Douglas County this year failed to achieve home rule status, voters elected a progressive-leaning school board and officials completed a land transfer to build a massive regional sports complex.

Home rule campaign fails

Douglas County commissioners sought to become a home rule county, but voters overwhelmingly rejected the proposal.

The three commissioners argued that home rule status would allow the county to enact its own zoning policies, reorganize county departments or increase the number of commissioners.

Different from municipal home rule charters, home rule counties are rare in Colorado. Out of 63 counties, only four have adopted home rule: Pitkin and Weld counties; and Denver and Broomfield, which also both cities and counties.

Commissioners on March 25 approved to spend $500,000 on a special election in June. Commissioners later faced a lawsuit alleging they engaged in over a dozen meetings since December in violation of the state’s open meetings law.

On June 24, more than 70% of voters rejected the home rule proposal.

Voters pick progressive school board

The seven-member Douglas County School District Board of Education flipped from a conservative to a progressive majority following this year’s elections.

In November, Douglas County voters picked four progressive-leaning candidates to govern Colorado’s third largest school district. DCSD’s school board has swung back and forth in recent years between conservative and progressive majorities.

This election cycle, candidates campaigned on board transparency, funding underpaid programs, keeping schools safe, maintaining high academic standards and better staff compensation.

Some conservative candidates promised to tackle transgender athletes in sports and in school bathrooms.

DCSD has over 61,000 students across 92 schools.

County pursues building of sports complex

Douglas County partnered with Colorado’s largest master planned community to build a 500-acre sports complex called Zebulon.

In mid-October, Sterling Ranch transferred 46.5 acres of land to the county to build the northwest Douglas County sports facility. Sterling Ranch received 23.8 acres for commercial development in the land transfer.

As envisioned, the project’s first phase would include a sports facility with hockey rinks, gyms, baseball and soccer fields.

Future phases would include open space and the potential for commercial development.

The complex, to be called Zebulon, would be located at Moore and Waterton roads between Sterling Ranch and Louviers.