Bell recall effort fails

LIND — The petition to recall Mayor Paula Bell was dismissed in Adams County Superior Court on Wednesday afternoon, July 12.

The decision comes as voters are headed to the polls to elect town council members.

Three residents filed a petition to recall Bell on June 27, 2023, alleging she hired the current Clerk/Treasure Barabara Pence without informing the past council of Pence’s criminal history, as well as obtaining a bond for the clerk/treasurer without council approval.

Adams County Superior Court Judge Steve Dixon ruled that evidence provided was factually and legally insufficient for the recall to proceed to the ballot

Bell had “no comment” on the dismissal of the case against her.

During the hearing, Dixon admitted Adams County rarely received recall petitions, and he therefore had little experience in ruling on them.

He also commented that he was the judge that ruled on Pence’s criminal charges and was the one who had struck the plea deal with Pence.

Adams County Prosecuting Attorney Randy Flyckt was present during the hearing to act as a friend of the court to offer legal counsel on the proper procedure of recall and subsequent court rulings.

Resident Denise Snead, town clerk/treasure from 2014-2020 said she found out about Pence’s criminal history from the State Auditor’s Office when trying to figure out water billing issues with another resident, Anna Dobbins.

The state office advised us to review the town of Hatton’s audit reports, Snead said. Within the report, it recommended the town of Hatton seek recovery for the funds, as well as sending the report to Adams County Superior Court.

A state fraud investigation report from 2019 found that $6,289 of public funds had been misappropriated and approximately $15,783 of public finds were found to be questionable.

The report includes information regarding issues with the town of Hatton’s payroll taxes.

According to the then Hatton clerk-treasure Valerie Phillips, the town had missed payroll taxes from 2015-2018, resulting in Internal Revenue Service fines of $455.

During the investigation, Pence admitted she had been unaware of how to report payroll taxes, but that she had issued herself a check for the reimbursement of tax withholdings for those three years.

Pence was later charged by Adams County with first-degree theft, but had pleaded down to third-degree theft, a gross misdemeanor.

After the hearing, Dobbins said the recall applicants’ attorney was shut down by Dixon, who said he already knew of Pence’s criminal history.

“He was not allowed to finish,” she said.

Both Snead and Dobbins are considering an appeal of the decision.