On radio, Scott McInnis discusses his fellowship to write articles on water
Excerpt of an interview with gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis on the KHOW’s Caplis and Silverman show, April 26, 2010. (hour one, located at 21 minutes, 15 seconds)
Silverman: Hey, listen, just one lawyer to another, now that you’re looking for another job, I see this Hasan Family Foundation fellowship 150 grand. How does a lawyer get in on that?
McInnis: No. No. No. No. What that was was a water. I wrote a series of in depth articles on water, Colorado water. And so, that’s what that was about. And so I was pretty excited to do it. It was the first time in my life I got paid to write about a subject that I, one, knew a little something about but, two, actually, I always like to tell, hey look at water look at history. So that’s what that was about.
Silverman: Sure
McInnis: It was like, what do you call it when you work for, what do you call it,
Silverman: A fellow. You’re a fellow.
McInnis: A fellow is a little more academic than I probably am.
Silverman: Well, no, you can’t hide it. You have a Juris Doctorate. And, ah, the Hasan Family is a prominent family in southern Colorado, but they also, as mentioned in the paper, I don’t know if you saw it.
McInnis: I didn’t.
Silverman: Part of their family foundation is, ah, better understanding between the Americans and the Muslim world. Were you involved in that at all?
McInnis: No. My, ah, assignment, what they retained me for was water write on water and The Hasan Family, to the best of my knowledge, and I was not a part of the foundation, they are really intent on Colorado, the history of Colorado. As you know they are probably the largest contributors to the Pueblo junior college, not the junior college but the CSU extension, the business college, the opera, and water’s a big issue. When I got out, we were having a conversation and they said we’d be interested in doing this if you’d be interested in helping put together some articles at some point, could be used in a series for education on water in Colorado. So that’s what that was about. And I was thrilled to do it. I got paid to do it. That’s pretty sweet. And it was a family that cares intensely about the state of Colorado.