On June 25, the Forum got a call, from a source who wishes to remain anonymous, that multiple employees from the San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office had quit. According to that source, Corporal Caitlin Bills, Sergeant Michael Donnellon, Sergeant Lane Masters, school resource officer and Deputy Damian Nieblas and Corporal Colby Wilkerson left their positions.
It should noted that the Forum almost never agrees to use an anonymous source, but in this case, the source was vetted and appears to be credible, only fearful of speaking out.
It should also be noted Lane Masters left soon after Undersheriff Dan Covault was appointed to the position of San Miguel County Sheriff; he took a job with Telluride Marshal’s Office. This occurred when San Miguel County Commissioners made their appointment of a new sheriff, when former Sheriff Bill Masters — Colorado’s longest running sheriff and who maintained his post more than 40 years — retired early. Then, commissioners’ options were to appoint either Lane Masters, who is Bill Masters’ son, or then Undersheriff Dan Covault.
On June 2 Covault was sworn in.
On June 4 Covault announced his appointment of Sergeant Nicholas Xavier to serve as undersheriff.
On June 25, after the tip that multiple employees walked out of the sheriff’s office, the Forum reached out to San Miguel County Commissioners Anne Brown and Galena Gleason, asking about the resignations. Gleason responded those were personnel questions and told the Forum she’d send to County Manager Mike Bordogna.
Bordogna then sent a message to the Forum that day: “Our commissioners forwarded me your message. As much as I wish we could tell you more, we cannot speak about ongoing personnel matters. Having spoken with the sheriff and undersheriff today, they have plans to ensure adequate peacekeeping coverage for the county.”
Another anonymous source, vetted and credible, spoke with the Forum. Both anonymous sources said Corporal Caitlin Bills was next in line for sergeant and held the qualifications for that promotion, only Deputy Jeremy Platt was promoted instead.
On June 27, KOTO radio ran a segment with Covault. Then, Covault said the resignations were just part of what sometimes happens when an administration changes.
The Forum’s anonymous sources said employees resigned and gave notice, though some offered to stay for several weeks — but that was cut short when they were sent an email to turn in their technology and were placed on administrative leave effective noon June 25.
The Forum reached out to Bill Masters June 28. The former sheriff with 50 years of experience peacekeeping agreed it was hard to watch what was happening in the sheriff’s office. Masters spent decades running and building the department.
“There is absolutely no reason for this to be happening, other than terrible leadership (and) decision making,” he said. “The job should have been to see that everyone fits into the new office … I am shocked that it’s turning out this way. The community has lost some really fine people.”
Masters told the Forum he blames himself for what’s happening now.
“I own this,” he said. “It is 100% my fault.”
The Forum reached out to commissioners again over the weekend with questions. Commissioners said they hired Covault and stand by his leadership.
“We remain confident in our decision, and are impressed by the way Dan and Undersheriff Nick Xavier are managing the office,” Commissioner Brown told the Forum Sunday evening, on behalf of the board.
Anonymous sources said it’s likely other deputies will also leave the sheriff’s office in the coming weeks.
