Town Goverment

The Board of Trustees (BOT) consists of six Trustees and one Mayor. Trustees are elected to four-year terms, while the Mayor serves a two-year term. In Erie, all Trustees serve at-large.

Unlike state and federal government, where separate bodies fulfill the various governmental duties, statutory towns in Colorado operate a little differently. The Board of Trustees actually fulfills all three roles of government: executive (administrative), legislative, and judicial. The board has different responsibilities and limitations depending on what capacity in which we are acting.

In some cases, trustees may be lobbied by citizens who feel strongly about a particular issue, in much the same way someone might lobby their senator. On many issues, trustees are free to form opinions ahead of time, may communicate these issues to the constituency, and may receive citizen input both inside and outside of regular meetings. But in certain instances, lobbying and ex parte communications are not allowed.

Executive

The day-to-day business of running the town is largely handled by the town staff. The staff is hired by the town administrator, who is hired by, and reports directly to the Board of Trustees. So the board oversees the town operations through our appointed manager. The board also approves most contracts, sets the budget, appropriates funds, and performs other administrative tasks.

Trustees may be lobbied on administrative issues.

Legislative

In the legislative role, board members create, modify, and eliminate laws by ordinance and through resolutions. Examples of legislative functions include annexations, creating noise ordinances, and setting development standards.

Like administrative functions, trustees may also be lobbied about legislative issues.

Quasi-Judicial

This is perhaps the most misunderstood of the board's responsibilities. Quasi-judicial proceedings occur when a decision has to be made on an issue that is rooted in the law. In the quasi-judicial process, the trustees literally act as judges, and must weigh evidence presented and render a decision based on the existing law. This does not mean that the Board of Trustees decides all or even most judicial issues -- they do not. In fact, municipal court is actually conducted by a separate municipal judge, appointed by the Board of Trustees. The quasi-judicial proceedings that are decided by the trustees generally involve zoning and other land use issues.

In Colorado, land owners have specific property rights to use their land as they wish, consistent with the law. Town zoning establishes what types of uses are allowed on what pieces of land. When a land owner makes an application to the town to improve a property, they are allowed by Colorado law to make those changes, providing the zoning and other applicable laws allow the improvement at the time the application is made. When these approvals are brought before the Board of Trustees, a public hearing is generally held (depending on the specific type of proceeding) and testimony is taken by the applicant and any other interested parties. This testimony is evidence. The trustees are then bound by law to consider the testimony presented and approve or deny the application solely by applying the governing law. This decision is made in the same way a "regular" judge makes a decision on any other legal case.

In quasi-judicial hearings, individual trustees' desires or prejudices may not enter into the decision. We must weigh the evidence presented and render a decision based on the legal standard.

Even the will and wishes of citizens should not be considered, unless it somehow applies to the legal standards. This is often the source of confusion and frustration for many interested parties. One comment trustees frequently hear from concerned citizens is that a particular application should be denied "because the community does not want it." Even if the entire town does not desire a particular improvement (i.e. housing development, building, etc.), the trustees legally cannot deny an application based on public opinion. While much of the time your elected representatives serve the will of the people, in quasi-judicial instances, the trustees serve the law.

This is Colorado law, and it protects all land owners, even individual homeowners who might apply for a permit to modify their house. When we are sworn into office, trustees swear an oath to uphold the laws and constitution of the United States and the State of Colorado.

Because of the legal constraints of this process, trustees cannot be lobbied on quasi-judicial issues. We should refrain from listening to opinions outside of the public hearing and should not form opinions until the hearing. We are not even allowed to do our own research outside of the hearing. We must make decisions solely on the evidence presented at the hearing as it applies to the law as written.

Many times people will attempt to share their views about a particular quasi-judicial outside of the hearing. The trustee should explain that this is a quasi-judicial issue and we cannot engage in ex parte communication. This is also true with regard to the applicant. This is why many times we are prohibited from discussing specifics of a particular new development.

Two common examples of quasi-judicial proceedings are zoning and plat approval. Annexation, however, is legislative, not quasi-judicial, and trustees may be lobbied on annexation issues.