[The Pikes Peak Bulletin will answer the questions raised in this column as we are able. – ed.]
I‘m wondering how many hours there are in El Paso County Commissioner Cami Bremer’s day.
As the public recently learned, Bremer has accepted a job as CEO of the Pikes Peak United Way and plans to stay on as a county commissioner into next year. So far, there’s been no date announced, but the Gazette initially reported she would leave in January, and on Sept. 29 wrote a correction saying she’d leave “early next year.” It’s also unclear when she started at PPUW, but she recently stepped down from her chairman’s post to accommodate her new second job.
Leaving aside questions about Bremer’s suitability for the PPUW job, in light of the Gazette’s reporting about commissioners’ less than friendly view of local nonprofits in the context of serving the needs of immigrants, it’s nice work if you can get it. Nearly $300,000 for two top, presumably full-time, jobs.
The United Way paid Bremer’s predecessor, Cindy Aubrey, total compensation of $181,694 for the year ending June 2023, IRS forms show. A commissioner is paid roughly $130,000 in salary, which doesn’t include health benefits and pension contributions. Those salaries strongly suggest that they’re considered full-time commitments.
Which raises questions about how it’s possible for one person to do both of those jobs at the same time and do both justice. When obligations crowd her schedule, which job will take priority for Bremer?
PPUW is one of the region’s largest nonprofits, partnering with nearly 30 local nonprofits. Thus, running that show would seem to require a lot of time and focus, and one might fairly ask why the PPUW board is willing to vest such important work with a person who’s already presumably working a full-time gig.
Some former commissioners could attest to the job being a huge time-suck, especially the part that involves constituent interaction. The county, after all, touches lives in myriad ways, such as providing regional transportation solutions, accommodating development, running the jail, valuing and taxing property, and conducting elections.
But, as everyone who’s observed county government here knows, county commissioners often juggle other employment arrangements while serving in their elected offices. Several maintained law practices simultaneously, while others ran businesses, such as Sallie Clark and her bed and breakfast.
That would indicate that commissioners, and other county elected officials, aren’t bound by any policy or law that requires them to sideline other professional interests while holding an elected seat. What about other county employees? Is it okay, for example, for someone in the assessor’s office to conduct surveys and perform other property services as a side hustle? It’s hard to imagine Sheriff Joe Roybal dancing to another piper while serving as the county’s top law enforcement official.
All that said, are those commissioner jobs really full time? How many commissioners keep regular office hours? Some have even run for other offices while serving as commissioners. I’m looking at you, Stan VanderWerf. He’s seeking a state senate seat this cycle.
But he’s far from alone. Darryl Glenn ran for both U.S. Senate and U.S. House while serving as county commissioner, in 2016 and 2018, respectively, losing both races; current Commissioner Longinos Gonzalez Jr. ran unsuccessfully for Colorado Springs mayor in 2023, and Amy Lathen made a failed bid for Colorado Springs mayor in spring 2015, losing to John Suthers. To her credit, she resigned her commissioner job in June 2016 to accept a job as CEO of political action group Colorado Springs Forward, leaving office about six months early. (Former state legislator Mark Waller was appointed to complete her term.) Suthers, by the way, had the grace to finish his term as Colorado attorney general in January 2015 before being elected as mayor that year.
When obligations crowd her schedule, which job will take priority for Bremer? – Pam Zubeck
Bremer’s new moonlighting gig should cause taxpayers to raise an eyebrow and ask a lot of questions.
Is serving as commissioner really so easy that she can take on the PPUW responsibility simultaneously with her elected office? What about potential conflicts of interest? What if she, as PPUW CEO, has to court donors who have unrelated business before the county commission? Will she be forced to recuse herself from important votes due to her side hustle? Why not relinquish her elected office and let someone else fill the last two-plus years of her term, which expires in January 2027.
Bremer’s successor will be chosen by the Republican vacancy committee at some point. Is her husband, Eli, who’s in a struggle to wrench the state GOP chair post from Dave Williams, interested in the appointment? Is Cami Bremer’s decision to stay in office somehow related to who might next fill her seat?
It’s a sticky situation – one she could resolve by simply giving up her commissioner role immediately. So why doesn’t she?
Pam Zubeck worked for over 45 years as a journalist in Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado. She covered local government and other topics at The Gazette for 16 years before moving to the Indy in 2009 where she contributed news and cover stories for 14 years. She’s won numerous state, regional and national awards, including the Sigma Delta Chi public service award from the Society of Professional Journalists for her 2012 story, “Misfire,” about the city’s response to the Waldo Canyon Fire.
