Republican County chair calls on Bosier to resign

Centennial Council member accused of stealing campaign signs

By Gary Massaro and Joshua Cole

It was the difference between day and night for Centennial City Councilwoman Sue Bosier, who had been caught removing a fellow Republican’s campaign signs.

During the day Aug. 9, Bosier was vociferous in defending herself, expressing indignation and attacking others in her own party after she was detained over the weekend by a Greenwood Village Police officer and Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office personnel.

Bosier is also campaign manager for Lauri Clapp, who was running against Greenwood Village Mayor Nancy Sharpe for the Republican nomination to run in the District 2 Arapahoe County commissioner race.

At the Centennial City Council meeting Monday night, Bosier remained silent while fellow Council members discussed if they should act on sign caper.

Arapahoe County Republican Party Chairman Dave Kerber demanded Aug. 9, that Bosier resign as a district captain in an email to Bosier and members of the Arapahoe County executive committee.

Bosier told The Villager that she wouldn’t resign, and accused Kerber of bias because he served on the GV city council with Sharpe.

At the Centennial City Council meeting, members said they don’t want vigilantes in its borders, and officials were afraid that Bosier’s actions were stirring up a possible sign-removal party on Aug. 9.

Centennial Mayor Cathy Noon wrote a letter and issued a statement Aug. 9 saying that the city didn’t authorize Bosier to remove signs and that the city wasn’t liable for her actions, meaning the city would protected from litigation.

Meanwhile, Centennial City Council started a process to investigate Bosier for a violation of their code of ethics. In the next month, city staff and members of Council will vet possible impartial investigators, with Council deciding Sept. 8 about hiring an investigator. If Bosier is found guilty, potential punishments include a warning, education or training, removal from an appointed position or censure.

Noon said removal from Centennial City Council may be unlikely.

Other Council members noted that the city and council’s reputation already were damaged by Bosier’s actions.

“Our citizens look at us with higher standards,” said Centennial Councilman Patrick Anderson. “When we set a law and disregard that law, people are going to make the comment that we said it but we don’t adhere to it.”

Anderson added: “I don’t like the sign code because I’m more toward (greater) first amendment (rights). But we live with it.”

Bosier was caught with 10 Sharpe campaign signs in the back of her vehicle.

Asked if she would resign her captaincy, Bosier told The Villager, “Are you asking me if I’m going to resign over illegally placed signs in the Centennial right of way? No. As far as Mr. Kerber goes, he’s way off base here. He’s a fellow Council member of Mayor Sharpe.”

Bosier had complained that she was stopped by Sharpe’s personal police force.

That comment offended GV Councilwoman Bette Todd.

“I want to reassure residents that the Greenwood Village Police were not assigned to guard any political candidate’s signs as Mrs. Bosier has claimed,” Todd said. “The sign removal caper took place a mere 500 yards from the Greenwood Village Police station in the middle of the night, so it doesn’t surprise me at all that the police were able to respond almost immediately.”

Bosier, Centennial City Council member District 2, told law enforcement officials she was enforcing a Centennial city ordinance prohibiting campaign signs from being in a public right of way.

Sharpe has told The Villager that about 300 of her signs have been stolen, at a cost of $4 apiece.

A campaign volunteer told Sharpe he’d stake out the area and videotape anyone removing Sharpe’s signs.

A little after midnight on Saturday, the volunteer – Solomon Edward Swan – saw someone removing Sharpe’s signs near Greenwood Village City Hall. So he contacted Sharpe, who in turn called Greenwood Village Police.

A police officer responded and blocked the suspect’s vehicle.

After determining the signs were on Centennial’s right of way, the officer called Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office for assistance because the Sheriff’s Office provides police protection for Centennial. A deputy arrived and questioned Swan, who showed him a video on his laptop, which showed a vehicle “recognizable as a white Acura, and the boy taking the signs,” according to the report.

The deputy called his supervisor, who in turn called two of his supervisors.

Bosier, 65, was accompanied by a 15-year-old boy, whom she identified as her son, according to sheriff’s report.

Bosier admitted she had told the juvenile to remove the signs.

Aug. 9, Bosier told The Villager that the juvenile was her godson. Asked if there was miscommunication between what she told The Villager about their relationship and what was in the sheriff’s report, Bosier said she told authorities, “I think I said sort of. ”

Asked who the boy’s mother was, Bosier said, “He’s just my godson.”

Bosier said she was out in the middle of the night because she was on her way to go grocery shopping.

Bosier said Clapp is aware of what happened.

“I’ve talked to her,” Bosier said. “I don’t remember what she said.”

Bosier admitted she had told her son to remove the signs.

“I was just helping, being a good citizen,” Bosier said.

Asked why she didn’t call authorities to remove the signs, Bosier said, “Our code enforcement people don’t work on the weekends.”

Bosier sent out e-mails to Centennial Mayor Cathy Noon, noting she had been “accused of ‘stealing’ by the Greenwood Village Police.”

“In point of fact, I was removing signs illegally placed,” Bosier said.

That didn’t wash with Kerber, who sent an e-mail to the Arapahoe County Republican Executive Committee, noting he had read the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office report as well as news reports on the incident.

“A review by any neutral observer would conclude that you were stealing the yard signs of a political opponent,” Kerber wrote. “Your defense that you were enforcing the city of Centennial yard sign code is unpersuasive. Why would you be engaging in this behavior under the cover of darkness at 12:30 a.m. and only have Sharpe signs in the back of your car if that were true? That you enlisted a 15-year-old boy to do the actual stealing in your midnight thefts is unconscionable. Identifying the boy as your son shows that you have lied to the police. Your further attack on the law enforcement officers who detained you in the commission of your crime shows that you are unrepentant and likely to engage in this disgraceful behavior again.”

Shape issued a statement saying that she was “incredibly disappointed that my opponent’s campaign manager removed my signs in the middle of the night.”

Greenwood Village Mayor Pro Tem Ron Rakowsky was more outspoken in his disappointment.

“It’s sad that anybody’s signs are stolen,” said Rakowsky, a Sharpe supporter. “It’s not sport. It’s a crime.”

Signs, Signs

Some members of Centennial’s City Council shifted focus from Bosier to the overall sign ordinance at the Aug. 9 City Council meeting.

“We don’t have a sign ordinance that works, that anybody respects,” said Centennial Councilman Vorry Moon. “If we don’t get one that anybody respects, then let’s get rid of what we have. I’m really tired of seeing people blatantly, willfully and with total disregard for the city putting their signs on anything they please.”

Centennial’s Public Works Department is authorized to remove signs in the public right-of-way, and regular citizens are not. The city’s reasoning is in response to concerns about public safety, such as crossing a busy street to get a sign in a median, and about private property. The public works department measures, tracks and photographs all signs that workers remove to prove that signs aren’t stolen from private property.

“We don’t go out and fire our own speed guns and do radar enforcement,” Noon said. “They are the professionals, and they do it correctly, and it keeps the city out of litigation and keeps our citizens safe.”

Council intends to discuss putting a bigger budget priority on sign removal during its budget workshops. Councilman Rick Dindinger suggested allowing trained and approved volunteers, who sign waivers, to be able to remove signs in the future, an idea other members of Council backed.

“It’s a very good ordinance, but we have limited resources to deal with it,” said Councilman Todd Miller.

With national, state and county elections every even year and city elections on odd years, political signs illegally placed have become an annual problem for Council. Enforcing fines is challenging due to free speech laws and to due process. For instance, proving who placed a sign in a right-of-way is challenging. Also, if there were fines placed on the candidate whose sign was illegally placed, an opponent or opponent’s supporters could place signs illegally knowing there would be fines against the candidate.