Exploring All Sides: A Conversation With Jerry Bannister

On the evening of April 4, I called Jerry Bannister. No agenda, no gotcha questions. Just a conversation.

If you follow Trinidad city politics, you know the Bannister name. Jerry sits on both the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Economic Development Corporation. His mother Marie is on the city council. His wife Dusty is on the event committee. Depending on who you ask, the Bannisters are either trying to take over Trinidad or just trying to participate in their community.

I wanted to hear Jerry's side. Because in the past few weeks learning more about Trinidad, I have talked to plenty of people on one side of the city's divide. I had not yet heard from the other.

What I got was a 45-minute conversation that challenged some of my assumptions.

"I Don't Do Word of Mouth"

Jerry answered the phone and got right to it. He is a veteran, a former corrections officer, and a former law enforcement officer. He opened his cafe in Trinidad in 2019. He does not have time for rumors.

"When somebody comes and tells me so-and-so said something about you, I don't take word of mouth," Jerry said. "I'll go down to Dan's house, knock on the door, and we can have a conversation. Did you say this? No? Okay, then it's just a rumor flying around town."

That directness is what prompted our call. Earlier that day, comments on a Facebook livestream had escalated into accusations, perceived threats, and the kind of public back-and-forth that drowns out real civic discourse. Jerry had posted comments that caught my attention, and I wanted to understand the context.

His explanation was straightforward. A woman he identified as Beth had made comments about his family and his cafe on Dan Pass's livestream. Jerry said he sent her a private message first, asking her to stop. When she continued publicly, he responded publicly.

"I could have not said anything and just went straight to my attorney," Jerry said. "But I didn't go that route. It was simply saying, hey, unless you want to be involved in a lawsuit, stop."

The Family Question

I asked the question directly: Are the Bannisters trying to run Trinidad?

Jerry did not dodge it. "We have heard a comment made that the Bannisters are trying to run Trinidad," he acknowledged. But he framed each family member's involvement as their own decision. His mother ran for council "against my wishes," he said. His wife is on the event committee. He himself focused on P&Z and EDC.

"I have no desire to get into that stuff," he said, referring to the council business his mother handles.

Whether you accept that framing or not, Jerry offered something few people in Trinidad have offered: a direct, on-record response to the perception. He went further.

"If you want to do a public records request, Lindsay actually gave me the folder back when, way back, but there's a folder probably about an inch thick that the city kept directly on us," Jerry said.

I have independently confirmed that the city did maintain a file on the Bannister family. That alone should give anyone pause before dismissing Jerry's account of being targeted.

He described years under the previous administration where the Bannister family was, in his words, "the oppressed ones." He alleges that former Police Chief Brian Myers used his authority to cancel the cafe's trash service contract, forcing Jerry to hire an attorney to get his dumpster back. Other verified sources with no business or personal connections to the Bannisters have independently corroborated this claim.

The Old Guard

Jerry's account of the prior administration paints a picture consistent with what others have described: a small group that controlled city business and discouraged public participation.

"Back then, absolutely nobody came to the meetings because it didn't matter what their complaint was," Jerry said. "It fell on deaf ears. That select few did what they wanted to. They didn't care about the citizens."

He pointed to a specific example involving the P&Z residency ordinance. Around 2020 or 2022, Jerry alleges that Roy Stanfield and the mayor at the time, Leslie Parker, pushed through an ordinance changing the P&Z residency requirement from a 10-mile radius to within city limits, specifically to block Jerry from joining.

"If you look at the agendas, that ordinance was signed off on a month before they even had the meeting and voted on it," Jerry said. He added that then-city attorney Clayton Gaddis declared it "an illegal ordinance."

The broader pattern Jerry describes, where Roy Stanfield allegedly wielded outsized influence over city boards and used procedural maneuvers to maintain control, is consistent with accounts from multiple independent sources. The story of the prior administration's behavior in Trinidad has been told from many directions now. Jerry's version fits the pattern.

Where is the City Business?

Despite my offering multiple times for him to weigh in on the Judge Bivens situation and the council's current agenda, Jerry mostly stayed in his lane. He did share one observation from his law enforcement background: he alleges the municipal judge was accepting pleas directly from citizens, which he said compromises judicial neutrality.

"I was up there the other day making copies," Jerry said. "Colby had left for a doctor's appointment. So people were coming in with tickets and the judge was doing them."

But the moment that resonated most came when I asked about the upcoming Thursday agenda, which contained only three items: another executive session about the judge, concerns about the mayor, and an ordinance restricting the mayor's powers. No infrastructure. No water. No budget.

Jerry acknowledged the disconnect. He refocused on what he cares about: reducing ordinances that nickel-and-dime residents.

"I've got to pay a $75 fee for a permit, and then when I'm done, I've got to pay another $75 to have code enforcement come look at it," he said about fencing. "They act like a HoA. This isn't Dallas, this is Trinidad."

What Comes Next

I told Jerry I would write about our conversation and put it in a positive light. I meant that. Because regardless of what is happening behind the scenes in Trinidad, this was a productive phone call. Jerry talked to me. He did not dodge. He gave me context I did not have. He agreed, at least in principle, that the community needs more conversations and fewer Facebook fights.

"Talk it out and be done with it," Jerry said.

I suggested a future recorded conversation or livestream where Jerry could share his perspective publicly. He said he would think about it.

Trinidad has real problems. The water system needs attention. The budget is tight. City business is not being discussed at meetings. The community is fractured.

The only way through is to talk. Jerry Bannister was willing to do that tonight, and I give him credit for it.