In this ongoing series, Boulder Reporting Lab columnists Brian Keegan and Bob Yates discuss local issues, exploring where they agree, where they differ and what’s at stake for Boulder.
Boulder County voters face two related questions this November: whether to expand the Board of County Commissioners from three members to five, and how to elect an expanded board. Ballot Question 200 asks voters to decide on expansion. Ballot Question 201 asks them to choose between five commissioners elected by district and a combination of three elected by district and two elected countywide. The second question takes effect only if expansion passes.
For the latest Across the Aisle conversation, Boulder Reporting Lab columnists Brian Keegan, a CU professor, and Bob Yates, a former Boulder City Councilmember, discuss what those choices could mean for representation across the county. Yates is helping lead Big Tent Boulder County, the group behind the ballot initiative. Both support a five-member board, but they favor different approaches to electing it. Keegan favors electing three commissioners by district and two countywide; Yates favors electing all five by district.
Brian: Bob, we are back for another round, discussing the issues on the November ballot. You are leading a ballot initiative to expand the number of Boulder County commissioners from three to five. This is the first of two related ballot questions about changing how the county commissioners are elected. Can you say more about what these questions would do and why you are backing the expansion?
Bob: Thanks for asking, Brian. Many counties of our size in Colorado have already moved to five commissioners for better representation and more diversity of background, experience and political philosophy. This year, laggards Boulder and Douglas counties will have the opportunity to shift from three to five commissioners if this is the will of voters. In Boulder County, that’s on the ballot as Ballot Question 200. As you observe, in addition to deciding between three and five, voters can also decide in Ballot Question 201 how they will elect five commissioners, either with five districts or three districts and two at-large across the county. I see pros and cons to each method. Do you have a preference?
Brian: Well, first off, I support the effort to expand the number of commissioners for a few reasons. Although there are certainly diminishing returns to increasing any group’s size, I agree with you that five commissioners should mean more perspectives and expertise than the current three. Boulder’s local politics have strong incumbency effects as well as a tendency for elected officials to run for other offices. Expanding the number of commissioners could bring some fresh faces into these musical chairs.
The current three commissioners are elected by all county voters, while this ballot measure would narrow county voters’ ability to elect every commissioner under the current model. What would you say to reassure people concerned about this narrowing of their voting power from all (three of three) to most (three of five) or just some (one of five) of the commission?
Bob: I agree with you that having five county commissioners makes sense. Boulder County has grown significantly, doubling in population over the last 50 years. With five commissioners, we’ll have better representation of the diverse people of the county, from the cities of Longmont and Boulder to the suburbs of Louisville, Lafayette and Superior, from communities like Niwot and Lyons to the farms in the east and the mountain communities in the west. In answer to your question, our current system of all at-large election of commissioners almost ensures that Boulder and Longmont will dominate, as they have historically. Cities and states across the country are moving away from at-large elections, which tend to suppress minority views.
Brian: As you said, the second ballot question of whether to divide up the representation into three districts and two at-large seats or five districts has some interesting implications. Boulder County has approximately 330,000 residents, so a five-district model would end up with around 66,000 residents each, and a three-district model would end up with around 110,000 residents each. Boulder and Longmont are conveniently already 110,000 residents each, so that seems like a straightforward split of the county into its two largest cities and everywhere else. The five-district model of 66,000-resident districts would require splitting Boulder and Longmont into separate districts and the attendant risks of gerrymandering, territoriality and other electoral shenanigans.
Only getting to vote for one commissioner under the five-district model seems like a downgrade from the three votes for commissioners I currently have. So count me in the three-plus-two camp where I will still get three votes on a five-member commission, one for my district and the two at-large seats. But I have also heard some skeptics argue that anything but the five-district model could result in overrepresentation from within our city to the detriment of other communities.
Bob: The group that placed these questions on the ballot, Big Tent Boulder County, is not taking a position on which of the two methods of electing five commissioners is best. I could imagine that voters living outside of Longmont and Boulder might prefer five separate districts, so their voices and interests can be heard. Conversely, residents of the two big towns (which collectively hold two-thirds of the county’s population) might prefer three districts plus two at large, giving them the possibility of having not only their “own” representative but also a shot at one or two of the at-large seats. Of course, an at-large commissioner could come from anywhere in the county, so there’s no guarantee that Boulder or Longmont will dominate, the way they do now.
Personally, I’m inclined to support five separate districts to ensure the greatest diversity of voices and interests on the Boulder County commission. If the voters select this, state law requires that the districts be drawn up by July 1, 2027, using some pretty strict state guidelines to avoid gerrymandering and with the input of residents from across the county. The selection of commissioners from those five districts would then be phased in during the 2028 and 2030 elections.
Brian: Thanks for sharing your thoughts on these county ballot questions, Bob. We will be back soon with a conversation about some of the other local measures on this large even-year ballot. Until then, we would love to hear from readers in the comments below.
I support expanding the board to five commissioners, but representation only improves if the election structure changes too. For residents in unincorporated Boulder County, county government is not a secondary layer of government. It is our primary local government.
County decisions directly affect our property rights. Recent site plan review decisions show why representation matters: when county residents strongly oppose a proposal but it is approved anyway, it can feel like land rights are being restricted by decision-makers who are not directly affected by the outcome.
District-based elections would give mountain, rural, and other non-municipal areas a clearer voice while still keeping the board accountable to the county as a whole.
How do other 5 commissioner counties elect their commissioners? Is one method more common than the other method? Assuming everyone has to use one of these 2 methods. I’d be interested to know if there are other methods that are not on our ballots.
Jerry: Great questions. State law dictates the alternative methods, and voters in Douglas County and Boulder County are deciding on the same two methods this fall. Among the five other Colorado counties that have already moved to five commissioners, four of them use the 5-district model and one uses the 3+2 hybrid model. – Bob
How long have the other 5 counties been using the 5 Commissioner model? Is there any information about which voting model is best?
Kind of later-breaking news, but the Douglas County Board of Commissioners also referred a ballot measure for 2026 that, if voters approve going to 5 districts, all voters could vote in all districts (at-large voting). https://www.douglasco.gov/board-county-commissioners/transparency/3-to-5-commissioners-voter-initiated-measure/
Does a “Big Tent” improve decision making if a majority of the population shares the same views? Do you have an empirical foundation for the underlying supposition that there are significant bands of divergent viewpoints that could change things? Longmont used to run more conservative decades ago on County matters, but is that still the case? What about other potential districts? If not, is this just the old “more must be better” argument, albeit wrapped in talk about diverse perspectives?
Putting aside my skepticism about creating more costly sinecures for recycled politicians, I question the fairness of this proposal. It would effectively disenfranchise Boulder taxpayers who bear a vastly disproportionate share of County taxes.
How will the county find money in pay the salary of 2 additional Commissioners which are not currently budgeted for?
I fail to understand how the characteristic of musical chairs should not in itself imply fresh faces on the board. Since it does not, it must be that the same people are being reelected, right? Would expanding the board somehow guarantee a broader range of ideas? I doubt it, if proportional representation is the governing principle.