ABOUT

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Family

The youngest of four siblings and a native Coloradan, I grew up in south-central Denver and attended Asbury Elementary School, Grant Junior High School and South High School.

I have been married since 1980 to Yangson Baker, the love of my life.  I have lived in Arapahoe County since 1994 and worked here since 1998.  Yangson is a Social Worker specializing in providing post adoption assistance and resources to adoptive families.  We have two adult children, Maggie and Timothy, who both live in the Denver Metro area.  Raising children in a military family can be difficult because of all the moving around and being posted in occasional small, isolated communities.  The upside includes all the places and cultures that Maggie and Timothy got to experience.  An interesting bit of trivia about my family is that the

males were all born in Colorado and the females were all born in Korea! Timothy followed my footsteps into the U.S. Army Military Police and is a disabled veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  I am very proud of him and his service.  Through him, I have come to know more than I wish I did about the state of veteran health care services and the Veteran’s Administration.  Maggie is the mother of my granddaughter, Helena, who graduated from Eaglecrest High School and is now a college student.  Helena, like her mother before her, marches in the school marching band. Maggie and Helena live with James Foster in the Park View neighborhood of Arapahoe County.

Yangson and I have attended Young-Nak Presbyterian Church of Denver since 1993.  We have always loved sharing our faith with students and participate in significant ways at different times with Sunday School classes and Youth Groups. I am a Deacon in the church and oversee the Youth Ministry Program.

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Leadership

I am a retired Chief Warrant Officer who served in the United States Army, including deployment in support of Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

During my time in the military, I specialized in the field of investigating criminal offenses directed at children.  A difficult and highly specialized type of investigation, I witnessed first-hand the trauma that children often suffer at the hands of abusive adults including parents and close relatives.  I spent a lot of time interviewing and interrogating suspects of these heinous crimes and was successful in putting many of them in jail, and if appropriate, got them the mental health treatment they needed.

 
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Following my retirement from the Army, I worked for almost five years as the Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) Supervisor for the Aurora Police Department.  My prior experience in law enforcement and crime scene investigation allowed me to teach classes at the Community College of Aurora Police Academy for over 20 years.  Since September 1998, I have worked for Arapahoe County, in two different departments, supporting every one of the County’s departments and elected offices.  I am intimately familiar with Arapahoe County’s past, present and future plans.  I was employed by Arapahoe County for 18 years, including the last 13 years with the Facilities and Fleet Management Department.

In my various leadership positions, I have come to know the people and the business of Arapahoe County.  I know the County’s budget process and have worked with others to prepare budgets from the ground up and also revised existing budgets.  I have participated in the capital improvement project committee process – helping to identify and prioritize projects for the appropriation of capital expenditure funds.

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Service

I am serving my second term as commissioner representing District 3, which includes eastern portions of the cities of Centennial and Aurora, the town of Foxfield, the towns of Bennett, Byers and Deer Trail and eastern unincorporated eastern Arapahoe County.

I oversaw the Public Works & Development department and the Information Technology Department in 2017.  I was selected by the other four commissioners to be the Chair of the Board of County Commissioners, was the liaison to the County Attorney’s Office and the Administration-Communication Services department in both 2018 and 2019.  Being selected as Chair of the Board two years in a row was an honor and I led the Board in this leadership position with integrity.  In 2020, I performed liaison duties to the Strategy and Performance Department, the Open Spaces Department and oversaw the Intergovernmental Affairs efforts.

I represent the County’s interests and the citizens of Arapahoe County by serving on many different boards and committees:

  • Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG)

  • Chair, Arapahoe County Transportation Forum

  • Board of Commissioners for the Arapahoe Public Airport Authority (Centennial Airport)

  • Regional Economic Advancement Partnership (I70 REAP)

  • Colorado Counties Inc. (Agriculture, Wildlife and Rural Affairs, Land Use and Natural Resources, and as the Legislative Committee Rep)

  • I-70 Chamber of Commerce

  • Metro Area County Commissioners

  • Southeast Metro Stormwater Authority (SEMSWA)

  • Arapahoe County Water and Wastewater Authority (ACWWA)

  • Justice Coordinating Committee (ACJCC)

  • Restoration Advisory Board, Lowry Bombing and Gunnery Range

  • Arapahoe County Foundation Board of Directors

  • Arapahoe County Housing Authority

  • Board of Social Services