South Suburban will appoint a new board member on June 14

At its next meeting on June 14, the South Suburban Parks and Recreation Board of Directors plans to appoint a new member to the vacancy left by the sudden death of Dave Lawful.

South Suburban is not planning public interviews for the position and would not say in advance what form board discussions will take.

Pursuant to state statute and district bylaws, the other board members decide who fills a vacancy of this nature. During its May 24 meeting, the board voted to conduct an application process to select an appointed candidate.

By the 5 p.m. June 6 application deadline, South Suburban received four applications for the spot, administrative services manager Jennifer King wrote in an email to Colorado Community Media.

The candidates are Michelle Cutter, Keith Gardner, Thomas Rundell and Alexis Barrer, who finished fourth in the May 2 Board of Directors election.

Another county resident named Amy Conklin also said she believed she applied for the position, but King said the county only received a letter of reference on her behalf.

Election results and candidates

At the May 24 board meeting, several public commenters advocated that the board recognize the results of the May 2 election and appoint Elizabeth Watson, the third-place candidate.

Watson, who received just five more votes than Barrer in the election, did not apply for the vacant seat.

She said she did not feel the board wanted to work with her and did not think she would be appointed to the position if she applied.

“Unfortunately, I did not believe that the board would be able to put aside their personal opinions and appoint me to the board,” she said. “So I decided to give them every opportunity to appoint a highly qualified and select board member, which will be Alexis Barrere.”

Watson said she was disappointed the board chose to conduct an application process instead of selecting an appointee based on election results.

“I believe the board is getting feedback from the community that they need to respect the election,” she said. “My greatest hope is that they appoint Alexis Barrer and allow a new person on this board who is highly skilled, willing to ask tough questions and dedicated to refocusing the board’s attention on our local community.”

Barrer said she applied to give the board a chance to support what voters want.

“I think (the board) had an opportunity to honor the voters’ choice,” she said. “I wanted to make sure that it goes on the record that if South Suburban doesn’t elect herself or Elizabeth Watson, which I understand she didn’t put in an application … that it’s on the record that the district somehow went against the decisions of the voters.”

She also said she hopes the process for choosing an appointee is transparent, especially given how many tax dollars the board controls.

“I think it’s unfortunate that these decisions are going to be made based on five questions and a letter of recommendation without an interview process,” she said.

“I just hope, however they choose, that there’s some transparency about how that choice was made and why they chose one person over (the others),” she added. “I hope they can at least provide a rationale.”

Transparency and process

The June 14 board agenda includes the appointment of a new board member.

According to state law, all discussions about the appointment of a person to fill the office of a member of a public body must be held in public.

“This is something that needs to be done out in the open,” said Jeff Roberts, executive director of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition. “They will elect a replacement for the deceased and the board does that instead of holding a new election. This is a process that the public has a right to observe.”

South Suburban Communications Manager Becky Grubb said she expects there to be a discussion before the appointment, but doesn’t know specifically what the discussion or decision-making process will look like.

The Douglas County School District Board is also conducting an application process to fill a vacancy. In their case, the board will appoint a member to fill the place of Elizabeth Hanson, who abruptly resigned during a meeting in May. The school board plans to interview candidates, make nominations and vote during two upcoming public meetings.

Grubb said there are no plans to interview each candidate during South Suburban’s June 14 meeting and the board will decide how they want to conduct the discussion.

Board President Susan Pye did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

The next board meeting will be at the South Suburban Sports Complex located at 4810 E. County Line Rd. From 18:00 there will be a study session, and from 19:00 the business meeting will begin