Recalled senator says sheriff should step down

A former state senator said El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa should step down, following the controversy surrounding him.

Former senate president John Morse was ousted in a recall election last September.

“It is interesting that I was recalled for casting a vote for keeping the public safer from gun violence, and what’s going on here, is unethical, immoral behavior, and we’re not talking about recalls,” Morse said. “So apparently we save recalls for elected officials that are doing their job and going above and beyond and taking some risk in making sure that people are safe, whereas when we’ve got somebody that is using their position for their own personal benefit and engaging in suspect behavior, that doesn’t call for a recall.”

In a video to employees, Maketa admitted he had inappropriate relationships and lied about it.

“He has violated the trust of his office, he has destroyed the careers of three separate women, and he has deliberately lied about this,” Morsee said. “I know that he’s lied about other things because everything that he accused me of in the recall was blatantly false and fabricated, and he knew it, and I knew that he knew it. So he really has put himself and his department in a horrible position.”

Morse, who is also a former police chief of the city of Fountain, said lying puts the sheriff’s work and cases in jeopardy.

“This is not the same as any other kind of politician lying, and so it really is incumbent on him to protect the sanctity not only of his own office, but of his own department to step down and let somebody else take over that has the integrity,” he said.

Morse said since Maketa isn’t running for reelection, and it’s almost too late for a recall, the public has no way to send him a message.

“At this point obviously it’s completely in the sheriff’s hands,” he said. “I think that the public should continue to agitate and request and require that he step down.”