Former Brighton Mayor Jan Pawlowski is hoping to return to life in public office.

Pawlowski, a Republican, is challenging embattled County Commissioner Alice Nichol, who has been linked to a scandal involving Quality Paving. Nichol, who was first elected county commissioner in 2004, is up for re-election this fall.

Pawlowski served as mayor of Brighton for eight years before leaving because of term limits. Prior to becoming mayor, she also served six years on Brighton’s City Council.

In a statement, Pawlowski said she hopes to restore integrity to the office of county commissioner.

“Adams County has been my home for the past 45 years, and it distresses me to see the negative publicity the county is receiving,” Pawlowski said. “We need change and I feel my political and community experience will bring a positive change to the board of county commissioners.”

Nichol, a Democrat, would be seeking her third term as county commissioner in District 2. She was elected to the Board of Commissioners in November 2004, re-elected in November 2008, and currently serves as vice chairman.

http://yourhub.denverpost.com/adamscounty/former-brighton-mayor-jan-pawlowski-runs-county-commissioner/o1IbGvo49R06TwSXNbcpSL-story

Adams County Commissioner Skip Fischer announced this week that he will not seek reelection for a third term.   One of two commissioners now on the board with ties to the county’s scandalous history, Fischer saw the writing on the wall and will slip into history rather than go down in defeat in November.

As a commissioner representing the county’s District 1, Fischer did manage to avoid many of the scandals that plagued current commissioner Alice Nichol and former commissioner Larry Pace.  Fischer however was intimately involved and voted on many questionable deals that have come to light.

The list of scandals that have disgraced the county in recent years is long and not-so distinguished.  While Nichol and Pace were truly the bad seeds on the board, Fischer found himself caught in the middle.

Fischer was aware of what was going on and he certainly was complicit, casting votes without dissention on many key issues like the no bid contracts received by Quality Paving.  However it is our impression that he wanted to do the right thing but simply did not know how to or did not have the guts to take a stand.

Following on Pace’s loss in November 2010, Erik Hansen assumed a seat on the dais and has been working on pushing through reforms to clean up county government.  The moves are commendable but have been slow to take shape and not as extensive as what they should be – likely due to the old guard Fischer and Nichol still maintaining control.

Fischer’s exit opens the door for Adams Count y voters to continue the process of cleaning up the mess in Brighton and install politicians that are worthy of the office.  Voters will need to be wary of who they cast their vote for as they are plenty of members of the Adams Family waiting in the wings to take Fischer’s place and this cannot be allowed.

Will Alice run?

There has not been any official word as to whether or not disgraced Commissioner Alice Nichol will seek reelection.  The rumor mill has it that she is seriously considering running, apparently thinking that Adams County voters are stupid enough to return the ethically challenged commissioner to office.

Challengers are already lining up to knock Nichol off should she decide to seek a third term.  Hanging over her head as well is an investigation being conducted by the Jefferson County District Attorney’s office into her dealings.

The outcome of the investigation matters little as Nichol’s role has been well documented.  She would do well to step aside and save voters the trouble of kicking her butt out.

http://www.tonysrants.com/thornton/old-regime-county-commissioner-to-leave-office-rather-than-face-voters-again/