Why I Supported Home Rule - and Why the Fight for Local Control Isn’t Over

When I first ran for office, I made a promise to represent the people of Douglas County with clarity, courage, and a fierce commitment to preserving what makes our community exceptional. That commitment led me to become a vocal supporter of the Douglas County Home Rule Charter.

This initiative was never about rebellion. It was about resilience.

Each legislative session at the State Capitol brings a new round of policies that pull authority away from local communities and concentrate it in Denver under the gold dome. From statewide zoning mandates that strip your elected county commissioners of land use authority, to top-down education reforms that disregard the values of local families, we are watching the slow but deliberate erosion of local control. Home Rule offered Douglas County the opportunity to push back intelligently, constitutionally, and proactively.

Let me be clear: Home Rule is not a silver bullet. It doesn't give a county the power to defy state law or rewrite the Constitution. But it does allow a community to design its own governmental structure, shape internal policies, and - importantly - petition for tailored treatment when one-size-fits-all laws do more harm than good. In short, it lets us govern ourselves in ways that reflect who we are, not what anyone else thinks we should be.

And Douglas County is worth protecting.

We are one of the most successful counties in the state - not by accident, but by design. Our families are strong, our schools are excellent, our economy is vibrant, and our public safety model works because it is locally driven and locally accountable. Our residents build businesses, raise children, and contribute meaningfully to their community, not because they are told to, but because they choose to.

We don’t ask the government to run our lives. We expect it to stay in its lane.

That is the spirit Home Rule was meant to preserve.

Had a Home Rule charter been in place, Douglas County would have had a fighting chance to protect its autonomy from some of the more intrusive measures passed by the State Legislature in recent years and yet to come. We could have had more flexibility in budgeting, more authority in managing public health responses, and greater leverage in negotiating unfunded mandates. We could have safeguarded local values while still honoring the framework of state law.

It’s important to acknowledge that the recent special election result means Home Rule, for now, will not move forward. I respect the voice of the voters, and I understand the concerns raised. But I also know this: the pressures from the Capitol aren’t going away. In fact, they’re likely to intensify.

We cannot afford to stand still while others are racing to centralize control.

The people of Douglas County don’t need the state to tell them how to raise children, zone neighborhoods, or set community priorities. We have shown - decade after decade - that our residents are more than capable of shaping a flourishing society without bureaucratic micromanagement. We lead in workforce participation, educational outcomes, civic health, and economic opportunity. That’s not a coincidence. It’s the fruit of local freedom and personal responsibility.

I remain proud to have supported Home Rule, not as a partisan move, but as a practical step toward preserving our way of life. I believe in self-governance. I believe in subsidiarity - the principle that decisions should be made at the most local level possible. And I believe Douglas County will continue to rise to the occasion, whatever form our government takes.

The debate over Home Rule may be paused, but the fight for local control continues. And as your representative, I’ll stay on the front line.

Always in service,

Representative Max Brooks, House District 45
Colorado General Assembly