The Visit Estes Park Board of Directors held a special meeting Tuesday afternoon, April 8, to discuss a letter sent to the Larimer County Commissioners and Estes Park Town Administrator from Kirby Hazelton, an Estes Park Town Board Member and a VEP Board Member. Hazelton sits on the VEP Board as the liaison from the Town Board.
Hazelton’s letter to the Commissioners criticized the performance of the VEP Board and claimed the Board “was not acting with good policy governance.”
She further stated, “I believe that the Visit Estes Park Board has demonstrated a pattern of being unable or uncommitted to responsibly govern the organization. By not properly managing and obtaining a Chief Executive Officer, by choosing to avoid community transparency, and by abandoning the obligation to be beholden to its owners, or the Estes Valley, it serves, the Visit Estes Park Board is currently dysfunctional, ineffective, and jeopardizing future operations.”
Hazelton requested a joint meeting between the Larimer County Commissioners and the Town of Estes Park Board of Trustees to discuss the removal of Visit Estes Park board members, the appointment of replacement and/or temporary board members to any vacated Visit Estes Park board seats, and the interim CEO appointment.
During the Tuesday afternoon meeting, the VEP Board drafted and approved a written response to Hazelton’s letter on a 6-0 vote.
The response, which was address to the Commissioners and copied to the Town Board, expressed the VEP’s Board’s concerns with the manner in which Hazelton went about addressing her concerns, “Trustee Hazelton did not share her most recent concerns, or her intention to so petition the Town Board and County commissioners, with the Board Chair or any other Board Member with the Visit Estes Park Board. This is another signal that the working relationship with Trustee Hazelton has with the VEP Board continues to deteriorate. The VEP Board has been concerned about Trustee Hazelton’s appointment to the Visit Estes Park Board since her appointment in April 2024.”
VEP’s letter said that Hazelton “has shown a persistent pattern of undermining the organization’s board leadership,” and claimed that she “has a personal history with the organization which included her unsuccessful bid to become CEO of Visit Estes Park in 2018.”
The VEP Board’s letter refutes statements made by Hazelton in her letter to the Commissioners, stating that claims made by Hazelton are not “accurate or complete in context.”
Calling Hazelton’s claims subjective, the VEP Board wrote, “The most troubling comments made in Trustee Hazelton’s April 1st letter, and perhaps the crux of the issue, are the comments about staff discontent and culture concerns. This is a highly subjective conclusion from one board member based only on the opinions expressed by some staff members. If there is an example anywhere in her allegations of staff trying to usurp the duties and obligations of the VEP Board, it is here. Feedback from staff is mixed at best and by conveying only a partial view to the Town Board and County Commissioners, we believe Trustee Hazelton provides only self-selected input that supports her personal views.”
The special meeting, which was held online, was open to the public.
According to VEP, Hazelton notified Mike Zumbaugh, VEP’s interim CEO, and Board Chair Sean Jurgens shortly before the meeting began that she was unable to attend the special meeting.
The VEP Board prepared their letter to provide a response to the Estes Park Town Board Trustees, which meets tonight at 7 p.m. in the Town Board Room. While the VEP Board letter will not be in the Town Board packet for tonight’s meeting, Estes Park Mayor Gary Hall told the VEP board that their letter would be read into the public record.
Visit Estes Park is a special marketing district charged with driving sustainable year-round economic growth in the Estes Valley community by encouraging visitors to come to Estes Park. A special marketing district is a designated area that by law can levy a tax on lodging services, such as hotels, motels, and vacation rentals, to fund tourism-related activities and infrastructure within a specific geographic area.
I’ve watched several VEP board meetings since Trustee Hazelton joined the board. It honestly seems like she came in with no intention of working with the board, but rather to be a contrarian. It makes more sense now that I know she applied for the CEO job a few years ago and didn’t get it. Seems like she’s out for revenge. If you don’t believe me, go back and watch past VEP board meetings. The board functions fine. It seems she’s just mad she’s not getting her way on board decisions when she’s literally the only dissenting vote.
I’ve been watching VEP board meetings since Trustee Hazelton’s appointment as well. No other trustee would have been a better choice from what I have seen. Being the only dissenting vote doesn’t make her wrong, she won’t follow the leaders like sheep if it isn’t right. The board says she is undermining them.
I think her thinking is a bit above them. Just compare the professionalism in the request letter to the County and Town boards from Trustee Hazelton, and then the VEP response. By the way, I don’t know Trustee Hazelton and have never met her. The work of VEP is important to our town, and it is important to our hotel.