Following is a statement from the Board of Douglas County Commissioners regarding the Board’s decision to release a redacted Report of Investigative Findings on the conduct of County Commissioner Lora Thomas:
“Consistent with our commitment to transparency, the Board of County Commissioners have made public today a redacted version of the Report of Investigative Findings. The public may now see the findings of the investigation and county employees are not being put at risk. In this report you will see that the investigator answered “yes” to two primary areas of concern:
-Did Lora Thomas distribute a letter naming and disparaging first responders for her own political benefit? The answer was YES.
-Did Lora Thomas misdirect outside counsel against Board direction to protect vulnerable individuals in the San Luis Valley and without informing her Board? YES.
The Board majority finds that the results of this investigation support her removal as chair.
Additionally and unfortunately, half billion-dollar organizations like Douglas County cannot turn a blind eye to a Board member leaking a privileged and confidential document with identifying information of personnel to the press for their own benefit. Our in-house legal counsel has also looked into that issue, reaching the determination that misconduct by Lora Thomas likely occurred. The Board is evaluating whether her behavior warrants further consequences. It is unfortunate that Lora Thomas continues to cost the county time and money with her egregious behavior. We recognize the public expects upstream governance, respect, and professionalism and we endeavor to return to that.”