As many of you know, two Republican candidates are running for the same seat in District 1 in Gilpin County. On Thursday, May 16, 2024, The Mountain-Ear sent an email request to commissioner candidates Jessica Kays and Marie Mornis requesting a Q&A with both of them before the upcoming Primary election. Both candidates agreed to answer questions. We collected questions from the community and sent them to both candidates on Friday, May 24. Both candidates submitted their responses by Monday, May 27. These questions and answers are published without any edits, as received. The Mountain-Ear is also willing to host a Candidates roundtable discussion. If both candidates agree, we can plan it between June 8 and 15.

1. How long have you lived in Gilpin County? My husband and I purchased our home in the summer of 1982 (forty-two years ago) and raised three children who attended the Gilpin school.

2. What sort of County oriented volunteering do you do? Being a county commissioner is a full-time job with unpredictable on-call hours, so volunteering is now a luxury for me. Before I became a commissioner, I was elected to the Gilpin County School Board and served as the Treasurer. My pre-COVID service to the Gilpin Seniors was driving seniors to the lunches and assisting with food service and cleanup. My husband and I volunteered for the Idaho Springs food pantry - stacking, distributing, and serving food items to the needy. I also helped organize and donated to the Gilpin Food Pantry’s Thanksgiving Food Drive and the Teen Make-a-Wish Christmas Gift Drive.

3. What other volunteer work do you do? Presently, I volunteer at my church, scheduling volunteers to help with the Sunday church services and assisting on the Donation Counting Committee. I also serve as the Gilpin County Republican Party Chair, recruiting, encouraging, and promoting candidates for county and statewide elections.

4. What boards or committees are you currently on? As commissioner, I am on the 911 Authority Board, a Director on the Denver Regional Council of Governments, a member of two statewide county lobbyist groups, the Board of Health, and the quasijudicial Local Liquor License Authority. I believe it is important to be informed and engaged in federal and state legislation and programs, but my major energy and interest is to serve Gilpin County.

5. Why do you want to be a commissioner? The question for me is “why do I want to continue to be a commissioner?” Living in Gilpin County for over four decades, I have seen many changes over the years - with the one exception of gaming - most have been gradual without extreme disruption to the community. However, for the past several years the constant increase in county personnel and funded projects that result in unsustainable obligations has caused a loss of services to the community. I have voted against both increases in staffing, especially in administrative positions, and the four-day work week, which results in a reduction in access for residents. There are many other projects, like the $1.5 million food pantry and the $500,000 shooting range that I believe are unnecessary. To be clear, I am not opposed to either of those services for our citizens…I oppose the decisions made to build and maintain a 2,500 sq. ft. new food pantry and the location of the shooting range to another county. These decisions leave less money for desired community services, such as the recreation center and senior transportation. At times, I am the only commissioner speaking up for common-sense solutions and fiscal restraint. I want to continue to be that voice for the citizens of Gilpin County.

6. What previous government experience do you have? Prior to serving as County Commissioner, I was elected to the RE-1 School Board and served as Treasurer. During my time on the Board, a new Superintendent and Principal were hired. Plans for a new high-school wing were initiated by the Board. With a preliminary budget in hand, a mill levy was placed on the ballot to fund the new wing. The people passed the mill levy.

7. What do you feel qualifies you to be a County Commissioner? I know Gilpin County! Gilpin County is my home! My concerns for this county are keeping taxes low, providing services as we did in the past for our citizens. As an incumbent Commissioner, I work every day to bring back the Gilpin County we knew and loved. Neighbors helped each other, were kind to each other and supported each other. That is my primary passion for the county.

My experience as a project engineer (fifteen years) required me to manage projects from concept to design, procurement, construction and start-up within +/- 10% of budget. For a successful outcome, it was necessary to communicate well with other departments, such as finance, scheduling, safety, engineering, and operations. The skills I developed of analysis, planning, budgeting, discernment, and teamwork apply to the qualities needed for a County Commissioner.

8. What specific goals do you have for the County if elected? Please prioritize your top three.

• Fund the recreation center seven days a week, as the county has done since its opening; with or without the Black Hawk IGA annual offer of $1 million.

• Our food pantry is necessary for the needy in our community. It is not necessary to spend $1.5 million to build a new building in a new location.

Repair or replacement at its current location would save the county approximately 75% of the proposed costs.

• Continue a laser focus on developing quality and reliable broadband service for all our county. This has been a serious issue for our first responders and citizens with inferior service.

9. What is the most important skill you bring to this position? I analyze data and issues with the needs and concerns of the county foremost in my mind.

10. Please share your vision of growth and economic development in the County.

• Cooperate with the two gaming cities to assist in their growth and success, where possible.

• Support measured growth in the county, balancing the need for services with the peoples’ desire to maintain their rural community.

• With the planned expansion of broadband, economic opportunities will be open to everyone interested in online commerce.

11. How would you integrate renewable energy and green policies in County planning?

• Research and implement a feasible method to use county generated slash piles to fuel the wood-chip boiler that heats the Public Works facility. This will save the cost of man-hours, transport and disposal fees.

• A feasibility study to add solar panels on the recreation center building to help reduce energy costs.

12. What quality of life issues do you think are important for Gilpin County residents? How would you deal with them?

• Keep the peace and beauty of our small mountain community: o Request more state trooper presence on the highways to reduce loud, speeding traffic (motorcycles, race cars). o Forbid the Gross Reservoir wood-hauling trucks from traveling through Gilpin County.

13. Tell us what you know about the county’s budget and the gaming tax revenues. Gilpin County has received $42,047,420 in gaming revenue since 2021 and property tax revenue of $18,111,166 since 2021 for a total of $60,158,586 from 2021 to 2023.*

Our 2024 budget expenditure is $39,453,754. Expenditures for the three-year period 2021 to 2023 is $79,447,058. This type of spending is not sustainable for the long-term fiscal health of our county.*

*All values are from the Gilpin County Annual Budget, Fiscal Year 2024

14. What experience do you have in networking with other groups and people who have ideas different from your own? I have many years of experience working with multi-disciplined professionals in my engineering career. Teamwork is a strong practice I value and used to accomplish the goals of project management. I expect to work together with the next Board of Commissioners to serve the community.

15. Does the Candidate believe the current changes to the Climate are caused by human activity? I don’t claim to be an expert in this area. If it ever becomes an issue for Gilpin County, I will proceed with due diligence to become informed.

16. What is your position on the IGA the City of Black Hawk has offered re: the Community Center? I see strong positives to the offer. The community wants the recreation center supported by the county general fund as it had been in the past. The failure of the 1A mill levy is a strong indication of the citizens’ displeasure with tax increases. Black Hawk’s generous offer of $1 million per year would help offset operation cost and allow time for the Board of County Commissioners to evaluate the staffing, hours of operation and programs. If for any reason the IGA is no longer a benefit to the county, the Commissioners may withdraw from the agreement at any time without penalty. I wonder why anyone would refuse to accept the $1 million per year.

17. What is your position on Sustainable funding for the Community Center? The recreation center was built with no debt and has been supported by the county general fund for 17 of the past 20 years. The Board of Commissioners must make the recreation center a priority and fund it for seven days a week, with or without the Black Hawk IGA.

18. What is your position on the proposed Food Pantry annex? Our food pantry is necessary for the needy in our community. It is not necessary to spend $1.5 million to build a new “Community Center Annex.” The proposed annex includes offices and a commercial kitchen. I see both of these as unnecessary expenses.

19. What is your position on a mill levy increase to fund the Sheriff’s Department? I have always supported the needs of the Sheriff’s Department. However, the 2024 Sheriff’s budget of $12,943,061 adopted in December of 2023, increased $2,181,876 from the 2023 budget. Part of this increase is due to newly-passed State legislation requiring law enforcement to provide additional, extraordinary services for inmates. I will not vote for a tax increase on the people, but will work to find ways to support our Sheriff’s department, including reimbursement from the State for their mandated services.

20. What is your position on the proposed Sexually Oriented Business in Central City? As a private citizen I believe SOB’s will be a detriment to the cities and the county.

21. Do you think the 2020 Presidential election was free and fair? Lawsuits on this issue are still working their way through courts across the country.

22. Do you have faith in mail-in balloting and if not, please cite verifiable examples that lead to your conclusions? Mail-in ballots have been fraught with fraud, as county clerk offices have been unable to maintain accurate voter rolls. Even in our county, election judges have encountered voters attempting to vote in person, only to find that someone else had returned a mail-in ballot in their name.

23. Do you feel the County is overstaffed? If so, what would you cut? The 2022 Compensation and Staffing study presented to the Board indicated we needed further staffing in Patrol and Dispatch. I intend to look into areas of staffing in my next term as Commissioner.

24. Assuming the Gilpin Republicans hold a majority on the Board of Commissioners, what, if any, decisions made by the previous Board would you seek to overturn and why? I believe it is presumptuous to assume that the two new Republican Commissioners would vote in lock-step. I would support the following changes:

• Accept the Black Hawk IGA for $1 million annually.

• Stop the $1.5 million food pantry in favor of replacing or repairing the existing pantry.

• Approve live streaming of Commissioner work sessions and allow limited public interaction.

• Update the employee handbook removing the recently-added text allowing county employees to campaign on the job.