Douglas County commissioners Abe Laydon and George Teal voted to reissue the 2023 censure of fellow Commissioner Lora Thomas, accusing her of spreading “misinformation, disinformation, or frank untruths” in her weekly newsletter to constituents. 

In August 2023, Teal and Laydon voted to censure Thomas, accusing her of “public shaming of county volunteers with inaccurate information.” As reported by Colorado Community Media, commissioners claimed Thomas had “doxxed” members of the county’s Cultural Council by publishing a link to a public website that listed their names in her newsletter. Thomas argued she was sharing the information with constituents because the Cultural Council had given taxpayer money to organizations outside of Douglas County, which Thomas said should not be permitted.

“No one was ‘doxxed’ as members of the council claimed, and if any ‘shame’ was felt on the part of the Council members, it was for being held publicly accountable for their expenditures of TAXPAYER DOLLARS,” Thomas wrote in her newsletter earlier this month. 

Although the censure itself didn’t restrict Thomas from acting on any of her official duties, she says Teal and Laydon have barred her from attending certain events in the community and participating in videos for constituents, such as the annual State of the County address. 

Seven months after it was imposed, Teal and Laydon agreed to lift Thomas’ censure. Thomas says she had approved a statement written by county staff announcing the censure’s removal, but Laydon refused to approve it, insisting he write it himself. Thomas declined the request, saying “no one speaks for Lora Thomas, particularly THAT individual.”

According to Thomas, Laydon enlisted County Attorney Jeff Garcia and his staff to monitor her weekly newsletters and report any instances of “misinformation, disinformation, or malinformation” back to the board. Thomas called the practice a “gross abuse of authority” and morally questionable, as Garcia serves as her attorney as well. 

In an email on Oct. 23, Garcia stressed the review of Thomas’ newsletters correlated with the county creating a fact or fiction webpage.

“As part of that motion, the Board directed legal and communications staff to review all spectrums of media, including Commissioner Thomas’ weekly newsletter for factual inaccuracies,” Garcia clarified. “The motion passed 3-0. Commissioner Thomas has consented and directed the County Attorney’s Office to review her weekly newsletter and recommend topics for Fact or Fiction when appropriate.”

According to Thomas Garcia’s review found only one instance of misinformation, when she mistakenly labeled a for-profit organization as nonprofit, but she said she included a correction in the following newsletter.

Ultimately, Garcia told the board that he found no significant instances of misinformation in Thomas’ newsletters. While he acknowledged that Thomas often took jabs at her fellow commissioners in her communications with constituents, he contended that those remarks are opinions, not a matter of fact or fiction.   

On Oct. 23, Garcia said, “Neither, the current County Attorney, nor his staff have conducted any investigation of any member of the Douglas County Board of Commissioners. The statement referenced relates to only a pair of newsletters made a single Communication and Administration Meeting of the Board of County Commissioners.”

According to Thomas, Laydon refused to accept Garcia’s findings, and he and Teal voted to reinstate her censure. 

“The tyranny of the majority”

Thomas says her relationship with her fellow commissioners has been contentious for over three years. Teal and Laydon first tried to censure her in April of 2021, alleging that she was using her county-issued email account to “influence” a local businessman. The attempt was ultimately unsuccessful as no evidence of wrongdoing was found.   

“It has been the tyranny of the majority for three-and-a-half years, and because they have the power, they have no problem using that power to abuse or harm others,” Thomas said, admitting that most Douglas Countians are unaware of the situation because they tend to not pay much attention to local politics. 

“(Teal) doesn’t care what the citizens think because he knows they’re not paying attention to what he is doing,” she said. “If they were paying attention, he wouldn’t be acting like this. I think it’s just a total disregard for the residents for he and Abe to act like this. When they do this, they’re not acting like this just towards me, this is blatantly how they feel about the residents they represent.”

For more than three years, Thomas claims that Laydon and Teal have systematically removed her from boards and commissions, accusing her of misconduct without any substantiated evidence. While she has received support from constituents, she believes public officials are hesitant to publicly voice their support for fear of retaliation from Teal and Laydon.

“No councilperson or mayor is going to say a word to these two because they’re gonna be targeted and get treated like I’m treated,” she said. “Nobody is gonna stick their head out of the foxhole. George and Abe rule this county with the tyranny of the majority, and everyone is scared of them. They rule by fear. They’re not respected.”

She says she laughed when Teal and Laydon voted to reinstate the censure, because, in her eyes, being censured by them is “a joke.”

“People know what you two are about and you’re doing all these videos for the State of the County with just the two of you and excluding me,” she told them. “I’m an elected official. Do you think that’s gonna look good for Douglas County? You need to start thinking about the county instead of yourselves.”

Despite the tensions with her colleagues over the past few years, Thomas says that if she had the chance to do it all over again, she would.  

“It has been an absolute honor to represent the citizens of Douglas County,” she said. “I believe God calls you to serve in ways that match your skills, and even though George and Abe have treated me like dirt, I have never stopped serving the citizens to the best of my ability.”

When asked why he and Teal decided to reinstate the censure, Laydon sent the following statement:

“Our decision to uphold the censure of Lora Thomas was not taken lightly, but it was necessary. After years of hiring several mediators and giving Lora every opportunity to resolve her issues and have a productive relationship with her board and members of the community, the path she chose instead was increasingly more toxic, erratic, reckless, and frankly, unhinged. We have a responsibility to uphold the integrity of this board and ensure that our employees and community members are treated with respect even when we disagree. When an official violates our policies and engages in behavior that undermines the work we are doing for our community, action must be taken.” 

I am saddened that a colleague could never seize the opportunity we repeatedly presented for productive collaboration, which was always right in front of her, but I know the balance of the board is excited about the bright, optimistic future of a new Douglas County with our third colleague joining us this January.”

Teal is running for re-election this year against Democrat Angela Thomas (no relation to Lora), while Laydon’s second and final term will end in 2027. Van Winkle faces Democrat Josh Smith for Thomas’ seat. 

Teal did not respond to Colorado Politics request for comment.

(Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to correct the description of a Douglas County Republican Women luncheon based on information from Commissioner Thomas. The story was also corrected to reflect the date of the original censure in 2023 and include clarification information provided by County Attorney Jeff Garcia in an Oct. 23 email.)