06-03-25 Interview - Steve Boand - More on Why You Should Vote No on DougCo On Home Rule

Joining me now is a man with a much longer list of credentials when it comes to Republican and Douglas County politics than I do. He's a former county commissioner, long time party guy and activist, and has held different roles and a variety of other parts of the Republican operation. And Steve Bohan reached out to me and said, Hey, if you need any help on this no on home

Steve, first of all, welcome to the show. Thank you very much, Mandy.

So let's talk about let's start with a home rule period, Okay, because this is one of those things where people, I think there's a lot of misinformation flying around right now, and a lot of it is being floated on purpose, I think, to confuse people about what home rule actually does. If a county adopts home rule, what does that do.

Counties have basically three sets of powers. They have mandatory powers that they're required to implement by the state. They have discretionary powers and home rule powers and the addition of home rule powers to Douglas County only adds a few things that the county can do. We're already and have already implemented mandatory powers, many discretionary powers. Home rule powers don't do much for us. I've been asking all along,

Well, and there are things being said, and they're being said by the county commissioners in such a way as to give the appearance that, oh, we'll be able to push back against laws we don't like. Well, laws we

Is highly unlikely that we'll be able to get out from existing state laws. Now, items that are considered by the legislature to be items of statewide interest, absolutely not.

They can regulate that and to be clear that state concern that is in the legislation. They put it in there specifically to say that whatever we're passing, whether it's zoning laws or gun laws or bad taxes, it is a matter of state concern. That pretty much eliminates the ability of a home rule county to push back on that particular rule.

Right, you're absolutely right. Okay.

There's another section called the safety clause that they put in almost every bill, and the safety clause reads the General Assembly finds, determines, and declares that this Act is necessary for the immediate preservation of public peace, health, or safety. I think that clause actually makes it difficult for the county to push back against things that they might not like.

And here's the thing.

There are things about home rule that I think are kind of cool. I do think that it matters that it's not a matter of state concern. There would be times where I would like the opportunity to at least be able to say, wait a minute, now, we have standing as a home rule county because in a lot of cases, even if Douglas County wants to sue the state because of the property tax shenanigans that the state told, I say Shenanigans. Yeah, but the judges said, look, you

Home rule at this point is a bit of an unwritten book. We don't know what powers it will provide. There are lots of potential opportunities, but there are also lots of risks, and the risks are.

Tabor Right now, citizens of.

Douglas County vote on debt and taxes that could be changed under home rule. We could have extended terms for local elected officials at the county. That can be a positive if you're of one camp. It would be a negative for me. I'm a two term and out type guy. I believe we all need to go home and get a real job and participate in our county as a member of the public, not just an elected official.

There are I mean, there is a long list, well, let me let me play Devil's advocate with you for a moment.

Why not vote yes and then try to be a part of the Charter Commission, to be a part of the person or to be a part of the group that is writing the charter of Douglas County.

That's the camp I was in until last week. I was looking at this is perhaps there are things that we need to learn from each other that would make this better. After I attended the County commissioner's public meeting on this issue, watch the behavior, how they shut down citizens who were trying to provide input and then provided a threat.

Against those who stood up.

I went from being let's look at this to a hard note, this is not the right time, not the right way to get this done.

Would you be a posy and I've said this on the air as well, I would completely be open to it in the future with a much more transparent process. I do not think that there should be three county commissioners on the Charter Commission who could potentially say we're going to limit the County Commission to three officers and not go to five. Ever, they could put that in the charter to cemit a more centralized core of power.

I don't believe the elected officials who potentially stand to benefit from setting their salary or their term limits should be on the Charter Commission. They are expert advisors to the Charter Commission and should play that role. They should be brought in to testify, give their perspectives in opinions on what should be in the Charter.

I know, what are some of the other things that I'm always trying to find? Unintended consequences right and unintended consequences of this?

In my mind, one of the biggest.

Is simply this the amount of time that you will have if someone gets on the Charter Commission in June, the number of days until they have to produce a document for review is about seventy days. So let's just say we meet once a week. How many hours are we going to meet once a week? And then you're going to basically have seven meetings to eight meetings maybe nine meetings of an all volunteer committee where everybody's not going to be able to be at every minting, how

And that's how I feel this is going.

I agree with you one. If we're going to do this, let's do it right. Let's take the time that is required to look at the issues, to talk about the pros and cons of each way of implementing those issues, and give the Charter Commission the two hundred and forty days.

Maybe it takes one hundred to get this right. I agree.

I would have preferred they put the charter on the November election to be voted on the following year. I mean, I would much have preferred an outcome like that. But when asked recently at a panel discussion about it that I was at George Teel when they said why are you rushing and he said, well, we want to start out January first as a as.

A home erle County.

That's not a good enough reason. There's nothing pending, there's nothing out there. There's nothing hanging that you can point to that says we need to move with this kind of speed, and therefore I'm just immediately suspicious, and I hate that I am that way, But I haven't had this a very long time, Steve. As you have, I'd like to ask you a little bit about that meeting,

Well, I didn't hear that.

Now we all have access to the video that meeting, and it's important to go back and take a good look at it. But the reality is it should not have been a one hour meeting. This issue is so critical to the future of Douglas County. That the Border County Commissions should have stayed till ten o'clock that night, listen to everyone. I'm interested in all perspectives at this point, but that meeting turned me off.

I am now a hard no.

Somebody just asked this question on our text line. Hasn't Weld County had home rules since the nineteen seventies and not had any of the issues that this guy's talking about. And at the panel discussion for Douglas County Citizenry that I moderated, we did have a gentleman who was a Weld County commissioner and he told me privately he's that I love home rule, but I do understand why citizens are so concerned about the speed of the process, because

Well, the answer is yes, this can be restarted. According to state law, it takes a relatively small number of voters, about five percent in the last general election, to generate a petition to put it back on the ballot. I think that might be a good way. Let's have a cooling off period. If this does not pass, think through it, then talk about whether this is worthwhile for the future.

I also have an issue with the fact that there was a tiny window for people to express their interest in being on the ballot to be on the Charter Commission. I do like I would like to think that a longer process, because I'm still talking to people now they're like, oh, that sounds kind of cool.

How do I get on the Charter Commission?

I found you missed that deadline by weeks and weeks You're way too late.

Those are some of the.

Issues that I'm stuck on. So what would have to happen for you to support a home rule charter initiative in the future.

Well, Number one, we would need to have a broad, open discussion about how we move forward. Let's talk about the timeline. Let's talk about how the public input process, what that would look like. I do realize that the Charter Commission would be the one who set the rules. They are a body independent of the county. Right, Let's give them the authority to act like an independent body. But let's provide them the assets they need to get

I mean, I look to printed material.

The Colorado General Assemblies Legislative Office in the state Department of Local Affairs has said Colorado law permits a home rule county to design its structure of government and its function as it relates to the internal affairs of the county where such function is not prohibited by the state constitution or state law. If there's not a constitutional limitation, where there's not a current state law, the county can look at right, yeah.

And this would be I mean, one of the other things that I've heard brought up is, you know, during COVID, when we broke away from the Tri County Health Operation, and there are people who really believe that Douglas County could have just opened up everything. Nobody's wearing masks, nobody's doing anything, and we would have gotten.

Away with it. And I'm like, wait a minute.

Those were all state health orders, which are going to supersede anything. Unfortunately, that would be dead in the water. Maybe there would have been a lawsuit filed, but there's no doubt in my mind we would have.

Lost on that issue.

And that's one of the things that I'm trying to push back against is the notion that if we're a home rule county, we can just give Denver a middle finger, we can give a middle finger to the Gold Dome. That is not at all what we're talking about. And if you talk to people from Weld County, they will tell.

You that that's not at all what it's like, or they would have.

Been walking around maskless with businesses open in Weld County if that was an option. I just want people to we have counties that we can look to and see what they did and see what they're doing. The same gun laws apply in Weld County as they apply everywhere else. And that's just the reality of the situation.

Steve, What is the.

Word on the street that you're hearing you went to that meeting or you're aware of.

People that went to that meeting.

Were there more people that went in like you like open, let's have a conversation and came out hard, No, I'm not doing this.

I think so.

I mean the ballots has started to hit homes now people are going to.

Look at this. I think most of them will say what the heck is this?

Yeah, and then they'll say, why are there forty plus people on the ballot? Right? That's a little bit confusing, and people will have to get in line with the thought that they have two votes on this one. Do we move forward with the charter process at all? And second, who do I vote for within my district?

And who do I vote for at large?

And let's be real, this campaign already already at the almost at the end of the campaign.

And other than the.

List of people that I have seen that showed up at the day after this announcement was made to get all their little petitions signed by everybody else in the group. I don't know a single thing about any of these other people.

I'm inclined.

I'm going to vote no on the charter, but I'm also going to vote for peop on the Charter Commission just in case. And I'm voting for everybody except the people on that list, and some of those people I like.

But I don't like the way it was done.

I don't like the fact that there was already people chosen to go to a meeting to get their petition signed by one another. No, the whole thing stinks, Steve, it just does.

Well, you're right, it's a pervasive smell that the county commissioners move forward on this through private meetings. Yeah, and then they published the list of the twenty one preferred candidates and it came out before they passed their resolution to move forward with home role. Yeah, there's a process problem here, and one of the things I would change if I'm on the Charter Commission and I had the opportunity, We're going to make sure that public process follows right and correct procedure.

Dougas County has fallen off the.

Bandwagon in terms of transparency. It's time to rebuild that ship and then sail it. That everybody has an understanding that the business of the public is public.

I agree one hundred percent.

This Texter feels differently differently our e Home Rule in Dougco. It's important to understand context behind the pushback. The same people Marxist activists who got angry with the commissioners when they chose to break away from Tri County Health are the same ones complaining that they're not being given a voice our e Home Rule.

These Marxists are.

Pulling out all the stops to prevent the citizens of doug Co from governing themselves. My point is the commissioners know who these activists are. They're bad actors. Well, sometimes the blind squirrel finds a nut and I find myself on the side of.

The bad actors.

They're not always wrong, and when you're talking about procedure and how the policies are going and how they're being unfurled, I find myself on the side of Marxist then I guess and I'm I'm fine with that. I mean, if that's the way this Texter wants to look at it. Mandy, I live in Weld county. Many restaurants stayed open without mastering COVID. I think the county just turned a blind eye and did not enforce regulations. And that's all could be well and true, but if you'd fought it against

They just choose not.

Counties should be able to opt out of unconstitutional orders. I mean, I agree with that, but who gets to decide what's unconstitutional.

There has to be a process.

We have to, you know, go through the courts and everything has to be done, and when something is declared unconstitutional, everybody gets out from under it.

So we kind of have that option.

But I'm not comfortable with just random people saying that's unconstitutional and just making the edict.

We have to follow the process. We have a process.

It involves the courts, it involves legislative discussions, and if something is unconstitutional, let us follow the process.

Well, I appreciate you coming in, Steve. I remain a no on this issue, and I'm glad that people are starting to say, wait a minute, you know, even if, because like I said, I'm kind of like the idea, there are parts of it I would like to explore. There are things about it that I do think are very cool. But if we're talking about rewriting the foundational documents that govern the county, I'm not interested in doing

If we're going to do this, let's take the time to do it right now. The Charter Commission, as a body independent and a body politic aside from the county, can determine if it wants to take more than seventy days, take up to two hundred and forty days, pursuing to state law. That would move it out from the Commissioner's end of the year plan.

But that may be what we need to do.

And this is why the county commissioners cannot serve on the Charter Commission, because they are very invested in getting this done before the end of the year for whatever reason, and that's why they simply cannot serve. Steve Bowen, thank you for coming in with your perspective as a former Douglas County commissioner. I greatly appreciate it. And hopefully we're

That's all I'm asking. Thank you. Mandy