Same goal, di erent process

Over the last few weeks, two elected boards in the south metro area have had to establish a process to ll a suddenly vacated seat.

In Douglas County, Elizabeth Hanson abruptly resigned from the school board.

South Suburban Parks and Recreation, which provides services in Arapahoe County and part of Douglas County, is also managed by an elected board. In South Suburban’s case, tragedy struck when a board member died, leaving a vacant seat.

Now, let’s get into why one elected board was transparent and upfront with the public and why another is being questioned for maybe following the laws, but not adhering to the spirit of them.

e Douglas County School Board held an o cial open meeting, voted on a process, set dates and approved an application. All in public view.

To ll the open seat, the board will also discuss their opinions on every applicant publicly. e applications submitted are public records — as they should be.

Now, let’s move on to South Suburban, where a board election had been held shortly before the death opened another seat. Reporter Nina Joss has struggled to get information leading up to and after the May 2 election.

And when the other seat became open, Joss simply asked what the process would be to ll it. Simple question — right? Joss asked obvious questions and should have received clear answers and information to tell the public what was going on and what would happen.

However, while the elected board who took an oath to manage this district that manages a $128 million budget are patting themselves on the back for creating an application process, they are missing the point on why the interested public is frustrated. ey clearly do not understand the spirit of transparency.

ey decided to make the applications “con dential.” Really? Con dential? Do you need to be reminded that you are a board that can increase property taxes at will without a special election? I bet the Town of Castle Rock and other municipalities would love that kind of power.

Even after the vote where a new member was selected with no discussion and sworn in, the process to release the applications to the press took time. e reference letters still have not been released,

Call first: 9233 Park Meadows Dr., Lone Tree, CO 80124

Mailing Address: 750 W. Hampden Ave., Suite 225 Englewood, CO 80110

Phone: 303-566-4100

Web: DouglasCountyNewsPress.net CastlePinesNewsPress.net

CastleRockNewsPress.net

To subscribe call 303-566-4100

From The Editor

and while it may be legal, it’s not OK. ey should have been part of the agenda and used as part of a discussion that should have been held in selecting the new board member. All of this should have been done in the public eye and not behind closed doors. Voting for a new member in less than a minute without discussion is not OK.

When Joss questioned the process and the fact that the public knew nothing about the person appointed to the seat — she was told to tell the public to Google him. at is absurd coming from a board member who took a sworn oath. en, board members and South Suburban sta wonder why people are upset. Here’s the obvious answer. It’s not about who you appointed to ll the seat. When I Googled him — he seemed legitimate. He may even educate fellow board members on the fact that elected boards collecting tax dollars do answer to the public. e problem is the refusal to be transparent in the entire process.

It’s hard to gure out who exactly is calling the shots for South Suburban right now, but, to the board members: you should realize it should be you, and it should be done through public meetings, not behind closed doors.

Some other advice to remember — as an elected board, you are the boss of this huge organization. You are in charge. You don’t need sta approval — they need yours. Listen to their recommendations, ask questions, and make decisions — but do the right thing and do it in front of the public.

As citizens, residents and the community, we deserve better, transparent board members. Doing a simple story on an election, or a sad one on lling a vacated seat due to unexpected tragedy, should never turn into what you have turned it into.

Instead, what you have is a lot of raised eyebrows, more questions, and a lot more attention from not just the media, but local residents.

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

HALEY LENA Community Editor hlena@coloradocommunitymedia.com