Going to 5

Recently, State Rep. Bob Marshall did exactly what he said he was going to do when he ran for o ce — he introduced a bill that would require large counties to expand from three- to ve-member boards of commissioners. If the bill is approved, that would mean Douglas County will go from three to ve commissioners.

Arapahoe County already has ve commissioners, which means they would not be impacted by the bill. However, Arapahoe County operates without a lot of incommission ghting, has good discussion and debate and is a great example of why a ve-member board can be a lot more functional.

When it comes to party lines, I would like a better balance of Republicans and Democrats on the Arapahoe board, given there is currently only one Republican, but that’s not a huge complaint.

In Douglas County, the current commissioners are great evidence of why a three-member boards is not good in representing a county with 360,000 people and growing. e argument against the bill is that it “creates more government,” not less. I get not wanting more government, but is having two more commissioners added to a currently dysfunctional board a bad thing?

I have never been a fan of the all-yes boards. I like my elected boards to have a balance of voices and opinions. If all members of a council, commission or school board have the same thoughts, beliefs and ideals — you will get a lot of rubber-stamp voting without thoughtful discussion and debate.

Local city and town councils, with fewer residents than all of Douglas County, currently have more elected o cials looking out for their best interests.

In Douglas County, residents currently have George Teal and Abe Laydon deciding where and how money is spent. ey are making decisions on zoning, land use and water. If Commissioner Lora omas does have an opposing view or opinion — it doesn’t seem to matter as the two men on the board have clearly formed an alliance. is alliance means if one supports a project — the other will get in line to do the same. ese are schoolyard games that should never been the norm on a local, elected board. is alliance has cost taxpayers plenty of money in approving investigations against omas that have yielded nothing more than tens of thousands of dollars in wasted taxpayer dollars.

At the very least, two more commissioners being asked to approve another frivolous investigation might ask questions and vote against it.

With two more commissioners, decisions might still end the same way, but I bet there is more discussion, fewer alliances and probably a healthier representation of what residents in Douglas County deserve.

What I love about Rep. Marshall introducing the bill, House Bill 23-1180, is that he can’t be bullied. He is at the state level and the two-member majority can’t just quash it. Do I think the bill will pass? It’s early and hard to say. e argument of having more government oversight could win out in halting it in its tracks. However, I do hope our elected o cials at the state level give it true thought and consideration.

If it is passed in the 2023 session, counties that would be a ected by the bill are Je erson, Larimer, Douglas, Boulder, Pueblo and Mesa, all of which are counties with three commissioners.

elma Grimes is the south metro editor for Colorado Community Media.

LINDA SHAPLEY Publisher lshapley@coloradocommunitymedia.com

MICHAEL DE YOANNA Editor-in-Chief michael@coloradocommunitymedia.com

THELMA GRIMES South Metro Editor tgrimes@coloradocommunitymedia.com

TAYLER SHAW Community Editor tshaw@coloradocommunitymedia.com

As a partner and potential sales channel to the enterprise selling team, they were faced with a decision to make about an interaction they had with a new account executive they had just started working with. ere was a lack of follow-up on the account executive’s part and the partner was torn between letting the young account executive’s boss know, or not.

Ultimately, he decided to call their boss because they wanted to provide a coaching opportunity for the young new hire. e leader was grateful and said, “ ank you as I cannot x something that I do not know is broken, and I cannot manage what I do not know.” ere is so much sensitivity around what we can say and what we cannot or should not say. We fear that it may not be our place to say anything at all, after all we may become the one where others choose to point the nger of blame. We would rather keep our mouth shut and let the next person who receives bad service or experiences a problem be the one to share their concerns. Maybe they are braver than we are in those moments. e question becomes this, wouldn’t we want to know if something that we, or someone in our family, circle of friends, or company was doing something, or had done something, that wasn’t right and could potentially be harmful to others or to our family or business? Most of us would answer the same way, of course we would. In the case above, the leader did use it as a coaching moment and the young account executive embraced the feedback and became determined to make a change in his response times and doing what they said they would do

ERIN ADDENBROOKE Marketing Consultant eaddenbrooke@coloradocommunitymedia.com

AUDREY BROOKS Business Manager abrooks@coloradocommunitymedia.com

ERIN FRANKS Production Manager efranks@coloradocommunitymedia.com

LINDSAY NICOLETTI Operations/ Circulation Manager lnicoletti@coloradocommunitymedia.com when they said they would do it.

Another friend I know stopped going to the same co ee shop they had been stopping by every morning for years. When I asked them why, they said that the shop had started serving co ee that wasn’t as hot as it should be. I asked them if they let the manager know. ey shook their head and said, “No.” is was a simple or minor issue that, if the manager had known or been told, could have been easily resolved.

We know parents who have approached the o cials of the school where their child was being bullied. e o cials were given the opportunity to x what was broken. ey now knew what they had to manage, yet they refused to take action. e nal outcome was that the child was transferred to another school and thankfully, was met with a new set of friends who they became very close with, enjoying a wonderful and safe high school experience.

It’s no di erent at home or in any relationship. If we do not know what is broken, we cannot manage or x what we do not know. We have to provide others a safe environment to share what they see as a problem or an area that can be improved, and then be vulnerable enough to acknowledge that it can be better and then take the steps necessary to x the problem.

Two of the most important ingredients to any

SEE NORTON, P13

Columnist opinions are not necessarily those of the Citizen. We welcome letters to the editor. Please include your full name, address and the best number to reach you by telephone. Email letters to letters@coloradocommunitymedia.com ere’s a lot to love about Arapahoe County, too.

The excitement of the new year has yielded busy calendars for many of us, particularly those of us in Arapahoe county government. Despite the freezing temperatures, 2023 is o to a fast start with exciting opportunities and some di cult challenges.

Already this year, two new commissioners, Leslie Summey and Jessica Campbell-Swanson, have been sworn in, county meetings have started, our budget process is underway, and we recently hosted our rst telephone town hall of the year.

I’m a hometown girl. I grew up here, met my husband and raised a family here and also started a business here. So as a resident, mom and chair of the Board, it’s important to me that we act now to maintain the things we love about the county so that they can be enjoyed for generations to come.

From the farming and ranching

Letters To The Editor

Unhappy about story is letter will be worth writing if it can convert just one of your liberal journalists away from their woke ideology as expressed in your second of a four-part series, e Long Way Home by Nina Joss and Haley Lena Jan. 26, reporting on the housing crisis. e article is the epitome of woke ideology because of the accusations made from beginning to end that essentially accuse the U.S. for systemic injustice in housing.

Instead of any consideration of our American ideals around equal opportunity this article focuses on a socialist Utopian ideal with many examples of unequal outcomes. Not surprisingly this very lengthy article ends advocating mandatory liberal training to combat discrimination for real estate licenses.

First, don’t ask about the facts in this article, ask why the Colorado Community Media (CCM) is editorializing about identity politics and race baiting. No mention is made of the problem put on hardships cases which are the outcome of living in a free society, also known as an imperfect world, which is the history of our country. e Long Way Home series is being published in all the 24 metro Denver newspapers, and for a good reason none of the testimonials in this week’s article relate to any of our Douglas County jurisdictions.

Nobody will disagree that it’s easy to nd biased journalists these days, they’re everywhere, so the fault of

Norton

successful relationship, husband-wife, parent-child, teacher-student, employer-employee, company-customer, or any other relationship are communication and trust. And when we can honestly and openly share with others what needs to change or be managed better, most times we will be seen as being helpful as again, none of us can x or manage what we do not know is broken or a problem in the rst place. How about you? Do you feel safe and comfortable sharing with your

Guest Column