Week of February 3, 2022
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DOUGLAS COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
ParkerChronicle.net
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 10 | LIFE: PAGE 12 | CALENDAR: PAGE 15 | SPORTS: PAGE 16
VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 10
Conflict grows between sheriff and former second-in-command Former undersheriff sues current sheriff BY ELLIOTT WENZLER EWENZLER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
A heated conflict between the Douglas County sheriff and his former second-in-command — who is now running as a candidate to replace him — appears to be headed to the courts after a lawsuit was filed against the current leader of the sheriff’s office.
Sheriff Tony Spurlock and former Undersheriff Holly Nicholson Kluth’s feud involves a mishmash of investigations and accusations including allegations of political scheming, domestic violence and illicit deletion of personnel files. The rivalry has come to a head now that Kluth has filed a lawsuit against Spurlock — who is termlimited — alleging he suppressed her First Amendment rights and violated employment law and internal policies when he demoted her in 2020 and fired her in 2021.
Politics at play It all began with the 2020 election for Douglas County commissioner. In September 2020, Spurlock, a Republican, publicly endorsed Lisa Neal Graves, a Democrat, who ran unsuccessfully against Republican George Teal. Internal sheriff’s office files show that in the days that followed, the county’s Republican Party developed a plan to publish endorsements from the sheriff’s office command staff for Republican candidates, according to documents obtained by Colorado Community Media through a public records
Parker again introducing bill hoping to leave RTD State Sen. Jim Smallwood is sponsoring the bill BY ELLIOTT WENZLER EWENZLER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
For the second year in a row, a bill that would allow Parker residents to decide if they want to leave the Regional Transportation District has been introduced into the legislature. The bill, sponsored by State Sen. Jim Smallwood, R-Parker, has returned after the Town of Parker continues to be unsatisfied by the transportation services provided to the community. “I think this is a long game and I think that is the only thing that brings us back to the table with RTD,” Parker Mayor Jeff Toborg said during a Jan. 10 work session. “I think we have to go back.” Toborg added that the town’s return on investment for RTD has continued to decrease since the pandemic began. In 2021, the town paid about $15 million to RTD through sales tax remittance,
request. After being asked to participate in this plan, Kluth submitted a statement to the county GOP supporting conservative candidates, according to a Douglas County Sheriff’s Office investigation into the situation. She also posted that statement to her Facebook. When Spurlock learned of the plan and confronted Kluth about it, she deleted the post and withdrew her comments to the GOP. Following the internal investigation, Spurlock informed Kluth that SEE SHERIFF, P6
School board members allege Wise threatened with termination Minority members also allege violation of open meeting laws BY JESSICA GIBBS JGIBBS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
An RTD bus in the Denver metro area.
Toborg said. Julien Bouquet, the RTD director who represents Parker, said he was surprised to see the bill being reintroduced after the transportation district returned two bus lines
FLU SEASON IS HERE
Doctors expect more cases in 2022
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PHOTO BY BELEN WARD
to the town over the past year. “I felt like we were on a pretty good path with the Town of Parker,” he told Colorado Community SEE RTD, P8
Three Douglas County School Board members are alleging the four new board directors gave the superintendent an ultimatum — resign or be fired — without formal board approval and without the full board’s knowledge. Directors David Ray, Susan Meek and Elizabeth Hanson made the allegations in a Jan. 31 publicly noticed meeting, also discussing their SEE MEETING, P11
GETTING ON ‘BOARD’
Chess is king during pandemic
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