Joint Town and County meeting to address Trustee Hazelton’s concerns with VEP

Story by Suzy Blackhurst

A brewing rift between Board members of Visit Estes Park, most of whom have worked together for several years, and Kirby Hazelton, who was appointed to the Board just a year ago this week, came to a head this past week.

The most recent skirmish began on April 1 when Hazelton, an Estes Park Town Trustee and the Town Board’s liaison to the special marketing district, wrote to the Larimer County Commissioners and asked them to meet with Town Trustees to discuss the possibility of removing and replacing all VEP Board members and the appointment of an interim chief executive officer.

In response to Hazelton’s letter, the VEP Board drafted and approved a four-page missive outlining their position on issues raised by Hazelton during a special meeting Tuesday afternoon, which was sent to both the County Commissioners and the Town Board in advance of the Town Board’s regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday night.

“Trustee Hazelton has shown a persistent pattern of undermining the organization’s Board leadership,” the VEP Board wrote. The Board members’ letter cited the continual deterioration of a working relationship with Hazelton, which dates back to the time when she was appointed to the VEP Board a year ago.

“Our financials, strategy documents, and Board actions are publicly available and proactively shared. The Board is operationally sound,” the VEP letter stated.

During the Town Board meeting, the Trustees agreed to meet with the members of the County to discuss the issues Hazelton raised.

“There are a number of things in Trustee Hazleton’s letter and the response that raise a number of different types of questions. Some of them are process-oriented. Some of them are not. And I think process is always something that we should be aware of and dealing with,” said Bill Brown, trustee, as he suggested the Board agree to a joint meeting.

Saying changes may need to be made, trustee Frank Lancaster wasn’t convinced the situation with VEP is dire.

“I have seen dysfunctional Boards before. I don’t think this situation rises anywhere close to a dissolution of the need,” Hall said before agreeing to a meeting with the commissioners. 

All six Town Trustees were amenable to meeting with the Larimer County Commissioners. Mayor Gary Hall was resistant.

“I do not support moving it forward, but I hear that we have a strong consensus,” Hall said. “I don’t think we need to take an official vote.”

Town administrator Travis Machalek will work with the staff at Larimer County to make arrangements for the joint meeting.

In her letter to the commissioners, which she shared with the Town Board, Hazelton alleged that “The Visit Estes Park Board is currently dysfunctional, ineffective, and jeopardizing future operations.” She also said the Board fails to act with “good governance policy.”

“I’ve been sharing my concerns” for quite some time, Hazelton said on Monday. “My goal has always been to avoid this. Unfortunately, there is a resistance to change, she said.

The Estes Park Town Board appoints five members of the VEP Board, and the County Commissioners appoint two. The joint arrangement was developed by an intergovernmental agreement between the two elected bodies when the local marketing district was approved by voters in 2008.

VEP’s 2025 budget is nearly $10 million, $5.5 million of which are pass-through funds collected from an additional bed tax approved by voters in 2022 to fund workforce housing and childcare.

The purpose of the special marketing district is to promote tourism to the Estes Valley. Area voters approved of the establishment of the organization in a ballot measure in 2008.