff
Post Independent Staff

The Colorado Secretary of State’s office approved a petition to recall District Attorney Colleen Truden Monday, freeing petitioners to start collecting signatures.

Petitioners now have 60 days to collect 5,455 signatures.

“It’s something that has to be done, and I’m ready for it,” said recall organizer Sherry Caloia, a Glenwood Springs attorney.



The number of signatures required is 25 percent of the ballots cast for Truden in last November’s election. All voters registered in the 9th Judicial District can sign the petition, whether they voted in last election or not, Caloia said.

Organizers plan to start recall efforts right away. Caloia’s Grand Avenue law office will be open between 8:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. for people to sign a petition, she said.



Martin Beeson, a former deputy district attorney under Truden and potential candidate if the recall is successful, said he’d start collecting signatures between his morning and afternoon court cases today.

“The clock is ticking now,” he said. “There’s no time to waste.”

Truden didn’t return phone calls seeking comment as of press time.

The petition’s approval comes just as Caloia finished forming the Committee to Recall D.A. Colleen Truden, which is registered with the state to collect funds to support the recall effort.

Up to this point, the recall has been fairly cheap, requiring only man-hours and some postage, Caloia said. But by the time all is said and done, the recall will likely cost about $15,000, primarily because of advertising and public awareness costs, she said.

Beeson is the only candidate to come forward publicly, though he and Caloia have mentioned Aspen lawyer Chip McCrory and Glenwood Springs lawyer Jonathan Shamis as potential candidates. Those men did not return messages by late Tuesday afternoon.

Local Democrats didn’t have a candidate run in November’s election, and do not have a candidate lined up if the recall is successful, “unless there’s someone waiting in the woods that I don’t know about,” said Dana Barker, chairman of the Garfield County Democrats.

The focus for organizers now, however, remains on collecting signatures.

“Nothing else happens if we don’t get those signatures,” Beeson said.


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