RSSWright apologizes but won’t leave race
Wright admits he made bad choices
EXTRAS
- Document: Jared Wright robocall 2
Jared Wright
Jared Wright speaks to supporters at Alan Story’s home north of Fruita, accompanied by his wife, Rachael, and daughter, Evangeline, on Tuesday evening.
Jared Wright apologized.
The embattled Republican candidate for House District 54 told a small group of supporters Tuesday that he was sorry for the mistakes he made with his job at the Fruita Police Department and his personal finances.
The 29-year-old said he could have handled both situations better, but he quickly added that he will let the voters decide if he deserves to serve in the Colorado House and not a “few self-appointed power brokers” who are trying to get him to leave the race.
“I’d like to first off apologize. I’ve never represented myself to any of you, to anyone other than a very mortal human being,” Wright said. “Everyday we in the human race are forced to make choices. Inherently some of those choices are the wrong ones. I have most certainly made my fair share of poor choices, and poor decisions in my life and have learned some valuable lessons from those decisions.”
On Monday, Republican activist Alex Chaffetz sent out automated telephone calls to more than 6,000 voters in the district asking them to call Wright to demand that he withdraw from the race.
On Tuesday, Gary Bailey, president of the Western Slope Conservative Alliance, sent out similar automated calls of his own.
“I’m calling today to ask you to stand with us in demanding Jared Wright withdraw from the race and allow the Republican Executive Committee for District 54 to appoint someone with integrity and experience,” Bailey said. “As conservatives, we deserve better representation.”
In his first public appearance since The Daily Sentinel reported last week of his personal bankruptcy, Wright said he planned to continue his effort to be the next representative for House District 54 but had a lot of work to do to re-earn the voters’ trust.
The embattled candidate said he didn’t properly prepare for the bad economy, and that led to his decision last year to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection from the more than $74,000 he owed to 48 creditors.
Wright said he’s learned from those experiences and now is in a better position to speak for other Coloradans similarly situated.
“It was a painful decision for me to have to make, but I learned a valuable lesson to budget wisely (and) to save for the rainy days,” Wright told about two dozen people who had gathered at the home of Republican activist Alan Story just north of Fruita. “It’s a lesson that, if the voters choose to elect me, I will take with me to the state Capitol.”
Wright has been under fire in recent weeks over his bankruptcy and the manner in which he lost his job as a Fruita police officer.
That began when the Sentinel published a story in July detailing an internal affairs report that called his honesty into question.
That report showed a pattern of calling police dispatchers, telling him he was on the job when he was still at his own home. His supervisors gave him the option of resigning. If not, they said he would be terminated.
Weeks later, information about his bankruptcy came to light. Although Wright told state GOP party leaders that he filed for bankruptcy because of bad business investments, his own petition for protection cited consumer spending as his reason.
COMMENTS
Commenting is not available in this channel entry.It was not the ‘Obama economy’ or not properly preparing for it that caused Mr. Wright’s financial problems. It was—quite simply—spending beyond his means. Apparently by several times. Buying thousands of dollars in jewelry and three cars, a house and a year’s membership to a tanning saloon (really???) on a public employee’s salary is, quite simply, asking for trouble. The shame is that bankruptcy costs all of us—those debts get shared with all of us as higher prices. Remember GJ: you get who you vote for.
Since Charles Ashby has writtne most of the Sentinel hit pieces on Jared Wright I would like to hear from Jared whether the reports have been accurate. Ashby’s report on a Tea Party gathering at Sherwood Park featuring state-wide candidates failed to include Walker Stapelton and when I requested a printed correction it was ignored. I was told recently Ashby attributed a statement to someone else that the tape proved she did not say. Not only are we getting biased reporting, but in some cases apparently it is not even accurate.
To tell you the truth, Peter, the financial stupidity bothers me less than the claim that Jared thought it was OK to claim he was working when he was still sitting around home. Would he be able to drag himself to work for us when he apparently didn’t see the need to do so for the people of Fruita?
At thh risk of making the Sentinel seem like a left leaning rag, Roberta seems to be mistaken about who wrote the most stories about Jared Wright. If you searh the archives you’ll see that the story was broken by another Sentinel writer. In my own experience Ashby has always acurately things I’ve said, even when I made boneheaded statements that should have been left unsaid. In my opinion he has far more integrety than the in-the-pocket-of-the GOP “reporter” and former opinion columnist who ignores anyone who isn’t to the right of Attila the Hun.
We haven’t heard of Attila for awhile, Claudette. I hope she’s doing well.
Best thing Jared has done! Apology accepted, now step down! Good luck the next time around after you have had a chance to prove you can tell the truth and manage your own finances before representing the citizens of District 54.