SAGUACHE — After approving a revision of their county administrator job description during a special session Tuesday, Saguache County Commissioners issued a revised agenda for their Jan. 22 regular meeting, posting the potential hiring of Glen Simpson as county administrator.
Simpson was interviewed by commissioners at a special meeting Dec. 3. He was a finalist along with Bitler for the county administrator position last August.
During the Dec. 3, 2018 meeting, Commissioner Jason Anderson said it is not clear whether or not commissioners are required to go through the entire hiring process for county administrator again, since Bitler was still on probation. He said he believes that the commissioner’s policy and procedures manual states that if still on probation it is at the commissioners’ discretion whether or not to reinitiate the hiring process.
Bitler had encouraged commissioners to release the manual at the last meeting he attended the day before his resignation. It was approved in 2016. A review of the updated policies and procedures manual authorized for distribution by commissioners at the Nov. 20 meeting does not reveal any reference to probationary periods and hiring practices.
CRS 24-72-204(3)(a)(XI) states: “Finalist” means an applicant or candidate for an executive position as the chief executive officer of a state agency, institution, or political subdivision or agency thereof who is a member of the final group of applicants or candidates made public pursuant to section 24-6-402 (3.5), and if only three or fewer applicants or candidates for the chief executive officer position possess the minimum qualifications for the position, said applicants or candidates shall be considered finalists.
And according to CRS 24-6-402 (3.5): “A search committee of a state public body or local public body shall establish job search goals, including the writing of the job description, deadlines for applications, requirements for applicants, selection procedures, and the time frame for appointing or employing a chief executive officer of an agency, authority, institution, or other entity at an open meeting.  
As explained in previous Center Post-Dispatch articles, Simpson’s name was never officially published as one of a set of finalists 14 days prior to selection of an administrator, as required in the statutes. His qualifications, which appeared to be in order, were discussed during the Dec. 3, 2018 meeting, but public meetings were never held regarding Bitler or Simpson and the full list of candidates was never published or discussed in an open meeting.
The hiring process is determined by state law, which supersedes local law. This is true because in the description of counties and their relation to the State in state statue, counties are considered only an extension of the arm of the state.
It does not appear that commissioners are inclined to go through a second round of the hiring process and consider new candidates. But this seems to be required by state statute.

Nov. 20 BoCC meeting
Commissioners have not been forthcoming concerning the reasons for Bitler’s departure. For the past six weeks, the Nov. 20 meeting minutes were unavailable and were not posted to the website. The reason given is that they had not been approved by commissioners. However, the approval date listed on the minutes, which were only recently obtained, is Dec. 4.
A recording of the Nov. 20 meeting requested from the clerk’s office was blank. Only a series of tappings or clickings could be heard on the recording. Recordings from other meetings on the same device were opened with no problem.
Some clues to Bitler’s resignation may be gleaned from the minutes. During the afternoon session, an executive session was called “for Dan Warwick, sheriff, and David Bitler administrator, for personnel” matters. Sheriff Warwick says he and Bitler were not spoken to together but separately and his time with commissioners had nothing to do with Bitler.
A second executive session was then called for legal matters. This indicates that something of a legal nature was being discussed following the meeting with Bitler. If the session was related to the one called for personnel matters, this would tally with reports that Bitler had been accused of some sort of impropriety, but does not indicate what sort of misconduct was under consideration.
It is also possible that some charge was levied against one of the commissioners; one source did hint at such a possibility shortly after Bitler resigned. Perhaps such a charge was made, and the tables were turned on Bitler instead. This may be why Bitler said in his email he could not defend himself against such a charge.
Neither Warwick or Bitler would have been able to reveal anything discussed in an executive session. Sheriff Warwick says no complaint was ever filed against Bitler.
The revised job description for the administrator also may provide some clues. The following clauses were omitted from the new administrator job description approved Tuesday:
1.  From the Summary of duties: “The administrator is responsible for…planning, developing,
and recommending policies and programs for consideration by the County Commissioners, as
well as implementing, monitoring, and evaluating all County policies, programs and operations
once in place.”
2. From Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
• “Timely preparation of agendas, adequate follow-up on agenda action taken and collecting Department reports prior to commissioner’s meetings;”
• “Provides a status report to Commissioners at Board of County Commissioner meetings; “
• “Investigates and responds to any complaints of discrimination or sexual harassment. Handles
grievances according to the Personnel Policy.” Why would this specific phrase be omitted? Was there a complaint about discrimination and not sexual harassment?
• Under the list of essential duties for the administrator are several departments he must oversee. He must: “Establish and/or maintain effective working relationships with departments not under the Administrator’s immediate supervision,” and added to this list was Public Health.  Commissioner Tim Lovato worked for a year with Public Health prior to Bitler’s arrival. This turns the department back over to commissioners.
3. Under Supervisory Responsibilities the administrator must now:
• Add housing and personnel to his list and omit:
• “Acting as a resource for department heads and elected officials in their supervising of personnel per state statutes and county policies.” During the Nov. 20 meeting, Bitler brought up the need for commissioners to issue their policy and personnel manual.
Whatever happened with Bitler appears to have had something to do with evaluating, developing and implementing county policies and programs according to state statutes and policies, interacting with department heads and specifically overseeing Public Health.