DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. — On Friday, the Douglas County Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution to set a title for how the 3 to 5 initiative will appear on this November's ballot.
The citizen led initiative would increase the number of county commissioners from three to five if voters approve it.
What will appear on the ballot is as follows:
"At an ongoing annual expense of $760,000 to $1,300,000 from county revenue that supports public safety, transportation, and essential county services, shall the membership of the Douglas County Board of Commissioners be increased from a three-member board to a five-member board?"
Earlier this summer, the Douglas County Clerk verified more than 20,000 signatures to approve the initiative for the ballot.
During a specially called business meeting Friday, before adopting the official title, commissioners heard a presentation from County Attorney Jeff Garcia about the commissioners legal obligation to set a title for the initiative.
"But looking at CRS 3111, it prescribes two duties," Garcia outlined. "Of course, the duty itself to adopt the title, but it says shall, so this is not an optional thing. This isn't something that you have at your discretion. This is something that you need to do. In addition to it, it says that very clearly. In doing so, you need to reduce confusion and make clear what the effect of a yes or no vote would do."
Special Projects Manager Dan Avery also gave a presentation on the cost of going from three to five commissioners, comparing to other counties that have made the move to five commissioners.
"When we compare that to Arapahoe County, you see that there are two executive management staff, much like Douglas County, three administrative staff, and four management analysts," Avery outlined. "In Adams County, they have a county manager, three deputy county managers, and a chief of staff, seven administrative positions, and three management analysts. So a more robust administrative structure. Comparing that to Douglas County would result in an addition of up to 11 FTE at a total cost of $1.8 million annually."
It is important to note, the pricing Avery gave were for those communities current expenses, not what they paid in the first two years after adopting the increase in commissioners per a county official.
Avery also laid out four options for the low end and high end of a range for how much it would cost DougCo, including both one time expenses like training and possible renovations to the county office, as well as recurring costs like salaries.
"The low end of one-time renovation costs, and only the addition of the commissioner salaries for a total cost through 2029 of $577,000," Avery shared. "A mid-range estimate, more equivalent to Arapahoe County's model, would result in expenses incurred through 2029 of $1.35 million. The next configuration presumes the addition of six FTE, more along the lines of what exists in El Paso County at a cost through 2029 of 1.9 million. "Then an upper estimate, more along the lines of the staffing levels in Adams County, which would result in costs identified at just over 3.3 million through 2029."
Commissioners opened the meeting for public comment, the majority of whom were supporters of the 3 to 5 initiative and gathered signatures.
"The people did their job, yet you are adding language to our ballot question that those petition signers never saw and never agreed to," said Organizer Angela Thomas. "Language that I might add remarkably echoes the opposition campaign formed to defeat this measure."
Some expressed concern over the timing of the resolution and how quickly things were being decided.
"Why you're doing this last minute is just really puts more doubt into our elections," said Julie Ort.
Commissioner George Teal responded to Ort and others who expressed similar concern, saying it was Thomas who asked for things to be done quickly.
On Tuesday following our business meeting, Angela Thomas came up and asked me to move with all possible haste," Teal said. "If it looks sloppy, I apologize."
Thomas confirmed to Denver7's Douglas County Reporter Tyler Melito that she did ask if this could be done quickly, citing a short time frame as ballots need to be finalized by Friday, September 4. She also expressed frustration to Melito over the fact that commissioners have known about the initiative, and that it'll be on the ballot for months, and chose to wait until the last minute.
Others in attendance, like Jennifer Pinegar, expressed frustration over how the 3 to 5 initiative is playing by different rules than the commissioner-backed Home Rule initiative in 2025.
"You put home rule on the ballot without asking us, costing over $700,000 of our money," Pinegar said. "We all knew it was a power grab, just like we all know that this is another desperate attempt to cling to money and power."
Teal responded to this frustration as well, noting mistakes were made back then, but they are trying to do things right now.
"I hear you," Teal said. "I accept that as a failure of that measure. I learned a lesson. Lesson learned. We are going to apply it here. I believe the cost is the cost, and we have a way to demonstrate there will be a cost there, but there's always been an estimated cost. We have heard from several of the leadership of the proponents there was a cost always mentioned."
There were some at the meeting like Dana Bonham who expressed their support for the resolution, saying it'll give crucial information to voters.
"This is going to come out of our general fund, where public safety and all of those crucial services are going to be affected, and I think people need to know that," Bonham said.
It is important to mention as well, if Douglas County moves to five commissioners, taxes will not be increased, rather the money will come from the general fund.
After the meeting, Douglas County Commissioner Abe Laydon sent Melito the following statement expressing his personal thoughts:
"Extreme left socialists want a seat on the board of County Commissioners without telling our citizens the truth about what it is going to cost them. First, you don’t solve problems by adding politicians, second most DougCo citizens know we have ended homelessness, stopped wildfires, and kept Douglas County the healthiest and most prosperous in the state with only 3 commissioners. This is a solution in search of a problem that would only help those who want to make Douglas County like Denver. “
Melito also reached out to Douglas County Clerk Sheri Davis for comment, as they approved the initial title for the 3 to 5 initiative when the citizen petition was submitted.
A spokesperson sent back the following statement:
"The Douglas County Commissioners' Resolution [douglascounty.legistar.com] does not give the Douglas County Office of Clerk and Recorder the option to carry out responsibilities or create the ballot title for voter-initiated ballot measures under current state law (Title 30, Article 11 and Title 31, Article 11 of the Colorado Revised Statutes). The Office of Clerk and Recorder will continue to review and fulfill its legal responsibilities and required actions in accordance with the law. The Office of Clerk and Recorder remains dedicated to conducting elections with the utmost integrity and maintaining election security protocols at every step of the process."
Friday's meeting was supposed to feature two agenda items with the second after the title resolution being as follows per the county:
A Resolution Referring a Ballot Measure to Preserve All Douglas County Voters’ Rights to Elect all members of the Douglas County Board of County Commissioners on the Ballot for Voter Consideration.
That item was moved to a special business meeting on Monday, August 31 at 8:30am after an issue was noticed before Friday's meeting, which the commissioners learned about in an executive session from County Attorney Garcia.
