March Metro District Board Meeting Recap
Board member vacancies, filling the district manager role, and more!
The Pleasant View Metro District held its regular monthly board meeting on March 31. There was also a special board meeting on March 3. Keep scrolling to find out more about what happened!
The next board meeting is April 21 at 4 p.m.! Please join us at 955 Moss Street.
If you’re new here, I’m Laura! I’m the Vice President of the Pleasant View Metro District board of directors. This newsletter reflects my own opinions and experiences and is not an official district communication. You can find out more about me and this newsletter here.
The Short Version
First, I want to acknowledge that I’m not providing the accountability and public engagement that’s really important to me and is why I ran. I have been dealing with several personal issues. Hopefully it’s understandable that I’ve prioritized my family, but I do know that’s come at a cost to doing these newsletters regularly and responding to your calls/texts/emails like I would like to. I’m doing the best I can and I hope you can give me a little bit of grace. Ok, now on to the actual board meeting.
The board appointed two new members, Dariusz Piwko and Dave Bohrman, who will be taking their oaths of office at the April meeting.
We’re really close to hiring a management company to temporarily take over district manager duties like field rentals/park management/general customer service and public questions.
The fire department worked with Golden Fire and Golden Gate Fire to put out a bid for emergency medical services. Starting in August, there will be a new ambulance company/EMTs/Paramedics serving Pleasant View from Platte Valley Ambulance.
Joe Anderson, now the Board President, is researching the project scope and budget and what’s been paid so far for the parks maintenance building project. He will have answers at the next board meeting in April. (Thank you Joe!!)
We had so many people show up to the meeting which I really appreciated as always. I heard concerns about transparency and accountability throughout this transitional period and that we need to do a better job - and we will.
The Long Version
Board Member Updates
The board appointed two members to fill the vacancies left in February.
We had five people submit letters of intent, which was admittedly fewer than I was hoping for. I don’t think the district did a good enough job of publicizing it either because we did not have access to the district Facebook account (this is getting fixed this week). I personally didn’t do as much outreach as I wanted to because of aforementioned personal issues I’ve been dealing with.
The first person we appointed is Dariusz Piwko. Dariusz has been a volunteer firefighter with Pleasant View for a decade and also works for Arvada Fire. I voted to appoint him because he has a wealth of experience in the fire service, including at small departments that have merged into larger ones. He proactively asked for resources to learn about how special districts worked. He’s a long-time Pleasant View resident and is the kind of person who knows all his neighbors, which is also important to me. Transparently, Dariusz was also one of my instructors at fire academy. He has high standards, is passionate and empathetic, and leads by example. I’m really excited to have him join the board.
Dave Bohrman was my other vote and also appointed. Many people in the audience had reservations that he is the spouse of another current board member, Jay Shaw. Honestly, after having a married couple in the district manager/board president position previously, I was extremely wary of having another married couple on the board. I did not know Dave was Jay’s husband when initially reading the letters of intent as I wanted to stay neutral and fairly evaluate everyone. Dave’s letter was thoughtful and outlined his experience with leading large teams and budgets as well as expertise in marketing and communications. I think these are all areas that we need help in. I also appreciate his approach to what he wants to see Pleasant View do differently and better.
Now that the board meeting is over, the letters of intent are public record. You can read Dave’s here and Dariusz’ here.
Both Dariusz and Dave will have to run and be elected by a vote of the people at the May 2027 election. If you’re interested in running in May to be a board member, or if you just have general election questions, please let me know! I’m happy to help answer and get as many people involved in local government as possible.
District Management Company
The board has been exploring hiring a professional management company to fill in temporarily for district manager duties.
The law firm the district uses recommended Public Alliance. Another board member interviewed them and did a site visit to discuss Pleasant View’s needs, and I’ve been working with them to properly scope the potential duties for a management company.
The Pleasant View Water and Sanitation President spoke during public comment about his concerns with his district’s use of Public Alliance. He shared they did not deliver an onsite district manager as contracted, only a remote contractor. They also did not respond to a contract in a timely manner which cost the district more than $5,000 for not being able to cancel the contract in time.
I heard those concerns and really appreciated that context. I had heard of the sanitation district’s experience, so asked our lawyers as well as multiple references from Public Alliance about their concerns and experience. The metro district’s lawyers chalked the issues of how the scope was defined. The references I spoke with spoke very highly of Public Alliance, and one in particular referenced their experience with districts in transition like Pleasant View currently is.
The contract our lawyers have drafted make it pretty easy to terminate without much notice and I’ve been working closely with the fire chief and other board members to make sure we are defining the scope of their work very specifically. Based on our research, this company is (in my personal opinion) the best option to try. This isn’t going to be permanent, and we urgently need someone to step in to manage the district, provide customer service, ensure field/facility rental contracts are being honored, and more.
Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
Pleasant View, along with Golden and Golden Gate Canyon fire departments, contracts out its emergency medical services. That means Pleasant View doesn’t own any ambulances or directly employ EMTs or paramedics.
For the last several years, Stadium Medical has held the EMS contract. The fire chief at Pleasant View worked with Golden and Golden Gate to re-bid the contract this year and chose Platte Valley Ambulance Service. The contract should be finalized in August, so you won’t see any changes until then.
I’m excited about Platte Valley. They are owned by Intermountain Health, so have a broader medical scope - this means better care for people who call 911 in Pleasant View. My day job is being an EMT and district administrator at an ambulance station, and several of our volunteers have worked or currently work at Platte Valley. I think they’re great providers so I’m excited to welcome Platte Valley to Pleasant View.
Upcoming Pleasant View Events
Some of our neighbors are putting on an Easter Egg Hunt at Orchard Park on the morning of April 4. If you want to participate, let me know! I will connect you with the person organizing.
Support one of our local elementary schools by signing up for the Welchester Soar 5k on April 25! There is a kids fun run and a 5k run/walk. All proceeds benefit the Welchester PTA, which provides critical funding for teachers and students. Welchester is a Title I school, which means most of the families are low-income, so it’s extra important to support if you can! If you can’t sign up for the 5k, there’s an option to donate on the website too. Sign up today: https://runsignup.com/Race/CO/Golden/WelchesterSOAR5k
Thank you and see you in April!
Please let me know if I missed anything or if you have other questions. Email me at lauraforpleasantview@gmail.com or call or text me at 720-675-8093. I will be slow to respond but I will respond, I promise!