238942 Page 1 of 3 Cristy Lynn, Clerk & Recorder Ouray County, CO 03-19-2025 11:20AM Recording Fee $0.00 The Board of County Commissioners met in a special regular session on February 18, 2025. Those present for the session were Jake Niece, Chair; Michelle Nauer, Vice-Chair; Lynn Padgett, Commissioner Member; Connie Hunt, County Manager; Leo Caselli, County Attorney; Kara Rhoades, Deputy County Manager; Marita Robinson, Deputy County Attorney; Jennifer Peterson, Public Information Officer; and Eli Holmes, Executive Assistant I and Deputy Clerk to the Board. 1:32 1. Request for acceptance of County Manager's Resignation: Commissioner Niece opened for discussion of the County Manager's resignation. Commissioner Padgett stated that the most important thing to come out of the meeting is item #4. She apologized to the employees for finding out about the resignation of the county manager through the newspaper. She thought it would be important for the board to work together on the next steps. She thinks it is important for the board to have a shared message to the employees and citizens. Commissioner Padgett stated that she believes it is in the best interests of the county to accept the letter but thought that the terms could be negotiated. She wanted to thank County Manager Connie Hunt for her service to the county. She read a prepared letter for Ms. Hunt acknowledging her accomplishments as Ouray County Manager. She stated that she believes strongly that at this time the county should have an interim county manager. She said that the County Manager would have a limited scope and would work with the interim county manager moving forward. She would like to create a clear timeline for the transition. Commissioner Niece asked for a legal opinion on the county's ability to retain Ms. Hunt as a contracted employee. County Attorney Leo Caselli advised against it but stated that the county could figure something out if necessary. Commissioner Nauer shared some of her experiences with Ms. Hunt in their 23 shared years at the county. She stated that she is sorry for the way things worked out. She thanked Ms. Hunt for everything she has done. She wanted to make sure that the letter Commissioner Padgett is shared with the public. Commissioner Niece asked what Commissioner Padgett thought about the legal opinion of Mr. Caselli. Commissioner Padgett was surprised by the opinion based on the conversations she had with other county government officials. She offered a solution of having Ms. Hunt end her employment at the beginning of her scheduled vacation. She stated that Ms. Hunt's focus would be to train an interim finance director. Mr. Caselli explained the statute that advised his opinion. He stated that it would be easier to keep the county manager as an employee rather than to try to avoid the statute and contract her. Commissioner Nauer provided a solution that would allow her to be full time until her vacation and then remain on staff as an advisor to the administration department in the remainder of the transition. Commissioner Padgett said that she would prefer that the severance happen by the vacation. She stated that she would like to offer dental and health insurance through June 30th. She explained her preferred method of separation, having Ms. Hunt stay on until the vacation. Ms. Hunt stated that she only offered the June 30th date to benefit the county. She offered to leave earlier if it was int the benefit oft the county. Commissioner Padgett asked ift the insurance benefits would lapse and if she needed the insurance. County Manager Hunt deferred to Ms. Sherry Peck. Ms. Peck stated that ift the county paid the check in March, her insurance would be good through April. Commissioner Padgett said she would like to accommodate Ms. Hunt and that it's important to have insurance lined out before leaving. She suggested the board could craft terms around the resignation to assist Ms. Hunt. Commissioner Nauer brought up Chip Taylor from Commissioner Padgett's points, stating that Chip was here before Connie was hired and is familiar with the County. Commissioner Padgett talked about several people who could help in the interim and what they could do to help the board with the next steps. Commissioner Niece stated he agrees with the idea of an interim county manager. M/S/P Motion was made by Lynn Padgett and seconded by Michelle Nauer to accept the voluntary resignation of the County Manager effective March 31, 2025, with health insurance, dental and vision benefits expiring April 30th. Motion Passed Unanimously. 2. Discussion and direction regarding composition of a new County Manager job description: Commissioner Niece asked what type of state statute process the board would need to follow. Mr. Caselli stated that the resolution to add the deputy county manager authorized the deputy county manager as an interim county manager. He stated that ift the board wanted to authorize another interim county manager, they could do that. Commissioner Niece directed staff to authorize another interim county manager. Commissioner Padgett shared her thoughts regarding contracts for interim county managers. Commissioner Niece asked for the legal team to take note of Commissioner Padgett's suggestions. Commissioner Padgett stated her opinion on what should happen before the county finalizes a county manager job description, including a SWOT analysis of the current state of the department. Commissioner Niece suggested using MGT moving forward. He stated that he didn't intend to have a full job description put together but to have a discussion on how to move forward. Commissioner Padgett suggested having an advisory committee after the SWOT analysis. Commissioner Niece suggested having an advisory committee for selecting applicants and avoiding a committee for creating the job description to avoid getting bogged down. Commissioner Nauer asked about MGT and potentially reaching out to employers' council. She also asked for Commissioner Padgett to explain the SWOT analysis. Commissioner Padgett suggested avoiding MGT due to their current involvement with the organization. February 18, 2025 238942 03-19-2025 Page 2 of 3 Commissioner Niece stated he would like to have a consultant to help and suggested potentially using more than one consultant. Commissioner Padgett listed a couple of organizations that help with these priorities. Commissioner Nauer mentioned one of the organizations and stated she was familiar with it. Mr. Caselli asked the board whether they were directing staff to begin the search for the head-hunting process. He summarized the thoughts of each of the commissioners. He asked about the timing for the recruitment and what he should talk about with the interim county manager candidates regarding contract terms. Commissioner Padgett stated that finding the interim county manager is urgent, but that the county should take its time on the search. Commissioner Niece agreed with finding the interim county manager right away and asked if it would be possible to get a draft contract by next week. Mr. Caselli stated that he has stuff on his plate and mentioned a memo he would put together over the course of the next couple weeks. Commissioner Niece stated that the memo is a lower priority than finding the interim county manager. Mr. Caselli explained the best way to handle the procurement process. Commissioner Padgett stated that she would send along the contacts that she has flagged to help. Commissioner Niece asked who should be tasked with this. Commissioner Nauer suggested having the County Attorney, County Manager, Deputy County Attorney, and Deputy County Manager to work on the procurement process for the interim county manager. Mr. Caselli asked for a motion to authorize an immediate procurement under the procurement manual subject to further approval and contracting by the board. Commissioner Padgett asked for clarification. Mr. Caselli stated it was the same as any other immediate procurement. Commissioner Nauer asked if Deputy County Manager Kara Rhoades had any input. Ms. Rhoades stated that she feels like she's been skipped over and that she's not even in consideration. Commissioner Padgett stated that there is no disrespect intended and explained why the board may look to county government experience for the next county manager. She wants to make sure that the knowledge held by Ms. Hunt is available to the county. Ms. Hunt suggested having an interim to help Ms. Rhoades learn and grow. She stated that she believes in Ms. Rhoades and thinks that itd could be beneficial to the county to use her as an interim county manager. Commissioner Padgett suggested offering the position of interim Chief Financial Officer and Finance Director. Commissioners Nauer and Niece stated that this was a different position and Commissioner Niece stated his desire to avoid changing job descriptions during this meeting. County Manager Hunt offered support for Ms. Rhoades. Commissioner Nauer asked Commissioner Padgett to clarify her idea. Commissioner Padgett explained her vision for an interim county manager. Her idea is to have the deputy county manager work under the interim county manager and learn more underneath the interim. Commissioner Nauer stated that she wanted to make sure it was clear for the public. Mr. Caselli stated that the board had already authorized Ms. Rhoades to be the interim county manager when she was hired. He stated that they have two options, one being to request bids for an interim county manager and the other to hire an assistant for Ms. Rhoades. Ms. Hunt offered to contact the consultants and suggested they may have ideas and asked if the board would be open to other suggestions. Commissioner Niece stated that he would be open to this, but that the current discussion is plan A. Commissioner Padgett would like the board to be involved and not receive filtered information. Commissioner Nauer suggested having these consultants come to a special meeting and receive any suggestions they may have. Commissioner Niece asked Mr. Casellii if he would still like a motion for direction to use the immediate procurement policy to search for bids for an interim county manager. Mr. Caselli suggested including some flexibility in the motion to provide alternate bids to provide consulting. M/S/P Motion was made by Michelle Nauer seconded by Lynn Padgett to direct staff to use the immediate procurement process and to be flexible in soliciting informal bids for an interim Manager and also possible alternatives for consulting for the Deputy County Manager. Motion Passed Unanimously. 3. Direction to staff to collect bids from headhunters to initiate a County Manager search: 4. Letter to staff from Commissioners regarding the County Manager transition: Commissioner Niece stated the process to follow for the letter to staff and county citizens. He explained what he would like to see in the letter. Commissioner Padgett agreed and added some other ideas that she had shared earlier, as well as goals for the board to share. She wanted to make sure that employees feel safe and stated that there are rumors of people feeling like there may be firings. Ms. Hunt stated that she did not tell anyone about her resignation because she wanted to wait until the board accepted her resignation. She stated that she would send out a message to all employees to notify them of the resignation and the terms. Commissioner Padgett added that she would like Ms. Hunt to send it to all employees. She reiterated the point that the board should ensure that employees feel comfortable with the upcoming changes. Commissioner Nauer read her notes for the letter for the record. Commissioner Padgett shared her screen with her notes for the letter and read them for the record. She explained her desire for the letter dispel any rumors of unjust firings. February 18, 2025 238942 03-19-2025 Page 3 of3 3:04 PM Board recessed for a break. 3:30 PM Board reconvened as the Board of County Commissioners. Commissioner Niece shared his screen with the draft letter. Commissioner Padgett stated that she liked the letter. She suggested running it through grammerly. Commissioner Nauer asked to have a typo corrected. County Manager Hunt brought up another typo. Commissioner Padgett took credit for the typos. Commissioner Nauer suggested adding a thank you to Ms. Rhoades for taking on the transition. M/S/P Motion by Lynn Padgett and seconded by Michelle Nauer to approve the letter from the BOCC to the employees and citizens of Ouray County with any remaining typos corrected and put on letterhead and transmitted tonight. Motion Passed Unanimously. Mr. Caselli read the statute regarding the county manager hiring process. He stated that the board has not talked about deadlines for application. He gave a response time of a week to ten days fori interim manager applications. Commissioner Padgett stated that the timeline makes sense and gave her thoughts. Commissioner Nauer agreed with the response timeline. Commissioner Padgett stated that the board must be on the same page and that the board must build trust. She said that the board should all be equally involved in the process for the search. Commissioner Niece suggested adding language that the county will search for either ani interim manager or consultant to the Deputy County manager while the search for a permanent county manager happens. M/S/P Motion was made by Michelle Nauer and seconded by Lynn Padgett to approve the changes to the letter in the 2d paragraph. Motion Passed Unanimously. 3:46 PM With not further business, the Board of County Commissioners adjourned. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF QURAY COUNTY, COLORADO Attest: I 6 / IA Jake Niece, Ghair Me Lek a Rues Michelle Nauer, Vice-Chair Cristy Lynn, Clerk and Recorder LynmPadgeltt, bommissioner Member By: Eli Holmes, Deputy Clerk oft the Board February 18, 2025