06 02 25 Former DougCo Commissioner Lora Thomas discusses Home Rule special election

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Gina Gandak and Keenan Dixon and for Marty Lenz on
Colorado's Morning News, the Douglas County Board of Commissioners preparing
for the June twenty fourth special election. Our voters will
be making a decision on forming a home rule charter commission.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
We spoke to Commissioner George Teel earlier on Colorado's Morning
News with why he thinks home rule would benefit the county.
Joining us now on the Kowa Common Spirit Health Hotline
is eight year former Douglas County Commissioner Laura Thomas to
discuss her opposition. Lauren, can you give us your elevator
pitch about why you're against home rule?

Speaker 3 (00:32):
Yes, good morning. I just want to say that we
don't have enough time to understand everything that this will
do to our citizens. But what we do know is
home rule does not allow Douglas County to become a
cafeteria stylee government where we get to pick and choose
what state laws we want to follow. We are required
to follow all state laws. All this will do is

(00:54):
give us the opportunity to change the structure of our government.
So this has been sprung on us with two months notice.
There's not enough time, but the results could be devastating
for the future of Douglas County. So we are urging
everyone to vote. Know on the ballots say get this
week for home rule.

Speaker 1 (01:11):
So, Laura. Last week on Colorado's Morning News, when we
spoke with Douglas count commission George Teal, he said, home
rule is the very mechanism given to us under the
Colorado State Constitution to enable local control. So do you
see it in a different way?

Speaker 3 (01:26):
I do, because local control is about the structure of
our government. It would allow us to appoint people instead
of electing them. It's what is written in the charter
and on ballots come out today and people can vote
for twenty one people that will draft the future of
this county, but only eleven people will control that. There's

(01:47):
just too much unknown, there's too much power. But the
basic idea that we can pick and choose what state
laws we want to follow is flatly false. It's a lie.
We have to follow all stay laws. I heard George
say on the radio last week that Senate Bill three,
that's the gun control bill. He wants to put that

(02:07):
in our charter so we don't have to follow that law.
That's just not true. We do have to follow state law.

Speaker 1 (02:14):
So, Laura, when you talk about appointing people instead of
electing them, isn't that what this election is for is
to allow the voters to elect the people that they
want to control the home rule or how do you
see this in a different way?

Speaker 3 (02:28):
So the voters will vote for twenty one people to
write the charter, and those twenty one people could do
like they did in Weld County and say we're no
longer going to elect a treasurer and a corner We're
going to appoint those people at the commissioner level. And
people need to be able to continue voting for those
that represent them.

Speaker 2 (02:50):
Laura, how does this impact everyday citizens in Douglas County
if it does end up passing.

Speaker 3 (02:56):
My concern is that it is going to consolidate power
under the three commissioners. And again in two home rule
counties in the state. Both of those were done by
citizens because of out of control commissioners, and those citizens
went from three commissioners to five to rein in the
power that the commissioners had. Commissioners are saying we still

(03:19):
want to have three commissioners. So this is going to
consolidate power and take power away from the citizens give
more to the commissioners.

Speaker 1 (03:28):
Commissioner Teal said that the Home Rule allows Douglas County
to choose to ignore a law if that's not written
to be quote of state concerns. So you mentioned Senate
Bill three. He talked about that with us last week.
What other laws do you think could be ignored if
home rule is enacted?

Speaker 3 (03:44):
You know, I have heard so many ridiculous statements like
we're going to be able to go to the grocery
store in Douglas County and we're not going to have
to pay a dime for our plastic bag or a
paper bag anymore. Those just are not true statements. The
state is going to acquire Douglas County to follow all
state laws. And in fact, there was a recent Colorado

(04:05):
Supreme Court against Weld County, a home rule county, because
Home Rule County, Weld followed their charter when they appointed
or when they drew commissioner boundary lines. They were sued
and the Supreme Court said, a Weld County, you can
change the structure of your government, but you must follow
state law.

Speaker 2 (04:25):
How do you think voters will respond to this? Do
you think it will pass?

Speaker 3 (04:31):
I am hoping it is not going to pass. But
here's my concern. There are special interest groups that are
dumping hundreds of thousands of dollars into flashy mail pieces
that are coming out already that say we are going
to lower taxes. Again, that's just not true. If we
want lower taxes, the commissioners need to quit wasting money.

(04:51):
That's the map. When commissioners spend less money, citizens to
keep more money. So that's why we're reaching out to
people and saying, please pay attention, this is not in
your benefit. Vote no on home rule.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
That's former Douglas County Commissioner Laura Thomas. Laura, thank you
so much for your time this morning. Again, that special
election will be taking place June twenty fourth. If you
would like to hear our full interview with Commissioner George Teal,
who is in support of home rule, you can find
it on our podcast section at KWA Colorado,