At what was advertised as a regular meeting of the Elbert County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) to consider new business items, including the proposed 2016 county budget, instead there was a well-orchestrated rebellion. It was a rebellion led by Commissioner Robert Rowland, who on Monday morning stepped down as Chair of the BOCC and who on Monday evening made a heated plea to constituents attempting to explain his version of the truth. Dore and Ross added the topics of hiring outside counsel, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck and placing county attorney Wade Gateley on paid administrative leave at the commission’s Monday morning agenda meeting.
Claiming that his two fellow commissioners had taken “unprecedented” and “probably illegal” actions Rowland set the stage for the ensuing attacks against Commissioners Kelly Dore and Larry Ross. He immediately set about enlisting other elected officials, staff, and employees to stage a coup. With encouragement from their supervisors, employees and other elected officials arrived and came to the podium demanding the resignations of Dore and Ross.
This was a staged rebellion. A rebellion perhaps designed to provide a smoke screen. It stank. The smoke screen may have been intended to deflect attention from the charges to be lobbed against Gateley that might implicate Rowland, Ehmann and others of wrong deeds. Perhaps it was an attempt to deflect attention from the 2016 budget proposal. Maybe I’m just a conspiracy theorist. Quite possibly it was just Rowland’s terrified reaction to the revelation that he was about to be rendered utterly powerless. With Dore moving out of his camp and aligning with Ross, Rowland’s vote becomes only symbolic. And, without the dutiful commissioner-wanna-be Gateley around plotting mischief with him, it just loses all the fun.
Does anyone honestly believe these two commissioners would consider resigning? Does anyone believe the county would collapse without attorney Gateley? Of course not! Yet, these were the arguments of the day. There is the potential here for even more lawsuits as this was clearly a political maneuver, conducted by government employees during government work hours in a government building. Wake up Rowland, Ehmann and Sheriff Heap, ever heard of the Hatch Act? You know all that legal stuff you like to circumvent to advance your personal agendas...
The November 19 BOCC meeting devolved into a four hour verbal dressing down of Dore and Ross where county employees and their supervisors vented their wrath, on paid time, about these two agenda items and their perceived destructive impacts to the county.
County manager Ed Ehmann claimed the commissioners were intent on firing him, too. This suggestion really fired up the crowd. (Of course, this rumor had been floated days ahead of the meeting so the underlings could rant about that as well.) Dore and Ross denied this was the case pointing out that the agenda item addressed their concerns regarding their attorney. Ehmann came to the defense of attorney Gateley and said Dore and Ross would be “destroying all the progress the team had made over the last two years to get the county back on track, financially. Wade (Who has lost all his ElCo Courtcases.) is part of the team and it would destroy the team”. For now, let’s leave the debate over the county’s current financial viability, how it came to such dire straits, and who’s to blame, for another day.
Sheriff Shayne Heap brought at least a dozen uniformed officers and numerous employees from his office. Mr. Ehmann brought almost a dozen employees from the public works department.Other elected officials, including the assessor, the surveyor, the treasurer, and the clerk came to voice their displeasure. County clerk Dallas Schroeder was the first elected official to take the podium to call for the resignations of Dore and Ross, claiming Dore was “interfering and inserting herself in matters where she had no business” and that Ross was “slowing things down” and “impeding progress”. Schroeder was followed by Sheriff Heap, Treasurer Rick Pettit and Surveyor Keith Westfall, all calling for the resignations of Dore and Ross. Assessor Billie Mills was against any resignations urging the commissioners to come together to settle their differences and work together for the good of the county. Some in the audience expressed their distaste for all three commissioners including Tony Baker, a member of the county planning commission, who described the mud-slinging affair among the commissioners as a Jerry Springer-like moment.
County employees then took their turn at the podium with gushing praise for Gateley and Ehmann, saying it would be a “travesty” and “dumb” to fire the two. Many came with prepared, written statements. It was clear these employees were encouraged and coached.
Next, in a completely unprofessional and emotional display of histrionics Mr. Gateley took the podium and said he would not resign adding, “I will fight. It’s a political fight. I’m in the middle. Ross and Dore are the problem. I have always acted in the best interest of the county.” He accused Ross of having a personal agenda. To which Ross asked, “Mr. Gateley, what do you believe is my personal agenda?” After a noticeable pause, Gateley sputtered, “You don’t care about the employees or the direction of the county.” Hardly a description of a personal agenda. Again, protest designed to deflect attention from the charges about to be lobbed at him. The audience never got to hear the charges.
Attorney Gateley came on the scene of the train wreck called Elbert County Government in early 2014. Two lawsuits, one potentially very costly for the commissioners personally due to a lapse in their liability coverage (courtesy of GOP Leader and insurance salesman, Scott Wills', incompetence), have left the county taxpayers and the commissioners extremely vulnerable. Following Ehmann’s appointment to the position of county manager (from his previous assignment as director of public works and road and bridge), former commissioner Kurt Schlegel signed an employment contract on behalf of the county with Ehmann. (Schlegel and Rowland voted in favor of this contract, Ross voted against it.) The contract includes a golden parachute granting Ehmann six months’ guaranteed salary, $9083.33 per month, if fired without cause. Two months ago, Gateley authored a contract for himself with the same golden parachute for $8,125.13 per month, including all benefits. Severance compensation when fired with cause is contingent upon the actual offense(s) committed, specifically outlined in their contracts.
Commissioners Dore and Ross tried to exercise the terms of Gateley’s contract on November 19 by notifying him in a public meeting that he was to be placed on paid administrative leave for potential employment termination with cause. Rowland and Gateley are directly responsible for extended litigation and new litigation surrounding a 2013 case that has been settled by two courts regarding a violation of the Fair Campaign Practices Act. Both are facing potential court sanctions.
Dore and Ross, obviously distrusting Gateley and doubting his competency, are seeking outside counsel. Apparently the county’s second full time attorney, Bart Greer, may not have the expertise required to handle this litigation. Dore revealed her desire to stop the ongoing litigation that is solely due to Rowland’s refusal to pay a $1000 fine, ordered by the ALJ and upheld by the Colorado Court of Appeals.
Attorney Gateley has made a tangled alliance with Ehmann and Rowland and it is proving very destructive for the county. Gateley’s clients, all three commissioners, are not being well-served by their attorney. Gateley appears to only recognize Rowland as his client.
Finally, the employees vacated the area, and the remaining agenda items were addressed. The presentation of the proposed 2016 budget, the last item on the agenda, was understandably uneventful and lacking in detail, perhaps by design. Ehmann confessed that neither he nor anyone on his staff has even met with the Community and Development Services department, which will be down to two employees by mid-December. What’s the message there? Ehmann considers this revenue generating department that is responsible for the master plan, collecting fees, approving land use applications, oil and gas applications, irrelevant? Ehmann thanked and praised the team for putting together a fine budget that is moving the county in the right direction. Right.
