Ouray County’s road and bridge superintendent has filed an official workplace complaint against County Commissioner Lynn Padgett, making it public just as ballots were sent out for the Nov. 5 election in which she’s running to retain her position.

The complaint, alleging harassment and “a continuous pattern of hostility” over the past two years, was filed by Ty Barger on Aug. 29. It was submitted to the county and sent to Employers Council, which has a contract with the county to conduct complaint investigations.

Barger provided a copy of the complaint to the Plaindealer, saying he was frustrated with how long the investigation process was taking, and that he hoped making his allegations public would lead Padgett to change her behavior.

In this complaint, Barger detailed a series of incidents dating back to 2022, with a timeline of events in which he accused Padgett of creating a hostile work environment.

“I request protection for my department and myself from the ongoing hostility and retaliation engaged in by Commissioner Padgett, and censure of Commissioner Padgett by the chair, board of county commissioners,” he wrote in the complaint.

The Plaindealer requested an interview with Padgett. She responded with a written statement in an email.

In that statement, she said Barger’s complaint made false accusations about her, and that she has not harassed or retaliated against any county employee, including Barger.

The complaint comes near the end of Padgett’s campaign for re-election. She is being challenged by Republican Michael Perkovich, who has pledged support for the road and bridge department and made funding Barger’s department a campaign priority.

Details of the complaint

Barger began his complaint by detailing a series of events dating back two years, when he was invited to lunch with Padgett through a liaison, County Attorney Leo Caselli.

Barger said he was first approached by Caselli with concerns about whether he was thinking about leaving his position, and asked if it was because of a poor working relationship with County Manager Connie Hunt.

“I have considered resignation, but not because of Connie – it’s because of the dysfunction in the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) – it’s a very toxic environment and it makes life miserable for everyone,” he wrote in the complaint.

In an interview with the Plaindealer, he described this toxic environment as “an actual sense of physical ill whenever you’re having to present anything to the commissioners. Because, invariably, every single time that they would convene there would be … conflict over the most innocuous things.”

Barger said he met with Padgett for lunch and said it was an uncomfortable meeting, in which Padgett offered disparaging comments about Hunt that he did not reciprocate.

He said he felt Padgett was fishing for negative comments about Hunt. At the time, the county was having discussions about succession planning for Hunt’s eventual retirement.

Barger said he told Padgett the county didn’t need a regime change. After this lunch he said he noticed a change in her demeanor toward him and his department.

Barger started working as the head of the road and bridge department in April 2021 and said at first his relationship with Padgett was amicable.

“From the time I arrived in April 2021 until this lunch at Camp Robber, Lynn was sugary sweet to me all the time, always going out of her way to let me know that she was totally in support of me and my department, so much so that I’m telling people, ‘No, you’ve got her wrong,’” he said.

He said prior to the lunch, he defended her to other county employees who warned him about her behavior, as they had previous experience dealing with her when she served as commissioner from 2009 to 2017.

“Everybody was about to mutiny when she came back after a four-year absence,” Barger said.

But he said he began to see what others warned him about after the lunch.

Barger said Padgett began targeting him and his department, including situations where he said she accused him of lying in public meetings, encouraged others to participate in negative outcry against the road and bridge department and engaged in misinformation.

Most recent incidents

The most recent of those instances, Barger said, was during a public meeting Aug. 20, in which members of the public complained to commissioners about the aftermath of flooding from Coal Creek. During this meeting, participants accused the road and bridge department of not properly clearing county-owned culverts, causing flooding with lack of proper drainage and not assisting with cleaning up mud or repairing ditches on their private property.

Barger later told the Plaindealer the flooding was caused by poor private ditch maintenance when water from Coal Creek breached the private ditch during the flood. He also said during the meeting that the commissioners would need to approve his department working on private property and ditches during an emergency.

“Throughout this demonstration, none of the public comments made about my department or myself were truthful – very good and dedicated county servants were unfairly disparaged, and it was patently obvious that this scene was contrived by Commissioner Padgett expressly for her political gain,” Barger wrote in the complaint. “On August 22, 2024, Commissioner Padgett admitted to organizing this demonstration during a phone call between us.”

County Commission Chair Michelle Nauer declined to characterize the meeting as a demonstration but said Padgett warned her there would be a “large number of people” coming to the emergency manager’s report that day.

One of the citizens, who complained that Barger declined to bring equipment to clean up mud on her property, specifically thanked Padgett and said “she has really gone to bat for us.”

In a written statement to the Plaindealer, Padgett addressed Barger’s allegation that she orchestrated a protest over the Coal Creek flooding, calling it “nonsense” and accusing him of marginalizing the flood victims.

She said citizens came to the meeting to ask for help, and commissioners are expected to provide information to those who want to attend public meetings.

“Commissioners are liaisons between the citizens and their government and help citizens navigate our bureaucracy,” she wrote in the statement. “Critical conversations with colleagues or the public can be difficult inside and outside of public meetings, and public servants need to be able to handle them.”

Barger also accused Padgett of making promises to a member of the public, Michael Frenze, who complained to the county about inconveniences and lack of access during a chipsealing project on County Road 1 in August.

Barger said Frenze complained to him about the project, and also said Padgett had agreed to support a petition to have Barger fired, since it was an election year. This has not been substantiated.

Frenze confirmed he spoke with Barger on Aug. 27 and he was upset about the chipseal project. Frenze said he spoke to Padgett before and after speaking with Barger the same day. He said he doesn’t know anything about a petition and he has not talked to Barger since then.

“I don’t know anything about a petition about getting him removed,” he said.

Padgett did not address this allegation specifically in her prepared response.

In comments to the Plaindealer, Barger also took issue with Padgett characterizing his proposal to conduct a gravel crushing operation near Whispering Pines as a “war zone,” which he took issue with in particular, as a former career Marine who served in the infantry.

“I’m desperately trying to save the county money,” he said, noting he’s trying to save enough money so the county could hire another sheriff’s deputy while also saving time on the project. He accused Padgett of villainizing him for political gain, and fomenting discontent so she can look like a hero.

“She is the savior against the evil county,” he said.

Timing of the complaint’s public release

Barger contacted the Plaindealer and provided a copy of the complaint on Oct. 3, asking that the newspaper not attribute the source of the document to him.

Because of the proximity to the election, and the possible perception of the Plaindealer requesting this public document so close to the timing of ballots going out, the Plaindealer told Barger he would have to take responsibility for making the document public prior to the election.

He agreed to release the document publicly.

When asked about the timing, Barger said he was frustrated by the length of time it is taking for the county’s investigation to be completed, and he wants Padgett’s behavior to stop.

“I submitted this in August,” he said of the complaint. “Why I’m doing this right now, it’s not because I think I’m going to be able to have any kind of an effect on the election. I wish that I could, but I don’t. I’m realistic. I think she’s going to sail to re-election.

“I just want the behavior to stop,” he said. “And if it gets made public, people will pay more attention to what she’s saying, and she’ll be more careful and perhaps life will be easier for me and my department.”

Reaction from commissioners

Padgett said she had no idea the complaint had been filed against her until Oct. 7, when she said Hunt told her about it.

“It was sent to the press before the applicable county policies and procedures had been completed and before I was given a chance to learn about the complaint and respond,” she wrote in her prepared statement. “The circumstances and content of this complaint smack of politics.”

Padgett’s fellow county commissioners, Nauer and Jake Niece, were given the chance to read the complaint after Barger submitted it in August.

“I’ve seen the complaint and I know that the investigation is continuing and I haven’t seen any of the other investigation materials because it’s not complete yet,” Niece said. “I’m going to wait until I can see the results of the investigation before I say or do anything about it.”

It’s not clear how long Employers Council will take to finish the investigation or if the results will be available prior to the Nov. 5 election.

“I’m hoping that’s going to be a speedy process,” Niece said. “I don’t want it to drag out.”

As far as Barger’s request for Nauer to censure Padgett, Nauer said she’s not sure how to do that.

“I can’t control what Lynn states,” she said. “I can’t completely stop her from stating her mind or from stating what she wants to state.”

Censure is sometimes used as a public reprimand in governments, a way to condemn another elected official’s behavior. Censure doesn’t have any effect on the official’s ability to remain in their position. The only way to change that would be through a recall effort to remove a public official from office.

Both Nauer and Niece declined to comment on whether they considered Padgett’s treatment of the road and bridge department reaching the level of harassment, as Barger has claimed.

“Sometimes it can get intense,” Nauer said of commissioner meetings. “I agree that sometimes things get lengthy. All three of us have the right to speak our minds. How am I to control that?”