Board of County Commissioners Business Meeting - Regular Meeting

Good morning. I'd like to call the September 22nd, 2026 business meeting of the Arapahoe County Board of Commissioners to order. In attendance today are Acting County Attorney John Christopherson and Cooney Saraceno, Administrator to the Board in the Clerk and Recorder's Office. Also joining us to facilitate remote public participation is Michelle Halstead, Director of the Commissioner's Office. Mr. Saraceno, will you please call the roll?

Here. And Commissioner Campbell is absent. Are there any changes? Nope. We need to do our Pledge of Allegiance, and so please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. Thank you very much. Are there any changes to the agenda as presented?

Wonderful. May I have a motion, please? Madam Chair? Yes, Commissioner.

I move that we accept the agenda or adopt the agenda as presented.

It has been moved by Commissioner Warren Gulley and seconded by Commissioner Fields to adopt the agenda as presented. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The ayes have it and the motion is adopted. Next is our public comment period. You're invited to speak to the commissioners about any topic that is not on the agenda for general business. For those who are on the line who'd like to get in the queue to speak, please press star three at this time. As a reminder, Only press star three once to get in the queue. If you press it multiple times, it will remove you from the queue. Those in the ro

Thank you. Mela Schusterman. Just a minute, Ms. Schusterman, before you get started. Thank you, go ahead.

Thank you. Thank you very much. Dr. Sullivan?

Good morning, Chair. Good morning, sir. Board members. My name is Gregory Sullivan, and I am here regarding the proposed Costco Fuel Center at Mineral Place in Littleton. Specifically, I'm talking about the tanker fuel fire on April 27th on Santa Fe, taking 8,000 gallons of fuel to a gas station. So I want to raise an issue that I believe deserves direct response from the county. As I said, April 27th, a commercial gasoline tanker crashed and caught fire on Santa Fe Drive near Bellevue. The driver was killed terribly. This was not a hypothetical scenario. South Metro Fire Rescue treated the in

Thank you, Dr. Sullivan. Michelle, is there anyone online? Commissioners, there's no one in the queue at this time. All right. Well, thank you very, very much. Public comment has concluded. Again, we encourage you to email us at commissioners at arapahoe.gov if we weren't able to hear your comments today. So thank you again. We have a very special item before us today that recognizes the contribution of somebody who thinks they're leaving the building. I'm not sure if I'm going to go on, sir. Are you going to make me? Don't make me read.

We are honored to recognize, we did, we adopted the agenda. We are honored to recognize the retirement of Mike Williams, Chief Deputy Assessor in our Assessor's Office. He is retiring after 22 years of service to the county. It's not enough. Is there a motion to adopt this resolution? Commissioner Fields.

Madam Chair, I make the motion to approve the resolution.

Is there a second? I will second. Thank you, Madam Chair. It has been moved by Commissioner Fields and properly seconded by Commissioner Baker to approve the resolution. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Opposed. Hearing none really, the resolution is adopted. So Mike, I'd like to invite you to the podium while I read your retirement resolution. And I may add some different words. You ready? Whereas Mike Williams began his employment with Arapahoe County on October 4th, 2004 as a data collector in the assessor's office. He was promoted to appraiser two, then appraiser three in real estate, t

It's been a long time we've worked together and I'm gonna have fond memories of seeing you and Kim walking around the building at lunch. And all of the other events. Some county employees come in, they work hard, they do everything that they need to do. And you're one of the ones that goes over and above. And I just want to say thank you for all your service and hope that and I don't think you'll be a stranger. We'll still see you around. So thank you, Mike. Really appreciate it.

Commissioner Warren Gully. Thank you, Madam Chair. So, Mike, one of the things I loved in the resolution about you was that you worked with people regardless of issue or attitude. And I see all of the emails that I get from my residents about their property tax bill. So I know the attitude that you deal with on a daily basis. And I know that many of the residents that I refer to you around, the questions around their tax bills and everything, you very patiently respond. look up their particular parcel and their property and help them understand that. And, you know, I do really agree with the r

Commissioner Fields. Thank you, Madam Chair. And Mike, I don't have the 22 years of experience with you. But I can tell you during my time with you in your role, you've demonstrated a high sense of care and commitment to the work that you do. I mean, you really show up. And to see your colleagues here applauding you is a good insight into the kind of character and teamwork that you bring into your work. So I just want to wish you all the best as you retire. Peace and joy be with you.

I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Well, Mike, I really can say that, you know, if I'm laughing and joking and calling you out, you're somebody that I really do feel comfortable with. And that really does, since I came in the building, you were one of the smiling faces who's very helpful. You and Kim, I remember meeting y'all, and I'm like, I don't know who these people are, but they seem cool. But now I know about your professionalism. I know about the job that you do. I know about the care and concern that you show, not only to residents who may be calling with some things, but also to the Board of C

Now, Mr. Williams, would you like to say something? No, I think... Okay.

Well, as much as I would like to adjourn the meeting, we can't do that. We have some other things that we need to do now that my heart is broken. Boy, oh boy. So we're going to move on to our proclamations today. We are honored to have two proclamations before us. The first one is recognizing September 15th through October 15th, 2026 as Hispanic Heritage Month. Is there a motion to approve this proclamation? Madam Chair, I'll make the motion to approve.

It has been moved by Commissioner Baker and properly seconded by Commissioner Fields to approve the proclamation. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The ayes have it and the proclamation is adopted. I'd like to ask Commissioner Fields to read this proclamation, please.

Thank you, Madam Chair. A proclamation declaring September the 15th through October the 15th, 2026 as Hispanic Heritage Month. Whereas each year we observe Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15th through October the 15th to recognize the extraordinary histories, vibrant cultures, and immeasurable contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. The 2026 National Hispanic Heritage Month theme is Jutos Somores. Together, we are more. It celebrates family, resilience, creativity, faith, and service, and honors the divers

Thank you, Commissioner Fields. Commissioners, are there comments on the proclamation? Yes, Commissioner Warren-Culley.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I love that theme of the year, Together We Are More. And in Arapahoe County and in particular District 1, that I represent such an amazing tapestry of the Latino community and the work that they do. you know, many, many of, of, um, these folks are, are small business leaders. There are civic servants. I mean, they, they work alongside of all of us trying to serve community and provide for our residents. And coming from the education world, uh, the Latino Hispanic population is one of the largest providers and, and, and, um, folks that work in the education world as teac

Thank you. Commissioner Fields. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, I too want to celebrate that Arapahoe County has, um, passed this resolution, this proclamation, but I think it's also important that we address the concerns as it relates to this population as it relates to the, the fear. that hovers around this community in reference to, um, maybe ice deportation or those kinds of things. The spirit of fear. When you think about one in three in Aurora being a Latino or Hispanic, the fear of the potential separation of families, uh, fearful about reporting crime, fearful about, um, maybe haven't have

Yeah. Thank you. Well, I also would love to add some words. So thank you commissioners for what you said. One of the things that I like to do when we talk about groups of people is I like to bring in something that might be a little different. And so this one is, uh, um, something that you can take from this room to shift your mindset. When we talk about who is, who is Hispanic, who is Latino? Um, what sort of, um, visions come to mind? What sort of work comes to mind? What sort of contributions come to mind? And everyone who was here has contributed mightily to the growth of the United States

That's so exciting. So thank you. Thank you very, very much again. And, um, thank you commissioners. And we have a whole other proclamation that will probably go a little, a little shorter, but I got a story about that too. And I get to read this one. This one is acknowledging Arapahoe day, October 5th, 2026 as a Arapahoe day and recognizing October 12th, 2026 as indigenous people's day. Is there a motion to approve the proclamation? Commissioner Warren-Gulley.

It's been moved by Commissioner Warren-Gulley and properly seconded by Commissioner Fields. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The ayes have it. The proclamation is adopted and I will read it. A proclamation declaring October 5th, 2026 as Arapaho Day and October 12th, 2026 as Indigenous Peoples Day. Whereas the land we now call Arapaho County has been home to the indigenous peoples for thousands of years, with the Arapaho people being among the original stewards of this territory along the South Platte River and the Front Range. And whereas our county proudly bears the name of the Arapaho

Who knows the indigenous word? Where is it? Where did I put it? That one. Thank you. very much, whereas the Arapaho Nation, known as the Hino Iye, thank you, Commissioner Baker, in their own language, meaning our people, have maintained their cultural traditions, their language, and spiritual practices despite centuries of displacement and hardship. And whereas October 5th has been designated as Arapaho People's Day, to specifically honor the Arapaho Nation and their contributions to our region. And whereas indigenous peoples across the Americas have contributed to immeasurably, contributed im

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would invite anyone who exits through our front door, as you go out, take a look to your left at our flag poles, and you will see the flag of the Arapaho Nation. I remember with a lot of good memories how we established a new relationship, a renewed relationship with the Northern Arapaho tribe and on their reservation in Wyoming and how we took a trip and went to visit them and established this relationship and how they approved our use of the Arapahoe County logo and felt that it was honored. They were honored as a people to be represented in their historical legacy.

Thank you very much, Commissioner Baker. Anybody else? Commissioner Fields.

Once again, I appreciate this proclamation because I think it's important that we're reminded not only about the richness of this culture, but also the past. And when I think about the past, especially for the Arapahoe native American folks in Colorado, there used to be in Fort Lewis, what they would call boarding schools and these boarding schools, what they would do is they would, um, I will say they robbed these girls from their tribes and they put them in this boarding school so they could become, um, traditional, whatever they wanted to erase their history and their path. And when I heard

I have a story. I love it. First, I'm going to say I used to, I am the child who is most like my dad. And my dad was very embarrassing because he talked to everybody. He was always happy perky. And there was a story for absolutely everything. I'm like, jeez. So here's my story. I was in D.C. this past week for the Congressional Black Caucus Conference. in a session with Congress people and talking about mental health and all kinds of great things. It was a great session. The Congresswoman Gwen Moore from Wisconsin, at the very end of it, she said, if you are an elected official, I want you to

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right, you can all stand by me. We could, Mr. Meyerbecker, can you stand down there for me? Yes. Okay. One, two, three, one more, one, two, three. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much. Oh, yeah.

I'm just done. Well, we have eight items on our consent agenda today. Does any commissioner wish to remove an item? Nope. Then I will entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda. Madam Chair. Commissioner Warren-Gulley.

I move that we approve the consent agenda items as presented. Second.

It's been moved by Commissioner Warren-Gulley and properly seconded by Commissioner Fields to approve the consent agenda as presented. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The ayes have it. The motion's adopted. We have no items on our general business agenda today. So I know. So I will continue to the next item. We don't have any pulled consent agenda items either. Well, do we have any commissioner comments that we didn't already say? Well, then be there no other business before this board. We're adjourned.