Paul Anslow Abruptly Bails on Management Job, Followed by Advisory Members in Protest

A Colorado bureaucrat overseeing the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport left his job right before "controversial" transcripts were released featuring his assessment of local "nut jobs", and the airport is in a tizzy.

Paul Anslow is under fire by locals for referring to noise complainants and local airport busybodies as "nut jobs", while "belittling their concerns about airport noise" - that's now local NPR affiliate KUNC sees it. The news affiliate obtained the transcript of a "private conversation given to KUNC News as part of a public records request".

Anslow left his job abruptly, according to the official narrative, but locals in the area believe it's better described as a surreptitious firing. In response to his departure, 4 of the 6 airport advisory board members resigned from their roles at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport.

“It is with deep frustration and disappointment in Jefferson County’s recent decision to fire Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport Director Paul Anslow that we, the undersigned Advisory Board Members, tender our immediate and full resignation,” reads their resignation. They contend that Anslow was politically outmaneuvered, and Anslow is staying mum as he searches for another job. Sensing some small town drama, the NPR affiliate dug deeper.

"A KUNC News investigation has revealed more about the circumstances leading up to his sudden departure. Days before Anslow left, county officials received evidence he privately criticized people concerned about airport operations, had downplayed concerns about lead pollution from airplane exhaust, and said he wanted neighboring governments to “waste their time and money” fruitlessly trying to mitigate concerns about airport noise."

From there, things play out in the usual "locals vs. airport" manner. Locals surrounding the Rocky Mountain Metro Airport complained of "excessive aircraft noise", and their concerns are, as they so often appear to those in the airport ecosystem, a little silly when the airport was built there first. KUNC quotes the drama:

"According to the transcript, Anslow asked Daril Cinquanta (head of the Jefferson County Aviation Association) if he was listening to the monthly community meetings about airport noise, called "community noise roundtables," where elected officials from nearby communities meet to talk about residents’ concerns.

“No, and I should,” Cinquanta replies in the transcript.

“You should,” Anslow continued. “We laugh because we get nut jobs who complain about the airport, and want to shut us down and do all that stuff.”"

Anslow sounds frank in the discussion, describing community roundtables a pointless feel-good effort that wastes time and money.

“I want them to waste their money and time", he says in the transcript. “'Cause here’s the deal, Centennial had a roundtable for 20 plus years, nothing gets done. It just makes people feel happy that they’re part of the roundtable and they get to bitch.” Anslow said "It will probably take five years, and a couple hundred thousand dollars of taxpayer’s money that’s wasted, and I get to sit there and be like, ‘Hey we support this, we do anything we can to help noise."

The story is a reminder to be careful when feeling loose-lipped, as Anslow's conversational compatriot stands a fair chance of being the one who recorded the conversation. Daril Cinquanta maintains that he "had nothing to do with it", saying he didn't submit the conversation or transcript. Previously, he'd admitted to often recording conversations he had with Anslow without the other's knowledge, even in a relatively private capacity. "He would never say half the things he said to me over the years if he knew I was recording him," Cinquanta said.

FMI: https://www.jeffco.us/755/Airport