Embattled Douglas County Commissioner Lora Thomas resigned Friday, simply weeks earlier than the top of her final time period in workplace, blaming years of friction with fellow commissioners who she says “evicted” her from her workplace house.
In a social media put up, Thomas wrote that she’d put up with “4 years of hell” whereas working alongside commissioners Abe Laydon and George Teal, together with “harassment, suppression, censorship, marginalization and outright cancellation.”
Thomas’ time period would have expired in January, when state Sen. Kevin Van Winkle is scheduled to take over the seat.
Thomas was first elected in 2016 and reelected in 2020. Commissioners are restricted to 2 phrases in workplace, and Van Winkle prevailed over Democrat Josh Smith within the race to characterize northwest Douglas County final month.
Thomas wrote that Laydon and Teal on Wednesday ordered county staffers to filter her workplace house to permit Van Winkle to maneuver in.
“There was already a vacant exec workplace for Van Winkle’s use, however he was simply high quality with Laydon/Teal kicking me out,” she wrote. “This private petty harassment was the final straw.”
The three have sparred for years over Thomas’ conduct as commissioner, with Laydon and Teal censuring her, stripping her of her place as board chair and ordering two investigations that failed to show up proof of wrongdoing.
Thomas, in flip, sued her two colleagues in 2023 to get well authorized charges that she incurred throughout the investigations.
Laydon and Teal instructed Denver7 in a joint assertion that there was nothing uncommon concerning the timing of Van Winkle’s transfer into Thomas’ workplace and criticized the timing of Thomas’ personal interview with the broadcaster.
“It’s tragic that our censured colleague with whom we made numerous makes an attempt at reconciliation, selected to repeatedly violate our coverage guide, after which host a press convention when the County was honoring the Kendrick Castillo household,” they stated.
“We’re grateful for the peace, positivity and collaboration that Commissioner-elect Kevin Van Winkle will deliver to Douglas County.”
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