Corey Marshall
Address: 70 Rudolph Ranch Rd
Cell Phone: 720-8771453
E-Mail: coreym@marshall4gilpin.com
How long, and where have you lived in Gilpin County? 27 years
What schools have you attended? Columbine High School, Colorado State University (BA), Regis University (MBA), University of Detroit Mercy (MBA)
What additional training or education have you received relevant to the position of Gilpin County Commissioner? Thirty years of Executive Leadership combined with 30 years of leading major corporations in the areas of Strategic Planning and Finance. Undergraduate degree in Public Relations and MBA studies in Finance and Accounting. Direct experience leading Historic Preservation projects and working with the State and Federal Government on these projects.
Briefly describe your current career and home life. I’m a retired corporate business executive who currently runs and operates our successful local ranch and horse boarding facility, which I have operated for 24 years alongside highly demanding corporate executive positions. When we are not working on the ranch, we are enjoying our family time with our kids, grandkids, and ranch dogs.
List the Gilpin County boards, civic, or volunteer activities in which you have been involved and the dates of service. First, I don’t believe volunteering should be promoted for political purposes, so I very much hesitate to lower myself to this type of self-promotion. Some entities I’m involved with have specifically asked to not be politicized, so I will not mention their names here. Secondly, volunteering is not a consideration or prerequisite for a County Commissioner and should not be a topic in this discussion. While community involvement is extremely important and I continue to do my part, volunteering is something that anyone can do. Not everyone will serve as a County Commissioner and those that do, need to focus their time on items that only a County Commissioner can deliver. As a commissioner with limited spare time, carving out excessive volunteer time could be a disservice to our residents. This county requires a lot of focus to get things back on the rails and if that focus is not there, it’s no wonder we are operating at a deficit and looking to increase taxes. Contrary to what I feel is appropriate, I reluctantly list some of my community involvement that was volunteered purely out of love for this county and its people and not for any political aspirations:
• Belvidere Foundation Board Member – Was asked to be on the Board based on my love for history and historic preservation and involvement with past historic preservation construction projects. Involvement not related to politics in any way.
• Roundup Riders of The Rockies and its Heritage & Trails Foundation - Horsemen Dedicated to Creating and Maintaining Public Trails for all citizens to enjoy.
• Gilpin County Cub Scout Master – Built confidence, independence, acceptance, and love of the outdoors to 50 Gilpin County youths over 5 years.
• Gilpin County Little League President and Coach – Built confidence, sportsmanship, and teamwork in 60 Gilpin County youths over 7 years.
• Gilpin County School Board
• Finance Committee Chair Board Member – University of Colorado
• Center for Women’s Health Research
• Colorado Fallen Hero Foundation – Sponsor and Partner
• Food for Thought – Sponsor and Partner. Providing food on weekends to children facing food insecurity.
• Multiple 501c3 Fire Wood Supply Organizations – Supplier of fire wood
Have you attended BoCC meetings? Yes - I regularly attend BoCC meetings.
How would you support the County staff? Do you think they are fairly compensated? Staff needs to be supported with a clear vision of the service we need to provide, a clear definition of what their position is responsible for, the leadership to inspire their passion to deliver, recognition for delivering results and a complete compensation package that supports their efforts.
Compensation is position specific, so it is not reasonable to answer whether all the staff are compensated fairly. It is clear that some positions are under compensated and others are over compensated. To maintain satisfied, happy, dedicated employees, the county compensations needs to be competitive for the position.
As an elected official, what would be your top 3 goals for the county in the next year? Next four years?
1. Get our budget / results to a surplus position without increasing taxes – This includes all maintenance cost (These costs should be in our budget and not pulled out separately). Provide transparency and visibility to these budgets and to forecasted budget.
2. Increase county revenue through increasing existing industry and adding new industry.
3. Increase our county services to excellent levels and prioritize new services as surplus results allow.
How do you view coalition or compromise as effective ways to govern? Both are effective and necessary methods needed in a 3-Commissioner system with commissioners from multiple parties.
What do you see as the greatest issues facing Gilpin County? How would you begin to address them? The current financial path of the county is not sustainable. The greatest issue comes down to managing the county well so that we are no longer operating on a deficit and can begin rebuilding the services the county provides to excellent levels, without increasing taxes. Many of our county citizens are hurting and cannot afford increases in taxes. We need to help our citizens by not increasing taxes and deliver great service.
How would you encourage residents to get involved in their government? First and foremost – Please vote. Please research your candidates, stay in tune to the issues and understand the financial information and lack of information and…..Vote.
Get involved with your political party if you have one, but also attend as many city and county meetings as you can. You too will begin to feel the passion when you see the improvements we need to make.
Why do you want to hold the office for which you are running? I have a passion for this county and to ensure the future of this county is secure and sustainable, which is not the case today. I have a vision for this county that I believe our residents share: A small, rural county, run like a successful, well-managed business, that funds itself fully by increasing economic development and smart cost management, not through increasing taxes.
Have you run for / held political office before? Where? When? No.
Will you be able to meet the time requirements of the office? Do you, or will you, have another job as well as that of Commissioner? Yes, I am retired from the out of County business world. I do have our local ranch business, Rudolph Ranch, Inc., but I have maintained that business alongside large corporate jobs for 24 years. I have the ability to add more staff as needed to run the ranch depending on my other commitments.
How have you, and/or how will you, operate with transparency and honesty in your role as County Commissioner? We know that transparency has been and continues to be an issue.
• While we are operating in a deficit and our deferred maintenance is out of control, the county is sending out celebration messages.
• While we know the county has been provided new estimates on the cost of the New Food Pantry Building, those costs are not being shared
• While most residents .thought the county was capable of funding the Recreation Center, they were surprised that those funds were diverted to other things and the county wanted them to vote in a new tax to fund the Recreation Center.
Once elected, we will make sure that the county financials are clearly understood. We need to share the bare truth and not spin the message for Public Relations purposes. We will have a forecast of the financials (Budgets and forecasts) at least 5 or 10 years out, so the residents can see where things are developing and will not be surprised at our situation. While our goal will be to not increase taxes, we will need to be completely honest with what the financial forecasts are telling us.
Please disclose any current personal and/or professional relationships with the City of Black Hawk, City of Central or Gilpin County. Other than being a citizen, I have no relationship with the county and my only relationship with any city in Gilpin County is with the people of those cities. Having lived in Gilpin County for 27 years, I know most City Council Members, Aldermen, and Mayors. Some are acquaintances, some are friends. None have any business relationship with me or any other financial or other compromising connection.
What is your position on the idea of sexually oriented businesses coming to Central City? First, this is a city issue and not a county issue, so we shouldn’t spend a lot of time debating issues that we are not going to decide. We need to focus on what’s important to the county. But, to get to the heart of the matter quickly, this about property owner rights and the rights of the neighbors / citizens. I’m for supporting and defending the rights of both. Property owners should be free to use their properties as they see fit within the law, but the use should respect the rights of the citizens to not be adversely impacted. The city has defined what they believe are the rights of the citizens and the property owners is going to challenge those rights. I’m for defending the rights of both parties as provided by our federal and state constitutions and a judge is going to make that decision. I’m not for local government trying to push for personal preferences, morality, religion, or any other influence over the rights of its citizens and property owners as already defined. It is very slippery slope when we believe local government can override the rights afforded all citizens when the local government disagrees with the citizen. We need to be careful…very careful to not allow our local government to intrude on our rights. The county is here to provide us services as defined by the State of Colorado, not to impede on our rights as property owners and citizens. Getting even more to the point of the question…Do I want an SOB in downtown Central City?....NO. But my opinion does not override the rights of others. As a county we need to get back to focusing on the services we need to provide our citizens and do them extremely well, like great roads and snow removal, great sheriff’s department to keep us safe, effective, and responsive planning department where citizens can easily get a permit and build their homes. We need to stop trying to control, stifle or impede our citizens rights.
What is your position on Black Hawk’s offer of $1 million for the Rec Center with all its restrictions? After careful consideration of all facts involved, the county would be wise to take the offer that Black Hawk has provided. There has been a lot of misrepresentation from those opposed to taking the offer. They argue that by taking the offer, somehow the County would be limited from exercising its rights to increase taxes or take any action the county sees fit to service their citizens appropriately. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you read the IGA proposed by Black Hawk, they simply won’t allow the county to collect the $1M from Black Hawk and Increase taxes. It avoids duplication of taxing. So, under the IGA, the county could continue to decide to exercise any and all options it currently has to raise taxes and manage the county, it would just forego the $1M from Black Hawk if or when they choose to raise taxes or add new taxes. Although there has been miscommunication that the County budget is doing good, Black Hawk understands the County does not have the money to provide the required services it’s responsible for and keep the Recreation Center open as it has been and has historically been promised to be. It’s also the reason the county tried to unsuccessfully raise taxes under the 1A Ballot Measure. Black Hawk realizes that the County will be forced to raise taxes if no other alternatives exist.
With that background, the only reason a commissioner would vote “No” on the Black Hawk offer is that they either plan to raise taxes soon, or they have fallen into the belief that Black Hawk is an untrustworthy entity and that working together to solve issues common to both the county and the city is not possible. Both reasons are unacceptable. I would vote “Yes” because I am confident that when this County is managed well and like a business, we will not need to raise taxes to provide the County Services including having the Recreation Center open 7 days a week. When we manage the County well and no new taxes are needed, the IGA is immaterial, and we enjoy the pass-through tax from Black Hawk. I am so confident that the county could be run better with no new taxes, that nothing in the Black Hawk IGA has any impact on the County whatsoever. As it relates to working with Black Hawk, we need to move on and move forward with things. I have been here a long time and have witnessed the historic battles between the entities. Those battles have left some scars that still have not healed and I understand those feelings. However, we need to grow up and move on from the past. Our future depends on our ability to work together as the County and cities to create new business, reduce overall costs and drive citizen wellbeing. As a County, perpetuating the idea that the County should be distrusting of Black Hawk or any of its cities is shameful and destructive to our county’s success. In the end, what Black Hawk is pushing with the IGA is a county that is run effectively and efficiently and does not need to burden its citizens and businesses any further to provide the required services. I think we are all looking for the same thing, so we should be able to work together to get there.
What experience do you have with budgets? My experience with budgets is extensive.
• As CEO of Tivoli Brewing Company I was responsible for creating and delivering the budget for the company
• As the Director of Strategic Finance at Molson Coors (Corporate Office CFO), I led the planning and budgeting process for Molson Coors Globally and consolidated all business unit budgets around the world.
I led the planning and budgeting process for many business segments for Coors Brewing Company including:
• Land & Water Division
• Capital Planning for Coors Brewing Company Globally
• South Region of Coors Brewing Company
• At Ford Motor Company I led the budgeting process for all new finance and insurance businesses.
What kind of growth do you want to see in Gilpin County?
1. Growth in wellbeing and the pursuit of happiness.
2. Growth in county revenues.
3. Growth in new jobs due to new industry.
4. Growth in property values due to environmental cleanup and improvement in county services.
5. Industry growth that does not intrude on our small, rural life, improves our environment, moves the needle on county revenues.
What is affordable housing? Senior housing? What steps will you take to implement them in Gilpin County? Affordable housing is housing cost that can fit within the budget of the pay earned by local employees, usually the housing cost is 30% or less of a resident’s pay. To deliver on affordable housing, we will ensure commuting options are available, new local rental options and new local deed restricted properties for purchase. Senior housing is allowing our senior residents to age and with dignity and grace. Most seniors in Gilpin would like the option to age in their own homes. As a county we need to make sure the services we provide allow our Seniors to live comfortable and securely in their mountain homes. Primary to those services are making sure homes are accessible by the elderly and their service providers. Their roads need to be well maintained and plowed immediately so that meals, groceries, medications and in home healthcare can be delivered reliably.
How would you promote economic diversity in the county? Economic development is more than just diversity. Gilpin county needs industry including addition gaming business that will move the needle on revenue. As I have done in my career for many years, I will persistently pursue the industries that will move the needle, are right for our mountain environment, are not intrusive on our county or life, and fit within our vision to keep the county small and rural. I will look to the industries that have been successful in the surrounding counties to identify the high potential options.
