BOCC: Dramatic P&Z Showdown:
Vogelsong Folds, Carsten Skates

by George Gramlich, News and Commentary
The May 28, 2025 regular meeting of the Custer County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) started at 9 a.m. at the All Aboard Westcliffe Meeting Room in downtown Westcliffe. All three Commissioners were present: Chair Bill Canda and members Lucas Epp and Paul Vogelsong.
In Commissioner Items, of note was Canda talking about donations to several county offices/departments the highlight being five used police car donated to the Sheriff’s Office. Canda, again, asked the audience to refrain from asking questions during Public Comments and to only make comments. (The constant questions from the audience, the vast majority of which are totally a waste of time and only come from one or two people, were slowing down the meetings a lot and getting the Agenda Items off of the subject. Even with that admonition, the main person who constantly asked questions kept doing it during the meeting and Canda let him do it. Please make it stop….)
In New Business, the first Item was Accounts Payable. The two-week total was $191k and it was ok’d.
Next was a request for applying for a “Rebate Grant” from the Colorado Dept. of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) by the Recycling crew. It was ok’d.
The proposed Weed Management Plan and Implementation Plan was presented for approval by Vogelsong. Apparently, the money to fund this statutory required effort is drying up as Epp said we had better plan for funding in 2026. The plan passed.
Bob Smith from Human Resources then gave an update on the quest to replace CTSI as the County’s insurer. Smith said there were two insurance areas: medical (including eye and dental) and Worker’s Compensation. (Also, liability which CTSI has and the Commissioners have not been too happy about how CTSI has been handling some claims). Smith interviewed several insurance brokers to search for the insurance and recommended two:
Acrisure for medical and Network Insurance Services for Workman’s Comp (WC). The Commissioners agreed with his selection.
Next up was a Personnel Matter concerning Planning & Zoning’s Director, Dorothy Carsten. (Last week, at the BOCC meeting, the Commissioners went into Executive Session (ES) and after that passed a motion putting Carsten on paid administrative until this meeting. Carsten had a choice on how to run this issue at this meeting: she could ask for it to be handled in private in an ES or have it discussed openly in the BOCC meeting. She chose the latter.) County Attorney Dan Slater reviewed the issue and warned Carsten she was waiving her right to confidentiality regarding her personal information. Carsten agreed to that.
Human Resources Director Bob Smith was up first to state the allegations of misconduct. Smith said there were two (although he alluded to other “performance issues” about Carsten): The first issue was that Carsten violated the County Employee Handbook rule about being absent from work for three days or more without notifying her supervisor (who is Vogelsong). The second is that Carsten was open carrying a handgun at two instances when she was doing inspections in the field. The Handbook says employees can carry a handgun but it must be concealed at all times. Smith said it was also an assumption that an employee who conceals carry has a valid concealed carry permit…..

See the 06/06/2025 issue