Colorado Politics: In Douglas County, a new and dangerous standard of governance has taken root: if the public doesn’t like your plan, simply stop letting the public in the room. During the last year, we have watched the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) comprised of George Teal, Abe Laydon and Kevin Van Winkle move from conducting substantive “public business” in secret huddles to forbidding public comment at meetings. Even after a unanimous 3-0 defeat in the Court of Appeals, the board remains committed to a “cloak and dagger” strategy that prioritizes their own ego over your tax dollars. This accountability effort is not about partisan politics, it is about the fundamental right of every citizen to know what their government is doing, which is why this challenge is led by a unique coalition: state Rep. Bob Marshall (a Democrat), former County Commissioner Lora Thomas (a Republican) and Julie Gooden (an unaffiliated voter). 

The Court of Appeals was unequivocal: the board’s decision to conduct policy-making functions in private was not legal. The court highlighted the “BOCC’s failure (by its own admission) to strictly comply with the statutory requirements” of the Open Meetings Law. This wasn’t a minor clerical error; it was a fundamental (and intentional) breach of the public trust so egregious the court summarily denied the board’s request to rehear or revise the opinion (or to even publish the case).

Why does this matter to you? Because secrecy is expensive. Upon the success of our appeal, the board chose to hire an outside attorney at $700 an hour to chase a Supreme Court appeal that has almost no chance of success. 

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