Photo: Counterclockwise around the table from far left, Commissioners Ronnie Maez, Veronica Medina and Warren Brown, at a work session with County Attorney Todd Weaver, real estate broker Shelley Low, developer Doug Dragoo and interim County Manager Jack Harper II.
As I said in Part One, it’s not easy being an Archuleta County Commissioner. When you make a mistake, it can have an effect on 14,000 taxpayers.
I believe the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners are done interviewing three candidates for the permanent County Manager position. I’m not entirely clear what the next steps might be in the selection process, but I assume our other County officials and department heads will have a chance to interview the candidates.
At some point, one or more ‘finalists’ will be announced by the BOCC, and the general public will then have two weeks to research, and learn about, the finalists.
Derek Woodman was our County Manager until May 8, when he was reportedly told to pack up his office and depart. He has a contract through the end of December, so we — the taxpayers — are still paying him a generous salary.
The decision to release Mr. Woodman from his duties on May 8 was not made in a public meeting, as far as I can tell. The only decision voted on in a public meeting was a motion not to renew his contract at the end of 2024. In my opinion, a vote concerning a contract renewal is not quite the same as a vote to kick an employee out of his office.
Once Mr. Woodman was gone, two of our Commissioners — Ronnie Maez and Veronica Medina — voted to hire, as interim County Manager, a gentleman who had recently been fired from his job as City Manager in Fulshear, Texas. As mentioned in Part One, Jack Harper II was appointed without the benefit of a public job announcement or interview process.
Mr. Harper is one of the candidates for the permanent position of County Manager.
Our third County Commissioner, Warren Brown, had argued in favor of renewing Mr. Woodman’s contract, and had opposed the decision to hire Jack Harper II without going through a standard interview process. He was out-voted on both occasions.
I asked all three County Commissioners if they would like to comment on the indications that Mr. Harper had been accused, while serving as City Manager in Fulshear, of sexual harassment, and of failing to properly fulfill his job duties. I shared Commissioner Maez’ comments yesterday in Part One.
Here’s the email I received from Commissioner Brown. (We will note that Mr. Brown is currently running for re-election.)
Hi Bill,
Thank you for your email and thank you for the opportunity to comment on this matter.
As you know the BoCC is currently conducting interview for the position of County Manager. The process includes the initial interviews of three applicants, and the selection of the finalists (if any). Afterwards, a 14-day notice will be given to the public and during this time, the finalists will be thoroughly vetted ( as I requested prior to appointing the current Interim County Manager). After the 14-day period has expired, the Board of County Commissioners will vote on a finalist if there are candidates who would likely fulfill the needs of Archuleta County. If there are no suitable candidates during this process, I would expect that the County would look for additional qualified and interested candidates.
Bill, relationships matter to me and I have reached across the aisle regularly to try my best to represent and serve everyone through the county. I am taking the same approach here, and I will do my very best to make sure that we have a County manager who is a competent and trustworthy leader to help move us forward in a collective and cohesive way.
I have not heard from Commissioner Veronica Medina, who is currently dealing with a family-related misfortune.
Ms. Medina also has a certain County-related problem to deal with.
A group of citizens are currently circulating a petition to recall Commissioner Medina. If the petitioners are able to obtain a sufficient number of valid signatures from registered Archuleta County voters by September 3 — 1,829 valid signatures — the question of recalling Commissioner Medina will appear on a future County ballot.
I first heard about the recall petition from local activist Marybeth Snyder. I thought, at first, that she was speaking in favor of the recall effort, and I told her I would be happy to sign the petition. She was taken aback at my response, and explained why she was opposed to the recall. She subsequently submitted a letter to the Daily Post explaining her opposition.
Her letter says, in part:
Ms. Medina was elected in November of 2022 with 57% of the ballots cast, a substantial majority. Her professional background in real estate and human resources makes her leadership a valuable asset to the County at a time when her expertise is very much needed. To those of us who regularly attend BOCC meetings and work sessions, track how our Commissioners vote, watch the county employees as they work and interact with the BOCC, it is evident that she’s proven herself to be an excellent commissioner.
She does her homework and research, is fully prepared for meetings and discussions, asks questions that are pertinent and makes informed and insightful decisions. Ms. Medina is a woman of her word who shows integrity and transparency as she has promised.
I have to agree with Ms. Snyder, that Commissioner Medina does her homework and asks pertinent questions. Most of her decisions over the past 18 months have been informed and reasonable.
But perhaps not all of her decisions have been ethical.
The central question for the voters — if the recall appears on a future ballot — will likely relate not to whether Commissioner Medina is intelligent, insightful and hard working, but rather, to whether Commissioner Medina handles the taxpayers’ money in an ethical fashion. We might even be considering violations of Colorado law.
Perhaps because elected officials write the laws, we have very few laws in Colorado that can actually remove an elected official from office for inappropriate behavior.
About the only way an elected official can be removed from office, when he or she appears to have broken the law or violated ethics rules, is through a citizen-led recall effort.
It’s a messy way to handle a messy situation. But we’re kind of stuck with it.
Bill Hudson began sharing his opinions in the Pagosa Daily Post in 2004 and can’t seem to break the habit. He claims that, in Pagosa Springs, opinions are like pickup trucks: everybody has one.