Rocky Mountain Voice

Menu

Tag: Colorado Department Of Agriculture

He flagged the DEI language. He filed the report anyway. Colorado fired him for both.
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

He flagged the DEI language. He filed the report anyway. Colorado fired him for both.

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice "I don't think I'm surprised by their decision at all," Rich Guggenheim said three days after the Colorado Department of Agriculture fired him. "I expected this decision." On May 8, CDA Deputy Commissioner Jordan Beezley signed the termination letter, effective immediately. Guggenheim had been the plant health programs manager since 2021. https://twitter.com/5280BasedHomo/status/2052861817740017907 Guggenheim posted the termination letter on X the same day it was delivered, tagging Vice President JD Vance, Associate Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon and the DOJ Civil Rights Division. As RMV first reported in December, the dispute started with a single chat comment during a November managers meeting and the whistleblower com...
Read More
“Time to walk the talk”: Rich Guggenheim launches Republican challenge in Senate District 25
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

“Time to walk the talk”: Rich Guggenheim launches Republican challenge in Senate District 25

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice A couple of Republican women called Rich Guggenheim and asked if he'd be interested in running for office. His first instinct was a joke. "Running what? Running my mouth? I can definitely... I'm really good at doing that." When they told him it was Senate District 25, he recognized the seat right away. "Nobody else wants to run, huh?" The seat was previously held by Faith Winter and is now filled by appointed Sen. William Lindstedt. They told him they'd tried. No one would do it. He said yes. He joked that a win might come with a therapy bill for them.  After saying yes, he said he earned 90 percent of the vote at county assembly. When he launched his campaign at Satire Brewing in Thornton on April 22, the early support s...
Read More
A missing email and a federal paper trail: Colorado weighs discipline in Guggenheim case
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

A missing email and a federal paper trail: Colorado weighs discipline in Guggenheim case

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Rich Guggenheim says an email exists that would end his case. The Colorado Department of Agriculture says it does not. The dispute centers on a message Guggenheim says was sent to him in early December by Gabriel Leverance, a grant accountant at CDA, instructing him to approve a USDA-funded Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey report—the report he had previously kicked back and now at the center of the discipline the department is weighing against him. Guggenheim says he requested records twice under CORA that he believes should have included the email. At an April 15 disciplinary hearing, he told the department’s deputy commissioner: “I know it exists, because I’m the recipient of that email, and I’m not getting it in a CORA reques...
Read More
Colorado agriculture manager faces discipline after dispute over federal grant report and DEI training
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado agriculture manager faces discipline after dispute over federal grant report and DEI training

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice A Colorado Department of Agriculture manager who challenged training language in a federally tied pest survey report now faces possible discipline after an internal investigation concluded he “more likely than not” misrepresented the document. The dispute follows earlier RMV reporting that raised questions about DEI-related training references appearing in a report tied to a USDA cooperative agreement. The issue grew out of a 2025 CAPS Infrastructure Accomplishment Report tied to a USDA cooperative agreement. In one section, the document lists training entries including “Equity and Diversity” and “Inclusive Leadership.” CDA says Rich Guggenheim shared a screenshot of what it describes as a draft report and wrongly portrayed...
Read More
State approval to farm? Lawmakers debate new limits on seed and pest control
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

State approval to farm? Lawmakers debate new limits on seed and pest control

By Sen. Byron Pelton | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado’s farmers and ranchers already face significant challenges, including volatile commodity prices, rising input costs, labor shortages, and unpredictable weather. They should not also have to contend with a state legislature that increasingly seeks to regulate how they protect crops and livestock.  Yet that is precisely what Senate Bills 26-062 and 26-065 represent: a top-down attack on agriculture that increases costs, undermines private property rights, and signals deep disrespect for the men and women who feed our nation and the world. A Direct Hit on Practical Pest Control SB26-062 would significantly restrict the sale and use of common rodenticides and glue traps. While intended to pr...
Read More

FD863768-0ACF-495E-9D21-2EF784DFFA6B[1]

Join us at RMV's Freedom Festival

Click Here for Tickets!

This will close in 0 seconds