Dear Editor:
I have personally known Jeff for over fifteen years; six of those in the district attorney’s office as his legal assistant. He started as a lower level prosecutor and after I left the office, he became the assistant district attorney. The first time I sat in on one of his many jury trials, I was immediately amazed at his professionalism, his ease in the courtroom and his grasp of the law. By the end of voir dire and the jury was seated, he had memorized every juror’s name. I have been in the field of law for over 21 years and have never witnessed an attorney in trial that was as prepared, dedicated, and determined and in total command of the trial and courtroom. Jeff always treated staff with the same respect he showed his fellow prosecutors; this made all of us respect him. This makes him the perfect and only true leader for the district attorney’s office. I would now like to discuss the Jeff I know as a personal friend. After 9/11, as military reservist, Jeff was tormented, he was not serving his country. Despite being a devoted husband and father, Jeff made the agonizing decision to not only leave his job but also leave his wife, daughter and toddler son to serve our country overseas. While in Iraq, Jeff insisted on being in the enemy line of fire and went on a number of dangerous patrols with his Army comrades. He put his life on hold, as well as in danger, for well over a year to serve the country that he so dearly loved and does still love to this day. Also, I was involved along with Sherry on the “Committee to Recall Colleen Truden.” One of our concerns with regard to Ms. Truden was her expenditures. In particular, we learned she wanted to unnecessarily remodel the office. When I left the office in 2006, Garfield County had allocated other offices in the building and remodeled this space so that all the legal assistants had their own area. It was a big undertaking but left us with plenty of space. With Sherry expressing the most outrage in the news media regarding Ms. Truden’s plan to remodel, I was shocked that Sherry found it necessary to “remodel” offices that were already remodeled at a cost of over $1 million. This money could have been better spent disbursing pay increases to those in the office. I relocated to Florida in 2006 but have kept in touch with Jeff. He stills remains my closest friend and I cannot think of anyone with more compassion, integrity and knowledge of the law than Jeff Cheney for district attorney. If you have not had the chance to meet Jeff and discuss his qualifications for district attorney, please visit his website at www.cheney4da.com and vote for him!
Carol Koris
Florida
