Good Governance and Transparency

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Too many people feel that government decisions happen to them, not with them. They have jobs, kids, and bills, and they tune in when a decision hits their street or their wallet. By then it is often already made. That is not anyone’s bad faith. It is how local government has long worked. We post notices, hold weekday meetings, and open public comment after the real work is done.

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I have spent more than twenty-five years on local boards in this county, and I have watched good decisions get made and good decisions get resented. The difference was almost never the decision itself. It was whether people felt the process was honest, and whether they were heard while it still counted. Residents do not need to win every decision. They need to know the process was fair and that their voice reached the table in time to matter.

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The west end has put that principle into words better than I can. The guiding idea behind the 2026 West End Vision Plan was simple: do not make decisions for the community without the community. That is the standard I want county government held to everywhere, on the east end and the west. Plan as one region, but listen to local voices before decisions are set, not after.

 

Make the budget something a resident can actually follow. And meet people where they live instead of asking them to come find us.

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Bring people in before decisions are made

    •    Engage the public early, especially before major land-use or development decisions, not after the real work is done.

    •    Support and expand citizen advisory groups on housing, land use, climate, and other significant issues to widen participation.

    •    Explore a participatory budgeting process for county discretionary funds, such as community grants.

Make the county easier to follow

    •    Maintain transparent budgets and build public dashboards so residents can track budgets, projects, and timelines.

    •    Improve county websites so information about development projects is easy to find.

    •    Livestream all BOCC meetings with Spanish interpretation.

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Meet people where they live

    •    Hold regular BOCC office hours around the county, from Telluride and Placerville on the east end to Norwood and Egnar on the west, for direct constituent access.

    •    Carry good engagement practices, such as newsletters, neighborhood outreach, and updates, into every part of the county, including the west end.

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Plan as one region, and back it with real structure

    •    Use intergovernmental agreements to align county and town decisions, so development in unincorporated areas reflects local priorities rather than a one-size-fits-all county code.

    •    Support a standing seat for the west end in regional planning, the kind of regular cross-jurisdiction coordination the

 

West End Vision Plan calls for.

    •    Ask governments and developers to assess the regional impacts of development and work with affected communities to lessen them.