If you don't want the world to judge your town as a place where this sort of injustice has and could again take place, you need to review the staff your District Attorney's office and make some changes. It is apparent from the sorts of comments made by local citizens during this incident that St. James handling of other cases has been questionable in the past and that the DA has been backing him 100%. As someone who books conventions, your 'small town with small town values' is off my radar until you fix the actual problem(s). Freeing the two gentlemen simply alleviated a symptom of the problem(s).
Glad the DA's office finally took the right action. However, because it was qualified by the "we were right for what we did, but the public does not think so" wording, I believe MomFromSteamboat has the right idea. Your city really needs to remove these two from the DA's office.
This case has highlighted a serious problem. This case is not the problem itself, but a symptom of a deeper problem. The problem is abuse of power by your local prosecutors and that needs to be resolved.
I book conventions and Steamboat Springs is off my radar for all conventions until this is fixed. People in my position are not going to be willing to risk having any member of a group they have booked for a convention subjected to this sort of abuse of power. Knowing this sort information and avoiding booking conventions to such cities is what I get paid to do.
What happened in Steamboat Springs has been the topic of conversation on boards frequented by those in the travel and convention industry. It is going to make marketing your city to travel agents and convention planners much harder in the coming year.
While I'm no fan of the Rainbow Family or of their 'gatherings' (they trash every site I've ever seen them inhabit), this is America and everyone is supposed to be on equal footing within the justice system. This clearly isn't happening in Steamboat Springs.
Would the introduction of new evidence that these men are not guilty of the crime be enough for the governor to intervene and pardon them? Perhap those of you who reside in the state should be posing that question.
It is unfortunate that this has come as people are planning their winter vacations. The people who had suggested Steamboat Springs as a location for our convention were regular visitors. They are all going elsewhere. I saw one writer who said he or she was looking forward to less crowded streets, dining and ski slopes. It looks as though he may get his wish. I hope keeping this DA and her assistant doesn't do too much economic damage to your community.
This has made me even more sure of my organization's decision to remove Steamboat Springs from the list of places we were considering for our convention. I hope those of you that live in this city can clean up your District Attorney's office. It sounds like both Roesink and Kerry need to be removed.
RemySmith wrote: It speculates that Steamboat Resort (and the town of Steamboat Springs) could see some economic backlash because of the legal climate. This speculation is unlikely.
My organization has already decided not to have a large convention at the Steamboat Springs Sheraton Convention Center - a convention that would have brought roughly 900 to 1,000 people to your community for a week. I doubt we are the only organization who has nixed Steamboat Springs as a convention destination over this injustice.
Our reasoning: Members often loosen up during conventions and it is entirely possible that one or more members might have a lapse in judgment and commit a minor legal infraction during our stay. We do not want this to occur in a community with a history of handing out six months jail terms for such infractions.
This incident has removed the Sheraton resort from one of the locations under consideration for a large convention. We don't want our members who might make a minor misjudgement to experience this sort of injustice. A town whose economy depends as heavily as Steamboat Springs does on the tourism industry would do well to clean up its DA's office.
Man gets four years for vehicular assault
Where I'm from this fellow would be going to jail for sexual abuse of a minor at a minimum.
September 10, 2006 at 9:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Towny Anderson: Truth and injustice
If you don't want the world to judge your town as a place where this sort of injustice has and could again take place, you need to review the staff your District Attorney's office and make some changes. It is apparent from the sorts of comments made by local citizens during this incident that St. James handling of other cases has been questionable in the past and that the DA has been backing him 100%. As someone who books conventions, your 'small town with small town values' is off my radar until you fix the actual problem(s). Freeing the two gentlemen simply alleviated a symptom of the problem(s).
September 10, 2006 at 9:44 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Charle and Siller released
Glad the DA's office finally took the right action. However, because it was qualified by the "we were right for what we did, but the public does not think so" wording, I believe MomFromSteamboat has the right idea. Your city really needs to remove these two from the DA's office.
This case has highlighted a serious problem. This case is not the problem itself, but a symptom of a deeper problem. The problem is abuse of power by your local prosecutors and that needs to be resolved.
I book conventions and Steamboat Springs is off my radar for all conventions until this is fixed. People in my position are not going to be willing to risk having any member of a group they have booked for a convention subjected to this sort of abuse of power. Knowing this sort information and avoiding booking conventions to such cities is what I get paid to do.
What happened in Steamboat Springs has been the topic of conversation on boards frequented by those in the travel and convention industry. It is going to make marketing your city to travel agents and convention planners much harder in the coming year.
September 7, 2006 at 6:15 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Our View: Ensuring justice is met
While I'm no fan of the Rainbow Family or of their 'gatherings' (they trash every site I've ever seen them inhabit), this is America and everyone is supposed to be on equal footing within the justice system. This clearly isn't happening in Steamboat Springs.
Would the introduction of new evidence that these men are not guilty of the crime be enough for the governor to intervene and pardon them? Perhap those of you who reside in the state should be posing that question.
It is unfortunate that this has come as people are planning their winter vacations. The people who had suggested Steamboat Springs as a location for our convention were regular visitors. They are all going elsewhere. I saw one writer who said he or she was looking forward to less crowded streets, dining and ski slopes. It looks as though he may get his wish. I hope keeping this DA and her assistant doesn't do too much economic damage to your community.
September 6, 2006 at 4:05 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
DA: Justice was served
This has made me even more sure of my organization's decision to remove Steamboat Springs from the list of places we were considering for our convention. I hope those of you that live in this city can clean up your District Attorney's office. It sounds like both Roesink and Kerry need to be removed.
September 6, 2006 at 7:23 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Story ripe for the picking
RemySmith wrote:
It speculates that Steamboat Resort (and the town of Steamboat Springs) could see some economic backlash because of the legal climate. This speculation is unlikely.
My organization has already decided not to have a large convention at the Steamboat Springs Sheraton Convention Center - a convention that would have brought roughly 900 to 1,000 people to your community for a week. I doubt we are the only organization who has nixed Steamboat Springs as a convention destination over this injustice.
Our reasoning: Members often loosen up during conventions and it is entirely possible that one or more members might have a lapse in judgment and commit a minor legal infraction during our stay. We do not want this to occur in a community with a history of handing out six months jail terms for such infractions.
September 5, 2006 at 9:15 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Too much time?
This incident has removed the Sheraton resort from one of the locations under consideration for a large convention. We don't want our members who might make a minor misjudgement to experience this sort of injustice. A town whose economy depends as heavily as Steamboat Springs does on the tourism industry would do well to clean up its DA's office.
I found this information on http://www.drudgereport.com/- a national site with about 200,000 visitors per day. Who knows how many others saw this and decided not to come to Steamboat Springs. It is also on http://boortz.com/nuze/index.html
September 4, 2006 at 2:06 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )