Letter: Deputy district attorney says goodbye

I very much want to thank the people of Rio Blanco County for giving me the opportunity to serve you as your deputy district attorney for the past year. This is a wonderful community, and it has been both an honor and a pleasure to assist in the team effort to fight crime for you. I have been here only a year, but during that time, I have grown to love this community and the people here.
Unfortunately, my opportunity to serve this community has come to an end. Your elected district attorney, Martin Beeson, from his vantage point in Glenwood Springs, has decided that I should not continue in that capacity any longer. I disagree with his decision, but I understand it, and it is not my intention to argue with his decision or air grievances in public.
But I am very sad to be leaving you, and this county will always hold a place in my heart.
It is true that the elected district attorney has the authority to decide whether or not I should continue to serve you, and he has chosen to exercise that authority. But it is you, the people of the community whom I worked to serve, who are the true judges of whether my time here was a success. I sincerely hope that, from your perspective at least, my service to you was valuable.
Thank you again, and I will miss you all.
Jay Barasch
Former deputy district attorney