We, the citizens of Douglas County, Colorado, have always been proud of our community’s values of integrity, openness, and fairness. However, over recent years, we've noticed a disturbing trend among the operations of our Board of County Commissioners (BOCC)—a lack of transparency that contradicts these values.

This petition is non-partisan. This is only about demanding transparency and accountability from our local government.

Open government is the foundation of a strong democracy, allowing citizens to understand, evaluate, and engage with the decision-making processes that shape our lives. The current opacity in BOCC’s operations undermines trust and hinders community participation.

Douglas County has a population of approximately 400,000  people, all of whom deserve to know how local governance affects their daily lives. In recent years, decisions impacting growth, infrastructure, education, and public safety have been made with little public input or explanation. These decisions have be fiscally questionable as best. For example, the decision to put home rule on the ballot in a special election 2025, costing taxpayers $700,000. The BOCC was found to have violated the sunshine law on open meetings regarding the whole home rule process.

We demand that the BOCC implement the following policies immediately:

• Reinstate open public comments at business meetings. The citizens of Douglas County should be able to comment on any issue at public meetings until all have spoken. This should include items that are on the agenda or that are relevant to Douglas County. WE pay you $150,000 a year. If a meeting goes long to hear public comments, that is you earning the paycheck that WE pay you.
• Reinstate public comments on the Douglas County Government Facebook and other social media pages. The Douglas County website and Facebook page are OUR website. It is not the BOCCs page to control and limit community engagement. No other county or municipality appears to have turned off public comments.
• ALL meetings should be livestreamed, recorded and posted online for citizens to view. This includes administrative and business meetings that are currently live streamed, as well as ALL work, "advance planning huddles", and study sessions. A citizen shouldn't have to send a request for recordings of these meetings, they should be openly available to everyone and posted on Youtube or other public sources.
• NO side conversations on the dais during business meetings that the public or recordings can't hear or record. All conversations during a quorum need to be on the record for the public to hear.
• ALL scheduled meetings and agendas should be in one place, and be easily accessible the public. Currently the business meeting schedules/agendas and the work session schedules/agendas are in different locations on the website and not easy to find. The motion logs that were approved at work sessions are in yet another. We demand all of these items are in the same place for public engagement and review.
• The commissioners give adequate notice to citizens and provide materials for citizen review prior to meetings, especially involving major decisions.
• No secret "advance planning huddles" that circumvent or give the appearance of violating open meetings laws. If there is a quorum then you should notify the public and stream/post the meetings.

Transparency is not a privilege; it is a right we must demand. A government that hides its decisions or neglects to include its citizens in dialogues that determine their future falls short of its duties.

By signing this petition, you are standing up for a transparent and accountable government in Douglas County and empowering our community to reclaim its right to open proceedings. Let’s work together to ensure that every decision regarding our county’s future is as clear and understandable to its residents as it is to its commissioners. Your signature is the first step toward reinstating the transparency we deserve. Please only sign if you are a resident of Douglas County, Colorado.