December 19, 2013
50 cents Jefferson County, Colorado | Volume 148, Issue 3
A publication of
goldentranscript.net
T WO MONTHS L ATER
By Amy Woodward
By Amy Woodward
awoodward@ourcoloradonews.com
awoodward@ ourcoloradonews.com
I
t has been a little over two months since the tragic death of the Johnson family in Buena Vista on Sept. 30. The rock slide — which killed five people and left one survivor — devastated family members and close friends who were shocked at the sudden death of a family well-known to the community. Dawna Johnson, known as Dawna Mayo to many residents in Golden, was among the five people who perished in the slide along with her husband; Dwayne Johnson, daughter Kiowa-Rain; and two nephews; Paris Walkup and Baigen Walker who were visiting from Missouri. Dawna “Mayo” Johnson was a popular student and athlete while growing up in Golden during the late 1970s to her graduation at Golden High School in 1986. Her father was former Golden police chief, John Mayo, whose portrait hangs on the wall outside the Golden Police Department entrance. He served as the city’s police chief 1973-1978, with notable department achievements including creating a dispatch center and hiring one of the first female police officers. “We were Golden girls” said Barb Robie, stylist and co-owner of Del’s Tonsorial Parlor on Washington Ave. “She was popular and fun and beautiful.” Robie first met Johnson in the seventh grade at Golden Junior High where she was immediately accepted by Johnson and her friends. “She was tall like me and that I liked because there wasn’t a lot of tall girls back then,” she said. Their friendship blossomed in the eighth grade where they both ran track; one of many athletic activities Johnson participated in which became a defining trait that stayed with Johnson throughout her life. At Golden High School, Johnson was on the cross-country team, varsity girls basketball and took part in the school’s newspaper and yearbook as the co-sports editor and photographer for the football team. The Transcript wrote several articles about the girls’ varsity basketball team in which Johnson is mentioned. Johnson and Robie remained friends throughout high school, hanging out with mutual friends like Marci
POSTAL ADDRESS
Jeffco5 to begin petition drive
Murray and Sara Scott Sudbeck. Robie recalls cruising around the Colorado School of Mines campus in Johnson’s blue Camero admiring the college boys who paid little attention to them, she said. After graduation, Johnson left Golden to study at CU-Boulder and then at the Art Institute of Colorado for photography. It was there that Johnson would meet her husband who whisked her away to Buena Vista. “She was always on the go,” John Mayo, Johnson’s younger brother said. Mayo described his older sister as the “jock of the family” who was always in a hurry, “always busy doing something,” much like their father, he said. Growing up, it was a habit for him to always carry around a container of gas for when he would need to fill up Johnson’s gas tank, for she never seemed to have the time to fill up her car. “I think all she knew about a car was to turn the key and go,” he said. “Maybe that’s why she took so many pictures because she didn’t have time to sit and actually look at it, so she’d take a picture so she can look at it later.” In Buena Vista, Johnson pursued many career paths including track coach for the Buena Vista Dawna continues on Page 5
County commissioners may not support the Jeffco5 initiative to add two members to the county board, but initiative supporters are not being dissuaded from seeking public support. After several attempts and much debate with the threeperson board of county commissioners, the board still declined to voluntarily place the Jeffco5 initiative on the 2014 election ballot. Members of Jeffco5 are now organizing for a petition drive to receive 25,000 signatures in 180 days to place the question on the ballot. The petition drive starts Jan. 8. Advocates for Jeffco5 showed up from all over the county including Lakewood and Arvada to discuss the drive during the Jeffco5 public meeting on Dec. 7. Karen Oxman, founder of Jeffco5, reported about support received from county staff for the campaign. “We’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback from the county employees who are very unhappy with the county commissioners,” Oxman said. Designed to be nonpartisan, the initiative presented by Jeffco5 presents two possible options for voters — county districts would increase from three to five districts, and residents within each district would vote for a county commissioner from that district; or to keep the county in three districts, but residents would elect one county commissioner from each district, and elect two at large commissioners for the whole county. According to state statue, when a population of a county is more than 70,000 it may increase the number of county commissioners from three to five. The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2012 estimate reported 545,358 people living in Jeffco. Jeffco5 is looking for endorsements from county chambers of commerce, but the group is not actively asking for political party endorsements, as organizers would like to keep the campaign non-partisan. However, any support received from any political affiliation is welcome. “This is not going to be a well-funded campaign but that doesn’t mean it’s not possible,” said Chris Kennedy, volunteer and adviser for the Jeffco5. “There’s a lot that can happen between now and November 2014.” Kennedy is the campaign manager for U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, and former policy assistant at the Colorado House of Representatives. Carole Lomond, Jeffco5 member and publisher of “City and Mountain Views” reported in her editorial in August of this year that 35 percent of unincorporated Jeffco residents do not have a city council representative. In these areas, the board of county commissioners controls land use, open space management, budgeting and public transit and other government services while representing 540,000 people. According to Oxman, Sheriff Ted Mink is a proponent of the Jeffco5 Initiative. “Voters should have the option to choose how they are governed,” Mink said in a brief statement to the Transcript. Volunteers are needed to help gather signatures. For more information, contact Bernie at MTTOP@aol.com. Donations are also being accepted to help pay for petitions. Checks can be made out to Jeffco5Grassroots and mailed to Karen Oxman at 640 11th St. Unit 401, Golden, CO 80401. More information about Jeffco5 along with signing up for newsletters can be found at www.jeffco5.com.
GOLDEN TRANSCRIPT (ISSN 0746-6382)
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The Transcript 5
December 19, 2013
Warmth and light on a cold, dark night
Golden residents braved the cold and frosty night on Friday, Dec. 6 for the annual Candlelight Walk down Washington Avenue, which marks the official start of Christmas in the city of Golden. Mr. and Mrs. Claus led the walk to the Golden Chamber of Commerce where there was hot cider waiting, entertainment and the Christmas wreath which was dropped to ring in Christmas, 2013. Photo by Amy Woodward
YOUR LOCAL HOME TOWN SHOW
Dawna Continued from Page 1
school district, her own photography business and was a server at three local restaurants. She kept her three children involved in sports and 4H in addition to family hikes, hunting and camping. “It was just constant, I don’t think there was down time,” said Sherri Mayo, Johnson’s sister-in-law. The last meeting the Mayos had with Johnson was in August, at a nearby gas station near Bailey where Mayo moved his family after living in Buena Vista. It was a common meeting place for Johnson during her trips from home to Denver. Upon her arrival, Johnson was so distracted with meeting her family that she forgot to turn her car off which hit her brother’s ve-
hicle that left a mark on the bumper. They spent 15 minutes talking with her before she left. Her last words to them were “we love you guys, see you soon.” On Sept. 30, Mayo received a call from officials in Buena Vista notifying him of the rock slide with only one person who had been found; the youngest child of the Johnsons, Gracie, had been flown to Denver with a broken leg and a shoulder injury. Not knowing the extent of the accident, Mayo raced to Buena Vista to help with recovery efforts, thinking they could still be alive. His oldest sister, Janell, was in Missouri frantic from the news and told her brother to find her babies, Mayo said. That night, the coroner informed Mayo that everyone had perished and asked for his assistance to identify the bodies. Rescue teams deployed airbags underneath the large boulders so the bodies could be retrieved.
Mayo concluded they died instantly. “It was just so surreal to me, the next day I had to take off because I was questioning my own mortality,” Robie said. “Why did this pick this family? This happens to people you don’t know.” The Mayos along with Johnson’s older sister Janell, are still dealing with the emotional impact from an event that took away a large portion of their family. “Things are fine and then just the littlest thing will set you off,” Sherri Mayo said. Taking a day off from work or leaving early is common for the Mayos who say their boss has been very supportive of their loss. “I just want the people of Golden to know that she was a Golden girl too and she was well liked and loved and she will be deeply missed,” Robie said. “Don’t take life for granted, that’s for sure, you just never know when you’re going to see people again.”
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