An Open Letter to Chair Carrie Geitner

We Don’t Need to Be Schooled. We Need to Be Heard and Respected. We understand the law. We understand the process. What we are increasingly questioning is whether Chair Carrie Geitner understands that her role is to represent the people, not to lecture them.

Chair Geitner,

I am submitting this through the Clerk to the Board and requesting this become part of the public record.

I am respectfully writing this letter because I believe it is time to have an honest conversation about something that has become increasingly difficult for many residents to overlook: the way you speak to and interact with the people you were elected to serve.

This is not about expecting you to agree with residents. It is not about expecting public meetings to be easy, and it is certainly not about suggesting that the Board should ignore the law or the requirements of a quasi-judicial proceeding.

It is about respect. It is about leadership. And it is about whether the way you interact with residents reflects the very core values you are expected to uphold as a County leader.

We Have Heard You Tell Us What We Don’t Understand

During the P261 and P262 hearings in July, you stated:

“Much of this opposition, I think made an assumption of non-compliance with Master Plan and I just don’t think that is accurate.”

You also stated:

“Fundamentally much of the opposition with respect does not understand the process here, what we are charged with doing and the rule of law.”

Those statements are concerning because you made a broad assumption about the knowledge and motivation of the people appearing before you. And unfortunately, that pattern continued during the Buc-ee’s hearing.

You told the audience that you imagined many of us had never heard of C-1 zoning and that we had simply decided we did not want a Buc-ee’s and then became involved.

That was simply not true.

And more importantly, it was a personal assumption about the motives and knowledge of the people sitting in front of you.

Hundreds of residents spent months researching the Land Development Code, the Master Plan, zoning history, traffic studies, staff reports and other evidence. People took time away from their families and jobs to attend meetings, review hundreds of pages of documents, consult experts and prepare fact-based presentations.

They did not simply wake up one day and decide they didn’t want a Buc-ee’s and the fact that you made those remarks as part of the hearing are not only concerning but condescending and disrespectful.

They did the work. They participated in the process and they came prepared to discuss the very legal and planning criteria that you repeatedly told us were important.

You may ultimately disagree with their interpretation of the evidence. But disagreement does not justify assuming that the people on the other side haven’t done their homework.

Explaining the Process Is Different From “Schooling” the Public

We understand that you have a responsibility to explain the process. We understand that residents may misunderstand aspects of a complicated land-use proceeding. We understand that the Board must follow the law. But there is a significant difference between saying:

“Here is what the law requires us to consider.”

and communicating:

“You don’t understand the process, you don’t understand the law, and you don’t understand what we’re doing here.”

The first is leadership.

The second is dismissive.

And when this happens repeatedly, it creates a pattern of behavior and impression that residents need to be “schooled” by the Board rather than heard by it.

That is not what community engagement should look like.

And Then There Was the Ten-Year-Old Boy

Perhaps the most disappointing moment during the Buc-ee’s hearing came when a 10-year-old boy stood before the Board and bravely spoke during an extraordinarily intimidating process.

When members of the audience applauded him afterward, you scolded the audience for clapping. We understand decorum. We understand that the Board needs to maintain order.

But there is a difference between an audience disrupting a hearing and a room briefly acknowledging a ten-year-old child who had the courage to stand before elected officials and speak publicly.

There was no yelling. There was no shouting. There was no attempt to disrupt the proceedings. It was applause. For a child.

That moment was not a threat to decorum. It was a moment of humanity.

And frankly, residents should not need to be reminded that a child deserves a small acknowledgment from the people in the room who watched him do something difficult and courageous. It is disheartening that you did not rise to the occasion as a former educator to celebrate this young man.

That moment felt unnecessarily harsh and, to many watching, was a particularly disappointing example of how the tone has increasingly become disconnected from the people sitting in the audience.

Please Remember Who Is Sitting in Front of You

These are not professional lobbyists sitting in that room. They are not paid advocates. They are not people who make their living studying zoning law. They are your constituents. They are parents. They are grandparents. They are homeowners. They are business owners. They are teachers, professionals, retirees and young people.

All of them are volunteering their evenings and weekends because they care deeply about their community.

When someone spends months learning the Land Development Code because they believe a proposed development may affect their neighborhood, that effort deserves respect, even if you ultimately disagree with their conclusions.

You don’t have to agree with us. But please don’t assume you know why we are there.

Please don’t assume we haven’t done the work, and please don’t assume that disagreement means we don’t understand the law.

Your Own Core Values Set a Higher Standard

The County’s core values are clear.

Service-Focused

Making a difference by serving county residents and anticipating community needs efficiently.

Serving residents means remembering that the residents are the reason the office exists.

Public participation isn’t an interruption to government. It is government.

Accountable

Acting as good stewards of public resources while remaining open, honest and responsive.

Accountability means being willing to hear criticism and difficult questions without becoming dismissive of the people asking them.

Collaborative

Fostering teamwork across departments and building strong community partnerships.

You cannot build strong community partnerships by assuming the people participating in them are uninformed or don’t understand the process.

Collaboration requires respect, even when there is disagreement.

Trustworthy

Upholding high ethical standards, adhering to laws and professional policies, and listening to the public.

Following the law is absolutely essential. But so is listening to the evidence the public presents. Trust is not created by repeatedly telling residents that they don’t understand the process. Trust is created when residents believe that their evidence has been heard and considered fairly.

Transparent

Communicating openly and clearly about County initiatives, challenges and operations.

Transparency is not simply explaining the rules to residents. It is creating an environment where residents feel respected enough to participate in the process.

The Chair Sets the Tone

You are the Chair of the Board. That means YOU have an additional responsibility.

You set the tone. When you are respectful, the room becomes more respectful. When you listen, others are more likely to listen, and when the person presiding over the meeting repeatedly characterizes residents as uninformed or misunderstands their motivations, is dismissive and condescending, is completely disengaged and uninterested when the community is speaking, it sends a message that their participation is not genuinely valued.

We have heard you emphasize the importance of decorum. We agree. But decorum cannot be a one-way expectation. Residents should be respectful of the Board. The Board should be respectful of residents. Both matter.

You Don’t Have to Agree With Us

This is not a request for you to agree with residents. It is a request for something much more basic:

Listen to us.

Respect us.

Consider the evidence we bring forward.

Don’t make assumptions about our intelligence, our preparation or our motivations.

And don’t talk down to the people who elected you.

I hope you and ALL county commissioners will take this as an opportunity to build a bridge with the community. If you think we don’t understand what it is you are doing here and what the law is, then sit down with the community and share with us, help us be better partners in the process.

We have the right to disagree with you without being characterized as people who simply don’t understand the process or the law.

Leadership Means Rising Above

Public service is difficult. We understand that. We understand that you sit through long meetings, contentious debates and passionate testimony. We understand that residents can be frustrated. But that is precisely why leadership matters.

The responsibility of leadership is not to match the frustration in the room. It is to rise above it.

The people sitting before you may not always express themselves perfectly. They may misunderstand something. They may disagree with you. They may challenge your position. They may even be wrong.

But they are still the people you were elected to serve, and they deserve to be treated accordingly.

So, Chair Geitner, Please Remember Your Role

You were elected to represent the people of El Paso County. Not to lecture them. Not to dismiss them. Not to assume you know why they are there. Not to tell them they don’t understand the law simply because they disagree with your interpretation, and certainly not to make a ten-year-old child feel that the community’s spontaneous appreciation for his courage was somehow inappropriate. You were elected to serve them.

The County has already told you what that should look like:

Service-focused.
Accountable.
Collaborative.
Trustworthy.
Transparent.

Those are not just words. They are a standard.

And residents are entitled to expect that standard from the person presiding over the Board. This is a request that you respect us. Listen to us. Assume good intentions. Recognize the work residents are willing to do for their community and remember that disagreement is not ignorance.

We can disagree with you and still understand the law. We can challenge your interpretation and still respect the process and you can disagree with us while still treating us with dignity. That is what leadership looks like. That is what public service looks like and that is what the people of El Paso County deserve from their Chair.

Sincerely,

Marti Zehr-Breedlove
El Paso County Resident

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Marti Zehr-Breedlove is an El Paso County resident. Opinion pieces and Letters to the Editor reflect the views of their authors, not The Monument Independent. To submit one, email [email protected].