In October 2025, the Ophir General Assembly (GA) formed a Charter Review Committee and appointed six members: Eric Beermann, Natalie Fijalkowski, Jacey DePriest, Joan May, Phil Hayden, and Slator Aplin to research three governance options. Ophir residents first responded to a survey about the current GA form of government. Results can be found here. The survey guided the committee’s research. The committee met publicly monthly from October through May and by email throughout. Research concluded in May 2026. Findings are presented here and in the more detailed Guide to Governance Options.
What the Committee Did and Did Not Do
The committee's role has been to explore and document, not to advocate. This packet does not recommend any model over another. It presents each option as completely and accurately as the committee was able to, based on the charter, Colorado law, outside precedents, community survey results, and committee deliberations. Where the committee reached a tentative practical sense of how something might work, that is noted as a working judgement, not a conclusion. Where questions remain open, they are identified as such. The committee recognizes that some design details within any given model would only need to be worked out after the community has chosen a direction. What this packet aims to provide is sufficient information for an informed community conversation, not a fully engineered blueprint for each option.