Last October, I noted in this space that Cami Bremer must be a superwoman, considering she took on a new full-time job while remaining in her El Paso County commissioner seat.
That fulltime job was CEO of Pikes Peak United Way.
As best I could calculate, not being privy to her salary deal with United Way, Bremer has been knocking down pay that roughs out to $300,000 a year – about $130,000 for her public job, and somewhere in the neighborhood of $180,000 for her United Way gig, based on the $181,694 paid to her predecessor, Cindy Aubrey, for the year ending June 2023, according to tax forms.
As I noted at the time, those salaries strongly suggest they’re considered full-time commitments.
It’s worth noting that in early October, Bremer ceded her commission chair role but took on the vice-chair post. “I’m confident the vice chair role will allow me to continue contributing to our county’s success and stability while I take on new responsibilities as the CEO of Pikes Peak United Way,” she said in a news release at that time.
As I also noted at that time, Bremer said publicly that she planned to leave her elected post “early next year.”
Well, here we are – well into the second quarter of the year – and Bremer is still occupying space at the county and collecting a paycheck.
Is she desperate for money? Not likely, since she’s said to own property out east that might lie in the path of development.
Those salaries strongly suggest they’re considered full-time commitments.
Is she waiting until her politically active husband, Eli, lines up ample support to be appointed to her commission seat by the Republican vacancy committee? Whoever is appointed, if anyone is appointed, would serve until Bremer’s term ends in January 2027. (Kendrick Davis was elected as county party chair earlier this year after the previous chair, Vicki Tonkins, didn’t seek another term. Tonkins was tightly aligned with controversial GOP state chair Dave Williams, who also was recently replaced by Brita Horn. Eli, it’s worth noting, had tried to succeed Williams as state chair but failed. It’s unclear if Eli has a clearer path to appointment under Davis.)
Or perhaps Bremer simply enjoys basking in the spotlight, believing that she alone can do it.
Well, guess what. The longer Bremer stays in her commissioner job while also supposedly working full time for the United Way, the weaker the argument that commissioner jobs comprise full-time responsibilities. If she can handily perform two high-profile obligations indefinitely, it would seem that one or the other doesn’t actually require at least 40 hours a week. Just sayin’.
But why speculate? I asked Bremer, via her United Way email, why she’s hanging onto the county job after saying she’d resign in early 2025. I also asked her how many times, if any, she had recused herself from a commission vote due to her other job, and whether she’s delaying her departure until Eli can jockey into an appointment to succeed her? I didn’t hear back.
Obviously, Bremer can ignore me, but she must answer to her United Way board. Perhaps those folks are OK with her merely sharing her time with that agency.
But she also, theoretically at least, must answer to her other bosses, the voters, though she’s term limited from seeking another commission term. Are voters happy with her dual arrangement? Do they feel they’re gett ing their $130,000 worth? Do they even know this? Do they care?
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. She may be reached at Pam.Zubeck@PikesPeakBulletin.org
