BOCC: Epp Makes a HUGE Finance Director Position Move, Chaos Ensues

by George Gramlich,
News and Commentary
Custer County Board of County Commissioner’s (BOCC) first meeting of the new year took place at the All Aboard Westcliffe meeting room in downtown Westcliffe. The January 9, 2025 meeting started at 9 a.m. and all three Commissioners were present: Bill Canda, Lucas Epp and Kevin Day.
In Commissioner Items, Epp said he attended a Workforce Housing Committee meeting and “things are progressing” but slowly.
Day then spoke up and noted that this was his last BOCC meeting (he was beaten in the election by Republican Paul Vogelsong). Day thanked everybody and commented that “It’s been a good and bad four years”. (We will leave it at that.)
Canda then thanked Langston Concrete for their outstanding work on clearing the rock slide on Highway 69. (They did an incredible job.)
The Custer County Sheriff’s Office’s (SO) proposed stand alone, speed ticketing radar machine was then discussed a bit. Canda said the BOCC passed the ordinance allowing it but never voted on the Sheriff’s contract with the company that the SO chose. Epp said he would like other bids on the machine. He said there were various costs involved in implementing the machine (e.g, how the tickets are paid, etc.) and those have to be worked out. So that is on hold.
In Public Comments, citizen James Gilbert stated that the County’s Attorney contract with the BOCC expired on 12/31/24 and asked the commissioners how the Attorney, Dan Slater, could possibly be still working for the BOCC in 2025. Slater popped up on Zoom and corrected Gilbert saying that his contract with the BOCC is ongoing and not on a calendar basis.
In New Business, Road & Bridge’s Supervisor, Vince Koch, had a proposal to buy a used “belly dump trailer” for $22k. He said it needed about $3k in repairs to get going and a new one costs $50k to $80k. Vince said it would really help make his crew more efficient in various road projects. Epp proposed taking the money out of Cash Reserves and moving it to Capital Improvement and spending it from there. After some discussion, it was ok’d.
Approving the annual Emergency Management Performance Grant Application was next. This is a state grant that basically pays for half of our OEM Director’s cost. It is for $55.6k. It was approved.
The next item was the “big one” of the day. And as usual in Happy Valley the story took a few twists and turns. The Agenda Item was for approving more money to advertise for the vacant Finance Director’s position. Human Resources Director Bob Smith gave a presentation on how he has been advertising in various government and non-government websites that cover gov’t and accounting jobs. He said it was costing about $5k a month and that he has spent about $20k so far. (Remember this position has been vacant for a long time and our IT Director, Vernon Roth, has been doing the job on an “interim” basis). Smith said the last ads were placed in November. He noted that there have been twelve applicants so far and none have met the minimum qualifications for the job. He noted that there are at least nine other counties/cities in Colorado looking for Finance Directors and that it is a very, very competitive arena.
(Here’s the skinny on this ongoing drama: The commissioners set a salary range for the job at $90k to $120k. Based on prior comments made at the BOCC meetings and conversations with people in the accounting industry, the MINIMUM we would have to pay in Happy Valley to get somebody even remotely qualified would be $200k and it should probably be $250k. The commissioners knew this when they set the ridiculously low $120k figure but they were hoping a miracle would occur and we would get somebody for that amount of money. Didn’t happen. Their hands were somewhat tied as hiring somebody at even $200k in the Custer County gov workforce would be a big problem due to the current salary levels we pay our people. It would probably cause some morale problems and other issues. So, the county has been sitting here for almost a year with Vernon Roth working TWO jobs (IT and as Interim Finance Director) to try to get us by.)
Canda wanted to continue advertising, and the boys talked about the cost and where to do it.
Epp then made his big move, saying, “We have somebody we can stick in that spot. Maybe we should go in a different direction.” (Wow!!! Epp be rock’ da boat!!) He continued, “We are competing with other counties. We need reality here.” Epp added that we have Redlands Accounting here helping us and he wanted to continue to have “third party eyes” reviewing our accounting work. (Agreed.)
Canda said he would like to advertise a bit more before changing the plan. Day noted that, “We can’t continue going on like this, it is not sustainable. The current employee is being burned out.” (True.)
Canda then stated what Epp was proposing, “Are you proposing that Vernon be the new Finance Director?” Epp responded, “Yes”. Canda then said he would like to “table the Vernon thing” and keep advertising for a while.
[More skinny: This is what has been going on behind the scenes. Many citizens who have been following this ordeal have come to the realistic conclusion that we will not get a Finance Director for $120k AND that Vernon has been doing an outstanding job getting us through all kinds of issues (audit stuff, the budget, all kinds of state and fed reporting, etc.). From all appearances, Vernon has been doing an outstanding job (and he has been doing his regular IT work, too). Vernon is very, very bright and is a an extremely hard worker. A BIG plus is that Vernon is a computer wizard and since a huge chunk of a Finance Director’s work is computer dominated, having a Finance Director with excellent, real, computer skills is a huge plus. Vernon has also accomplished all the Finance Director’s work this year. Vernon lacks the accounting degree that is in the job description but that can be acquired. And Vernon is not going anywhere. He loves Happy Valley. The Finance Director’s salary would be a nice boost for him. The IT Director’s job would be a cake walk to fill as there are a TON of computer geeks out there looking for a job.
So, many citizens have been suggesting that we hire Vernon as the Finance Director as it really is our only option. With Redlands Accounting overseeing things, and mentoring Vernon, it looks like to us that this would be the way to go. Epp realizes that too, thus his move to try to hire Vernon for the job.]
This, of course, caused a stir. Canda again wanted to continue advertising and hold off the Vernon option. He said that this proposal would “be another agenda item”.
Epp doubled down and said, “We need to have the other discussion sooner rather than later. Let’s plan on that for the 23rd.” County Attorney Slater noted that it should be in an Executive Session as they would be talking about a county employee.
In Public Comments, James Gilbert commented that the commissioners were “looking for a unicorn” and the job description needs more money. “You have a person doing it now. It will never be filled. Go with the solution that is staring you in the face.” Debbie Adams (the County’s Tourism Director), in a very aggressive manner attacked the commissioners stating, “What have you got against Vernon Roth? He saved your butt last year. There seems to be a road block…Don’t understand the delay since it has been over a year. You have a person who is dedicated to the position. Vernon is ready to take on the responsibility and has shown he could do the job.” (Editor//llv: Then hell suddenly froze over as the Sentinel editors agreed with these two liberals in the peanut gallery.)
Epp then lamented that, “I can’t go another year like this. It was a rough year last year.” (Epp is the commissioner in charge of Finance.) He said, “I want to rescind the motion (to advertise more) until after the Executive Session.
After the barrage, Canda agrees to rescind his motion to continue advertising.
The Executive Session to consider Vernon Roth taking the Finance Director’s job is January 23rd. This would be during the regular BOCC session that week.
The public might want to give their opinions on hiring Vernon for the job to the commissioners before that. And to the new incoming commissioner, Vogelsong.
(Yup, it was a good’n. Never a dull moment in Happy Valley. The never-ending drama will be continued….)