By Gail Binkly
The Montezuma County commissioners voted 2-1 Monday not to renew their contract with longtime county attorney Bob Slough but to offer him the opportunity to remain as attorney for the county’s social services office.
Saying, “I think we need new legal counsel,” newly seated Commissioner Keenan Ertel made the motion not to reappoint Slough as the commission attorney.
Chairman Steve Chappell voted with Ertel, while newly elected Commissioner Larry Don Suckla voted against the motion.
Slough was not present at the board’s meeting Monday. He has been the commission’s attorney for more than 20 years.
Ertel later told the Free Press, “I just have watched the commissioners’ meetings and different things and I felt like it was time for a change. I just felt we needed a different counsel.”
He declined to be more specific, but he said the decision was not related to long-lasting controversy over relations with the Forest Service and BLM.
