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AD-HOC Weld County Home Rule Charter
Amendment Study Committee
Meeting Minutes —April 25, 2018
I. CALL TO ORDER—ROLL CALL:
Jackie Johnson,Chair,called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m., in the Weld County Administration
Events Room. The following Home Rule Charter Committee (HRCC) members were present:
Al Dominguez, Sam Gluck(arrived at 6:38 p.m.), Dave Kisker,Mark Lawley,Justus Pettit,Garrett
Varra, and James Welch; Ray Patch was excused. Also present were Bruce Barker - County
Attorney, and Karla Ford -Board of County Commissioners' Office Manager.
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - April 18, 2018: Garrett Varra moved to approve the
Minutes of April 18, 2018. The motion was seconded by Al Dominguez, and it carried
unanimously.
III. INTRODUCTION AND PRESENTATION:
A. GUIDELINES AND SUMMARY INFORMATION: The following informational items
were made available: a two-page handout explaining the intent, protocol and expectations
for the Home Rule Charter Study Committee (HRCC) meetings, the difference between
Structural Home Rule government, versus Functional Municipal Home Rule government,
and the difference between the County Charter, versus the Weld County Code.
B. COUNTY ASSESSOR - CHRIS WOODRUFF: Mr. Woodruff came to inform the
committee that he believes the Assessor position should continue to be elected. He stated
that he has never had pressure from the Board of Commissioners and that his office follows
a high level of professional standards, ethics, and law. The County has a good system in
his office that produces good future candidates for the elected position. Many employees
have been working their way up in the office over the years to learn new positions and
tasks. In response to some questions from the HRCC,Mr.Woodruff stated that even though
his staff reports to him, they are Weld County employees. He also suggested taking out
some of the language in the Charter surrounding the Chief Deputy, as it is outdated and the
position has grown. He replied that he would be willing to give the HRCC members his
suggested changes and will submit that to Mr. Barker.
C. ASSISTANT COUNTY ASSESSOR-BRENDA DONNES: She introduced herself to the
committee and informed them she is running to fill the Assessor seat. She said the election
process has been a growing process and she takes the position very seriously and feels it
makes one more accountable being elected versus appointed.
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D. COUNTY TREASURER — JOHN LEFEBVRE: Mr. Lefebvre explained the role of
Treasurer and noted that whether the position is elected or appointed, the Commissioners
always have the power over the budget. He stated his office is audited. The statutory duties
are to collect, disburse and track the monies. The Treasurer's office handles all items that
is in their statutory realm and what the Commissioners request of them. The Weld County
Treasurer currently has an additional role, which is to serve as the chair of the Retirement
Board. He feels the position should continue to be appointed as there needs to be certain
expertise. It was originally changed from elected to being appointed due to the need of a
degree, experience and expertise in investing. In response to the HRCC, Mr. Lefebvre
believes there should be some investment experience in addition to a Master's degree and
10 years of experience. He also stated these suggestions would narrow the field, but
believes these items would help with the success of the Treasurer's critical job duties. The
Treasurer's Office currently has an Assistant Treasurer. Mr. Lefebvre also stated he would
submit his suggested changes of the Charter surrounding the Treasurer's Office to Mr.
Barker.
E. WELD COUNTY CLERK AND RECORDER — CARLY KOPPES: Ms. Koppes stated
that she oversees the motor vehicle, recording and elections departments. She has one
Deputy Clerk in her office that has been trained to do all things if she is out of the office.
She believes that her position should be elected,but the person does need experience about
elections and how they are run. She discussed some studies that have analyzed the position
of being elected or appointed, and some of the studies found that when elected the person
feels more directly responsible to their constituents. She feels she is more responsible to
not only her electors, but also those using all three of her departments. She stated one of
her primary goals was to be public service driven and to help create an office culture of
helping people through the process in all three departments. When asked about running
for office, she said it is a good learning process because when she is out campaigning, she
is learning about what the constituents want and then can go back and research it and see
if things can be changed. In response to Mr. Dominguez, Ms. Koppes stated she is very
confident in what the current Charter states about her position and office. She suggested
the position continue to be elected. She did remind the HRCC members that they need to
be diligent as there is only so much room on the ballot and some items may need to be
carried over to the next election.
IV. PUBLIC INPUT:
A. Don Mueller, Greeley resident and former Weld County Council member, commended
Don Warden on keeping the County debt free. Mr. Mueller stated that after serving two
terms on the Council, he believes this non-partisan board has become very political and
that is not what was intended when the Charter was written. He agreed that the Treasurer
should continue to be appointed. He commended the current Assessor and Treasurer on a
good job their offices have done. He stated his opinion that the Assessor should be
appointed, rather than elected due to the knowledge and expertise that is needed in that
office. Mr. Dominguez asked how the council could be non-political and Mr. Mueller
stated it can't be done and it should be removed from the Charter in the near future. He
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did understand it could not be on the ballot at the current time, as it was recently on the
2017 ballot.
B. Bob Grand, Keenesburg resident and local newspaper owner/editor, suggested that there
needs to be something to help with the balance between Commissioners and Weld County
Council. He believes there should be a mechanism in the Charter that has a process of
disclosure and transparency that employees and elected officials take part of, so they can
recuse themselves if there is a conflict of interest. He feels there needs to be a change in
attitude of these two groups of service to Weld County and if they can't do their job, there
is a way to remove them. In response to Justus Pettit asking about how to get people out
of office, Mr. Barker stated that all elected officials are hired by the people. The Colorado
Revised Statues state that the people can recall or not vote for the person at the next
election. Mr. Grand recommended the County put a process/mechanism in the Charter to
force people to come to the table to discuss or mediate the issue. If officials are out of line,
then (Weld County) has a way to deal with it. Mr. Dominguez stated that the founding
fathers fought the same issues back then and gave people the opportunity to go to the voting
box and vote to make a change. Election is the way to do it.
C. Sherrie Peif, Greeley resident, had a suggestion of a rotating performance audits on
different areas of Weld County Government. The Weld County Council would be in
charge of those audits with an outside auditing firm. If the audit action items are not
completed, the Council would be allowed to enforce those things to be completed. This
would create a responsibility that the public would be able to see if the respective
department is acting on the audits.
V. ADJOURNMENT
There being no further discussion, Chair Johnson adjourned the meeting at 7:39 p.m.
*Minutes submitted by Karla Ford, Board of County Commissioners' Office Manager
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