[5:58] Good morning and welcome to the Board of
County Commissioners meeting.
[6:02] Today is Tuesday, September 8th.
[6:04] We do begin each of our meetings with an
invocation, and this morning, um,
[6:08] we have someone from Citywide Prayer and
Decision Point Ministries,
[6:12] and I would invite you to come and
introduce yourselves,
[6:16] and I'll invite everyone here to stand and
join us.
[6:19] Good morning.
[6:20] I have a wonderful Korean name, Daisap
Han.
[6:24] So let's pray.
[6:25] So Father, what a blessing it is to be
here at El Paso, um,
[6:30] County Commissioners meeting.
[6:32] Father, thank you, Lord, for these, uh,
[6:35] wonderful servant leaders that you have
chosen to serve not only our county,
[6:41] but their decisions will impact our state
in this 150th anniversary year,
[6:46] as well as our nation and even beyond.
Lord, I ask that you would bless them.
[6:52] You would also, um, Bless our county, uh,
county clerk, Father,
[6:57] and their families and their staff, Lord.
[7:00] And I pray that you would provide them
with wisdom and guidance, uh, this hour,
[7:06] this morning, as they will make some
important decisions on behalf of El Paso
[7:12] County. Thank you, Lord, for being with us
this morning. In Jesus' name, amen.
[7:18] Commissioner
[7:23] Williams,
[7:26] if you'd lead us
[7:33] in the pledge.
[7:39] Item 3.
[7:42] Item number 3 is staff emergency items,
[7:45] and I'm unaware of any staff emergency
items today.
[7:49] Item 4.
[7:50] Item number 4 is changes, postponements,
and notice of the next meeting.
[7:54] I'm unaware of any changes or
postponements to today's agenda,
[7:57] and the next meeting will be Thursday,
[7:59] September 10th at 9 o'clock for land use
and then the Board of Adjustment.
[8:03] Item 5.
[8:05] Item number 5 is the consent calendar
including items 5A through 5N4.
[8:11] Okay, is there anyone here who wishes to
speak on an item on the consent calendar
[8:18] today? Okay, seeing none,
[8:20] I'll bring it up here for any comments or
a motion from commissioners.
[8:25] I move approval of the consent calendar.
[8:27] Second.
[8:29] Okay, it's been moved and seconded. One
more opportunity for any comments.
[8:33] Seeing none, we'll call the roll beginning
with Commissioner Wysong.
[8:37] Aye.
[8:37] Vice Chair Nelson.
[8:40] Aye.
[8:40] Commissioner Applegate.
[8:42] Aye. Commissioner Williams?
[8:43] Aye.
[8:43] And the chair votes aye. That passes 5-0.
Item 6.
[8:50] Item number 6 is the proclamation
recognizing September 11th as Patriot Day
[8:55] recognizing September 11th as Patriot Day
and
[8:55] National Day of Service and Remembrance
2026.
[8:58] Bill Wysong, Commissioner, Board of County
Commissioners.
[9:02] Commissioner Wysong.
[9:03] Thank you, Madam Chair.
[9:05] Need a motion for the proclamation
recognizing September 11th As Patriot Day
[9:11] recognizing September 11th As Patriot Day
and
[9:12] National Day of Service and Remembrance
2026.
[9:15] Whereas our nation made an unbreakable
promise never to forget the nearly 3,000
[9:21] souls who were senselessly killed on
September 11th, 2001.
[9:26] On this sacred day, Patriot Day,
[9:29] we in El Paso County honor that commitment
and Whereas,
[9:33] we remember the tremendous bravery of our
first responders who rushed without
[9:39] hesitation into the void of debris and
smoke to rescue those in despair.
[9:45] In the heroism of the passengers aboard
Flight 93 who summoned the courage to
[9:51] Flight 93 who summoned the courage to
charge
[9:52] the terrorists in a counterattack that
saved countless lives.
[9:56] And whereas, Americans had a shared sense
of anguish on September 11th,
[10:02] followed by a profound spirit of unity.
[10:05] People of different ages, backgrounds,
[10:08] and abilities found meaning in public
service after the 9/11 attacks.
[10:14] Many people channeled their emotions by
enlisting in the military,
[10:19] founding charities, contributing to
philanthropic causes, Flying the American
[10:25] philanthropic causes, Flying the American
flag,
[10:25] donating blood, and helping those in need
in other ways.
[10:30] And whereas, in late 2001, as part of
Operation Enduring Freedom,
[10:35] thousands of servicemen and women from our
local military installations were
[10:41] deployed to support the counterterrorism
operations in Afghanistan and other
[10:47] countries. And whereas,
[10:49] the men and women Serving in Cheyenne
Mountain on September 11th were involved
[10:55] Mountain on September 11th were involved
in a
[10:56] critical role. The airmen, soldiers,
sailors stationed at Peterson Space Force
[11:02] sailors stationed at Peterson Space Force
Base,
[11:02] Fort Carson, Schriever Space Force Base,
[11:05] and Cheyenne Mountain continue to maintain
an integral role in our national
[11:11] security. And whereas the United States is
unified in our purpose to prevent further
[11:18] tragedies like those experienced on
September 11th, 2001,
[11:23] and we honor the men and women of our
armed forces in our region who have fought
[11:29] tirelessly to keep us safe from further
attacks on the U.S. soil.
[11:34] Whereas, we recall the images of the
American flag from the ashes from Ground
[11:40] American flag from the ashes from Ground
Zero
[11:40] and the Pentagon in a reminder that good
triumphs over evil.
[11:45] We recommit ourselves to fortifying our
cherished American values so that future
[11:52] generations will know the United States is
the land of the free and home of the
[11:58] brave. Now therefore,
[12:00] the Board of El Paso County Commissioners
supports all the efforts to keep a
[12:06] vigilant spirit of freedom, commitment to
service, and pride in our country.
[12:12] And be it further resolved that the Board
of County Commissioners of El Paso County
[12:18] hereby proclaim Friday, September 11th,
2026,
[12:22] a day of remembrance so that we may never
forget those who lost their lives 25 years
[12:29] ago, honor the heroic actions taken by our
first responders,
[12:33] and express our gratitude to the members
of our military for their continued
[12:39] of our military for their continued
service
[12:40] and sacrifice. Done this 8th day of
September, 2026, Colorado Springs,
[12:46] September, 2026, Colorado Springs,
Colorado.
[12:46] By the Board of County Commissioners of El
Paso County, Colorado.
[12:51] Chair Commissioner Geitner, Vice Chair
Commissioner Nelson,
[12:56] members Commissioners Williams, Wysong,
and Applegate.
[13:00] Attested by Steve Schleicher, County Clerk
and Recorder.
[13:05] Second.
[13:07] Okay, that's been moved and seconded,
[13:09] and we do have a couple of special guests
this morning,
[13:13] so I'm going to start with Colonel
Bartholomew.
[13:15] Please, if you would come on up, introduce
yourself at the microphone.
[13:20] We'd love to hear your comments.
[13:22] Good morning, commissioners, distinguished
guests, members of the community.
[13:26] I'm Colonel Donald Bartholomew, the Deputy
Commander of Space Base Delta One,
[13:31] headquartered at Peterson Space Force
Base.
[13:33] On behalf of the Guardians, airmen,
[13:35] and civilian professionals across Peterson
and Cheyenne Mountain,
[13:39] thank you for inviting me to join you
today, and thank you for this meaningful,
[13:44] meaningful proclamation recognizing
Patriot Day and the National Day of
[13:48] Patriot Day and the National Day of
Service and
[13:48] Remembrance. We are 25 years after the
attacks on September 11th, 2001,
[13:53] and yet the significance of that day is
not lost.
[13:55] We honor the nearly 3,000 innocent lives
lost in New York City, Shanksville,
[14:00] and at the Pentagon, including the
passengers of Flight 77,
[14:03] employees and service members,
[14:05] and the selfless first responders who ran
straight toward danger.
[14:09] We also recognize that the sacrifice did
not end on September 11th.
[14:13] Over the past 25 years,
[14:14] tens of thousands of brave first
responders rescue and recover workers and
[14:18] responders rescue and recover workers and
survivors
[14:19] have battled life-altering illnesses,
[14:21] and many have lost their lives to toxic
exposures in the aftermath.
[14:25] We honor their enduring courage and memory
alongside those that we lost that day.
[14:30] 25 years ago, the watchstanders inside
Cheyenne Mountain played a vital role as
[14:34] events unfolded across our skies.
[14:36] Today, our personnel maintain the
vigilance required to defend our nation
[14:40] vigilance required to defend our nation
and
[14:41] preserve the freedoms we hold dear.
September 11th brought profound loss.
[14:45] As we mark 25 years,
[14:46] it is the responsibility of the survivors
and the nation to help the right
[14:50] generation learn about the attacks, to
tell the stories of the people we lost,
[14:55] and to share the response and resilience
of our country.
[14:58] On behalf of our airmen and guardians,
[15:00] we are deeply grateful to the citizens of
El Paso County for your steadfast
[15:05] partnership and unwavering support to our
military families.
[15:08] Thank you for keeping the promise to never
forget.
[15:11] Thank you. Now we'll hear from Colonel
James Stultz.
[15:17] Please come on up, introduce yourself,
[15:21] and we are excited to hear from you.
[15:25] Yeah, thanks. Ladies and gentlemen, thank
you for having me here today.
[15:30] On behalf of Fort Carson and the soldiers
there in the 4th Infantry Division,
[15:35] as well as the tenant units, this
proclamation is incredibly important.
[15:40] I say it's important because much like you
all, I'm sure you can remember,
[15:45] I can remember exactly where I was on
9/11. And in the impact it had on me.
[15:50] But I can also tell you that 100 million
Americans weren't born yet as of today,
[15:55] the 25th anniversary. That's about a third
of America.
[15:59] So proclamations like this allow us to
truly never forget,
[16:03] and it causes us to pause once a year to
remember those who died on September 11th
[16:08] and then those that died in subsequent
wars. in the Global War on Terrorism.
[16:13] So again, on behalf of the 4th Infantry
Division and Fort Carson,
[16:18] I appreciate you today establishing this
proclamation. Thank you.
[16:22] Thank you so much for being here.
[16:26] And we also have retired U.S.
[16:29] Army Colonel Fitch.
[16:31] Good morning. On behalf of the Pikes Peak
Military Affairs Council,
[16:35] as El Paso County marks This 25th
anniversary of September 11th, 2001,
[16:39] we still remember where we were at 25
years later, what we saw,
[16:42] and how our nation changed.
[16:44] We remember the nearly 3,000 lives lost,
the families forever changed,
[16:48] and the first responders who ran toward
danger with courage and purpose.
[16:52] Here in El Paso County, that remembrance
is especially personal.
[16:55] This is a community of service. And for
me, it is personal as well.
[16:59] I had the honor of serving 24 years as a
Green Beret,
[17:02] and I spent much of my adult life in
Afghanistan.
[17:05] Alongside Americans and allies whose lives
were shaped by the mission that followed
[17:10] 9/11. From Fort Carson to Peterson and
Schriever Space Force Bases,
[17:13] Cheyenne Mountain, the Air Force Academy,
[17:16] and the many public safety agencies that
protect our communities,
[17:19] El Paso County has carried a special
responsibility in the defense of our
[17:23] responsibility in the defense of our
nation and
[17:24] the care of our people. After 9/11, many
from this region deployed.
[17:28] Many more served at home, standing watch,
supporting military families,
[17:32] staffing our emergency rooms, answering
calls, protecting neighborhoods,
[17:36] and making sure those who served were
never serving alone.
[17:39] That's the spirit of El Paso County—
military and civilians side by side,
[17:43] first responders and families side by
side, remembering the fallen,
[17:47] honoring the sacrifice, and recommitting
ourselves to unity, vigilance, and
[17:51] ourselves to unity, vigilance, and
service.
[17:52] On behalf of the Pikes Peak Military
Affairs Council,
[17:55] thank you for this proclamation and for
helping ensure that in El Paso County we
[17:59] always remember September 11th and honor
those who served. Thank you.
[18:03] Thank you so much for those words and for
being here today.
[18:07] I'm going to now bring it up here to the
dais and, uh,
[18:11] for comments from commissioners.
Commissioner Williams.
[18:15] Uh, yes, this is my last year doing this
proclamation.
[18:20] Um, I just wanted to again remember
Catherine, uh, Laborie Yancey—
[18:26] Catherine Yancey Laborie.
[18:28] Um, She—
[18:30] my neighbors, Jean and Flo Yancey, she is—
was their daughter.
[18:34] She was one of the flight attendants on
United Flight 175.
[18:38] Looking up about her this morning,
[18:40] they say the deliberate collision was
replayed on television hundreds of times,
[18:46] and they tried not to watch it because
they know that was the moment that their
[18:51] daughter died. And she— her plane crashed
into the South Tower. Just amazing person.
[18:56] Her mother Flo was able to join her in
heaven last year, and unfortunately,
[19:01] I'm not so sure Jean's not very far
behind.
[19:04] But every year we go over to Mitchell High
School where she graduated as a
[19:09] neighborhood, and we celebrate her life
with a select group of high school
[19:14] with a select group of high school
students
[19:14] who really have the opportunity to learn
what sacrifice is for our country on that
[19:20] day. And so I just wanted to honor her and
just remind everybody to never forget of
[19:25] the so many people who sacrificed their
lives on that day to help rescue others
[19:31] lives on that day to help rescue others
that
[19:31] they couldn't, running,
[19:32] especially the firefighters and police
officers running towards burning
[19:37] officers running towards burning
buildings,
[19:38] knowing that they would not come back out
alive. Thank you.
[19:42] Commissioner Nelson.
[19:47] Well, thank you for coming and sharing
today. Appreciate the comments.
[19:53] It really is important that we take time
to remember not only the innocent lives
[20:00] that were lost, but also the reason,
because it's still the case today.
[20:07] There are people who hate the United
States of America and the principles that
[20:14] States of America and the principles that
we
[20:14] stand for. We represent freedom, the
ability to pursue the American dream,
[20:21] and that is something that does not come
free.
[20:25] There is a cost, and we are so grateful to
the men and women that are willing to
[20:32] serve in our military and our first
responders who put their lives on the line
[20:39] responders who put their lives on the line
and
[20:39] dedicate their careers to protecting our
nation.
[20:44] And I'm a big believer in strong defense
being the best offense,
[20:49] and that we are able to have peace through
strength.
[20:54] And so I just want to really express my
gratitude for those who are willing to
[21:01] gratitude for those who are willing to
step
[21:01] in and help protect the freedoms that we
enjoy in this country.
[21:08] Thank you.
[21:11] Thank you. I think Alan Jackson put it
well,
[21:14] where were you when the world stopped
turning?
[21:16] Um, we remember today,
[21:17] we're going to remember on the 11th where
we were 25 years ago when that tragedy
[21:21] happened, and we're never going to forget.
We're never going to forget.
[21:25] And there was sacrifice, a lot of first
responders.
[21:28] I mean, gosh, I mean, My hearts go out to
them. My hearts go out to their families.
[21:32] I mean, we pray for them, and we thank the
ones we have now too,
[21:36] just not only in that community, but in
our community as well.
[21:39] And man, I mean, that was such an
altering, such a before and after event.
[21:43] But I think the biggest thing we can take
away from this is overall,
[21:47] we got stronger as a nation because people
woke up September 12th,
[21:50] and there was no lines that were drawn.
[21:52] We were unified because we were all
Americans that day.
[21:55] And it's our tradition to let the reader
of the proclamation finish with comments
[22:01] last, so I'll go ahead and make a few
comments now as well.
[22:05] Um, I want to thank all of you for taking
the time to be here today and for your
[22:11] service. Um, to hear that a third of
Americans were not alive, um,
[22:16] that's a really important thing, I think,
to say and,
[22:20] and realize that we all have this duty.
[22:23] This picture that's up on the screen now,
this Never Forget,
[22:28] is so familiar to many of us,
[22:30] but not forgetting truly does mean passing
this on to the next generation who does
[22:36] not have their own memories of this.
[22:39] Obviously, this day was impactful in my
life as well as I was in college,
[22:44] and even more so that I didn't know
inspired my husband also to join the
[22:49] inspired my husband also to join the
military
[22:50] and which has had lifelong impacts to our
family as well as he deployed.
[22:55] But it was worth it, and it still is today
as he continues to serve.
[23:01] We came here by way of Fort Carson,
decided to stay,
[23:04] and there are so many important things
about remembering in my mind.
[23:10] I appreciate the spirit of unity that has
been mentioned,
[23:14] remembering that spirit of unity that
there is more that unites us than divides
[23:20] there is more that unites us than divides
us,
[23:20] I think, is more important than ever.
[23:23] Also, as the proclamation was being read,
the word— the words American values,
[23:28] I hear those and I hear them a lot.
[23:31] And I think we are at a reckoning point
where we have to decide what those words
[23:37] mean. And I think we knew a lot more at
that time period, unfortunately,
[23:42] Tragedy can sometimes cause us to reflect
and cause us to,
[23:47] to really move forward in a way that,
unfortunately,
[23:51] without tragedy doesn't always happen.
[23:53] But we can see the good that comes out of
that.
[23:57] And so those words, American values, what
does that mean to us?
[24:02] And this is about remembering, but I think
when I see these words, never forget,
[24:08] what this means to me, is remembering
those American values,
[24:12] is remembering that there are still people
who dislike the United States out there,
[24:18] and those people aren't all outside of the
United States either.
[24:23] Um, there are individuals that have been
really prominent lately that have said
[24:29] things like, America deserved 9/11.
[24:32] And today, while I don't want to dwell on
those negative pieces,
[24:36] It is a part of not forgetting.
[24:39] It is a part of not forgetting to remember
that there are still people,
[24:44] even within our own nation today,
[24:47] who do not care for America and who would
not protect her. And we all have a duty.
[24:53] Reagan once said, freedom is never more
than one generation away from extinction,
[24:59] that it's not passed down through the
bloodstream.
[25:02] It's got to be fought for and protected so
that we can hand it to our next
[25:08] generation. Those words have been an
inspiration to me as I've taken on a role
[25:14] inspiration to me as I've taken on a role
as a
[25:14] commissioner, and I absolutely believe it
to be true that we all have a
[25:19] responsibility in that.
[25:21] While we are super grateful for our
military and the things that have
[25:26] military and the things that have
happened,
[25:27] there's also a huge responsibility as
citizens for us to continue to remember
[25:33] citizens for us to continue to remember
those
[25:33] American values, reflect on them, reflect
on our founding,
[25:37] reflect on what it means to be an American
and what we are here to protect.
[25:43] Because I think when we do that,
[25:45] we will truly honor the sacrifice that has
been made by many of the members of our
[25:52] military, as well as the firefighters,
police officers,
[25:56] and all of the civilians who were killed
on 9/11.
[25:59] And so with that, I'll just say again,
thank you. Thank you for being here today.
[26:05] Thank you for helping us remember this
date.
[26:09] Though it brings a lot of sadness,
[26:11] we can look to the positive things that we
were able to come out, like that unity,
[26:17] and try to carry that forward.
[26:20] And I hope that— it's good to do this here
today,
[26:23] but I hope we will all carry that out with
us and have a conversation with one of
[26:29] those 100 million people who maybe were
not here.
[26:33] I know I talk about it with my kids every
year.
[26:36] It's hard for them to understand,
[26:39] But we have to keep reminding and telling
people about what happened if we are to
[26:45] continue to protect our nation.
[26:47] Thank you, and I will turn it over to
Commissioner Wysong.
[26:52] Thank you, Madam Chair.
[26:54] 25 years ago, it seems like yesterday, and
then in, in some ways, um,
[27:01] longer than that because so much has
transpired.
[27:06] A special thank you again to Colonel
Bartholomew Marthau and Colonel Schultz
[27:13] and retired Colonel Fitch.
[27:16] I was in Connecticut attending a class on
September 11th,
[27:21] and it was very interesting that you
always— at least for me,
[27:28] will remember it very clear.
[27:30] And the thing that really kind of started
it was 35-plus Motorola SkyPagers
[27:38] going off. Um, in, in a conference room,
um, not once, but twice, uh,
[27:45] before leadership pulled in a TV and we
sat just absolutely, uh,
[27:51] spellbound knowing that this was going on
like 50 miles or less away.
[27:58] Um, and some of the people had actually
been in the,
[28:03] the Twin Towers the day before, um, for
work.
[28:08] Yeah.
[28:09] And it was just kind of an overwhelming—
but as it says,
[28:14] we want to honor and remember and never
forget.
[28:19] So again, many thanks to our first
responders and to our—
[28:24] all of our military services, two which
are represented here.
[28:30] And I think it's so important to remember
that even 25 years ago,
[28:37] And to date, anyone that serves in the
military are volunteers.
[28:43] And that says a tremendous amount,
[28:46] amount about those that volunteer and are
willing,
[28:51] just like our first responders,
[28:54] to run towards danger while everyone else
is running away.
[29:00] So thank you very much. And appreciate you
being here.
[29:06] Okay, we've had, uh, our motion and our
second and comments from commissioners.
[29:11] So if there are no additional comments,
I'm going to proceed with the vote.
[29:16] And just to let everyone know, as soon as
we do that, we will, um,
[29:20] take a brief recess to do a photograph
together.
[29:23] So I will begin with Commissioner Wysong.
[29:26] Aye.
[29:27] Vice Chair Nelson.
[29:28] Aye.
[29:29] Commissioner Applegate.
[29:30] Aye. Commissioner Williams?
[29:31] Aye.
[29:32] And
[29:37] the
[29:41] chair
[29:50] votes
[29:58] aye.
[30:04] That
[30:11] passes
[30:21] 5-0.
[30:27] We are
[30:37] in
[30:40] recess.
[30:52] I'll
[30:58] call
[31:05] this
[31:11] meeting
[31:23] back
[31:29] to
[31:32] order,
[31:42] and we
[31:52] are on
[32:02] item
[32:08] 7.
[32:13] Item number 7 is comments by elected
officials and commissioner liaison
[32:18] reports. 7A, Coroner Annual Report. Dr.
Emily Russell-Kinsley, Coroner.
[32:22] Good morning.
[32:25] Good morning. Thanks so much for having
me.
[32:29] Yeah, and I'm eager to, uh, present the
information from our 2025 annual report.
[32:36] Um, at the end of it, or what would be the
end of it, um,
[32:42] I have some additional new information.
[32:46] So, um, hopefully this will be helpful for
folks.
[32:50] Just a reminder, so my jurisdiction, um,
[32:54] is defined under Colorado Statute 3010-606
It mandates that my office investigate
[33:02] deaths which are sudden, unexpected, and
non-natural.
[33:07] Anytime there's not a physician available
to certify the death,
[33:13] any type of industrial accident,
[33:16] any death in custody of law enforcement or
in the care of a public institution,
[33:24] deaths due to public health threats, and
anything that's unexplained.
[33:31] So in 2025, Our office investigated 6,739
deaths,
[33:35] which represents a 7% increase from 2024.
[33:39] And we performed 1,431 autopsies, which
represented an 18% increase from 2024.
[33:47] And that includes all counties, not just
El Paso County.
[33:52] This line graph shows the increase in
deaths investigated by our office Over
[34:00] deaths investigated by our office Over
time
[34:00] starting in 2013 to 2025.
[34:02] And then this line graph shows the
increase in autopsies performed.
[34:09] El Paso County is represented by the light
orange line.
[34:14] I have an arrow at 2021, and that was just
a year nationwide high death count.
[34:22] High death rate. Then the out-of-county
autopsies that we perform is the darker
[34:29] orange line, and I have arrows there for
2023 and 2025,
[34:35] which represent the return to nature event
in 2023,
[34:39] and then in Davis Mortuary down in in
Pueblo, we. Took care of that event as
[34:47] Pueblo, we. Took care of that event as
well.
[34:47] And then our total autopsies over time are
represented by the top brown line.
[34:55] As I mentioned, as you all know,
[34:58] we perform autopsies for a third of the
state of Colorado.
[35:03] And that's exemplified in this map.
[35:07] But getting back to El Paso County, so
when we're looking at the manner of death,
[35:15] which is the circumstances surrounding the
death, in El Paso County,
[35:21] 38% of our cases autopsied were natural.
Folks died from natural causes.
[35:28] 36% died from accidental causes. 19% died
from suicide. 5% the result of homicide.
[35:36] 2% of the cases fell into the manner
that's called undetermined.
[35:42] And that's when we don't have enough
investigative information in order to
[35:49] investigative information in order to
place it
[35:50] into the previous 4 categories. And then
the last category we call unclassified.
[35:58] And that represents fetuses, because
fetuses don't have the 5 Manners of death.
[36:05] They just don't have one.
[36:08] So we autopsied 378 individuals who died
from natural causes.
[36:14] About half of those folks died as a result
of cardiovascular disease,
[36:20] and that's consistent with what we see
across our country.
[36:26] I have a star next to the 72 who died as a
result of chronic alcohol abuse.
[36:33] That doesn't necessarily mean— that's an
increased number from the year before,
[36:41] but it doesn't necessarily mean that we
have had an increase in folks dying from
[36:48] chronic alcohol abuse in our community.
[36:52] I had an interest in bringing more of
those folks in,
[36:57] in order to identify or rule out trauma,
[37:01] because it's a very vulnerable population
to trauma.
[37:06] And if they died as a result of trauma,
that would change the manner of their
[37:14] that would change the manner of their
death.
[37:14] It would be an accidental, most likely.
[37:18] For accidental deaths, we autopsied 359
individuals in 2025,
[37:24] and that represented a 14% increase from
2024.
[37:28] Motor vehicle fatalities remained steady
between '24 and '25, Unfortunately,
[37:35] drug overdoses increased 16%. Hypothermia
deaths, however, decreased from 16 to 12.
[37:43] Commissioner Williams, on that slide that
you were just on,
[37:48] I just wanted to thank you for adding the
e-scooters and the mopeds.
[37:53] Those, you know, represent a new safety
standard for drivers to be aware of.
[37:59] And I see a lot of teenagers out on the
electric ones.
[38:04] And so it's a little bit nerve-wracking
for me.
[38:07] But whether or not the state legislature
or anyone decides to regulate it,
[38:13] it's not up to me. It's just that they
have a little bit more freedom than they
[38:19] would have were they on bikes. So thanks
for adding that in.
[38:24] Absolutely. So I started tracking that
about 3 years ago.
[38:29] I noticed it was a an issue in our
community,
[38:34] and I wanted to make sure that we had data
readily available when it,
[38:40] when it dealt with our office. So we've
been keeping track of that for a while.
[38:48] When we look at blunt force injury
accidents,
[38:52] there were 35 deaths from passenger and
commercial vehicle accidents.
[38:59] 27 motor vehicle fatalities involved
motorcycles, and 12 involved pedestrians.
[39:06] There are 14 simple falls in this group.
[39:10] That does not represent all of the simple
falls in our community.
[39:16] We have many, many more.
[39:18] Most of those get released for the
clinician to sign out if they're fully
[39:25] clinician to sign out if they're fully
diagnosed
[39:26] and if there's no issues or concerns with
that case. And then 11 falls downstairs.
[39:34] And as you mentioned, One e-scooter, one
moped.
[39:38] So there were 88 motor vehicle fatalities
in total.
[39:43] 32% involved motorcycles and 16% involved
pedestrians.
[39:48] When we look at the pedestrian accidents,
[39:52] for the ones where at the time of the
autopsy we had an idea of who was at
[39:59] autopsy we had an idea of who was at
fault,
[40:00] that's split evenly between pedestrians
and drivers.
[40:05] When we look at the type of vehicle for
the motor vehicle fatalities excluding
[40:12] pedestrians, 39% involved motorcycles and
28% involved SUVs, which is, you know,
[40:20] a very common vehicle in our community.
[40:24] When we look at the suspected primary
cause of the crash,
[40:29] 39% of those were due to reckless driving
and excessive speed, again,
[40:36] at the time of autopsy. And 30% involved
an impaired driver.
[40:41] In fatalities where the driver was
considered at fault,
[40:47] you guys know we run toxicology on just
about every Every individual that comes
[40:54] through our office. 68% of those
individuals had intoxicating substances in
[41:01] individuals had intoxicating substances in
their
[41:02] system at the time of the accident,
including alcohol, THC, or other drugs.
[41:09] 24% of the collisions were a front
collision or rollover collision,
[41:15] and 37% were a side impact collision.
[41:19] And then when we're looking at the use of
seatbelts,
[41:24] we know that at least 51% of the folks who
died in motor vehicle collisions were not
[41:32] wearing a seatbelt in our community. I
don't know if y'all saw this headline.
[41:39] So for the United States as a whole,
[41:42] this was the 3rd year that the United
States had a decrease in overdose deaths.
[41:50] Unfortunately, 3 states did not fall into
that number: New Mexico, Arizona,
[41:57] and unfortunately the state of Colorado.
So let's see how our community fared.
[42:04] As I mentioned, we had a 16% increase in
overdose deaths in our community.
[42:12] Fentanyl deaths increased by 17% and
methamphetamine deaths increased by 18%.
[42:19] There were, of the overdose deaths,
[42:22] 100 people of the 178 had methamphetamine
in their system and 80 had fentanyl and
[42:30] its analogs in their system.
[42:33] When we look at accidental drug deaths
over time in El Paso County, again,
[42:40] you can see that peak in 2021. Which we've
talked about every year.
[42:46] And methamphetamine is signified by the
lighter orange line,
[42:52] and fentanyl is the darker orange line.
[42:55] So you can see in 2023, fentanyl overtook
methamphetamine, but that was short-lived.
[43:03] We all celebrated that decrease in 2024,
But unfortunately, in 2025,
[43:10] we do have an increase in accidental
deaths, and later in my presentation,
[43:17] we will talk more about that.
[43:20] Our annual report, which is available on
our website now, has so much information,
[43:27] so much more information than we really
want to get into today.
[43:33] But it includes things like on this slide.
[43:37] The thing I want to point out on this
slide is in the upper left-hand corner,
[43:45] 12% of overdose deaths involved prescribed
drugs.
[43:49] We had 46 homicides in our community last
year, which represented a 9.8% decrease.
[43:57] So there's some good news.
[44:00] However, homicides involving domestic
violence Increased from 9 to 17 last year.
[44:07] Um, 9 were due to an altercation, 6 were
officer-involved,
[44:13] 5 occurred during the commission of
another crime,
[44:18] 7 we did not know at the time of autopsy,
and then 2 fall in the other category.
[44:25] Firearms were used in 33 of these
homicides.
[44:32] Um, yeah.
[44:32] So suicides for our community, we had a
23% increase, um, in suicides.
[44:39] We had 190, um, in our community last
year.
[44:43] Um, firearms were means in, um, 101, uh,
[44:47] followed by ligature and drugs at 33 and
32.
[44:51] And again, like I said,
[44:53] we have so much information in this in
this report for those who are interested
[45:01] this report for those who are interested
in
[45:01] in diving in. One of the things that I'm
really grateful for is the fact that when
[45:09] when we have suicides, we will interview
the family,
[45:14] those closest to the individual, and they.
[45:18] They are willing to take the time and talk
to us and go over some of this
[45:25] information. So in the box on the bottom,
[45:29] you can see that 82% of the individuals
had preexisting mental health issues.
[45:36] 41% were suffering from substance or
alcohol abuse.
[45:41] 33% had significant health problems.
[45:44] 33% had a history of abuse or domestic
violence.
[45:49] 29% had relationship issues, and 23% had
financial issues.
[45:55] And we wouldn't have that information if
those individuals weren't willing to
[46:02] speak about their loved one.
[46:05] Can I just ask a question?
[46:06] I know how meticulous you are about data,
[46:09] and so I'm looking forward to diving into
that annual report.
[46:14] But because we're looking at raw numbers,
and I obviously—
[46:18] the increases that you're reporting,
[46:21] I don't think are only attributable to
population growth.
[46:25] But because we are a growing community, do
you have in any of those slides,
[46:30] or is that in your annual report,
[46:33] where we can see what the percentages are
compared to population growth?
[46:38] Compared to population growth for El Paso
County?
[46:42] Yes, ma'am.
[46:44] Well, I do not have that here,
[46:46] but we're going to dive more into suicide
in a minute,
[46:51] and that will be something that we can
definitely look at.
[46:56] But as you know, it is incredibly complex,
and I agree with you,
[47:01] this likely is not just a result of
population growth.
[47:05] Yep. Thank you.
[47:06] Absolutely. So we autopsied 44 children
last year.
[47:11] And let's see, unfortunately, youth
suicides increased as well.
[47:16] There were 4 in 2024, and we had 9 in
2025.
[47:20] And I want to point out, for the 9 in
2025, 7 of those were girls.
[47:26] 11 kiddos, the cause of death, the manner
of death ended up being natural.
[47:33] 6 died in motor vehicle collisions, and 5
died as a result of unsafe sleep.
[47:40] When we look at the kids who died from
unsafe sleep,
[47:44] 4 of the 5 were due to co-sleeping with
adults.
[47:48] Typically, Those are situations where the
adults are in— excuse me, intoxicated.
[47:56] We autopsied 87 homeless individuals in
2025.
[48:00] That's pretty steady with the data from
2024 when we autopsied 86.
[48:05] Homicides decreased from 7 to 3,
[48:08] but unfortunately the drug-related deaths
increased 29%.
[48:13] When we look at the 40 drug intoxications,
[48:17] 19 individuals had methamphetamine plus or
minus other drugs that resulted in their
[48:24] death, and then 13 had fentanyl with
methamphetamine,
[48:29] and then had other drugs possibly present
as well. So this is the new part.
[48:36] I think I had spoken with you all about
how I wanted to start looking at the data
[48:43] more frequently. And we finally got to a
point where we could start combing through
[48:51] this. I will tell you, just as I told my
staff,
[48:55] we are building the plane while we're
flying it.
[48:59] We are trying to figure out how to do this
What is useful.
[49:04] And so we appreciate everyone's patience
with this.
[49:09] But what do I mean by we're going to start
releasing quarterly data?
[49:15] Probably looking at quarters 1 through 3.
[49:18] By the time we get to quarter 4,
[49:21] we're really going to be working on next
year's annual report.
[49:27] So anything that's important, we'll make
sure and let folks know,
[49:33] but we may not do a big announcement.
[49:36] Also, something to keep in mind is there
is a 2-month lag time with this work.
[49:43] So it takes time for toxicology to be
completed,
[49:47] for us to get additional information.
[49:51] The vast majority of our, our cases are
completed within 60 days,
[49:56] but we can't look at, say, quarter 1 data
January, February,
[50:02] March until late May or early June.
[50:05] And when we look at that data, we're only
going to be looking at closed cases.
[50:12] So could there be something that's in the
news or something that you know about
[50:19] that's not represented in this data?
[50:22] That's definitely possible if that case is
not completed.
[50:27] Unfortunately, some cases just take, you
know,
[50:31] longer when we're looking at getting
additional testing done,
[50:37] additional information.
[50:39] I know I have a case from the first
quarter that I'm, I'm still waiting on,
[50:45] on outside studies. So not all the cases
will be represented in the quarterly data,
[50:53] which is not true with the annual report.
[50:57] We make sure and get every case closed for
the annual report before we publish that
[51:04] data. Also, I'm not going to be reporting
on everything that's in the annual report.
[51:11] We're just going to look for anything
that's significant, any any changes,
[51:18] anything maybe that we want to keep close
tabs on.
[51:23] But I'm really excited about it because
looking at data more than once a year is
[51:30] really giving us an opportunity to break
it down and go in deeper and look at
[51:37] it down and go in deeper and look at
what's
[51:37] unique to our community. So just like we I
presented.
[51:42] about how the United States had a decrease
in overdose deaths. We didn't.
[51:48] And so I think being able to look at
what's impacting our community, and it is,
[51:55] you know, special to our community,
[51:59] my hope is that it's going to help folks
like you,
[52:03] folks like the not-for-profits who are
making big decisions.
[52:08] And if you can have you know, more
up-to-date data, more timely data,
[52:15] more thoughtful data,
[52:16] then it can really help with the big
decisions that are getting made across
[52:23] decisions that are getting made across
our,
[52:23] our community. We will be posting this on
our website and social media when we get,
[52:31] get the numbers ready.
[52:33] So let's dive into— it's not going to be
the first quarter because we're in
[52:40] September, so We're looking at the first
half of the year,
[52:45] January through June 2026.
[52:47] We investigated 3,209 cases by the end of
June this year,
[52:52] and we performed 509 El Paso County
autopsies by the end of June.
[52:58] Our peak caseload so far was January.
[53:01] For motor vehicle fatalities, we're at 45
right now. We're holding steady.
[53:08] Um, 11, uh, uh, fatalities involved
motorcycles.
[53:12] In 2025, there were a total of, of 28. We
have 5 pedestrian deaths so far.
[53:19] In 2025, there were 13. So those numbers
are looking promising, hopeful.
[53:25] Um, we don't have any, um, e-whatevers—
e-bikes, e-scooters, e-whatever it is— um,
[53:33] so far completed for 2026.
[53:35] Our peaks for motor vehicle fatalities
were January and March.
[53:40] Each of those had 9 deaths.
[53:43] And our trough was in June with 5,
[53:46] which kind of surprised me because June's
such a nice month to be out.
[53:52] And we have so many tourists. Moving on to
homicides.
[53:57] I don't want to give the number. Homicides
take a little longer.
[54:03] We may not get those out just in within
those 60 days.
[54:07] But half of the completed cases appear to
involve DV.
[54:12] So this is a recurring theme that we keep
seeing.
[54:16] And so I just want to bring everyone's
attention to that.
[54:22] For hypothermia cases, where, you know,
[54:25] folks are outside in the cold and die as a
result of that, we have 4.
[54:31] We had a very mild winter. There were 12
total last year.
[54:36] And as you'll recall from what I just
said, in 2024,
[54:41] we had 6 So if we can keep coming down
with that, that would be really great.
[54:48] This is— and this is where things get
really bad here.
[54:53] So with the drug-related deaths, we've had
124 through the end of June.
[54:59] There were 178 total in 2025. So this is
very, you know, somber information.
[55:06] Wow.
[55:08] So far, 79 cases involved methamphetamine,
and 100— there were only—
[55:14] there were 100 in all of last year that
involved methamphetamine.
[55:21] 58 cases through June involved fentanyl.
There was a total of 80 for 2025.
[55:28] And we had 21 cases with cocaine, which
seems to be making a resurgence.
[55:35] There were 29 total last year. So more
things for us to dive in.
[55:42] Just so you know, we're also keeping an
eye on the emerging drugs.
[55:48] Xylazine, we've seen that 5 times.
[55:52] That's if you've heard of Tranq, the
veterinary drug.
[55:57] The xylazine, bromazolam, phenazolam,
these,
[56:01] we see these in combination with fentanyl.
[56:05] And so we're just keeping tabs on those.
They seem to be increasing from 2025.
[56:13] And then there was recent discussion about
kratom or mitragynine. Excuse me.
[56:21] So we plotted or did this line graph
showing mitragynine cases in El Paso
[56:28] County. We've been dealing with
mitragynine for years.
[56:33] And like I said, we perform autopsies for
a third of the state.
[56:40] So we see a lot more than just this. So we
had 4 through June, 2 in July.
[56:47] As you can see, it peaked in 2021.
[56:50] We were really coming down in '25, and '26
is changing course.
[56:56] So we will see where we land with that.
[57:00] For suicides, hopefully we're in a better
place this year.
[57:06] We have 75 suicides through the end of
June. There were 190 total last year.
[57:14] And again, one of the things that I
mentioned that I really like about this is
[57:21] being able to dive in and see what's
unique for us.
[57:27] And so in the black graph,
[57:29] we took the number of suicides every month
and for the past 5 years and averaged
[57:37] it. And so what we found was, you know, a
trough in April,
[57:43] a trough in September, high numbers in
January, August, December.
[57:49] And when we are looking at 2026, We're
seeing that same trend.
[57:55] January's high, April is our trough.
[57:59] And I find that interesting because if you
look at the graph on the bottom
[58:06] right, that shows the blue dots represent
suicides nationally by month.
[58:13] Okay.
[58:15] The blue dots are November, December,
January.
[58:20] So those are supposed to be nationally
speaking; those are low months.
[58:26] But what we're seeing here in for our
December and our January for the past five
[58:33] years is it's higher.
[58:35] Another thing that's interesting is in the
graph on the upper right,
[58:41] this group they divided. Folks into 2
different age groups.
[58:47] So, and what they found was that in June,
for the younger individuals,
[58:53] there was a trough. Yet in July, for the
older individuals— and I mean,
[59:00] older is relative because in this
instance, older means over 25—
[59:06] but for the older individuals in this
group, there was a peak in July.
[59:12] And so we have a lot more diving into the
information to do, like you mentioned.
[59:19] And like I said, we're building the plane
as we're flying it.
[59:25] But I'm eager, and my staff is eager,
[59:28] to dive into this more and share the
relevant information.
[59:38] So could I just ask one more question on
that? Yeah, absolutely.
[59:41] And I—
[59:42] it is very complex. And though we want to
see these numbers much, much lower,
[59:46] I also think, you know,
[59:47] when you're dealing with a relatively
small number of people, you know,
[59:51] trying to actually find, is there a trend
or is this, you know, that's difficult.
[59:55] But you mentioned doing some of those, you
know,
[59:58] Asking some of those questions of family
members around those.
[1:00:01] So is that a question that you will be
asking around, you know, those?
[1:00:05] It's like, was this—
[1:00:06] was there something happening during this
particular type of year?
[1:00:10] Is that how you will try to get to finding
those,
[1:00:13] or is there some other method that you are
looking at to try to identify if there's
[1:00:17] something happening at that time of year?
I mean, I know the days are short.
[1:00:21] I, as much as I don't want to trivialize
it, you know, less sunshine,
[1:00:25] all of those things can be really
impactful to people who are experiencing
[1:00:29] depression, but—
[1:00:30] Yeah.
[1:00:30] How are you going to—
[1:00:31] are those things already in place that
we'll start to see some of that?
[1:00:35] I know you're building the plane while
you're flying it,
[1:00:38] but do you have ways that you are starting
to look at those trends or ask some of
[1:00:42] those questions to decipher that?
[1:00:44] I don't foresee us going back and
reinterviewing families,
[1:00:49] but we've been doing these questionnaires
for years.
[1:00:53] If we need to refer back to the
questionnaire, we can certainly do that.
[1:00:59] You know, we keep all that information, of
course.
[1:01:04] And so I don't think that we'll be doing
that.
[1:01:07] And I may not have the answers, right? I
won't.
[1:01:11] I'll just tell you, I'm not going to have
the answers.
[1:01:16] I'm not going to know the why because it's
so complex.
[1:01:21] But I feel like if we can identify maybe
some trends or some peaks and some troughs
[1:01:28] then perhaps that can help individuals who
are making decisions in prevention or
[1:01:35] things like that. But I will not solve
this.
[1:01:39] I—
[1:01:39] and I fully recognize that.
[1:01:41] But if I can provide my little piece of
data to the puzzle,
[1:01:46] then I hope that that can help people.
[1:01:49] So the takeaways: 2025,
[1:01:51] we had a 7% increase in the cases
investigated and an 18% Increase in
[1:01:57] investigated and an 18% Increase in
examinations,
[1:01:58] with a 14% increase in accidental deaths.
[1:02:02] Motor vehicle collisions are stable in
2025 and the first half of 26.
[1:02:08] 51% of individuals were not wearing a
seatbelt—at least 51%—and the at-fault
[1:02:14] drivers, 68%, had intoxicating drugs in
their system. So I think.
[1:02:19] You know, I'm not faulting people, but
it's—
[1:02:23] I think that's good information for us to
take with us when we are choosing to get
[1:02:30] behind the wheel or choosing to get into a
vehicle moving forward.
[1:02:36] There's a 16% increase in overdose deaths.
[1:02:39] Again, methamphetamine and fentanyl are
what we're really looking at here.
[1:02:45] A 29% increase in overdoses in the
unhoused.
[1:02:49] population, but we are continuing to have,
for now 2 and a half years,
[1:02:55] decreasing hypothermia deaths. So that's
great news.
[1:02:59] We have a decrease in our total homicides,
[1:03:03] but we want to keep an eye on domestic
violence in our community.
[1:03:08] A 23% increase in suicides in 2025,
including increases in our youth
[1:03:14] including increases in our youth
population.
[1:03:15] And the annual report will be on our
website, and as I mentioned,
[1:03:20] the quarterly data will be on our social
media, which is also new.
[1:03:26] Any further questions?
[1:03:28] Thank you for the, the report.
[1:03:31] What was the 3rd state that was not
nationally on a decrease?
[1:03:38] You had New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona.
[1:03:42] All on the major kind of corridor right
there. Yeah.
[1:03:47] Is that something that, you know, working
with state police, sheriffs,
[1:03:55] federal agencies, is that anything that
your information kind of gets
[1:04:02] passed down to them to help evaluate?
[1:04:06] We work closely with Um, law— local law
enforcement particularly.
[1:04:11] I'm happy to release this information to
any, you know, anyone who,
[1:04:16] who wants it, but we do work closely, um,
with our,
[1:04:19] our local law enforcement on these cases.
[1:04:22] Great, thank you.
[1:04:24] Yeah.
[1:04:25] Commissioner Applegate.
[1:04:28] I had a question, um, on the motorcycle
deaths.
[1:04:31] I know that last year there was an
increase.
[1:04:33] Um, were those numbers— were they holding
steady,
[1:04:36] or was it A slight decrease or a slight
increase from our previous year?
[1:04:41] I'm sorry, I missed what our topic is.
[1:04:43] Motorcycle deaths. Oh, motorcycle deaths,
[1:04:45] because they'd gone up significantly last
year.
[1:04:47] But yeah, where are those numbers at now,
like compared to last year?
[1:04:50] Right now, I believe it's holding steady.
Yeah. Okay, thank you.
[1:04:55] Or no, no, for the motorcycles,
[1:04:57] we were at 11 through June and then 28 for
all of 2025.
[1:05:02] So through June, so we're— if We'll have
to see how— I mean,
[1:05:06] we've got summer and fall, you know, that
still have to be counted, right?
[1:05:12] Haven't happened yet.
[1:05:14] Thank you.
[1:05:14] Yeah.
[1:05:15] Commissioner Williams? Uh, yes. So I might
have 2 comments.
[1:05:19] I know, um, thankful that there are fewer
hypothermia deaths.
[1:05:24] I do know that Mountain Metro on very,
very cold nights If you wait at a bus
[1:05:30] very cold nights If you wait at a bus
stop,
[1:05:30] they will take you to a warming shelter
for free.
[1:05:34] And that started, I think, last summer.
[1:05:37] And so I hope that we see this continued
trend on cold nights of the homeless
[1:05:43] population waiting at a bus stop to get on
a bus.
[1:05:47] And hopefully it's just not due to the
fact that we haven't had a lot of snow or
[1:05:53] rain, that we're actually making a dent in
the real cause of the hypothermia deaths.
[1:05:59] And then just a little advertisement.
[1:06:02] So I know that sometimes you get a
collection of drugs at home,
[1:06:07] especially if you had a surgery or
something.
[1:06:10] And I know that as my granddaughter gets
older,
[1:06:14] I cannot get my prescription bottles up
high enough.
[1:06:18] She just climbs up on the ladder or
whatever to get them.
[1:06:22] But— and not the drugs, actually. Usually
it's more the icing for the Cupcakes.
[1:06:28] Um, you can order free at-home drug
disposal kits, usually at your pharmacy,
[1:06:34] and so you can get rid of those drugs
safely and throw them away.
[1:06:39] Or on October 24th, you can go to a DEA
Drug Take-Back Day.
[1:06:44] I know that you can call our household
hazardous waste facility at 719-520-7878 I
[1:06:50] looked up the number and they'll give you
a location, usually Memorial Hospital,
[1:06:56] the police station. The DEA will be there
to take those back,
[1:07:01] and it's a good time to get rid of things
such as oxycodone and stuff that you may
[1:07:07] have in your house that you're not using
and you don't want to throw in the trash,
[1:07:14] and you certainly don't want to put it
down the drain.
[1:07:18] So that's just my Public service
announcement for the day. Thanks.
[1:07:23] I, I want to add on that. I think that
that's great. Thank you for sharing that.
[1:07:28] I will add, my grocery store, I noticed
they have a place,
[1:07:32] a receptacle where you can bring your old
meds,
[1:07:36] and that was something that was new to me.
But yes, I, I think that's great.
[1:07:41] Thank you.
[1:07:42] Vice Chair Nelson.
[1:07:46] I have 2, I guess, questions or comments.
[1:07:49] It's really interesting to see this data
around drug use.
[1:07:53] And I'm just thinking in terms of Carrie
Geitner, myself,
[1:07:58] and you serve on the Opioid Abatement
Council.
[1:08:01] And are you going to be presenting this at
any time to that council?
[1:08:07] Because I think it would be really
valuable.
[1:08:10] I would be happy to. Yeah. Absolutely.
[1:08:14] Yeah, I'm— we talk a lot in terms of what
organizations are doing and kind of at a
[1:08:21] higher level, but to drill down and see
methamphetamine is really making an impact
[1:08:28] in our community. And so I know we're
doing some targeted information on THC and
[1:08:35] doing some targeted information on THC and
the
[1:08:35] risks of, you know, high— what's the
verbiage— high potency THC messaging,
[1:08:42] especially with families and parents
understanding with their youth and helping
[1:08:49] educate folks. But so just would be
interesting to, I think,
[1:08:54] share this out of that level of detail on
certain drugs that you're seeing prevalent
[1:09:02] in the community too. And then my other
question Actually, 2 more questions.
[1:09:09] Is— can you send us this presentation?
[1:09:12] Because I would like to go back and look
again at some of the data and remind
[1:09:19] again at some of the data and remind
myself
[1:09:19] on some of the statistics.
[1:09:22] And then with the suicides, very
concerning to see the increase in youth
[1:09:28] concerning to see the increase in youth
suicide.
[1:09:29] And also, I can't remember if it was on
previous slides, Overall suicide,
[1:09:35] has that also trended up or not for just
all ages?
[1:09:40] But we did see an increase in youth.
[1:09:43] Yes, that was a 23% increase from 2024 to
2025.
[1:09:48] So far through June in 2026, it's looking
better.
[1:09:53] We're at 75 through the end of June,
[1:09:56] so that it is looking better.
[1:10:03] Okay, I'm just also thinking about—
[1:10:05] Commissioner Geithner and I serve on El
Paso County Public Health Board,
[1:10:11] and they had a suicide intervention team
and were looking at adjusting how that
[1:10:17] department serves the community with
suicide and seeing that there are other
[1:10:23] organizations who have sort of stepped in,
[1:10:26] and over the years we've seen an increase
in supports in, you know,
[1:10:31] nonprofits or faith partners,
[1:10:33] different organizations sort of taking the
lead on that.
[1:10:38] But, um, it— I think it is worth the
health department having that conversation
[1:10:44] health department having that conversation
and
[1:10:44] just understanding, um,
[1:10:46] over years how we're trending and So I'm
just kind of thinking out loud here.
[1:10:51] I don't want to task you with anything,
but I am curious if—
[1:10:56] I hope they're talking with you and
getting some data from you as we make this
[1:11:02] decision on, hey, over the last 5 years,
[1:11:05] this is the trend we're seeing with
suicide, and not just overall,
[1:11:10] but also with our youth, and what really
are the needs for our community.
[1:11:16] And should public health be playing a part
in that,
[1:11:20] or do our partners in the community have
it and have it covered?
[1:11:25] So, um, yes, this information will all be
available
[1:11:29] and we will share it with groups and
organizations.
[1:11:34] Great, thanks so much.
[1:11:35] You bet.
[1:11:36] Thanks for coming today too. Oh, I love
all this data.
[1:11:38] Fantastic. Thank you. Thanks for having
me.
[1:11:42] Yeah, I'll also just echo that. Thank you
so much.
[1:11:45] And because of the work that we do,
obviously, all together on the Opioid
[1:11:49] obviously, all together on the Opioid
Council,
[1:11:50] um, and then on Board of Health.
[1:11:52] There's some, some important pieces from
this, and I think there's so many factors,
[1:11:57] as we all know, and all of these things,
and,
[1:12:00] and trying to take this data and then try
to turn it into policies that have some
[1:12:05] sort of impact is not easy at all,
especially when, again,
[1:12:09] we don't want to see increases, but
they're still very relatively small
[1:12:13] they're still very relatively small
numbers.
[1:12:14] So trying to, you know,
[1:12:15] blanket an entire community of Hundreds of
thousands of people when you're trying to
[1:12:21] get to a subset of 50, for example,
obviously is—
[1:12:24] we start to think about how do we affect
those things from a policy perspective.
[1:12:29] But there are a few things that I just
feel are interesting in this in
[1:12:33] feel are interesting in this in
particular.
[1:12:34] And you kind of got to that corridor,
which is a thing that we are dealing with.
[1:12:39] But Most of the deaths that I think are
preventable in here are related to drug
[1:12:44] preventable in here are related to drug
use
[1:12:44] and alcohol use, substance use of some
sort.
[1:12:47] And so I do think to our prevention work,
and we did,
[1:12:50] and I'm gonna connect the dots here for
myself and also for the public when we
[1:12:55] myself and also for the public when we
talk
[1:12:56] about the fact that Opioid Council has a
huge THC prevention campaign aimed at
[1:13:01] huge THC prevention campaign aimed at
youth
[1:13:01] right now. While we don't see a lot of
overdose deaths, right,
[1:13:05] tied to that specifically.
[1:13:06] There are huge impacts that we're hearing
from our hospitals.
[1:13:10] This is one component, is the death,
[1:13:13] but we're also hearing about those other
components.
[1:13:16] And in addition to that,
[1:13:17] the reports that we have seen at the
Opioid Council which connect high-potency
[1:13:22] Opioid Council which connect high-potency
THC
[1:13:23] use to later use of some of these drugs
that are more dangerous and are leading to
[1:13:28] more overdoses. So it's a very complicated
picture, as we all know.
[1:13:32] Wearing a seatbelt is another one for me
that I just go, that's an easy one, right?
[1:13:37] Everyone in our community, it's a personal
choice,
[1:13:41] but it is something that everyone in our
community can make the personal choice to
[1:13:46] do and limit their own risk, right?
[1:13:48] And so some of these things are just
definitely ones that we've had a lot of
[1:13:53] awareness campaigns over the years.
[1:13:55] And again, it's always going to be
difficult to target that subset of people
[1:14:00] difficult to target that subset of people
for
[1:14:00] whatever reason that are just resistant to
taking those precautions.
[1:14:04] But the drug use, I think, is the big one
for me when I look at our state.
[1:14:09] When I look at— and we had the, again, the
fortunate experience, I guess,
[1:14:14] of seeing One Chance to Grow Up's
presentation just at our last meeting
[1:14:18] presentation just at our last meeting
where they
[1:14:19] went shopping at local gas stations and
different things to see what can kids,
[1:14:24] especially kids, get their hands on, but
really anybody,
[1:14:27] and the amount of things that are sold and
are far more accessible than they should
[1:14:33] be and are packaged as candies and all
kinds of things.
[1:14:36] So I think it's a great thought just about
how do we reduce drug use, period,
[1:14:41] in our community. If we could reduce drug
use and do those things,
[1:14:45] I think it would affect a lot of these
numbers. Very significantly.
[1:14:49] So lots of nuance and detail, but to me,
that's the one thing that stood out.
[1:14:54] And I just thank you for taking the time
and working on that.
[1:14:58] I know it's not easy to get those
quarterly numbers.
[1:15:02] That's a huge undertaking for you all.
[1:15:04] But I do think, especially for Opioid
Council Public Health,
[1:15:08] that's going to be significant.
[1:15:10] And we also know that, you know, again,
[1:15:12] there's just so many factors involved in
this.
[1:15:15] So when we think about programming,
[1:15:17] we've spent more and more in the last
several years already on suicide
[1:15:22] several years already on suicide
prevention,
[1:15:22] but We still have numbers that are that
are trending upward.
[1:15:26] So, you know, it's about evaluating too
again if you're blanketing an entire
[1:15:31] populations of hundreds of thousands of
people with prevention,
[1:15:35] but you really just need to get to those
fifty to a hundred or two hundred and
[1:15:40] fifty to a hundred or two hundred and
fifty
[1:15:40] people that are really in the danger zone.
[1:15:43] You know, what is the best way to spend
those dollars?
[1:15:47] So I appreciate you taking the time to
work through that those quarterly numbers
[1:15:52] work through that those quarterly numbers
and
[1:15:52] appreciate you being here and all the work
that you do across all of these agencies
[1:15:57] because we know. You contribute greatly.
[1:16:00] Thank you so much. I really appreciate
your kind words.
[1:16:04] And I agree with you entirely.
[1:16:07] You know, the, the intoxication,
[1:16:10] it weaves its way through this report
again and again and again.
[1:16:15] And I think, you know, substance abuse is
a major issue impacting us today. Yeah.
[1:16:22] But thank you all so much for having me.
[1:16:26] And I will send you A copy of the
PowerPoint. Okay, thank you.
[1:16:31] Mr. Wysong, I think, has just another
quick question.
[1:16:34] Yeah, I noticed that you did have
veterans, uh, in active duty on—
[1:16:40] I'm not sure if it was suicide or if it
was another.
[1:16:44] Have you looked at that based on, all
right, accidents, especially motorcycles,
[1:16:51] active duty versus veteran?
[1:16:53] Um, if there's some kind of drugs or
alcohol that caused—
[1:16:58] it would be interesting to, to see where
they fit with, you know,
[1:17:03] close to 100,000 veterans in the county
and with 5 bases, installations,
[1:17:09] whether or not, what kind of correlations,
[1:17:12] and does deployment factor into any of
that, you know,
[1:17:17] potentially seasonal or monthly rises?
[1:17:20] Yes. So, you know, all of the information
in this report, I mean,
[1:17:25] A lot of it's a requirement by the
National Association of Medical Examiners.
[1:17:32] But we've really tweaked this report in
our community to reflect the questions
[1:17:39] our community to reflect the questions
that
[1:17:39] our community has had.
[1:17:41] And so years ago, questions about folks
who are active duty or have a history of
[1:17:48] military work, those questions have come
up. And so we've been tracking that.
[1:17:54] For years. The numbers weren't very high
because I actually looked at that with the
[1:18:01] motorcycles and things before coming here
today,
[1:18:05] and there wasn't anything that showed a
significant change,
[1:18:10] so I didn't represent that in today's
presentation.
[1:18:15] But I want you to know we are— we
absolutely have been keeping track of
[1:18:21] absolutely have been keeping track of
that.
[1:18:21] Yeah, you bet.
[1:18:22] Thank you.
[1:18:24] You're very welcome. Y'all have a great
day.
[1:18:27] Okay, with that, we will move on to other
comments by elected officials.
[1:18:32] I don't see any other countywide elected
officials in the room today.
[1:18:36] Just going to give a minute for anyone to
jump up and to prove me wrong,
[1:18:41] but I don't see anybody, so we will begin
with Commissioner Wysong.
[1:18:49] Um, last week was, um, kind of a, a
catch-up.
[1:18:54] Um, this week is going to be, um, kind of
loaded with, um, BPACG,
[1:19:01] Parks Board, um, Fountain Creek, uh,
Watershed District, um,
[1:19:08] issues. Um, and pretty much, um,
[1:19:12] we'll be attending the 9/11 ceremony at
Cheyenne Mountain,
[1:19:18] and then Mount Carmel has their Patriot
Day celebration also,
[1:19:25] and then the Veterans Court has their
graduation at 1 o'clock on
[1:19:32] Friday.
[1:19:33] Yeah, it's a busy week this week.
[1:19:35] Um, tomorrow we have El Paso County
Housing Authority meeting,
[1:19:40] then Pikes Peak Rural Transportation
Authority.
[1:19:44] Thursday morning we have the Land Use and
Board of Adjustment,
[1:19:49] and then Friday afternoon is Community
Services Block Grant.
[1:19:53] And we are currently in the process of
putting together our community action plan
[1:20:00] and strategic plan. This is federal
funding that comes to help combat poverty
[1:20:06] funding that comes to help combat poverty
and
[1:20:06] helping individuals get on their feet and
reach self-sustainability.
[1:20:11] And we're looking for organizations that
help with skills training or just
[1:20:17] presenting economic opportunity and
financial coaching, those sorts of things.
[1:20:23] So we are— we already have received
applications,
[1:20:27] and now that board is reviewing the
subrecipients and figuring out where we
[1:20:33] subrecipients and figuring out where we
want to
[1:20:34] distribute this federal funding into our
community.
[1:20:38] And So that meeting is going to be very
full Friday afternoon as we approve our
[1:20:44] community action plan and our strategic
plan and then have to send it up to the
[1:20:50] state and get approval from the state that
we are, you know,
[1:20:55] intending to distribute this funding
appropriately.
[1:20:59] And then it's a 3-year period where we
will be distributing those funds to
[1:21:05] will be distributing those funds to
different
[1:21:06] organizations throughout the community.
[1:21:09] So.
[1:21:09] Thank you. Lots going on this week.
[1:21:11] I have a lot of reading that I still need
to do by tomorrow afternoon, and then, uh,
[1:21:16] continuing to read through some of these
applications even today, hopefully.
[1:21:21] So thanks.
[1:21:21] Commissioner Applegate.
[1:21:23] Thank you so much. Um, had a wonderful
Labor Day weekend.
[1:21:27] Saturday was our Labor Day liftoff,
[1:21:29] and that was a special year because it was
the 50th anniversary of our Labor Day
[1:21:34] liftoff. Started in 1976. out in Black
Forest area.
[1:21:37] And now, they do it downtown at Ernett
Memorial Park.
[1:21:40] So, I got to speak in the morning and I
got to see the balloons take off first
[1:21:45] got to see the balloons take off first
thing
[1:21:45] in the morning. And man, just so much fun,
just such a good atmosphere out there.
[1:21:50] And then Monday, I was at the Fountain
Fall Festival.
[1:21:53] I was in the parade that year and it was
really awesome.
[1:21:56] And I got to see a lot of familiar faces,
[1:21:59] got to see some people I just hadn't seen
in a while. And it was fun.
[1:22:03] It was enjoyable. My volunteers enjoyed
it. And the People around us enjoyed it.
[1:22:08] So we had a great and just wonderful day
yesterday.
[1:22:11] And yes, on 9/11, on this Friday,
[1:22:13] I will be attending many of the events
that are going on.
[1:22:16] So, including also, they're doing a
dedication for fountain—
[1:22:20] for their new fountain inside in front of
City Hall. So thank you.
[1:22:24] Commissioner Williams.
[1:22:26] Okay, uh, yes, I was able to attend some
events at the Labor Day Liftoff.
[1:22:31] On Saturday night, including some of the
leftover fireworks shows.
[1:22:36] The fireworks show was, uh, was not the
best one.
[1:22:39] I understand the real fireworks show is
going to be at the Switchbacks game on
[1:22:45] Friday night. And, um,
[1:22:47] but also had a conversation with the
Colorado Springs fire chief somewhat
[1:22:52] Colorado Springs fire chief somewhat
related to
[1:22:52] what we were talking about this morning.
[1:22:55] If you want to be a firefighter, you
cannot do drugs.
[1:22:59] 'Cause you have to pass the drug test
before you can get started in the school.
[1:23:05] So being that firefighters are a fairly
popular industry, you ought to be—
[1:23:10] or tell your kids so that they are ready
for that.
[1:23:13] This week I have the Pikes Peak Area
Council of Governments.
[1:23:18] I have the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation
Authority. Both of those are tomorrow.
[1:23:24] Thursday we have our land use meeting.
[1:23:26] Thank you.
[1:23:27] And Friday I have a Child Welfare
Allocation Committee to start discussing,
[1:23:34] I would assume, the allocation for next
year, which would not be made until,
[1:23:41] I believe, June. And then on Saturday, we
have—
[1:23:45] our church has a groundbreaking for the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
[1:23:52] Saints Temple in Flying Horse North.
[1:23:56] Yes.
[1:23:56] And that is an exciting event that I will
be attending.
[1:24:01] And that would be my whole week. Thank
you.
[1:24:04] I want to start by thanking Vice Chair
Nelson for taking such good care of this
[1:24:10] meeting last week. And as I was able to
spend a bit of time off with my family,
[1:24:15] it's— we run at a pretty intense pace here
at the county sometimes.
[1:24:20] And so it was very nice to be able to take
some time and catch up on life a little
[1:24:26] bit with my kids especially, which I
always appreciate,
[1:24:30] especially as my youngest is getting ready
to go back to school and be able to
[1:24:36] support— just support with my family.
[1:24:38] So thank you so much for taking care of
things here.
[1:24:42] I also have a busy week of catching up now
after being out for a bit.
[1:24:47] So I will be taking care of some of those
things that occurred while I was out,
[1:24:53] in addition to a Fairgrounds Corporation
meeting this week,
[1:24:57] which I'm looking forward to and looking
forward to some—
[1:25:01] what I think are very positive changes
that are going to be able to support our
[1:25:07] that are going to be able to support our
fair
[1:25:07] better coming up. So that's all I have for
today.
[1:25:10] Oh, we have a redo from Vice Chair Nelson.
[1:25:13] I just remembered I also have CSU
Extension tonight,
[1:25:17] which I'm glad you mentioned Fairgrounds
because I knew I had that tonight,
[1:25:23] but good to have the reminder. That's
right.
[1:25:26] So CSU Extension, they only meet
quarterly, so I wanted to give them a
[1:25:29] quarterly, so I wanted to give them a
shout out.
[1:25:30] Okay. All right then, um, we will move on
to item 8.
[1:25:36] Item number 8 is community service
organization reports, and there are none.
[1:25:44] Item 9.
[1:25:45] Item number 9 is public comment,
[1:25:47] public comment on items not scheduled on
the agenda.
[1:25:49] The commissioners welcome communication in
various forms.
[1:25:52] However, the public comment period is not
intended for dialogue,
[1:25:55] and commissioners do not engage in
conversation during this time.
[1:25:58] Members of the public seeking responses to
specific questions are encouraged to
[1:26:02] submit inquiries through Citizen Connect.
[1:26:04] And Madam Chair, I'm unaware of anyone
signing in to speak today.
[1:26:08] Okay, is there anyone here who wishes to
speak on an
[1:26:14] item that is not on the agenda?
[1:26:18] Okay, I don't see anyone coming forward,
so we will,
[1:26:24] uh, move on to item 10.
[1:26:27] Item number 10 is the called-up consent
calendar, and there are no items called
[1:26:32] calendar, and there are no items called
up.
[1:26:32] Item 11.
[1:26:33] Item 11 is department and committee
reports, non-action items, and there are
[1:26:37] reports, non-action items, and there are
none.
[1:26:38] Item 12.
[1:26:39] Item 12 is the addendum, and there are no
addendums today.
[1:26:42] Item 13.
[1:26:43] Item 13 is the executive session, and
there is no request for executive session.
[1:26:47] Okay, with that, we've come to the end of
this agenda. This meeting is adjourned.