At least three more Ouray County employees have submitted statements criticizing County Commissioner Lynn Padgett’s behavior, as part of an investigation sparked by the road and bridge superintendent’s official complaint alleging harassment.
The Plaindealer filed a records request for communications with Employers Council, the organization conducting the investigation into Ty Barger’s complaint. Records obtained with that request show at least four other county employees were asked to participate in interviews with the investigator handling the complaint.
The Plaindealer is not naming those employees publicly, other than Barger, because they participated in the investigation initiated by his complaint under the belief that their comments were confidential. These employees did not file complaints themselves, but complied with the county’s request to cooperate with the investigation into Barger’s complaint. The Plaindealer contacted these individuals and verified they made these statements.
Their statements, produced in response to a series of questions from the Employers Council investigator, paint a picture of a dysfunctional work environment in which county employees spend significant resources trying to anticipate Padgett’s behavior and prevent negative feedback. The narratives describe a culture in which employees feel demeaned and are not empowered to do their jobs independently. In some instances, they used the word “hostile” or “hostility” in reference to their experiences with Padgett.
The Plaindealer contacted Padgett for this article but she did not respond. Her attorney, Roger Sagal, provided a written response.
“Unlike others involved in this process, Commissioner Padgett intends to honor the confidential nature of this proceeding as set forth in the County Personnel Policy except to restate that she has not harassed or retaliated against any county employee,” the prepared statement said. “This does not mean that Commissioner Padgett doesn’t have more to say.”
Sagal’s email indicated Padgett has scheduled her own interview with the Employers Council investigator and looks forward to “providing her with information that directly refutes the assertions contained in the materials you’ve been provided.”
Sagal called the release of the public records “premature disclosure of materials relating to an ongoing personnel investigation” and reiterated his concern about how the county has handled the complaint.
Barger filed his complaint in August but made it public himself at the beginning of October, just as ballots were going out for the election in which Padgett is running to keep her seat. He said he wanted the complaint to be public because he was frustrated by how long the investigation was taking and he wanted Padgett’s behavior to stop. He also requested Commission Chair Michelle Nauer to censure Padgett, which would be a way to condemn her fellow commissioner’s behavior. Nauer and Commissioner Jake Niece have both said they will wait for the outcome of the investigation.
Padgett’s campaign has called Barger’s complaint and its timing a political “hit job,” and she previously released a prepared statement responding to his complaint.
Padgett retained Sagal, who argued the complaint wasn’t valid and should be dropped for several reasons. Those reasons included concerns that Barger had leaked the complaint and compromised the investigation process.
However, the county has countered that Barger is free to release his own complaint and it will continue with the investigation process, handled independently by Employers Council.
Written summaries of the interviews between Employers Council and the other employees show they agreed Padgett treated Barger poorly. Some also characterized Padgett’s behavior as hostile, and they painted a picture of jobs dominated by fear of dealing with her and excessive time spent trying to anticipate what she may do and head off her negative responses. The records also show Barger threatened to file a complaint in 2023 but decided not to at the time.
The investigator interviewed and compiled written statements from at least three employees as part of the workplace investigation. Comments about Padgett from these three employees included:
• “My working relationship with Lynn depends on the situation. It runs … from friendly and cordial to at times, hostile aggression.”
• “I have watched myself and other staff members experience hostility — Lynn has berated and demoralized me personally. At times, I feel that certain facts are twisted or manufactured to make me or my staff or my department look bad.”
• “My staff fears going in front of the BOCC because they worry about being demoralized and berated by Lynn.”
• “It seems like the majority of the time we take something to the board, Lynn finds something she believes was missed. That is typically presented in such a way that my staff, department and I are inept and don’t know what we are doing … oftentimes it is something she has manufactured and we disagree with her interpretation. It seems like this is just a way for her to find some deficiencies with my staff and my department.”
• “She will manufacture and make things up to make you look bad. At times she makes no effort to treat you like a professional. Just degrading and demoralizing, and I have seen her treat (Barger) that way. This typically occurs in public meetings.”
• “She will put words in your mouth and make you feel like you don’t know your job — in open meetings for the public to hear.”
• “The other two commissioners have not supported the department heads. I have asked them to help and get Lynn under control and let her know it is not appropriate conduct and that they need to move on. They have not stepped up. It is like they are scared of her.”
• “I think Lynn has a vendetta with Ty. She is the only commissioner who is receiving these complaints (related to the flood response from road and bridge staff in August) … It seems interesting that nobody has called the other commissioners… She is bringing things forward that, if someone is upset about something, they would call more than one commissioner.”
• “… I don’t report to her and she feels like I do. That becomes an obstacle a lot of times. There are a lot of times where if I am not doing exactly what she feels I should be doing, she will rally citizens to express her feelings.”
• “She will question my competency. Sometimes it feels quite demeaning.”
• “She is a very smart person and she wants everyone to know how smart she is.”
• “It feels like an election ploy for her to tell everyone that none of us are doing our job and she is the only one trying to do everything for the citizens.”
One employee also wrote that their department staffers spend more time trying to anticipate what Padgett will want during a public meeting than they do on the rest of their jobs.
“We are continually trying to stay out of her aim if at all possible,” the employee wrote, adding “we are always working on the ‘Lynn factor’ — what is she going to ask about or look at or say?”
Another employee said the commissioners’ meetings have become long and burdensome — and that, in one instance, they waited hours to deliver a required five-minute update at a meeting due to delays caused by Padgett’s behavior.
“We have jobs to do, but Lynn is regularly excessive in what she says,” the person wrote. “It is disrespectful of everyone’s time. I think every County employee who has to give BOCC updates feels the same way.”
Two of the employees indicated they fear backlash from Padgett, though the county manager is in charge of hiring and firing employees, not commissioners. The chain of command dictates the elected commissioners hire and supervise the county manager, Connie Hunt, who then supervises the employees. There should not be any direct supervision of these county employees by the elected commissioners themselves.
“I am worried about retaliation from Lynn,” one told the investigator. “Even having this conversation makes me nervous. She wields a lot of power and influence and nobody wants to be on her bad side.”
“It makes me nervous that there may be retaliation because I fear we may be stuck with Lynn for another four years,” another said.
There is at least one other interview and written summary in this investigation from an employee who no longer works for the county. This person had an interview and submitted a written statement, but it’s not clear what it contained. However, that former employee told the Plaindealer that Padgett’s behavior was a significant reason for their resignation.
“Working another four years under Lynn was a big consideration in my decision to leave the county,” the person said.
It is unclear how much longer the investigation into Barger’s complaint may take or when a final report will be completed.
