CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — Some Douglas County residents are pushing to expand the county's Board of Commissioners from 3 members to 5, arguing the current structure can't keep up with the county's rapid growth.
Resident Kelly Mayer is among those backing the effort.
"We've gone from 70,000 residents to almost 400,000 residents, and we still only have three county commissioners," Mayer said.
Watch Denver7's Tyler Melito's report on this effort by Douglas County residents in the video player below:
Mayer is a Registered Agent for 3 to 5 DougCo.
She says adding commissioners would allow for better, more thorough representation. She also points to the financial stakes of the current setup.
"Only two are required to make a decision. There's a $600-million budget; that's a lot of money for only two people to make the decisions on," Mayer explained.
The initiative is working to collect 15,000 signatures from residents to get the issue on the November ballot. If it qualifies, voters would have three choices:
- Vote for the creation of five commissioner positions, each representing a district.
- Vote for the creation of five commissioner positions, three of which represent a district and two serving at-large.
- Vote against the initiative entirely.
Not everyone supports the change. Matt Smith, first vice chair of the Douglas County Republican Party, plans to vote against it.
"Things are going really well in the county. So, why mess with something that's working?" Smith shared.
The party estimates adding commissioners would cost an additional $500,000 a year.
"The salary is not it, you have benefits overhead on top of that, you have retirement, you have other things," Smith said.
Smith also said, in his experience, no one has been able to explain why adding commissioners would be a good thing.
"Not one person came along and made what I would consider a real argument," Smith detailed. "Although I don't know if it's real, but at least it's an argument, and that was that in a county this size, the commissioners may be stretched too thin. Now, I think that again is a feeling that the individual is feeling, because I haven't heard that be expressed from the commissioners, but that could be a legitimate reason to expand the number of commissioners here, but I feel like this effort is is activist-driven, and you know, being driven for political reasons, not for the betterment of the county."
But Mayer says the support so far for the movement has been overwhelmingly positive thus far.
"This is a bipartisan effort," Mayer said. "We have Republicans, Democrats, and unaffiliated residents of Douglas County carrying these petitions, so this is not a partisan thing."
While the measure is not backed by the county itself, commissioners are weighing in.
Commissioner Abe Laydon said in a statement to Denver7, "Things rarely improve by adding politicians."
Meantwhile, Commissioner George Teal spoke with Denver7's Tyler Melito on Friday and expressed support for the petition.
"Do I support the petition being circulated? I'm 100% supportive of that," Teal said.
Teal said he would prefer the option that would have 3 commissioners representing a district and 2 commissioners at-large.
"I believe that is the stronger one. I do favor that, because actually that doesn't only give me the opportunity to run for eight more years as a county commissioner, it effectively ends term limits in Douglas County, Colorado," Teal said.
But Teal does still stand by what she says is the best way under Colorado law for Douglas County to add commissioners — via Home Rule, a measure that failed in the County in 2025.
"The power here, I don't have power as an individual commissioner under the laws of Colorado," Teal told Melito. "I have zero power alone. I get an extra vote. That is the power of the people being executed."
He adds that should this measure gets on the November ballot, it'll be on voters to know about the added costs, but Teal says the decision ultimately rests with voters.
"I always support the rights of the people of Douglas County," Teal said.
