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Former County Commissioners
District 1 Commissioner Republican William M. Allen, a native of
District 1 Commissioner Republican Hal Anderson was born in Casper, Wyoming, although his family moved to Jefferson County a few weeks after his birth. He was employed by the Jefferson County Engineering Department as Projects Engineer from 1967 to 1972, and operated a construction estimating and consulting firm when elected Commissioner. Commissioner Anderson was instrumental in promoting the C-470 highway project, and was an active 32nd Degree Mason.
District 3 Commissioner Republican Dave Auburn was sworn in as a Jefferson County Commissioner on March 1, 2005 after being appointed to fill an unexpired term. Auburn graduated from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department Citizens Academy and served as a victim advocate for that same department. He served as a member of the 1st Judicial District Citizen Advisory Board and worked as a corporate manager. Auburn served as a Veteran’s Administration Fiduciary, responsible for the estates of disabled veterans in Colorado. He also was a vice president of the Council of Homeowners Organization for Planned Environment (COHOPE). He was a graduate of the University of Phoenix with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. In addition, Auburn received an Associate of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Western Michigan University.
District 3 Commissioner Democrat Maurice Bauer, a native of West Chester, Iowa, operated Bauer's Spruce Island Chalet, a motel near Evergreen, for nine years prior to his election. He was a director and president of the American Motel Association and the Colorado Motor Court Owners Association. Earlier, he taught secondary school in Colorado and New Mexico, and was president of the Aurora School Board, president of the Otero Teachers Association in La Junta, and a member of the Jefferson County Library Board of Trustees (1954-1957).
District 1 Commissioner Democrat James J. Beasley, born in Illinois, first came to Colorado in 1860 from Lancaster, Missouri. He engaged in the cattle business in Denver for six years, and in 1863 brought his family to Colorado. In 1866 Beasley purchased and moved to a 160 acre farm along Ralston Creek in the Arvada area. Commissioner Beasley resigned in March 1873 and moved to a farm in Boulder County, where he lived until his death.
District 1 Commissioner Democrat Gilbert N. Belcher, a Pennsylvania native and resident of the former Ralston Precinct, was appointed by the Governor in March 1873 to succeed resigned Commissioner James J. Beasley. He was elected to a full term later that year. Previously, Belcher was elected School Superintendent for Jefferson County in 1865.
District 2 Commissioner Republican Aaron S. Benson moved to Colorado in the late 1860s after living in his native Monroe County, New York and in Iowa. He operated the Colorado Nursery, located two miles east of Golden, where he raised garden produce and fruit trees. After completing his term as Commissioner, Benson moved to Larimer County in 1878 to build the Louden Canal. He later served as a Larimer County Commissioner in 1880-1883 and 1886-1889, was a member of the State Legislature in 1883, and was president of the Bank of Loveland. In both Jefferson and Larimer counties he served a total of 22 years on school district boards.
District 3 Commissioner Republican Thomas C. Bergen came to Colorado in 1859 and became one of the first residents of the mountain area later called Bergen Park. He built a cabin there in July 1859 and moved his family from Illinois the following summer. He farmed and operated a boarding house in Bergen Park along one of the main roads into the mountains until 1875, when he moved to a location two miles south of Morrison. There he raised stock and developed a pond for commercially raising trout. He was a member of the first state legislature and of the People's Convention that petitioned Congress for Colorado statehood. Bergen was elected to a two year term on the first Board of County Commissioners, and was reelected twice. In 1885 he moved into Morrison, and later moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where he died.
District 2 Commissioner Democrat Edward L. Berthoud immigrated with his parents to the United States from his native Switzerland at the age of two in 1830. He was raised in upstate New York, graduated from Union College in Schenectady, N.Y. in 1849 trained as a civil engineer and surveyor, and worked on a variety of railroad projects during the 1850s. Berthoud arrived in Golden, Colorado on April 18, 1860. In 1861 he discovered Berthoud Pass and surveyed a wagon route from Golden to Utah. During the Civil War he served as a lieutenant and captain in the 2nd Colorado Infantry and 2nd Colorado Cavalry. Berthoud became one of Golden's most prominent citizens, serving as Speaker of the Colorado Territorial Legislature in 1866, County Surveyor from 1875 to 1878, and Golden Mayor in 1890. He surveyed and supervised construction of many railroad lines in Colorado and the West, primarily for the Colorado Central Railroad. Berthoud was an early supporter, faculty member, and board member of the Colorado School of Mines, and an amateur scholar of history, botany, and ornithology.
James G. Biggins, Jr. District 1 Commissioner Republican James G. Biggins was elected to two terms as Commissioner, and then was appointed Commissioner by the Governor in 1946 to succeed resigned Commissioner Clyde W. Morris. Biggins, born in Sorento, Illinois, worked as a coal mine laborer in Montana, New Mexico, and Leyden, Colorado prior to World War I, and served in the Army during that war. He then returned to Leyden as a coal mine foreman. Before his election as Commissioner, Biggins served in Jefferson County as Deputy Assessor from 1927 to 1931, Sheriff from 1931 to 1935, and as Mayor of Arvada from 1936 to 1938.
District 2 Commissioner Democrat Joachim Binder, a native of Wittenberg, Germany, immigrated to the United States in 1852, and came to Colorado in 1860 from Minnesota. He operated a farm midway between Golden and the former town of Mount Vernon.
District 3 Commissioner Republican Fred D. Blackmer was born in Cripple Creek, Colorado. He was a rancher in the Bergen Park area until 1913, when he moved to another ranch near Evergreen.
District 1 Commissioner Theodore Perry Boyd came to Golden in June 1859 and constructed the third house built in town. Prior to coming to Colorado he trained as an engineer, worked on the Erie Canal in the 1830s, and spent four years engaged in mining in California after the 1849 gold rush. A year after moving to Golden he relocated to a farm 7 miles east of Golden along Clear Creek. Boyd was elected in 1861 to the first Board of County Commissioners for a term of three years. In 1865 he returned to his native Pennsylvania, where he died the following year.
District 2 Commissioner Republican Richard Broad, Jr., born in Superior Mine, Michigan, came to Colorado as a child with his parents in 1870. They settled in Central City for a year and then moved to a farm along Ralston Creek where he worked until 1885. That year he moved to Golden as an employee of the State Industrial School until becoming a partner in Hammond and Broad, a dry goods firm, in 1887. In addition to his two terms as Commissioner, Broad was a member of the Golden City Council in 1890 and 1891, and was Golden's Mayor in 1903 and 1904. He was also chairman of the State Silver Republican Central Committee, and for ten years was a Trustee of the State Normal School at Greeley.
John R. "Jack" Browne District 2 Commissioner Republican Jack Browne was born in County Sligo, Ireland, and came to Colorado in 1911. He was a cattle and horse rancher and longtime Lakewood resident. Commissioner Browne promoted the construction of West 6th Avenue as a major thoroughfare, and was instrumental in introducing rodeo events to the county. After his terms as Commissioner, Browne served in the State House of Representatives from 1951 to 1954.
District 2 Commissioner Republican Marjorie Clement was appointed Commissioner in December 1981 to succeed her deceased husband, Robert F. Clement, and subsequently was elected three times. Prior to her appointment, Clement, a
District 2 Commissioner Republican Robert F. Clement moved to Jefferson County from his native Oklahoma in 1951. He was a successful home builder in Jefferson County for over 20 years. Commissioner Clement spearheaded the County's acquisition of the Hiwan Homestead Museum, actively promoted the preservation of Jefferson County's history, and was a strong advocate of the Open Space program. He was named to the Jefferson County Historical Commission's Hall of Fame in 1979, and Clement Park is named for him. Prior to his election as Commissioner, Clement was active in the incorporation of the city of Lakewood, served on its first City Council and as Mayor Pro Tem, and was chairman of the Alameda Water and Sanitation District.
District 1 Commissioner Republican Jim Congrove was elected as a Jefferson County Commissioner in November 2004 and represented District 1 in the northern part of the county. He served as the 2005 Chairman of the Board of Commissioners and the 2005 Chairman of the Law Enforcement Authority Board. Prior to his election to the County Commission seat, he was an elected member of the Colorado House of Representatives (1994-96) and the Colorado State Senate (1996-2000). He also served as director of the Rocky Flats Stewardship Council, a member of the Urban Drainage Flood Control District Board and an alternate on the Jefferson Economic Council Board.
District 2 Commissioner Democrat Joseph R. Cruse was born in Fairmount, Missouri and raised in that state. He moved to Jefferson County in 1885 and settled along Bear Creek near Morrison where he farmed for thirty years and bred dairy cattle for over a decade. He then moved to Pine where he engaged in a mercantile business. About six years before his death he moved to Edgewater. Commissioner Cruse also served as a State Water Commissioner, 1913-1915, and was a member of Golden Lodge No. 13 of the I.O.O.F. for 55 years.
District 1 Commissioner Lewis Davis was born in Ohio and was in Golden as early as 1860. Davis operated a carpentry firm in Golden, and built the first bridge at Boyd's Ford (now 44th Avenue) over Clear Creek in 1869. He served as County Surveyor in 1863 and surveyed the western boundary of Jefferson County.
District 2 Commissioner Republican George Devinny was a Jefferson County native who operated a farm near the location of Alameda and Wadsworth Avenues. He was a charter member of the Lakewood Grange, Lakewood Kiwanis Club, and Lakewood Civic Club. As president of the Consolidated Mutual Water Users Association Devinny was instrumental in securing use of that water for the Lakewood area. Devinny was vice-president and director of the Agricultural Ditch and Reservoir Company for 10 years.
District 3 Commissioner Republican Robert L. Downes served two elected terms as Commissioner, was appointed by the Governor in January 1917 to succeed resigned Commissioner Enos Keel, and subsequently was elected to another full term in 1918. Downes was born in Bishops Crossing, Quebec, Canada, the youngest of eleven children, and came to Colorado as a young man. He first lived in Morrison where he worked as a blacksmith, then moved to Trinidad, Colorado. After four years he returned to Jefferson County where for many years he operated three ranches in the Evergreen and Bergen Park area. After selling his ranches he retired to Troutdale-in-the-Pines. In addition to his years as a County Commissioner, Downes served Jefferson County as a road overseer and game warden.
William George Duvall District 3 Commissioner Republican William George Duvall was born in Tennessee, raised in New Jersey, and moved to Colorado about 1900. Here he attended the Colorado School of Mines and worked for Mountain State Telephone and Telegraph at Silverton. Shortly thereafter, he co-founded Duvall-Davison Lumber Company in Golden, of which he was president and manager until shortly before his death. He was also president of the Evergreen Lumber Company for many years. Duvall served as chairman of the Colorado Highway Advisory Board during the late 1920s, and was honored by the Golden Chamber of Commerce in 1952 for his 25 year campaign for construction of a highway in Clear Creek Canyon.
District 1 Commissioner Republican Oliver North Evans was born in Pennsylvania and became a prominent Arvada resident after moving to Jefferson County. Evans farmed until 1911, when he moved to Arvada and entered the coal and feed business. He later owned the Arvada Blacksmith Shop between 1930 and 1932. Prior to serving as Commissioner, he was elected Arvada Town Trustee in 1914, 1915, and 1919.
District 3 Commissioner Frank Ewers, a native of Ingham County, Michigan, came to Colorado in 1876 and settled along Bear Creek in Jefferson County. He farmed there until 1892, when he moved to Morrison. At the end of his term as Commissioner, he moved to Littleton, and then to Denver.
District 1 Commissioner Republican Rich Ferdinandsen was appointed Commissioner in April 1983 to succeed deceased Commissioner Walt Tomsic, and was elected to two additional terms in 1984 and 1988. Commissioner Ferdinandsen was active in several major regional issues concerning water, transportation, growth, intergovernmental cooperation, and land use. He served on several boards and commissions, including the Denver Regional Council of Governments, Urban Drainage and Flood Control, Northwest Metro Chamber of Commerce, and the Regional Air Quality Council. Commissioner Ferdinandsen originated and served as Chairman of the Jefferson County Community Corrections Board, the Rocky Flats Impact Initiative, and the W-470 Highway Authority. He was also active in Colorado Counties, Inc. Prior to his terms as Commissioner, Ferdinandsen, a professional economist, served as Assistant Director of Colorado State Parks. He is a United States Marine Corps veteran and graduate of the University of Colorado.
District 1 Commissioner Republican William M. Graves was born in Illinois and came to Colorado with his parents in 1860. He first apprenticed as a blacksmith in the former town of Golden Gate City, and then in 1868 established Arvada's first blacksmith shop and a threshing business. He became a prominent Arvada resident and served as president of the District 2 Arvada School Board from 1885 to 1906.
District 3 Commissioner Republican George S. Green was appointed by the Governor in March 1940 to succeed deceased Commissioner George W. Parfet, and subsequently won election three times. Green was born in Orange County, Virginia and came to Hoehne, Colorado with his parents in 1886. He lived and ranched in Las Animas County until 1917 when he moved to a ranch near Blackhawk in Gilpin County. The following year he came to Jefferson County where he became a prominent stock raiser in Golden Gate Canyon. He was Treasurer of the Colorado Cattleman's Association for fourteen years.
District 1 Commissioner Republican
District 3 Commissioner Republican George W. Harriman was born in Argentine, Canada and came to Colorado from Wisconsin in 1860. He operated a boarding house in Central City for a year, and then moved to Kenosha in Park County where he built and operated a hotel for three and a half years. In 1865 he sold out and returned to Wisconsin. The following year he returned to Colorado as a stage operator. In 1867 Harriman moved to Turkey Creek, two miles above Morrison, where he built a hotel. He moved again in 1870 to a ranch on Bear Creek where he was active in irrigation and reservoir enterprises. He sold his ranch in 1897 and retired to Fort Logan.
District 3 Commissioner Democrat Jerome E. Harrington was born in Niagara County, New York, and worked as a farmer in New York, Michigan, and Illinois. He came West during the Rocky Mountain Gold Rush, arrived in Denver on June 25, 1859, and worked as a miner in Gilpin and Clear Creek Counties prior to purchasing a ranch along Bear Creek in 1862. Harrington operated lumber mills in the Evergreen area between 1864 and 1876. That year he sold his Bear Creek properties and moved to Park County, settling near Hartsel. At the time of his death in 1899, Harrington was one of the largest landowners and ranchers in South Park.
District 2 Commissioner Democrat Duncan Harrison was an early
District 3 Commissioner Democrat Kathy Hartman was elected as a Jefferson County Commissioner in November 2006 and was sworn in on January 9, 2007. Hartman was appointed to the state Child Welfare Advisory Committee, Training Sub-Committee, by Governor Ritter and in 2008 chaired the Metro Area County Commissioners. For 16 years she had been the executive director of Stride, a non-profit agency that assists more than 300 homeless and low-income families each year in Adams, Arapahoe and
District 3 Commissioner Democrat and People's Party John M. Hobbs, a native of District 1 Commissioner Republican and Silver Republican Cecil S. Holley was born in New York State and moved to Wheat Ridge in 1877 from Illinois. After moving to Central City for a brief time he returned to Wheat Ridge, where he lived for the rest of his life. One of Commissioner Holley's duties was to serve as the County Superintendent of the Poor and distribute County aid to the indigent. Prior to his election as Commissioner, Holley was elected to the Wheat Ridge School Board in 1885, and served as a Justice of the Peace. He was a graduate of Michigan University and well known for his academic background. District 2 Commissioner Republican Patricia B. Holloway, a Salt Lake City, Utah native and fifth generation westerner, moved to Colorado in 1977. After attending Westminster College in Salt Lake City she began her career in the motion picture industry and was founder and president of the Utah Chapter of Women of the Motion Picture Industry. She later worked for Colorado Public Television Channel 12, and was a licensed realtor in the Denver metro area. In 1997, Commissioner Holloway initiated the Jefferson County Mountain Ground Water Resource Study, a collaborative effort of the county, the EPA and the USGS and the first such study in the nation. She was Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners during the 1999 Columbine High School tragedy and subsequently lectured to state and local governments about Columbine. She was extremely influential in the establishment of the Rocky Flats Wildlife Refuge and preservation of the historic Lindsay Ranch at Rocky Flats. Chester L. "Chet" Hoskinson District 1 Commissioner Republican Chet Hoskinson moved to Colorado from his native Kansas in 1941. He was the first home builder and developer in Arvada where he operated Hoskinson Development Company until elected Commissioner in 1960. Prior to his election as Commissioner, he served one term on the Arvada Town Board. Commissioner Hoskinson was instrumental in creation of the Jefferson County Airport Authority, actively promoted the Airport's development, and served on the executive board of the Public Land Commission. Commissioner Hoskinson resigned in February 1971 to accept an appointment by Governor John Love to the State Industrial Commission. He was honored as the first Arvada Chamber of Commerce Man of the Year in 1951, and was a long time member of the Lion's Club and Masonic Order. District 1 Commissioner Republican William Huntsbarger was born in Wichita, Kansas and moved to the Evergreen area of Jefferson County in 1960. Prior to moving to Colorado he worked as a hotel manager and traveling salesman and owned two car dealerships. He had a lifelong interest in aviation, which became his primary career. Huntsbarger became a licensed pilot in 1929, was an executive with Cessna Aviation Company and was a member of the board of the American Association of Airport Executives. He was manager of the Jefferson County Airport from 1962 to 1971 and was instrumental in its early development and success. Between 1962 and 1965 he also served as Director of Industries for Jefferson County. Huntsbarger was appointed Commissioner by the Governor in 1971 to complete the term of resigned Commissioner Chester Hoskinson. He was a resident of Dewey, Arizona at the time of his death.
District 1 Commissioner Democrat Gus A. Johnson was elected Commissioner five times and served twenty years, longer than any other Jefferson County Commissioner. Born in Sweden, he immigrated to the United States with his parents at the age of six. He moved to Denver about 1885 where he engaged in the grocery business. In 1899 he settled on a farm northeast of Golden where he lived the rest of his life. Commissioner Johnson was a strong supporter of road development in the County, first for horse drawn conveyances, and later for automobiles. District 3 Commissioner Republican John W. Jump, a native of Winnemucca, Nevada, was a rancher in Golden Gate Canyon at the time of his election as Commissioner in 1962. Prior to his election he also operated as a general contractor and subdivider in Jefferson County and was a founder and director of the North Table Mountain Civic Association. Commissioner Jump served as a bomber pilot in the 9th Air Force in Europe during World War II, and is a member of Highlands Lodge 86 A.F. & A.M. Since 1969 he has resided in retirement on Colorado's Western Slope.
District 3 Commissioner Republican Enos Keel was born in Duncannon, Pennsylvania and moved with his family to Nebraska as a child. At about age twenty he moved to Monte Vista, Colorado. About 1907 Keel moved to Jefferson County, locating near Morrison where he operated a ranch. He was elected Commissioner in 1914 and served until his resignation in January 1917 due to ill health. He died later that year. District 2 Commissioner Republican George K. Kimball was appointed Commissioner by the Governor in February 1889 to succeed resigned Commissioner Rudolph Koenig. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Kimball came to Denver in 1860 from Wisconsin. He mined at Blackhawk until the fall of 1861 when he was mustered into the 2nd Colorado Infantry, in which he served as an officer until 1864. From 1865 to 1870 he was superintendent of the Lode Star Mining Company at Russell's Gulch in Gilpin County. Subsequently, Kimball was Golden station agent for the Colorado Central Railroad (1870-1873), and postmaster of Golden (1873-1884). Later he was Golden City Clerk (1886-1889) and Superintendent of Water Works for four years prior to his election as Commissioner. District 3 Commissioner Republican Clarence H. Koch was a Golden native who worked for many years as an electrical engineer and utility executive. He was employed by the Colorado Central Power Company from 1924 to 1945. After resigning from the power company, he organized the Davison-Koch Furniture Store in Golden, which operated between 1945 and 1950. Koch also raised cattle on his ranch in Mount Vernon Canyon after 1941, and lived there until 1965, when he moved with his family to a ranch at Livermore, north of Fort Collins. He lived there and in Fort Collins until his death. District 2 Commissioner Republican Rudolph Koenig was elected Commissioner in 1886 and resigned in February 1889. Born in Canton Berne, Switzerland, he immigrated to the United States with his parents in 1856, and settled in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Koenig moved from Pennsylvania to Golden, Colorado in 1867. There he manufactured brick for about five years, and then managed the Golden Smelting Works from 1879 to 1888. Koenig served as Mayor of Golden in 1885 and 1886. In 1889 he resigned his position as Commissioner and moved to Weld County where he operated a large cattle ranch until his death. District 3 Commissioner Democrat Daniel E. Kurtz came to Colorado in 1859 from Pennsylvania, his native state, and homesteaded along Bear Creek in the early 1860s. He helped establish the Bear Creek School (District Number 16), served as the district's secretary in 1871-1872, and also served as a Justice of the Peace.
District 1 Commissioner Democrat Gary D. Laura was born in Trenton, Michigan and moved to Colorado in 1987. He began his career as a Professor of Music at the University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and subsequently became an Assistant to the Vice President at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. In 1982 Laura moved into the health field as a Public Health Advisor with the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, and later served as Director of Crisis Intervention for greater New Orleans. He moved to Colorado to become the academic dean at Park Junior College. One of Laura's major achievements as Commissioner was initiating the Front Range Mountain Backdrop Project, an effort he led to create a linear park system in five counties along the Front Range from Colorado Springs to the Wyoming border. He was also active in promoting the County's interest in a long-term solution to the environmental problems at the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, and supported the County-wide long-range planning effort known as Future Jeffco. Laura holds a Master's Degree from Wayne State University and a Baccalaureate Degree from Michigan State University. He is active in local music pursuits. District 1 Commissioner Republican Michelle Lawrence, a Colorado native, was a graduate of Arvada High School in Jefferson County and co-owner of Marshall Liquors, a long-time family owned business in unincorporated Jefferson County. She was an active supporter of Arvada cultural and community organizations, including serving on the Board of Directors of the Arvada Chamber of Commerce. She was twice elected a State Representative to the Colorado Legislature, serving from 1990 through 1994. As county commissioner, Lawrence strongly supported the county’s Open Space program including playing a pivotal role in the county’s acquisition of over 700 acres on South Table Mesa in Golden. She also focused on ensuring that Jefferson County’s budget was fiscally responsible in an era of limited public resources. District 1 Commissioner Democrat David Lees was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and immigrated to the United States in 1851. He first apprenticed as a stone cutter in New York City. Thereafter he moved to Chicago and then to Iowa. In 1860 he came to Gold Hill in Boulder County. He engaged in mining there, at Nevada in Gilpin County, and at Georgetown in Clear Creek County for several years. In 1874 he settled on a farm 5 1/2 miles east of Golden along Clear Creek. In 1883 he served as the first president of Vasquez Precinct School District Number 32. In his later years he raised fruit on his orchard farm. District 2 Commissioner Republican Joe B. Lewis was a Denver native and longtime Lakewood and Wheat Ridge resident. He and his family established Lewis Candy Company in Wheat Ridge in 1962, after operating Lewis Home and Auto Service for twenty years. Commissioner Lewis was a strong supporter of centralizing County functions, including accounting, purchasing, road and bridge services, and data processing, and supported the hiring by Jefferson County of the first County Manager in Colorado. Commissioner Lewis served on the Governor's Highway Legislative Review Committee, the Advisory Board for Civil Defense, the Executive Board of Industries for Jefferson County, and was Chairman of the Taxation Committee of the Colorado Association of County Commissioners. He was an active member of the East Jefferson Kiwanis Club and the Wheat Ridge Service Club. District 1 Commissioner William H. Light was a native of Michigan. He lived and farmed for many years in Wheat Ridge, where he operated a small orchard and raised several other kinds of fruit, including blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and gooseberries.
District 3 Commissioner Republican James E. Martin was a longtime Evergreen resident who moved to Colorado in 1969 from Kansas City, Missouri. He worked in a family-owned insecticide manufacturing business until 1967, and operated computer programming schools in Denver and Kansas City for three years. For the six years prior to his election, Commissioner Martin was a commercial real estate investment counselor. District 2 Commissioner Republican Kevin McCasky was elected Jefferson County Commissioner (District 2) in November 2004, and re-elected in 2008. Prior to being elected Commissioner, McCasky was elected and served as Jefferson County Assessor from 1998 - 2004. He served as Chairman of the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners and the Jefferson County Law Enforcement Authority Board in 2009, and also served as the Chairman of both Boards in 2006. He represented the county on the Jefferson Economic Council, the Boundary Control Commission, the Jefferson Parkway Public Highway Authority (served as chairman), the Noxious Weed Advisory Board, the CleanLaunch Board of Directors, and as alternate on the Denver Regional Council of Governments and the Criminal Justice Strategic Planning Committee. The West Chamber honored McCasky as the 2006 Elected Official of the Year, which was the second time he received that award and the only person in the Chamber’s 60 year history to receive the award twice. Previous to joining Jefferson County, McCasky served on the staff of Congressman Joel Hefley in Colorado's 5th District and has worked as a Legislative Budget Analyst for the Joint Budget Committee of the Colorado General Assembly. He is a graduate of the University of Northern Colorado with B.A.’s in Geography and Political Science. He is married to Lori and they have two sons, Tyler and Nick.
District 3 Commissioner Democrat Andrew McPheeters was an early Colorado pioneer who arrived in 1860 and homesteaded a ranch on Bear Creek where he lived until his death. Francis J. "Frank" McQuiston District 1 Commissioner Republican Frank McQuiston was born in Pennsylvania where he operated a furniture store in the town of Erie. He and his wife later moved to Minnesota. McQuiston first came to Colorado in June 1859. He settled in the area then known as Ralston Crossing (near present West 65th Avenue and Indiana Street in Arvada) and brought his wife to Colorado in 1863. McQuiston farmed, invested in mining properties in the Central City area, was one of the first bee farmers in Colorado (1863), was one of three original planners and builders of the irrigation ditch later known as the Church Ditch (1864), and served as Postmaster at Ralston (1868-1870). District 2 Commissioner Democrat Betty Miller was born in Bluefield, West Virginia and has lived in Jefferson County from the time she first moved to Colorado in 1959. She was elected to the State Legislature in 1964 and served one term. She was active in the incorporation of the City of Lakewood in 1969 and served for six years as the first woman elected to the city council. In 1974 Miller was appointed by Governor Richard Lamm as the Executive Director of the Department of Local Affairs. Beginning in 1977 she served four years as the Regional Administrator of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under President Jimmy Carter. She then became the District and State Director for U.S. Congressman and Senator Timothy Wirth for eight years. As County Commissioner, Miller was a strong supporter of the Open Space Program, the County-wide planning effort known as Future Jeffco, and promoted open, service-oriented government. Miller has a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry from Ohio University and has received many awards, including Outstanding Woman of 1972 from the Lakewood Sentinel, 1977 Citizen of the Year from the Lakewood Board of Realtors, the Third Annual Leo C. Riethmayer Outstanding Public Administrator Award in 1980, and Lakewood's Historical Belmar Village 1994 Woman Who Made A Difference. District 2 Commissioner Democrat Robert Millikin, born in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, apprenticed as a carpenter at the age of seventeen and then worked as a contractor and builder. He moved to Nebraska in 1857 and came to Colorado in 1860 where he engaged in mining at Leavenworth Gulch in Gilpin County. Millikin moved to Golden in 1867 and resumed business as a contractor and builder. Among the structures he built was the County's first courthouse, completed in 1878. Millikin served as Mayor of Golden in 1879. District 1 Commissioner Republican Clyde W. Morris was elected Commissioner in 1944 and resigned in November 1946. He was born on a farm in Wheat Ridge and lived most of his life in Arvada where he was a wheat and vegetable farmer, and raised ten children. For many years he served as a produce judge at the Colorado State Fair and the Arvada Harvest Festival. Commissioner Morris served on the Arvada School Board for eleven years, was a lifetime member of the Enterprise Grange, and was an active Republican committeeman. District 2 Commissioner Republican Carl G. Morse, a native of Athens, New York, moved to Denver as a child and became a longtime resident of the Lakewood area. After graduating from Colorado A & M in 1913, he worked for his uncle's Morse Brothers' Machinery Company in Tennessee, then lived in Comstock, Nevada and western Colorado before returning to the Denver area in 1929. In 1932 he established the Carl G. Morse Insurance Co, which he operated until his death. Commissioner Morse worked to obtain park land for the county, and Carl G. Morse Park at West 20th and Carr was named for him in 1959. He was an organizer and director of the Lakewood Sanitation District, served on the Lakewood School Board for 10 years, and was a founding member and first president of the Lakewood Kiwanis Club.
District 2 Commissioner Republican John Nicholls was born in South Wales and worked in English lead, tin, and copper mines from the age of eight. In 1865 he immigrated to the United States and worked in Pennsylvania as foreman of the Lehigh Valley Coal Company for eight years. He came to Golden in 1873 where he operated nearby coal mines. He was elected Night Watchman for Golden in 1874 and Golden City Marshall in 1875, and served as a Deputy Sheriff from 1877 until his election as Commissioner. After his term as Commissioner, Nicholls served as the elected Sheriff of Jefferson County from 1884 to 1888, and as Mayor of Golden in 1889. A decade later he was elected Sheriff again and served in that capacity from 1900 to 1907.
John Odom District 2 Commissioner Republican
George M. "Ozzie" Osborne District 1 Commissioner Republican George M. Osborne, a native of Pearisburg, Virginia, moved to Colorado in 1945. Prior to his election as Commissioner, he worked as a land appraiser for the Jefferson County Assessor; established Osborne Literary Services, a correspondence school for writing; was a free lance writer and Literary Critic for the National Writer's Club in Denver; taught creative writing at the University of Denver; and served in the U.S. Army during World War II, retiring as a Captain. Commissioner Osborne supervised the County Engineering Department, promoted the initial development of the County Airport and Fairgrounds, and helped establish a Credit Union and insurance program for County employees. After his term in office he operated Ozzie Osborne Realty for twelve years before retiring to pursue free lance writing. Osborne was an active member of many civic organizations including the Wheat Ridge Youth Council, Wheat Ridge Service Club, and Jefferson County United Fund.
District 2 Commissioner Republican Charles L. Palmer was reputedly the first Anglo child born in the former town of Arapahoe City, located two miles east of Golden. He was a lifelong resident of that area who began a fruit and vegetable wholesale business in 1881 on the homestead where he was born. George W. Parfet, Jr. District 3 Commissioner Republican George W. Parfet, Jr. was elected Commissioner in 1938, and died in office in 1940 from injuries suffered in a dynamite explosion in his clay mining operation at Golden. Commissioner Parfet, a Golden native, operated the Parfet Clay Mines that had been started by his father in the 1870s. He was active in the Masonic Order and, as Worshipful Master of the Golden City Lodge, No. 1, A.F. & A.M., performed the Masonic Burial Rites at the funeral of William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody on Lookout Mountain in 1917. District 3 Commissioner Democrat Joanne K. Paterson was the first woman to have been elected Commissioner in Jefferson County. A practicing attorney, she moved to Colorado in 1966 from Cleveland, Ohio where she had worked to demonstrate the practical and financial benefits of urban renewal. She volunteered extensively with Jefferson County Legal Aid shortly after its establishment in the early 1970s. Commissioner Paterson was instrumental in having the Solar Energy Research Institute (now the National Renewable Energy Laboratory) located in Jefferson County, and was a strong advocate of controlled County growth.
District 3 Commissioner Democrat Jesse E. Ray was born in North Carolina and came to Colorado in 1874. He settled at Pleasant Park, in Jefferson County, where he operated several sawmills and ranches, and for many years was engaged in hauling freight. In 1876 Ray crossed the Rocky Mountains in the company of frontiersman Colonel Richard Rutledge.
District 3 Commissioner Republican
District 1 Commissioner Democrat Emil M. Schneider was a lifelong Arvada resident and farmer who was active in the Arvada Chamber of Commerce and Clear Creek Valley Grange. A proponent of parks and recreation, Commissioner Schneider engineered the purchase of land for the Jefferson County Fairgrounds. Later he personally sold land at a nominal price to the North Jeffco Metropolitan Recreation and Park District for the Indian Tree Golf Course. Emil Schneider Park at 72nd Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard is named for Commissioner Schneider.
District 2 Commissioner Republican Robert A. Schoech was a Golden native who for many years was an agent for the Standard Oil Company in Jefferson County. During World War I he served in the 89th Infantry, and during Prohibition in the 1920s was a Federal Prohibition Agent. In his later years, Commissioner Schoech engaged in farming and gardening.
District 2 Commissioner James S. Scott came to Colorado in the early 1860s, probably from his native Indiana. His first employment here was in the Gilpin County mines of Henry M. Teller. In 1863 Scott moved to Golden where he was employed for many years as the first master mechanic for the Colorado Central Railroad. He was an active member of the Masonic Order and served as Master of Golden's Masonic Lodge in 1865 and 1870. Sometime after 1870 he left Golden and lived in Cheyenne, Wyoming, western Colorado, and Utah for many years. In 1905 he returned to Colorado and settled in Boulder.
District 3 Commissioner Republican Prior to his election as commissioner, Rick Sheehan served as financial officer for Arapahoe County and taught financial reporting at Regis University. Previously, he worked in the Colorado State Auditor’s Office and taught social studies in the Aurora Public Schools. As county commissioner Sheehan was a fiscal conservative whose accomplishments included implementation of a new accounting system and performance measures, and establishment of a Finance Director position. He fought for statewide transportation funding equity and the redirection of funds to Jefferson County and the Metro area. His efforts on wildfire mitigation resulted in a multi-jurisdictional Memorandum of Understanding for a biomass facility to reduce forest fuel load and the fire danger for 70,000 mountain residents. Sheehan earned a Master’s in Business Administration degree, holds a Certified Public Accountant’s license in Colorado, and is a certified government finance officer. Commissioner Sheehan resigned in February 2005.
William Shellabarger District 3 Commissioner Democrat William Shellabarger was a native of Ohio. He owned several hundred acres of land southwest of Littleton, on the site of the present Chatfield Lake State Park, where he raised crops and cattle.
District 3 Commissioner District 2 Commissioner Democrat and People's Party Adam C. Shock, born in Bavaria, Germany, immigrated to Ohio with his parents in 1851, and moved to Colorado in 1864. He worked in the mines at Breckenridge until 1872 when he moved to a 470 acre farm on Turkey Creek near Morrison. Several years later he moved to a farm east of Golden (near present West 32nd and McIntyre) where he farmed until his death.
District 3 Commissioner Republican Don Stanbro was raised in Springville, New York and later lived in Duxbury, Massachusetts and Highlands, New Jersey. He served four years in the U.S. Navy and received a political science degree from Syracuse University. Stanbro came to Evergreen, Colorado in 1967 where he owned Stanbro Real Estate Company. He was a Board Member of the Georgetown Historical Society and Evergreen Scholarship Association, and a senior instructor in the University of Colorado?s graduate realtor program. After his term as county commissioner, Stanbro moved to Englewood, Florida in 1989. There he started Stanbro Travel in North Port, Florida and was active in local community affairs, serving on the boards of the North Port Area Chamber of Commerce and the Tourist Development Board of Sarasota County.
District 3 Commissioner Republican John P. Stone, a Michigan native, came to Colorado in 1974 during a nineteen-year career in law enforcement. He served as a police officer for six years in California on the Palo Alto police force and for thirteen years in Colorado with the Lakewood Police Department. He also served as president of the Bancroft Fire Protection District from 1982 to 1987. Stone then was elected to three terms as county commissioner. During those twelve years he was a strong supporter of transportation improvements, particularly new roads, bridges and interchanges in the fast growing south part of the county. He also supported the construction of five new public libraries, the acquisition of nearly 17,000 acres of Open Space land, and the development of the Government Center Campus and its facilities to house county government offices. Stone holds a master's degree in public administration and a baccalaureate degree in criminal justice. In 1998 he was elected Sheriff of Jefferson County and returned to law enforcement.
District 1 Commissioner Democrat George C. Swadley, a native of the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, was an early Colorado pioneer, who arrived here in 1859. After mining for a short while, he began farming in 1860 in the area that later became Arvada. Swadley was instrumental in the planning and construction of the Swadley and Wadsworth irrigation ditches in 1860 and 1861. As a farmer he developed a strain of sweet corn known locally as "Swadley corn." He was an owner of the Jefferson County Bank which became the First National Bank of Arvada, of which Swadley was President from 1904 to 1906.
District 1 Commissioner Republican Walt Tomsic was a Walsenburg native and longtime Arvada resident. He was employed by Jefferson County between 1958 and 1968 as Zoning Administrator, Planning Director, Director of Traffic and Safety, Chief Building Official, and Director of Purchasing and Accounting. Later Tomsic was Program Administrator for the Colorado Division of Housing and Director of the Division of Local Government. At the time of his election as Commissioner he was a private business consultant. Commissioner Tomsic died of a heart attack during his term in office.
District 3 Commissioner Republican Jack L. Trezise, Jr., a Jefferson County native, worked 28 years for the Continental Oil Company as a service station and bulk plant owner. Prior to his election as Commissioner he served on the Golden City Council from 1956 to 1962, and on the Jefferson County Public Library Board of Trustees in 1966. He also served as a director of the Rural Transportation District and was active in Industries for Jefferson County and the National Association of Counties. In 1980 he was awarded the Eighth Annual John V. Christensen Award for his years of civic and government service. Trezise was Vice-President of Golden State Bank at the time of his death.
District 2 Commissioner Democrat Walter B. True was born and raised in Minnesota. He moved to the Denver area in 1925 and worked as a real estate broker, poultry farmer, and building contractor. True was a founder of the Alameda Water and Sanitation district, member of the Alameda School Board, and member of the Independent Order of Foresters.
District 2 Commissioner Republican James Truelson was born in Denmark and immigrated to the United States in 1881. After living in the East with a brother, he moved to Colorado in 1885. Truelson lived in the Maple Grove area of Jefferson County where he operated a garden tract for many years. He was Secretary of the Maple Grove School district and active in the Maple Grove Grange. During his years as Commissioner, the Lookout Mountain road was built and Jefferson County completed a new jail and Sheriff's residence.
District 2 Commissioner John M. Veasey was appointed Commissioner by the governor to succeed resigned Commissioner David K. Wall. Little is known of Commissioner Veasey other than that he was born in Vermont, was a party in several Jefferson County land transactions in 1860, and was listed in the 1860 Census as a merchant in Golden.
District 2 Commissioner David K. Wall, a native of Logan County, Ohio, arrived in Jefferson County from South Bend, Indiana in 1859. He helped to found the town of Golden and introduced irrigation farming to this part of Colorado. During his first year in Colorado he served as a member of the 1859 Provisional Legislature of Jefferson Territory, a territorial organization that was never recognized by Congress. Wall was elected to a one year term on the first Board of County Commissioners, but resigned and left Jefferson County midway through his term. After spending the years 1865-1871 back in Indiana, Wall returned to live in Denver, where he became a prominent stage company and hauling operator. Prior to moving to Colorado, Wall worked as a miner, storekeeper, and produce gardener in California during the Gold Rush of the early 1850s.
District 2 Commissioner Jonas E. Wannemaker was born in Trumbull County, Ohio and came to Colorado in July 1859 after working as a farmer and carpenter in Wisconsin. He settled two miles below Golden on Clear Creek and mined briefly. In 1861 he began farming while also running freight between Denver and Central City. He continued to farm, built the Wannemaker Ditch, and engaged in mining in the Breckenridge area.
Elijah L. "Eli" West District 2 Commissioner Republican Eli West was born in Kentucky. Although it is not known exactly when he came to Colorado, he purchased land in Wheat Ridge in the late 1880s. He farmed there until about 1933, when he moved to Loveland, Colorado, where he lived until his death. West was the first master of Wheat Ridge Grange Number 155 in 1907, and also served as the grange's master in 1908, 1910,1911, 1913-1915, and 1917.
District 3 Commissioner Republican Dwight P. Wilmot was appointed commissioner by the governor in May 1882 to succeed his brother, resigned Commissioner Roswell O. Wilmot. He later won election as Commissioner in 1893 and served a full term. Wilmot was born in Deerfield, Illinois and came to Colorado in 1870. He operated freighting and mining businesses until 1875, when he settled in the mountains of Jefferson County and gave the Evergreen area its name. In 1891 Wilmot served in the State House of Representatives.
Roswell O. "Ross" Wilmot District 3 Commissioner Republican Ross Wilmot was elected commissioner in 1881, but resigned after four months in office to move to Hotchkiss, Colorado. Wilmot, a native of Deerfield, Illinois, moved to Colorado in 1871 and eventually settled in Evergreen. There he worked with his brother, Dwight P. Wilmot, for several years. After moving to Hotchkiss, he became a leading cattleman in the North Fork Valley and operated a large ranch on Rogers Mesa. He was a charter member of the Hotchkiss I.O.O.F. (International Order of the Odd Fellows) lodge.
Last Modified:Mar 7, 2011 02:32 PM |
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