On June 24, Douglas County voters emphatically rejected the proposal to form a 21-member Home Rule Charter Commission by a 71.43%–28.57% margin, killing the bid to rewrite county governance and insulate local policies from state statutes (denver7.com). Opponents branded the measure a “power grab” rushed through with minimal public engagement, while proponents argued Home Rule would let Douglas tailor zoning, taxes, and department structures to local needs—just as Weld and Pitkin counties have done since the 1970s (cpr.org).
As a Weld County commissioner, I find this outcome deeply disappointing. Weld and Pitkin remain the only two Home Rule counties in Colorado, and our charter has been a viable defense against one-size-fits-all mandates from Denver. In Weld, we’ve used Home Rule to streamline oil-field permitting, more efficiently organize our government’s operations, and adjust our public-safety protocols without waiting on the legislature. That nimbleness isn’t luxury—it’s a necessity for communities that span booming suburbs and working farms.
Douglas County’s commissioners put forward a boilerplate proposal without the dozens of town halls and targeted outreach that Weld undertook over months of deliberation. Voters had legitimate questions about costs (nearly half-million dollars for a special election), potential changes to elected officials ‘ salaries, and the lack of real examples of how Home Rule would improve services (cpr.org). When constituents feel steamrolled—rather than enlisted—they vote “no,” and that’s exactly what happened.
Douglas still has a chance to reclaim this initiative. I urge their commissioners to pause, rebuild trust through genuine citizen collaboration, and return with a charter shaped by the people—not imposed by politicians. Weld stands ready to share our blueprint: Home Rule is more than a label; it’s the best defense for local control in a state government that too often forgets what happens beyond the glorious Denver/Boulder ruling axis.
That is a shocking failure. Someone didn’t get the correct message out to the public.
Unfortunately, the points you cite are largely inapplicable or less-appliable to DougCo. County home rule is NOT some magic cure-all elixir to innoculate a local government from state overreach, but that’s how it was sold to DougCo voters, who saw through the snake oil. I know it’s probably lonely being in a small minority of two, but home rule has been available for 55 years, and there’s a very good reason that most counties have declined to go down the home-rule road.
Agreed – the Douglas County Commissioners did not do a good job in presenting County Home Rule for what it is. They presented it as though DougCo would become a state of its own. That’s just not the case. I see it as an opportunity, the Colorado Constitution/statute detail a series of mandatory functions and permissive functions home rule counties must/can perform. Home Rule counties are also given broad authority to pass ordinances and/or charter amendments that address matters of local concern. That is where Home Rule Counties – both of us – can and should pass ordinances and charter amendments that address matters of local concern.
Is it “lonely being in a small minority”? Hardly. It’s empowering. I am grateful for the Weld County residents who tackled and passed Home Rule back in 1974 and 1975. They did it right – a robust stakeholder process that took nearly two years. I have had commissioners from over a dozen Colorado counties reach out to me about home rule. The process, as outlined by statute, is onerous, time-consuming, and, unless properly timed and coordinated with other elections, expensive – as the DougCo commissioners discovered. Ultimately, I still believe it is a good thing for “the governed” to have a larger say in the organization of the government that serves them.