Dear editor:

Ms. Anderson,

Your continued attacks on me are very concerning. It appears you believe I am responsible for all aspects of these processes. I would like to share a few facts with you.

• I am not an elected official. I am staff. My job is to administer and enforce the regulations as adopted by the five-member board of commissioners. My decision-making authority is limited, and my decisions can be appealed to the board. They are the final authority on all matters relating to the regulations. I serve as an adviser to the board and the Planning and Zoning Commission. What they do with my advice is up to them.

• I do not have the authority to approve any aspect of the county budget. The board approves the budget for the P&Z Department. The board approved the budgets for these projects, which are not within the P&Z Department budget. The board approves the allocation of every dollar.

• I do not have the authority to select, hire or pay consultants. The board allocated money to pay consultants on these projects. The board reviewed and authorized the RFPs. A seven-member selection committee was used to select the consultant for the current regulation amendment process and I was not on the committee. I had NOTHING to do with the consultant being chosen for this effort. The board made the final consultant selection and approved their contract and scope (which included a road map for the entire process). You can find all of this information in the board’s meeting minutes.

• I didn’t design the postcard to announce the regulation amendments process. The consultants designed it and it was reviewed by the internal project team. When the postcard was designed, the project team consisted of Dossie Overfield, Lloyd Thiel, Duncan Bonine, Brian Edwards, me and the consultants. Each person had the opportunity to review and comment on the draft design. The county paid an outside company to mail the postcards to over 6,500 landowners. We attempted to remove duplicate mailing addresses for folks who own more than one property. If the board had directed staff to mail a letter, questionnaire, bulletin, or other item to all landowners instead, we would have followed that direction. I am uncertain if the board will opt to use different means to engage with the public in the future.

• I didn’t prepare the conceptual zoning maps that were recently shared with the public. The consultant prepared them as a starting point for discussion after the first public meetings were held earlier this year. It is clear that certain areas and terms are not popular — the county is glad to have that input for upcoming discussions. As far as zoning is concerned, we are so early in the process of revising the official zoning map and table of uses — there are a lot of conversations to be had in the months ahead. The board, commission and staff have not seen the summaries of all of the public input efforts to date.

Kay, I don’t mind being held accountable for things that I do wrong or for actions that I, alone, am responsible for. I do mind, however, being slandered, defamed, stalked, and harassed by folks who continue to spread false information about me and place blame on me for things I do not have control over. I would very much appreciate if you would do the necessary fact-checking on matters before you spread falsehoods which have negatively impacted me personally and professionally and are now impacting my family’s safety.

 Sincerely,

Joy Hill

Park County planning director