Republicans debate on having a debate: Vice President Rick Wenzel moves to cancel the debate held during the Gilpin County Republican Central Committee monthly meeting. He claimed the meeting violated “pre-primary neutrality,” as defined in the Colorado Republican Committee bylaws.[/caption]

Chair Marie Mornis called the Gilpin County Republican Central Committee (GCRCC) Meeting to order at 7 p.m. on May 2 at the Gilpin County Library. The meeting was scheduled as a debate between the Republican candidates for County Commissioner. Nearly 50 members were present.

Mornis also currently serves as District 1 Gilpin County Commissioner and is running for reelection.

As Mornis was introducing Hostess Donna Okray Parman, Vice Chair Rick Wenzel called for a “point of order.” He said:

“I object to this debate. I believe you are in violation of Appendix B-1, Article 1, Section 4, of the Colorado Republican Committee Bylaws which states, ‘No candidate for any designation or nomination for the Elective Office of this District shall be endorsed, supported or opposed by the District Central Committee, acting as an entity, or by its officers or committees, before the Primary Election, unless such candidate is unopposed in the Primary Election.’

“Looking at the agenda, the list of patriotic debate volunteers, I recognize each name as one of your supporters. So a point of information: Was the Kays campaign involved in the planning and organization of this debate?”

Kays splits from debate: One of the Republican candidates for District 1 Commissioner, Jessica Kays, leaves the debate organized by Donna Okray Parman and Marie Mornis, with her constituents, saying, “I will not participate in a charade set up exclusively by Chairman Mornis.”[/caption]

Wenzel was referring to Jessica Kays, who is also running for District 1 Commissioner in the upcoming election.

Parman said, “I can answer that question,” to which Wenzel vehemently asked Mornis to answer the question.

Parman said that she had asked Mornis if having a debate is a good idea, to which she had answered yes. Then Mornis said she had called Kays and asked her if it would be a good idea, which Mornis claimed Kays had said that it would be a great idea.

Mornis had said that she gave Kays the date the debate would happen and that it would happen during the GCRCC meeting. Mornis said she had arranged for retired Jefferson County Judge Michael Bieda to moderate the debate.

Parman and Wenzel spoke over each other, with Parman accusing Wenzel of “hijacking the meeting.”

Mornis said she had no further input into the planning of the debate and that Parman organized the event.

Wenzel then asked Kays if she was involved in the planning and organization of this debate. Parman interrupted by saying, “We just said no. We just answered your question.”

Then Kays answered Wenzel’s question by saying, “No, I have not been involved.”

Parman continued to speak out of turn, saying “Can we go on? This is a very short time we have here. These people all came for a debate and Jessica doesn’t want to be involved. We will get a debate,” as Wenzel was asking to finish his comment, which Parman then encouraged.

Wenzel said, “Since the answer is ‘no’ from candidate Kays….” Parman interrupted again, reiterating that Kays had given her permission for the debate.

Wenzel continued, “I move that this debate be canceled for excluding the Kays campaign in its planning, and that your campaign contact the Kays campaign to discuss and agree on a procedure, rules, date, time, and location of another debate or a political event, whereby the voters of Gilpin County obtain sufficient information on each candidate so they can make an informed decision on who they want to represent them as their candidate for County Commissioner in District 1 in the Republican Party Primary Election on June 25.”

Parman seconded the motion. Mornis asked for a vote on the motion, to which various members of the meeting asked, “No discussion?”

Parman then said, “Why are you hijacking this meeting? We are just here to learn about the candidates. This is your typical Republican crap.”

Mornis said she would give people 30 seconds to speak, and limited the discussion to ten people.

One audience member said, “This is supposed to be the Republican Party meeting, not a debate entirely organized by Marie’s campaign.”

Another member said, “I don’t understand why it is so difficult to run a fair primary. This is how we end up with Democrats elected for all of our county offices. Everything observed about this process has been unfair.”

Another person asked where the questions for the debate originated, to which Secretary Brenda Diehl responded, saying the questions were submitted through the flier.

“I don’t know how this can be considered neutral when you [Mornis] are a candidate and you kicked off the meeting and organized it. You should have recused yourself,” said an attendee.

Mornis called for a vote from the registered Republicans in Gilpin County. Seventeen were in favor of canceling the debate, with 24 opposed to the motion. The debate was determined to proceed.

Questions for the debate had been emailed by citizens to the GCRCC Secretary, who deposited them into a box to be randomly drawn by the moderator.

Pastor Jack van Son delivered the invocation and prayed for unity.

The candidates were then given time to introduce themselves and share why they are running.

Mornis said she is running because she believes in having a conservative voice in Gilpin County. She said she believes in fiscal responsibility. She would like to have work sessions available on Zoom and open dialog with the public.

Next, Kays said, “As much as I have wanted a debate with candidate Mornis, I will not participate in a charade set up exclusively by Chairman Mornis in a backroom deal from which I was deliberately excluded. In fact, Ms. Mornis did not even send me tonight’s agenda until 8:26 last night.

“Last week I submitted a formal complaint to the Colorado Republican Committee over Chairman Mornis’ abuse of her office to benefit her own candidacy while opposing mine. That complaint was published today in The Mountain-Ear. Copies are available tonight.

“Ms. Mornis’ conduct has worked to the detriment of the people of Gilpin County. I will work for the betterment of everyone in this county regardless of party. I would very much like to have a legitimate debate, perhaps a round table. That door continues to remain open. On leaving here, I am going to the Elks Club to meet with supporters and answer questions. You are all welcome to join me.”

Applause followed and several people left the meeting.

Corey Marshall, candidate for District 3, introduced himself, highlighting his ability to think outside the box, to innovate new money-making strategies, and to avoid increasing taxes, particularly property taxes. He said he wants to give back to the county he has lived in for 30 years.

The debate was structured to give a candidate one minute responses and rebuttals to a question.

Several questions were asked, some redundant, and the two remaining candidates agreed with each other on almost all of the topics.

Topics ranged from their position on the Black Hawk IGA offer to fund the Rec Center to having ADA accessibility without a reservation during Board of County Commissioner meetings.

One hot topic included the proposed Food Pantry/Community Annex building, which Mornis said she has voted against at every opportunity. She stated she does not see why it cannot be built on the same site as the old food pantry.

Marshall said there is not enough information in the budget to determine if keeping the location is a good idea.

One question posed was, “Will you, as a commissioner candidate, pledge not to hold special elections or tax increases, but only on county commissioner election years, thereby saving the taxpayers money, for a special election, and forcing the candidates to take a stand during their campaigns?”

Marshall said a quick answer is yes and said the question is about openness and making sure residents understand how financial decisions today may increase taxes in the future.

Mornis said she had not thought of it before but that it makes sense. She continued that any proposal for increasing taxes has to have citizens’ input. [Editor’s note: TABOR requires that any proposed increase in taxes be approved by voters.]

Parman then said, “Mr. Moderator, I have something to give to these guys to get them to put it in writing. We have a pledge that we drew up and we want to know if you [the candidates] will sign it right now.”

Parman read the pledge:

“Pledge against odd-year ballot taxation questions. I pledge to vote against having Gilpin County taxpayers pay the cost of a special election in 2025 or any odd-numbered year thereafter, that would seek to raise taxes on Gilpin County taxpayers unless an unforeseen emergency arises. I further pledge that I will only support placing ballot questions seeking to raise taxes on Gilpin County taxpayers when one or more commissioner seats are up for an election, meaning in an even-numbered year.”

She then challenged the candidates to sign the pledge.

Both candidates declined the challenge, saying they would need time to discern the details of such a serious subject.

A typical debate does not allow for audience participation, but Parman said the pledge was part of the question.

Central City Mayor Jeremy Fey elaborated on his question, which asked the candidates if they “would support a three-way real estate deal, between Central City, the County, and the State, to move all three public-facing services into the current County Courthouse building, allowing for the State to free up the Clark School and the City to vacate City Hall for commercial, educational, and cultural purposes?”

He said the gaming commission uses the Clark School, but that it is very underused, and they could make great use of that building. He said it would help communication among the entities.

The candidates said they would support the idea.

When asked if the County should receive more funds for gaming impacts, Marshall agreed and Mornis said she is willing to discuss the issue with non-profits, not necessarily the government.

Parman spoke again during the debate, clarifying an incomplete question that she had submitted concerning the allotted time of three minutes per speaker for public comment during BoCC meetings.

She said one woman took 38 minutes to talk, and asked if the candidates would support removing the limit unless it causes a problem.

Marshall said there is a point of order and procedures that need to be followed, but he would allow it if the circumstances allowed it.

Mornis basically agreed, saying that last year, when she was Chair, she allowed citizens to speak longer unless they were too verbose or there were a lot of people who signed up to comment.

The meeting concluded at approximately 8:30 p.m.

GOP Meetings occur on the first Thursday of each month. The Gilpin County Highway Cleanup has been rescheduled for June 17. For more information, visit https://gilpingop.com/.