A Fast-Tracked Rewrite of Power

Douglas County commissioners are pushing “home rule,” a move that would fundamentally change how the county is governed. And they’re doing it fast — giving the community just months to prepare a complex charter that would give commissioners more authority than they currently have. And what would the betting be that a charter has already been prepared? Like Project 2025 was prepared. You know…”facilitating” Commissioner George Teal has already admitted that this has been in the works since at least the pandemic, when the county voted to leave the Tri-County Health Department in the middle of a public health crisis. That decision — to gut an existing agency rather than work within it — set the tone for what’s happening now.

The Same Playbook: Project 2025 and Local Home Rule

Project 2025 is built around the belief of a “unitary executive” — the idea that the President should have total control over the executive branch. Independent agencies? Gone. Departmental autonomy? Eliminated. Trump himself made it clear: “I run the country and the world.” That mindset — a distrust of outside input, a dismissal of independent governance — seems to have filtered down to our commissioners. Their proposed home rule (theirs, not ours — no citizens were asking for this) would give even more power to the commissioners (they already control a budget of $630M), with minimal checks from state laws, voters, or independent departments.

Whose Values Are We Preserving That This Is Necessary?

The charter is being sold as a way to preserve “Douglas County values” — though what those values are remains vague. Commissioners often cite “family values,” “public safety,” and “freedom” — along with a strong emphasis on gun rights. For example, the county opted out of state laws that restrict firearms in sensitive places, instead declaring itself a “constitutional county” where, according to one commissioner, “you want all your neighbors to be armed.” Commissioner Teal has said repeatedly: “I represent the people who voted for me.” That raises a troubling question: what about everyone else?

What “Home Rule” Would Actually Allow

If passed, the home rule charter would give commissioners the ability to:

• Set their own salaries and term limits
• Hire and fire at will, including the elimination of entire departments
• Dissolve county unions and ignore the state minimum wage

That’s not just administrative change and “values”. That’s a complete restructuring of power — one that diminishes transparency and accountability, which these commissioners already flaunt regularly.

This Is Bigger Than One County

Local government matters. And when local leaders use their position to consolidate control, ignore dissenting voices, and sidestep checks and balances, the danger is real. We’re seeing it with Project 2025 and we’ve seen it already in Douglas County. This isn’t about political differences. It’s about whether we believe in shared governance, accountability, and the public’s right to participate in decisions that affect all of us. Do we really want to hand taxation, land use, public services, environmental management, and administrative functions to this small group of commissioners without any oversight? Because once we do — it will be very difficult to get it back. Send a message to these Commissioners. And the country.