Westword: Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs meets up

Tuesday, November 15, 2011  

"If Thanksgiving is approaching, it must be time for another controversy at the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs, which is overseen by the state's lieutenant governor. Back in 1988, then-lite guv Mike Callihan created a ruckus with his plans for a feast in a Mayflower moving van. And now Carol Harvey, the commission's executive secretary who was dismissed this month, says, "If you're not at the table, you're on the menu."

The commission will have a short, conference-call meeting starting at 9 a.m. tomorrow; the agenda includes a welcome from Lieutenant Governor Joe Garcia, 25 minutes for "personnel matters," and ten minutes for public comment.

Harvey, who'd held the executive secretary spot since March 2010, assumes that she's the "personnel matters," and she's been sending missives to supporters, noting that she's requested both civil and criminal federal and state investigations into her situation, as well as the status of native Americans in Colorado. "It is not enough that President Obama will meet with our trial leaders on December 2," she writes. "We have to act to protect ourselves.""

Get the Story:
Patricia Calhoun: Wake-Up Call: Carol Harvey out as Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs' executive secretary (Westword 11/15)