One of Douglas County’s elected leaders criticized his colleague for writing about a funding advisory board in a way he compared to “doxing” after a disagreement about how arts and culture money should be spent.

“We had our SCFD board show up with their hair on fire because you had released information about them, attacked them in a newsletter apparently and said things that really made them not want to work with us,” Commissioner Abe Laydon said to Commissioner Lora Thomas during an Aug. 8 meeting of county officials.

The Scientific and Cultural Facilities District is a government body that includes seven counties in the Denver metro area. One penny on every $10 in sales and use tax collected goes to the district to fund organizations that provide arts or science programs, the district’s website says.

The metro area’s largest cultural organizations — such as the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and the Denver Zoo — receive specific amounts of funding.

But counties also make decisions about how the tax revenue is spent. Each county receives a share of the tax collected, and then county cultural councils review applications from organizations and make recommendations on their county’s funding priorities, the district’s website says.

Those recommendations are then reviewed and approved by the county commissioners or a city council and the SCFD board of directors.

Thomas’ email newsletter took issue with the actions of the Douglas County Cultural Council.

“This year there was more funding available for distribution than there were requests, but (Douglas County) commissioners did not learn about this windfall until after the council had made recommendations,” Thomas wrote in an Aug. 6 newsletter.

Organizations outside of Douglas County that can prove that they provide services to county residents are eligible for funding, according to Thomas’ newsletter. For example, Dinosaur Ridge in Jefferson County has received funding from Douglas County in the past because it can show Douglas County residents visit that venue, she wrote. 

But “I felt strongly that after all of the requests for funding had been fulfilled, that the Cultural Council should disperse the additional $500,000 only to organizations located in Douglas County, such as the Highlands Ranch Cultural Affairs, the Lone Tree Symphony Orchestra, the Performing Arts Academy and the Cherokee Ranch and Castle,” Thomas wrote. 

“Laydon agreed with me, and the commissioners sent an email to the cultural council requesting that it meet to reconsider its recommendations and only provide the windfall funds to Douglas County-based organizations,” she continued.

The county Cultural Council recently met, and the request to keep the dollars in Douglas County failed on a 5-2 vote, according to Thomas’ newsletter.

Thomas’ newsletter criticized the decision and said: “I would like to give credit and applaud the courage of Cultural Council members Ann Speer and Sid Simonson who voted in the minority to respect Douglas County taxpayers and organizations.”

The newsletter then included a link that read: “Click here for a roster of the cultural council members.” It led to a page on the county’s website that describes the cultural council and lists its members.

“I call it doxing,” Laydon said at the Aug. 8 meeting of commissioners and other county officials.

The Merriam-Webster website defines “doxing” as “to publicly identify or publish private information about (someone) especially as a form of punishment or revenge.”

But whatever a person calls it, “I don’t think that’s productive, and I don’t think that’s respectful,” Laydon said.

Thomas responded that she shared the names of two individuals who voted on the cultural council for the distributions to be “done the way you and I had requested.” She added that the link to all the board members’ names is public information on the county’s website.

Said Laydon: “The way in which you characterize our volunteers can be negative even when it is true ... The credibility of what we do as a county is undermined when we’re attacking volunteers.”

Thomas said the volunteers agreed to serve on a board that distributes large amounts of money.

“I know from working with you, Lora, that you are deeply committed to the service of our citizens. You’re punctual, organized and you want to do what’s right. And you’re committed to the truth, and I get that, and I respect that, and I respect your service,” Laydon said. “But I think the way you go about approaching it is often very detrimental to your interests and the county’s.”

Thomas’ newsletter said a recommendation is due to SCFD for funding by Aug. 11. That is after Colorado Community Media’s deadline for this story. CCM will update with details of how the funding request played out online.