Petition circulates to increase Colorado's Douglas County Board of Commissioners from 3 to 5 seats; "It's about better representation"

Voters in Colorado's Douglas County could see a question on their November ballot about increasing the number of elected county commissioners who represent them.

Right now, the Board of Douglas County Commissioners is made up of three commissioners, who each live in a different district but are elected by all the voters of the county.

A petition currently circulating would not only increase that number to five, but create distinct commissioner districts.

"It really is about good governance, it's about better representation, and it's about giving people a voice in how their county is run," said petition organizer Angela Thomas.

Thomas created a petition to increase the Board of Douglas County Commissioners from three members to five.

"I've always felt like Douglas County is a very large area to have just three people managing a $600 million to $700 million budget and making decisions for almost 400,000 people," said Thomas.

Thomas says she's circulating the petition with a bipartisan team of 80 volunteers. If they get more than 15,000 signatures from registered Douglas County voters, the question will be posed to voters in November.

"The ballot measure will read: Shall the membership of the Douglas County Board of Commissioners be increased from a three-member board to a five-member board," said Thomas.

The measure would also ask voters to choose between two methods of electing commissioners: either five commissioners who each represent and are elected by distinct districts, or three commissioners elected by three districts and two at-large seats elected by all voters.

"I believe that district voting is much more fair to the people, because when the Highlands Ranch people vote, they really are concerned about Highlands Ranch issues, which are very different than Larkspur issues or Franktown issues, and so I believe that rural areas need as much representation as the suburban and more urban areas of our county," said Thomas.

"I'm of mixed feelings, quite frankly," said Douglas County Commissioner George Teal.

George Teal says an increase to the board he sits on would be good for large communities like Castle Rock, but worries the idea could lead to deadlock if each commissioner only fought for their district's interests.

"It's really nice being able to find one guy to agree with me here instead of two, but it really doesn't bother me at all. I'd be just as comfortable serving on a board of five as I would on a board of three," Teal said. "I've been on record for years, and yeah, if people want to get together, they want to circulate a petition, they get the support. I will absolutely put it on the ballot."

Both Teal and fellow Commissioner Abe Laydon are term-limited, with Laydon set to finish his term this year and Teal in 2028.

"I'm kind of excited to see how this goes, because I think it's already been argued in the judiciary here in Colorado, once these districts are reformed, the office I'm in now essentially goes away, and so I will have an opportunity to start again. I can run for another four-year term, perhaps another two terms," Teal said.

But Thomas says that's not the case.

"Not really. The term limits are to Douglas County commissioners," said Thomas. "He could run again after four years, but he can't run in 2028 because he is term-limited at that point."

Colorado law limits commissioners to two consecutive terms, but whether three seats or five, Teal could always run again after waiting four years.

"I'm pretty confident, if five is chosen, yeah, I'll seek re-election under that new district," Teal said.

While Thomas has had her disagreements with the current board -- even running against George Teal for his seat in 2024 -- she says the petition is not a move against the board.

"They are certainly a concern of mine, but as I said, this has been something that I felt was important for several years now, because I just didn't think we had the representation. There are a lot of people who are very upset with our current commissioners, but I think that this is about representation. It's about giving all people a voice, and we really don't have a voice right now," Thomas said.

"My Democrat opponent is an organizer of this. I've heard Representative [Bob] Marshall, who is an advocate for the petition, speak on the matter several times. He does feel that the Democrat Party will be able to secure a county commissioner seat by having five commissioners. I think that all comes down to how those borders are drawn by the redistricting commission," Teal said, adding he doesn't think a Democratic commissioner would have much success on the board, which is currently made up of all Republicans.

Thomas says right now the petition has between 3,000 and 5,000 signatures. It must be returned with 15,046 verified signatures by Aug. 1 for the issue to make the ballot.

"It goes through the same process that your ballot goes through in verifying your signature," said Thomas. "You have a voice with this petition, and signing it is a way to give yourself a voice at the ballot box."

Thomas says specifics on where the money for two more commissioner salaries would come from and how the redistricting process would work are to be determined. Teal says Colorado law says a redistricting commission would need to be formed.

The petition must be signed in person, not online. Organizers have launched a website with information, FAQs and a calendar of signing events.