[2:02] Good morning and welcome to the Board of
County Commissioners meeting.
[2:06] Today is Tuesday, September 15th.
[2:08] We do begin each of our meetings with an
invocation,
[2:11] and this morning we have Pastor Jeff
Anderson from Faith Outreach Advisory,
[2:16] Congressman Crank's office, and we would
invite you to stand and join us.
[2:21] Good morning, everybody.
[2:22] This is a scripture memory,
[2:24] or scripture verse that comes to my mind
this morning is Romans 8:18.
[2:28] It says, for I consider that the
sufferings of this present time are not
[2:32] sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to
[2:33] be compared with the glory that will be
revealed in us.
[2:36] And that especially is apropos for the
Applegate family at this time.
[2:40] Should we bow together and pray?
[2:42] Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for the
beauty of this weekend.
[2:46] Thanks for the sunshine. Thanks for the
clear skies.
[2:49] Thanks for the beauty of the mountains
around us.
[2:52] Thanks for opportunity to be with family
that we have and As we think about family,
[2:57] we especially think of the Applegates.
[2:59] We pray for Commissioner Cory and would
ask, Lord,
[3:02] for the entire Applegate family that
you'll give them comfort at this time of
[3:07] you'll give them comfort at this time of
loss.
[3:07] We thank you that Mrs.
[3:08] Applegate had a long history and testimony
of walking with you, knowing you,
[3:13] serving our community very, very well, and
she'll be dearly missed.
[3:17] We just pray, Lord, that you'll bless the
family as they grieve and as they make
[3:21] preparations for lots of different
adjustments that need to be made in the
[3:26] adjustments that need to be made in the
coming
[3:26] days and weeks. We would ask, Lord,
[3:28] for this meeting that you would bless us
with your presence, your wisdom,
[3:33] your direction. We pray for all of our
county workers this week,
[3:36] especially during this season when they're
trying to accomplish much before the
[3:41] weather changes. We pray that you'll keep
all of our workers safe and pray that
[3:46] they'd be able to accomplish much and pray
that you'll give our commissioners wisdom
[3:51] in the decisions that they make today.
Pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
[3:55] Commissioner
[3:59] Williams,
[4:02] if you'd lead us in
[4:09] the Pledge of
[4:14] Allegiance. Item 3.
[4:20] Item number 3 is staff emergency items,
[4:23] and I'm unaware of any staff emergency
items today.
[4:27] Item 4.
[4:29] Item number 4 is changes, postponements,
and notice of the next meeting.
[4:33] I'm unaware of any changes or
postponements to today's agenda,
[4:37] and the next meeting will be Tuesday,
September 22nd at 9:00 AM.
[4:41] Item 5.
[4:43] Item number 5 is the consent calendar
including items 5A through 5N1.
[4:50] Okay, is there anyone here who wishes to
speak on an item on the
[4:55] consent calendar today?
[4:57] Seeing none, I'll bring it up here for a
motion.
[5:00] Move approval of the consent calendar.
[5:04] Second.
[5:05] Okay, it's been moved and seconded.
[5:07] I'll ask if there are any comments.
[5:09] Seeing none, I'll begin the vote with
Commissioner Wysong.
[5:13] Aye.
[5:16] Aye.
[5:16] Commissioner Williams?
[5:17] Aye.
[5:17] And the chair votes aye. That passes 4-0.
[5:26] Item 6.
[5:26] Item number 6 is a proclamation
recognizing Constitution Day and
[5:31] Citizenship Day 2026.
[5:32] Lauren Nelson, Vice Chair, Board of County
Commissioners.
[5:36] Good morning. I move the following
proclamation recognizing Constitution Day
[5:41] proclamation recognizing Constitution Day
and
[5:42] Citizenship Day 2026.
[5:43] Whereas in the summer of 1787,
[5:45] delegates throughout the United States
gathered at Independence Hall in
[5:50] Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
[5:51] intent on building a government that would
stand the test of time and protect the
[5:57] hard-won freedoms secured during the
Revolutionary War.
[6:01] And whereas 239 years later, the document
they produced, our Constitution,
[6:05] remains the bedrock of our government,
[6:08] one rooted in equality under the law and
an unyielding commitment to individual
[6:13] liberty. And whereas the framers of our
Constitution divided political power among
[6:19] Constitution divided political power among
3
[6:19] separate and coequal branches,
[6:21] and further between the federal and state
governments,
[6:24] ensuring that a government of the people,
by the people,
[6:28] and for the people would remain
accountable to its citizens,
[6:32] from whom all legitimate political power
is derived.
[6:35] And whereas for 239 years, America's
Constitution has guided our growth,
[6:40] Shaped our progress,
[6:42] and defined us as a nation of sacred laws
and fundamental values.
[6:46] And whereas, on this day,
[6:48] we celebrate the signing of the
Constitution and the American citizens who
[6:53] Constitution and the American citizens who
have
[6:53] devoted their lives to implementing the
framers' vision for the world's grandest
[6:58] experiment in self-government.
[7:00] And whereas, the law that established
Constitution Day was modified in 2004 with
[7:05] Constitution Day was modified in 2004 with
the
[7:06] passage of an amendment to include
recognition of individuals who have become
[7:11] recognition of individuals who have become
U.S.
[7:11] citizens. Now, therefore, the Board of
County Commissioners of El Paso County,
[7:16] Colorado hereby recognizes September 17th
as Constitution Day and Citizenship Day in
[7:22] El Paso County and encourages citizens and
residents to show their appreciation for
[7:27] the Constitution of the United States by
studying its words,
[7:31] educating the younger generation about its
enduring importance,
[7:35] and recognizing the unparalleled success
of the system of government It helped to
[7:41] create. Done this 15th day of September,
2026, at Colorado Springs, Colorado.
[7:46] The Board of County Commissioners of El
Paso County, Colorado.
[7:50] Chair Carrie Geitner, Vice Chair Lauren
Nelson, Commissioners Holly Williams,
[7:55] Bill Wysong, Cory Applegate.
[7:57] Attested to by Steve Schleicher, County
Clerk and Recorder.
[8:01] Second.
[8:04] Okay, that has been moved and seconded,
[8:07] and we do have a couple of guest speakers
here today,
[8:10] so I'm going to first I'm going to ask Dr.
Josh Vandiver to please come forward.
[8:15] Please do introduce yourself, and we look
forward to hearing your words.
[8:20] Thank you, Commissioners, and it's a
pleasure to join you. My name is Josh
[8:25] pleasure to join you. My name is Josh
Vandiver.
[8:25] I teach up at the University of Colorado
in our Colorado Springs campus.
[8:30] I teach a class called Constitutional Law.
[8:32] We also have a class called Civil Rights
and Liberties.
[8:36] So we divide up the Constitution between
the Bill of Rights and so forth—
[8:40] that's the Civil Rights and Liberties
class—
[8:43] And I teach the constitutional law class,
[8:45] which looks at separation of powers and
federalism.
[8:48] I was asked to say a little bit about some
of the opportunities and some of the
[8:53] challenges that I find as a teacher
teaching constitutional law.
[8:57] So what are some of the opportunities?
[9:00] Well, out on the street, people ask me,
[9:02] this must be a terrible time to teach
politics, right?
[9:05] And I said, no, this is the golden age.
This is fantastic.
[9:09] When everything's being debated, when
everything's up for debate,
[9:13] this is the time that we get to study the
foundations again.
[9:16] So we have several Supreme Court cases
recently around separation of powers.
[9:21] Trump v. Anderson, the eligibility to be
on the ballot in 2024.
[9:25] So a federalism case. We have a separation
of powers case recently, Trump v.
[9:30] United States, presidential immunity.
[9:32] And of course, we had the big birthright
citizenship case, Trump v.
[9:36] Barber, recently. So we talk about those
in my class.
[9:39] We also think about Some of the movements
in politics today that are putting up our
[9:44] Constitution for debate. Have you heard of
the Democratic Socialists of America?
[9:49] So I use this as an example from the left,
that in their platform,
[9:53] they're calling for the abolishment of the
Senate, the US Senate,
[9:57] and also getting rid of the presidency and
the Supreme Court and having them
[10:02] appointed by the legislature directly, the
Congress. So big questions are at stake.
[10:07] From the right, you have the Convention of
States,
[10:10] calling for an amendment process initiated
not through Congress,
[10:14] but through the states.
[10:16] They're calling for amendments around term
limits for Congress,
[10:20] for a balanced budget amendment.
[10:21] They're not there at that threshold yet of
states having a meeting to propose
[10:26] amendments, but getting closer.
[10:28] But there's the question,
[10:30] if you did have that meeting of states to
propose amendments,
[10:33] would they be restricted to those topics?
Or could they propose other amendments?
[10:38] So everything's up for debate now, which
is very exciting.
[10:42] Those are the opportunities. The
challenges I see briefly are, one is
[10:46] challenges I see briefly are, one is
history.
[10:47] So I also teach ancient Greek and Roman
political history.
[10:50] Why do we have a Senate at all? The Roman
Republic.
[10:53] So thinking about classical Greek and
Roman history, I would say,
[10:57] is essential to understanding the
Constitution.
[11:00] Ideas like mixed constitutionalism,
[11:02] where you have some monarchical powers
like the executive, you have an upper
[11:07] like the executive, you have an upper
house,
[11:07] a Senate, and you have a lower house
that's so representative of the people.
[11:12] Again, that derives from the ancient Greek
and Roman heritage.
[11:16] So one challenge is,
[11:17] are we teaching that history such that
students could understand our Constitution
[11:22] students could understand our Constitution
by
[11:22] understanding those Greek and Roman roots?
[11:25] The other challenge I find relates to
federalism.
[11:28] I put together the first-ever pocket
edition of the Colorado Constitution.
[11:32] I brought some copies for the
commissioners,
[11:35] because I find that students are sometimes
unaware we even have constitutions at the
[11:40] state level. So one of the shocking things
I try to introduce to them at the
[11:45] beginning of Con Law is the federal
Constitution is an incomplete
[11:49] Constitution is an incomplete
Constitution.
[11:50] It doesn't mention counties, for instance.
Or education.
[11:53] So where do you look for those things?
State constitutions, of course.
[11:58] So the complete American Constitution, I
argued to students,
[12:01] is the 50 state constitutions plus the
federal Constitution.
[12:05] So everybody has some reading to do to get
up on the complete American Constitution.
[12:10] So I'm happy to share some of these
first-ever pocket editions.
[12:14] of the Colorado Constitution with the
commissioners.
[12:17] Commissioner Bill's already got one and
pointed out that it will soon be out of
[12:22] date. Probably so, but we will update it
through our center at UCCS for the study
[12:27] through our center at UCCS for the study
of
[12:27] government and the individual. Thank you
for your time and for your service.
[12:32] Thank you so much for your words. And next
we have Mr.
[12:37] Ed Hopkins, member of the Constitution
Study Group at Church for
[12:42] All Nations.
[12:52] I'd like to thank everybody for the
resolution that you are proposing.
[12:58] I think it's a wonderful thing to
recognize that there is a Constitution in
[13:05] recognize that there is a Constitution in
this
[13:05] country and that we are supposed to be
following that Constitution,
[13:11] or at least not stepping outside of it.
[13:15] But the Constitution is only one of 3
founding documents that govern this
[13:21] founding documents that govern this
country.
[13:22] The first, of course, is the Declaration
of Independence.
[13:27] Without it, we would not have a
Constitution.
[13:31] And of course, also the Constitution and
the Bill of Rights.
[13:37] When we look at the timing of these 3
things,
[13:41] the Declaration of Independence was July
4th, 1776. That wasn't the Constitution.
[13:48] That was the Declaration of Independence.
What were we separating from?
[13:54] We were separating from a tyrannical
government that sought to rule and not
[14:01] government that sought to rule and not
serve
[14:01] the people. Secondly, the Constitution
wasn't formed until 2 years later—
[14:08] or excuse me, 20 years later, 1787.
[14:11] The Constitution came forth as a ruling
document for the states to follow.
[14:18] The states have the opportunity to provide
a constitution that is in agreement with
[14:25] the federal Constitution, not outside of
it, but as a part of it.
[14:31] Just as this gentleman said,
[14:33] the state constitutions are supposed to be
in compliance with the federal
[14:40] Constitution. Finally, the Bill of Rights
in 1791.
[14:45] The Bill of Rights are not an inclusive
listing of all of the rights of the
[14:51] listing of all of the rights of the
people.
[14:52] It is simply a recognition that the rights
do not come from the government,
[14:59] but from Creator God.
[15:00] The Constitution is a guiding instrument
And I want to correct something.
[15:07] We often think that there are 3 branches
of government that are coequal.
[15:13] That is not true. The executive is the
most powerful,
[15:18] and the judiciary is the weakest.
[15:21] In fact, if you look at the Constitution,
[15:25] it only says that we are to have a Supreme
Court.
[15:29] It does not say that we have 9 or 15 or 3
judges in that court.
[15:35] We could have a Supreme Court with one man
or one woman in a closet with a candle,
[15:42] because the Constitution does not spell
out,
[15:46] nor does any other document spell out
exactly what the Supreme Court is supposed
[15:53] exactly what the Supreme Court is supposed
to
[15:54] be. Finally, to understand the
Constitution,
[15:58] you have to understand the Declaration of
Independence.
[16:02] I would recommend that—
[16:05] and I feel really strange coming up here
talking to you people because you should
[16:12] talking to you people because you should
be
[16:12] instructing me on this.
[16:14] But the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of
Independence,
[16:19] and finally the Constitution of the United
States are what has kept this country
[16:26] free. It is what has kept this country the
longest democratic republic in the world.
[16:34] Since our Constitution, the French have
had 17 different constitutions.
[16:40] And yet ours continues to stand as long as
we abide by it, as long as we follow it,
[16:48] and as long as we don't try to go outside
of it. This country will continue.
[16:54] As soon as we start messing with the
Constitution, with rules,
[17:00] with bureaucratic administrations and
administrative rules,
[17:05] this country won't stand.
[17:08] I thank each one of you for your continued
service to this community.
[17:14] I thank you for the opportunity to come
here. Thank you.
[17:19] Oh, there is one thing at the very bottom.
[17:22] I said, I think everyone, everyone has a
copy of this.
[17:27] At the very bottom of the first page, it
asks a question. I'm not going to ask it.
[17:35] It's for you to ask yourselves. Thank you
for your time.
[17:40] Thank you. Okay, we appreciate our guests
coming, and thank you for your words.
[17:45] I'm going to bring it up here to
commissioners for their comments before we
[17:51] commissioners for their comments before we
take a
[17:51] vote. Commissioner Wysong.
[17:53] Thank you, Madam Chair.
[17:56] When we were kind of prepping for the
Independence Day and the, uh,
[18:02] The proclamation for where we kind of
started with the Declaration of
[18:09] Independence. At the same time,
[18:12] the Second Continental Congress started
with the Articles of Confederation,
[18:20] also began drafting in 1776 in June.
[18:24] Adopted in 1777, but it wasn't ratified
until 4 years later because the whole
[18:31] idea behind the Articles of Confederation
was, you know,
[18:37] all 13 colonies had to agree.
[18:40] And it was— they didn't want to make a
mistake of creating a central power.
[18:48] However, As you remember, the
Revolutionary War started in 1775.
[18:54] And so you had all this stuff going on.
[18:58] And after the war, General Washington and
a number of others said,
[19:05] we're going broke. We need to have some
kind of centralized government that
[19:12] dealt with national defense, et cetera, at
a very high level.
[19:18] So they wrote— started writing the
Constitution.
[19:23] Being drafted in May of '87, and as
Commissioner Nelson just read,
[19:30] that it was signed on September 17th,
1787,
[19:34] and it was ratified by New Hampshire being
the 9th state.
[19:40] Well, they changed it from the Articles of
Confederation that you needed a 2/3
[19:48] majority. Because they would never get all
13 colonies at the time to agree.
[19:55] So we learned so much, you know, in that
15,
[20:00] 20-year period from before the
Revolutionary War all the way through the,
[20:07] you know, the signing and ratification of
the Constitution.
[20:13] We went through so much.
[20:16] Yeah.
[20:16] As, as an infant country.
[20:19] And we owe such a debt of gratitude to our
founding fathers.
[20:25] You know, history, you don't understand it
when you're younger.
[20:31] And it's been phenomenal to,
[20:34] to be able to learn and look at things in
a completely different
[20:40] perspective, looking back at,
[20:43] at how blessed we have been by what our
founding fathers,
[20:49] and as our 2 guest speakers have talked
about, that it's,
[20:55] it has taken a lot of effort to modify and
make it better.
[21:01] And we just, we're very lucky. So with
that, thank you very much.
[21:07] Commissioner Williams.
[21:11] Thank you. I can keep my comments fairly
short.
[21:15] So 30-some years ago, 35 years ago,
[21:17] my degree from University of Virginia was
in American government,
[21:22] and because you couldn't call it political
science at Jefferson's University,
[21:28] and early American history.
[21:29] And, um, I think there's a lot of
interesting issues right now that are
[21:35] interesting issues right now that are
being
[21:35] debated Probably the 2 most interesting
are birthright citizenship,
[21:40] and I think that who has control of the
ballot system—
[21:44] does the state or the federal? So those
are things that, um, interest me
[21:49] are things that, um, interest me
personally.
[21:50] And then the 3rd thing on, on the issue of
mailing ballots and how we vote, um,
[21:56] the only branch of government that is not
controlled by Congress that is written
[22:01] into the Constitution is that darn Postal
Service.
[22:05] And, um, wouldn't it be much better if we
had not put that in the Constitution,
[22:11] in my opinion? Um, but mostly I'm just
thankful, you know,
[22:15] that I was able to be born in the United
States and have this Constitution.
[22:20] There's so many different countries and,
um, we have so much freedom.
[22:25] and so many rights. And I think that was
demonstrated a lot by the,
[22:30] the World Soccer Cup this year,
[22:33] just how amazed people were by the things
that Americans can do and the way we live
[22:39] our lives. And so to be born in this
country, I think, is indeed a privilege.
[22:44] And that's the one thing I'd like to
stress more than anything.
[22:49] Thank heavens for the Constitution.
[22:51] But more than anything, I'm just thankful
to be a citizenship—
[22:56] citizen of the United States of America.
Thank you.
[23:00] I'll add some of my comments now as we
traditionally allow the reader of the
[23:05] proclamation the last word.
[23:07] I want to thank you for coming today and
for speaking to us, and in particular,
[23:12] I really appreciate the thoughtfulness of
Being excited about opportunities to speak
[23:18] to students about what is happening.
[23:21] And you asked some very important
questions, I think,
[23:24] about do we have the background that is
needed?
[23:27] One of the things I think,
[23:29] as someone who's been involved in
education for quite a few years,
[23:34] is that we've begun to think about our
education system as,
[23:38] does this help them get a job?
[23:40] And I had a college professor many, many
years ago who said, you know,
[23:45] that's not the point. That's not the point
of why we're here.
[23:49] And while I do think preparing students
for the world is important and we want
[23:54] for the world is important and we want
them
[23:55] to be successful, a huge part of that
we've just skipped over is that you can't
[24:00] we've just skipped over is that you can't
be
[24:00] successful unless our nation is
successful,
[24:03] and that we have a responsibility as
self-governing citizens to understand what
[24:09] self-governing citizens to understand what
it
[24:09] is that we should be doing.
[24:11] And when you lose that framework,
[24:13] we're in real danger of losing what we
have as a nation.
[24:17] And so I agree that it's so important for
us to continue to educate and talk about
[24:23] those things and have those great debates.
[24:26] You're right, there were probably many
years where no one was debating those
[24:31] years where no one was debating those
things.
[24:31] It wasn't at the forefront of their minds.
So there is tremendous opportunity there.
[24:37] And I'm really grateful for you just
sharing that bit today.
[24:41] I hope maybe somebody is watching and
thought, huh,
[24:45] I hadn't really thought about how those
things impacted what our founders did
[24:50] things impacted what our founders did
here.
[24:51] But you're right, they debated,
[24:53] they talked about a lot of these
historical governments previous and what
[24:58] historical governments previous and what
they
[24:58] wanted to do differently and how they were
going to avoid those problems.
[25:03] Certainly, I don't think that there is
anything perfect in the world,
[25:08] but I think that they did a very diligent
job of thinking through history and
[25:13] through governments and trying to set up a
system that would avoid some of the
[25:19] pitfalls of systems that we have seen
around the world.
[25:22] And it is critical for us to understand
that the abolishment of the Senate and
[25:28] that the abolishment of the Senate and
those
[25:28] things would certainly be very disruptive.
And we have history already.
[25:33] We don't need to repeat it to know what
would be good for our nation.
[25:38] But it is something that we need to
continue to strive for.
[25:42] And it's why I think I know I and probably
many others on this board thought we need
[25:48] to keep doing this proclamation. We want
to keep talking about it.
[25:52] We want people To think why do we think
this is important?
[25:56] I'm also looking forward to checking out
that Colorado pocket constitution.
[26:02] That's an exciting one to have,
[26:04] and it is most certainly something that is
always in my mind as we debate so many
[26:09] things that in both our federal founding
and our state founding,
[26:14] and in fact it is in our Colorado
Constitution.
[26:17] That we as a people believed that what we
were doing here, this great experiment,
[26:23] was divinely inspired and that there was
some greater purpose and some greater
[26:28] guidance. And so that is so deeply rooted
in our founding.
[26:32] And I think that that continues to be
debated today.
[26:36] But I think when we read the documents,
[26:38] you understand how critical all of those
pieces are to our founding and that they
[26:44] really, truly cannot be separated.
[26:46] All that to say, I am—
[26:48] continue to be excited about hearing more
and more people trying to decipher the
[26:53] Constitution, hearing more debate and
discussion among school districts.
[26:58] I know mine just a year ago added some
additional requirements for seniors
[27:03] graduating so that they would have a
better understanding of history and
[27:08] better understanding of history and
government.
[27:09] I think that those conversations will
continue to be had. Thank you.
[27:14] I know that there's a lot of debate,
[27:16] but every time I hear people say America
is a democracy,
[27:20] I cringe a little because it's so much
more than that.
[27:24] And I remind people constantly, I think
the best,
[27:27] most accurate description is that we are a
constitutional republic.
[27:32] And that may seem small,
[27:34] but when you see what we're hearing today
in terms of the people using the word
[27:39] democracy, you understand why words matter
in those contexts.
[27:43] So much because our Constitution protects
the minority in a way that a pure
[27:49] democracy does not. Our Constitution
requires that we respect individual rights
[27:54] requires that we respect individual rights
in a
[27:54] way that a pure democracy would not.
[27:57] When you look back at those founding
documents,
[28:00] I think every time democracy was
mentioned,
[28:03] it was sort of with disdain from our
founders.
[28:06] And there's a good message to be learned
there.
[28:10] It's not that people aren't important,
[28:12] and it's not that the people's voice in
their government isn't important,
[28:17] but it's also important that we remember
that people have individual rights given
[28:23] that people have individual rights given
to
[28:23] them by God, and that no loud majority,
no— I think that's a good point.
[28:28] Amount of will or tyrannical will should
be able to take that away.
[28:33] I take that as a very important piece of
the work that we do here.
[28:37] And really, again, just grateful that you
were here today.
[28:41] Thank you for continuing to educate the
many youth that come through your doors
[28:47] many youth that come through your doors
and
[28:47] making sure that we keep this debate alive
and that we keep those conversations
[28:52] alive. With that, I'm going to turn it
over to Vice Chair Nelson.
[28:57] Great comments. I might be a little
repetitive because I had some similar
[29:02] repetitive because I had some similar
thoughts,
[29:03] but, um, thank you for being here this
morning.
[29:07] I recognize that as I've gotten older,
[29:10] I have grown more and more interested in
history and our Constitution and the,
[29:16] the foundation of our country,
[29:18] and So I am envious of the students that
get to come and learn from you because
[29:24] get to come and learn from you because
when
[29:24] I was in college, I was more interested
in— I mean, not that that's bad,
[29:30] but science. And my background is food
science and nutrition.
[29:34] And I worked in product development for a
lot of years.
[29:38] And so now being in this role and in
recent years,
[29:42] I find how important it is to understand
our country's founding.
[29:47] And I love thinking about how the
Declaration of Independence set the vision
[29:53] Declaration of Independence set the vision
for our
[29:53] country, and then the Constitution was the
how for that vision.
[29:58] And thinking about the importance of
having equality under the law,
[30:03] that we have fair treatment by our
government, by our law enforcement,
[30:09] that everyone is treated with respect and
Um,
[30:12] that there is a justice system that
preserves.
[30:16] And even as we sit as a Board of County
Commissioners,
[30:20] sometimes we are under pursuing land use
hearings,
[30:24] and it's a quasi-judicial process where
we're acting as a judge.
[30:28] And so we wear many hats as commissioners
where we are policymakers.
[30:34] We are approving the budgets for our
sheriff's office and our district
[30:39] sheriff's office and our district
attorney's
[30:40] office. We are, as I said,
[30:42] sitting more as a judge reviewing evidence
to determine if someone can use their
[30:48] property the way that they're petitioning
their government.
[30:52] And so, it's just so important that we
maintain those guardrails and respect for
[30:58] individual liberty and recognizing the
different branches of government and their
[31:05] role, where the Supreme Court are the
interpreters of the law.
[31:09] Congress are the policymakers and then
executive enforcing and executing the
[31:15] executive enforcing and executing the
laws.
[31:15] And just, I so appreciate that people
might think now is a difficult time to be
[31:22] having these conversations,
[31:24] but I couldn't agree more that it's so
important and important to be able to have
[31:30] civil discourse. And I find as I've been
out in the community talking with folks,
[31:36] I am so grateful for the individuals who
are willing to have a conversation with me
[31:42] and not just get upset and angry and then
not be able to engage in that civil
[31:48] discourse. And it's so important that we
maintain the ability to share ideas and
[31:54] maintain the ability to share ideas and
let
[31:54] the best ideas rise. And I mean, it's the
beauty of our country.
[31:59] That we can have a difference of opinion.
[32:02] And I appreciate Commissioner Geithner
pointing out that we are not a democracy.
[32:09] That would mean mob rule.
[32:10] And that instead, we're a constitutional
republic,
[32:14] which protects for difference of opinion.
[32:17] And yes, we use the democratic process,
but that's very different.
[32:22] And so I am grateful to have been born in
this country and Love the fact that we
[32:29] respect the individual, that we have the
ability to pursue happiness.
[32:34] And as I sit as a commissioner,
[32:36] I take very seriously that the role of
government is to protect taxpayers,
[32:42] safeguard individual freedoms, and respect
private property rights.
[32:47] And those principles are how Anyone in
leadership should be making decisions.
[32:53] And is it preserving our freedoms and the
Constitution,
[32:57] what's embedded in the Constitution and
the vision set out in the Declaration of
[33:03] Independence, or is it pulling us further
away?
[33:07] So just grateful that we are able to spend
some time focusing on this today and—
[33:13] Thank you.
[33:15] I look forward to continuing to learn more
myself.
[33:17] Okay, thank you for all of the comments
today.
[33:21] Um, that has been moved and seconded, and
so we will move forward with our vote,
[33:27] beginning with Commissioner Wysong.
[33:30] Aye.
[33:31] Vice Chair Nelson.
[33:32] Aye.
[33:32] Commissioner Williams.
[33:34] Aye.
[33:34] And the chair votes aye. That passes 4-0.
[33:36] And now we will take a brief recess for a
photograph.
[36:39] I'll call this meeting back to order.
[36:40] We are on item 7.
[37:06] Item number 7 is comments by elected
officials and commissioner liaison
[37:10] officials and commissioner liaison
reports.
[37:12] Okay, do we have any countywide elected
officials in the room to speak
[37:16] today? I don't see any,
[37:17] so I believe we'll just start with
Commissioner Wysong.
[37:20] Thank you, Madam Chair.
[37:23] Um, last week was PPACG, uh, board meeting
parts.
[37:28] We had our land use meeting And then a
9/11 remembrance ceremony at
[37:35] Cheyenne Mountain, which was a very moving
ceremony.
[37:40] And then had the honor to read the tribute
letter for one of our
[37:47] deputies who received the Purple Heart for
wounds that he received in
[37:54] Afghanistan in September.
[37:57] Thank you.
[37:58] of 2011. Due to bureaucratic
what-have-yous,
[38:02] it took a long time for that Purple Heart
to be, um, processed,
[38:08] and being able to participate, uh, it was
a, a very moving experience.
[38:15] Uh, this week, um, and actually this
evening,
[38:19] we'll be going up to Chupita Park where
we've got a meeting with the community
[38:26] that large area of unincorporated El Paso
County.
[38:31] And then later on in the week will be a
Military Affairs Council,
[38:37] and then we have the downtown annual
breakfast.
[38:42] And so it's like kind of the last week,
got a lot going on. So thank you.
[38:49] Vice Chair Nelson.
[38:52] I just want to report out on our Community
Services Block Grant meeting that took
[38:58] place Friday afternoon.
[39:00] Um, we were working through wordsmithing
our community action plan and strategic
[39:06] plan, and those documents, um,
[39:09] had to have been voted on to then be
submitted up to the state.
[39:13] And, uh, this will allow these federal
dollars that float through the state to
[39:20] counties to then be administrated—
[39:22] administered in our community for
combating poverty.
[39:26] And our Community Services Block Grant
board, advisory board,
[39:31] has come to an agreement that we are
looking for—
[39:35] I loved the verbiage that one of the board
members said,
[39:40] that we're looking for pathways out of
poverty.
[39:43] And so not just filling the gap, but truly
equipping people with skills or Um,
[39:49] behaviors that will help them reach
self-sustainability and human flourishing.
[39:56] And so it was a, um, productive meeting.
We didn't quite finish all of the work.
[40:02] We went 45 minutes over. It was, you know,
4:15 on a Friday afternoon.
[40:07] And so decided to kind of table some of
the remaining work till, till a future
[40:14] the remaining work till, till a future
date.
[40:14] So we'll be scheduling a special meeting
to complete, uh, some of that.
[40:20] But Um, looking forward to continuing that
work in ensuring we're distributing these
[40:26] funds wisely in our community to help
people, um, reach prosperity.
[40:32] And then this week I have 4th Judicial
District Community Corrections Board
[40:37] District Community Corrections Board
meeting.
[40:38] I just sit as a liaison, I'm not a voting
member to that board, so, uh,
[40:44] hopefully my schedule will allow for me to
listen in.
[40:48] And then Wednesday evening is a Library
Board of Trustees meeting, um,
[40:53] which I think I do have a conflict that
evening, but I might try to listen a
[40:59] evening, but I might try to listen a
little,
[41:00] uh, as before my other, uh, appointment.
So thanks so much.
[41:05] Commissioner Williams?
[41:07] Uh, yes. So this week I do have, um,
[41:11] the United in Service celebration at
Norris Penrose, um,
[41:16] on Thursday night and Friday morning,
[41:19] I do believe I have the Downtown
Partnership breakfast.
[41:24] Um, also I participate, um,
[41:26] on the Pikes Peak Area Council of
Governments Drive Smart board, which is,
[41:33] Governments Drive Smart board, which is,
you know,
[41:34] really an effort to encourage citizens to
drive more carefully in the best way with,
[41:41] uh, the little money that we have.
[41:44] Thank you.
[41:45] So, um, to do that with.
[41:46] And then if you aren't aware, Commissioner
Applegate did lose his mother this, uh,
[41:51] past week, and so there is a celebration
of life for her on Friday.
[41:55] Then I just wanted to say one of my
favorite times of year.
[41:59] Um, we spent some time with some of my
friends last night discussing some, um,
[42:04] issues that are coming up on the ballot,
[42:06] and I believe the clerk and recorder is
printing out the big yellow sample ballots
[42:11] this week, which, um, we used to always
use when we would go and vote in person.
[42:16] So I'm going to go over and get some of
those.
[42:19] But I know our blue book's coming out, our
county issue book is coming out,
[42:23] and I'm going to pick up some of the big
yellow sample ballots because I really
[42:28] yellow sample ballots because I really
look
[42:28] forward this time of year primarily to all
of the issues that are on the ballot.
[42:33] I think it's very fascinating that we get
this opportunity to vote on the issues,
[42:38] um, and I enjoy seeing what people are
saying about them.
[42:42] And then I will point out that there are
some issues in other counties that are
[42:46] fascinating to me. So Douglas County has
an issue on the ballot,
[42:50] particularly to go to from 3 to 5
commissioners.
[42:53] I think that it's fascinating to watch
that.
[42:56] I haven't been involved in any of the
politics behind the scene on that,
[43:00] but I think that'll be a fascinating one
to watch.
[43:03] And I know Pueblo County also has some
interesting issues on the ballot,
[43:08] or at least one to raise a sales tax. Or
something.
[43:11] So I enjoyed this time of the year just
because,
[43:14] primarily because of the issues on the
ballot. I think they're very fascinating.
[43:19] That's it.
[43:19] Okay, lots going on this week.
[43:22] I will be participating in a chronic
disease prevention group tomorrow with
[43:29] the— as a liaison for Board of Health.
[43:33] I also have both the library board as a
liaison to that and also fair
[43:40] advisory. And then also on Friday, it is
steering meeting time again with CCI.
[43:47] So we will be talking about legislative
proposals.
[43:52] Though it seems that the legislative
session is far off, it— we,
[43:58] we are always planning. And so I will be
participating in that as well.
[44:05] And with that, I believe we are ready to
move to item Item number 8 is
[44:12] community service organization reports,
and there are none. Item 9.
[44:18] Item number 9 is public comment on items
not scheduled on the agenda.
[44:22] The commissioners welcome communication in
various forms.
[44:25] However, the public comment period is not
intended for dialogue,
[44:28] and commissioners do not engage in
conversation during this time.
[44:32] Members of the public seeking responses to
specific questions are encouraged to
[44:36] submit inquiries through Citizen Connect.
[44:38] And Madam Chair, I'm unaware of anyone
signing in to speak except now.
[44:42] Thank you.
[44:45] Last week— Laurel Skow. Last week I was
caught in Hurricane Lowell on Kauai.
[44:51] The morning after revealed what the storm
left behind: a brown, churning ocean,
[44:57] debris covering the beach, blocked roads,
and no power.
[45:01] The Tri-Lakes has also been through a
hurricane.
[45:05] It made landfall here on August 27th.
[45:08] 2 weeks ago, I stood here sad and
disappointed.
[45:11] Now the pattern is unmistakable, and I'm
just angry.
[45:15] On July 23rd, Walden residents made
criteria-based case against the Walker
[45:21] criteria-based case against the Walker
Road
[45:21] rezoning. Chair Geithner said they did not
understand the process or the rule of
[45:27] law. She opposed both denials.
[45:30] 5 weeks later, 158 residents opposed the
Buc-ee's appeal with sourced evidence and
[45:36] Buc-ee's appeal with sourced evidence and
6
[45:36] hours of testimony grounded in the code
and criteria.
[45:40] Chair Geithner said her guess was that the
residents opposed Buc-ee's first,
[45:46] learned about C-1 later, then decided the
project did not fit.
[45:51] Twice she portrayed residents as
uninformed about the process and reduced
[45:56] uninformed about the process and reduced
carefully
[45:57] prepared criteria-based cases to mere
expressions of opposition.
[46:02] That dismissal was the eye of the storm.
[46:05] Craig Dossey led planning when the 2021
master plan replaced 10 citizen-written
[46:11] master plan replaced 10 citizen-written
area
[46:11] plans with a countywide map.
[46:13] The plan calls the Tri-Lakes the most
well-established northern community and
[46:19] well-established northern community and
says
[46:19] future development should align with its
character.
[46:23] Yet at Walker Road, Chapter 3 labels the
land suburban residential,
[46:28] while Chapter 4 places it in a large lot
priority development area.
[46:33] In June, representing MA Infrastructure,
Dossey acknowledged the inherent conflict.
[46:40] He said he could take ownership of a
possible mapping error or oversight,
[46:45] then ask commissioners to judge the area
by what it is becoming.
[46:50] At the September 3 code rewrite meeting,
[46:53] Black Forest and Tri-Lake residents
objected to this urban drift and asked the
[46:59] county not to build a new code on an
unresolved master plan.
[47:04] 12 days after the Buc-ee's vote,
[47:06] Matt Dunstan and Vertex returned with new
Walker Road applications.
[47:11] They moved the denied RM-12 from south to
north,
[47:15] replaced it on the south with RS-5000, and
submitted a PUD for Track B.
[47:20] Vertex letter of intent states El Paso
County has historically planned for the
[47:26] County has historically planned for the
land
[47:27] included within the MA subdivision to
develop in an urban manner.
[47:32] The master plan never says this.
[47:34] Craig Dossey turns one side of an
acknowledged conflict into a supposed
[47:39] acknowledged conflict into a supposed
history
[47:40] supporting 3 new submissions. This is the
broken system the hurricane exposed.
[47:46] Exposed documents meant to protect this
community are reinterpreted toward greater
[47:52] density while residents are dismissed as
uninformed.
[47:56] When these projects come before you, we
will be here.
[48:00] We know the record and the process. What
are you going to tell us this time?
[48:06] Thank you. Is there anyone else who wishes
to speak
[48:11] during public comment today?
[48:14] Okay, item 9— excuse me, item 10.
[48:17] Item number 10 is the called-up consent
calendar, and there are no items called
[48:22] calendar, and there are no items called
up.
[48:22] Item 11.
[48:23] Item 11 is department and committee
reports, non-action items, and there are
[48:27] reports, non-action items, and there are
none.
[48:27] Item 12.
[48:29] Item 12 is the addendum, and there are no
addendums today.
[48:32] Item 13.
[48:33] Item 13 is the executive session, and
there is no request for executive session.
[48:37] Okay, with that, we've come to the end of
this agenda. This meeting is adjourned.