The Estes Park Town Board meets twice a month—on the second and fourth Tuesdays—as a public body.
They meet first for what is called a study session to learn about various issues of public policy from Town staff and from various area experts. These meetings usually convene at 5 p.m., sometimes earlier, and they can often run for almost two hours depending on the topic. At the conclusion, the study session is adjourned.
Then the Trustees reconvene for the actual Town board meeting at 7 p.m. where they will take public comments on various issues and vote on matters such as the adoption of a new ordinance. Often presentations are made by Town staff members or by experts on matters the board may vote on.
Two differences between the study session and the actual town board meeting are that during the study session, votes are not taken and, as a rule, public comment is not heard.
This is a problem.
During the study session, the members of the Town Board can discuss issues and ask questions of Town Staff or of an expert who has been brought in to share information. The members of the board can voice their opinions, but they do not vote on issues during study sessions.
Usually, it is during these sessions that the Town Board gives direction to the Town administrator and Town attorney to draw up the language for a measure that will be adopted at a later Town Board meeting.
I attended the Nov. 12 study session along with other owners of bed and breakfast homes. We wanted to comment on the discussion on hosted short-term rental homes. At the start, the mayor asked the trustees if they would permit public comment. While one trustee supported this, four declined.
I found it surprising and disappointing that our elected representatives were unwilling to hear the perspectives of community members, including short-term rental owners who are directly affected by these discussions.
It seems reasonable to expect that those we elect to serve us would be open to listening to our views, even if they differ from their own.
The session ended at 6:35 p.m. before its scheduled ending time which left plenty of opportunity for public input.
Public engagement should be a priority for those in office, as it fosters transparency and trust.
Other than for emails, letters, and one-on-one conversations with Town Board members, the current process allows no opportunity for individuals to comment publicly on the issues and provide input before a matter is drafted into the language of an ordinance and brought before the Board for a vote.
When the issue is then placed on the agenda at a subsequent Town Board meeting for an up or down vote, the public has precious little opportunity to advocate for a policy or influence the thinking of the Town Board.
Trustees have been reluctant to permit public comment during the study sessions. Some have said since study sessions are the only time board members can talk about issues as a group, this time should be reserved just for the elected board members without the public weighing in on issues.
Technically study sessions, board meetings, and executive session are the only times that the members of a publicly elected board can talk about issues because Colorado’s public meeting laws do not allow more than two elected members of a board to meet to talk—in person, on the phone, or in a Zoom—call without calling a properly noticed public meeting.
Study Sessions are properly noticed public meetings, meaning they are open meetings which allow the members of the board to meet and to discuss issues. But the rules of the Estes Park Town Board Study Sessions do not provide for an opportunity for public comments.
This could be changed, and it should be.
As the Town’s public policy is shaped, the public should be allowed to provide comment and to advocate for or against how policies that will affect the public are crafted before the ordinance is written.
By waiting until the ordinance has been drafted and it is on the agenda for the Town Board to vote on, it is usually too late for the public to have any influence.
Some Town Board members do not seem to want to hear what the public thinks or has to say. It is as if they come to a Town Board meeting with their mind made up. “Don’t confuse me with the facts, I have already made up my mind.”
This is terribly unfortunate and a lousy way to craft public policy.
The Town Board is a representative body elected by the people. It should represent the members of the community by listening to their voices and incorporating the concerns, wisdom, and lived experience of the public into adopting Town policies.
I hope future study sessions will include opportunities for community voices to be heard.