Gilpin County Sheriff Candidate Zach Meyer was unable to attend the Candidates Forum in Gilpin County on September 26. To allow voters to hear Meyer's thoughts on community questions, The Mountain-Ear asked him to submit the following answers in writing. 

Here are my responses. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to answer.

What are some specific steps you will take to ensure public trust in the department?

By being more transparent in the hiring and training process. More social media presence with educational and informative content describing the ins and outs of law enforcement.

If you agree with spending County funds to cooperate with Federal immigration enforcement, what is your rationale? 

I don’t think we should be spending our money on immigration. I do think we should cooperate and coordinate with federal agencies and authorities within the limits of the constitution.

Has the Sheriff’s office had any encounters with ICE?

The only encounter that I am aware of is in the jail when ICE contacts us asking to hold immigrants that are out in our custody.

Please tell us what Gilpin County’s yearly budget is for the Sheriff’s office. 

I haven’t had the opportunity to look at the overall budget. 

Do you believe the Sheriff's Office currently has enough deputies to adequately cover Gilpin County? 

I believe we need more deputies on the road and in the jail because currently we do not have enough bodies to provide adequate coverage to allow for time off and vacations without causing overtime. Also, currently we have deputies solo on shifts when high risk calls come in and they are responding to these calls alone.

Do you have new recruitment ideas?

We cannot compete with the metro agencies so it’s imperative that we focus on the culture of our Sheriff's office and create an agency people want to work for.

What is your position on deputies partnering with mental health providers?

I do like the idea. Multiple other agencies have done so with great success. We would just have to figure out how to implement that within budgetary restraints and I would achieve that by reaching out to the other agencies that have done this successfully by learning how they funded it and what their model looks like.

What do you believe is the biggest public-safety problem facing Gilpin County, and what specifically would you do about it?

The one I’ve personally seen and hear locals comment about frequently is speeders on our county roads and highways. This in conjunction with the current state of our county roads, only deteriorates the roads even further. We need to increase enforcement and law enforcement presence on our roads to limit this behavior.

What specific changes would you implement regarding school safety?

Increased training and coordination with our partnering agencies during the times when our school is closed to ensure our response in the event of an emergency is as timely and efficient as it can be in neutralizing the threat to our children

Please state whether you support your party's gubernatorial candidate and the reasons for your position.

I do not currently support our parties pick for governor. Being a Marine Corps vet myself, there are too many inconsistencies in his stories in past interviews about his past service making me question his honesty and integrity. 

At the end of your term, what do you hope people in Gilpin County will say about the way you served them?

That I was honest, trustworthy, and that I looked out for the men and women of our agency and that I was a good leader.