During a regular meeting held by the Archuleta County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) on Tuesday, Oct. 1, the board unanimously approved its consent agenda, which included the approval of Resolution 2024-74, appointing Shane Lucero to an at-large seat on the Pagosa Springs Area Tourism Board.
Tourism board members are appointed by the BoCC and the Pagosa Springs Town Council.
The tourism board approved the appointment of Lucero during its regular meeting on Aug. 20, after interviewing three applicants.
The town council also approved the recommendation of the tourism board during a regular meeting held in September.
Lucero previously served on the tourism board prior to this appointment.
The resolution notes that board members are appointed to two-year terms.
During a work session held by the BoCC on Sept. 24, Tourism Director Jennifer Green explained that the tourism board opted for a “different type of voting during the meeting.”
She explained that this was at the direction of the acting board chair Dallas Weaver, as he requested a paper ballot vote.
Green mentioned that Weaver expressed concern with the voting process after finding the previous process to be uncomfortable.
Green indicated that Weaver shared he lost friends and customers as a result of previous votes.
Green explained that the town attorney advised the tourism board on the paper ballot voting process, saying it was permissible as the tourism board does not have the final say in approving tourism board members and that power rests with the town council and the BoCC.
Green also expressed that the town council “didn’t love that approach” but still honored the tourism board’s recommendation, adding that the town council suggested the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between the town and county governing the tourism board may need to be adjusted.
During the work session, Commissioner Ronnie Maez expressed concern with changing the IGA, commenting that advisory boards and committees are made of volunteers and elected officials.
Maez noted that changing the IGA to prohibit paper ballot voting “would be not good.”
He mentioned it might be a struggle to get business volunteers to want to join the advisory board if paper ballot voting is not an option, “because they lose business because of it.”
Maez indicated that volunteers donate time and effort to be on these boards and that changing the IGA “to make it all open and public for volunteer people, we’re gonna lose volunteers.”
clayton@pagosasun.com
