Much of the discussion at today’s County Commissioners meeting centered around if Castle Rock Hospital District should be required to disclose positions and salaries for publication.
Castle Rock Hospital Chairman Bob Gordon and board member Sandee Gunter spoke to the Commissioners about a recent change to the Human Services Contract between the District and the Board of County Commissioners.
The contract recently added the requirement for Castle Rock to provide a list of all its full time positions and wages or salaries paid to each position. No names of employees are required in the disclosure. The information provided will be published on the County’s official website and in the newspaper.
Gordon expressed concern that disclosing such information could open people up to recruitment attempts by other employers seeking to hire Castle Rock employees. He said position and salary information is already public record and can be obtained through a Freedom of Information Act Request.
Gordon also noted that nearby Sweetwater Medics does not release such information despite receiving some public funds from the Commissioners.
Commission Chairman Reid West noted that Sweetwater Medics is not required to publish its salaries because it is not a government entity receiving addition tax dollars like Castle Rock Hospital District.
In addition, Commissioner John Kolb noted that Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County is required to provide position and salary information.
The Commissioners agreed that releasing salary information shows transparency.
Castle Rock Board member Sandee Gunter said she did not have a problem with the information being published, but she did not feel it should be required in the Human Services Contract. She said the information is already available to anyone who fills out a request.
Castle Rock requested that the contract be changed to include the requirement only to disclose the position and salary/wage information for ambulance positions. The request, however, did not move forward due to a lack of motion by the commissioners to amend the wording of the contract.
