Three coroner candidates interviewed
Boulder County commissioners interviewed three county coroner candidates on Tuesday, and they’re expected to interview more candidates on Feb. 15.
Jeff Martin currently leads the county coroner office, after former coroner Emma Hall resigned in December following an internal investigation that affirmed workplace complaints from employees including favoritism, antagonism, and micromanagement. Martin was one of the job applicants Tuesday.
Commissioner Marta Loacha-min said Tuesday that there were 15 applicants for the open seat.
Commissioners interviewed long-time coroner’s office employee Dustin Bueno first. Bueno began his career as a death investigator and worked his way up the ranks.
Bueno started his interview by addressing Hall’s resignation.
“To some of your questions about the staff and the morale, I’ve had personal experience working in a department like that for many years, where you walk in, and the fear and the trauma that ensued had nothing to do with the work that we do day to day,” said Bueno. “I have a shared philosophy on leadership … there’s something about teamwork in unity that makes the organization better.”
Bueno then expanded on how building relationships inside and outside of the office was crucial. He stated that when the coroner’s office dealt with September 2013 flooding across the Front Range, the coroner’s office relied heavily on outside resources from mortuaries to help the community through the disaster. The September 2013 floods killed nine people and caused more than $4 billion in damage.
“When the flood hit in 2013, this was before we had a facility with the capability to really store the amount of people that we needed, and we had to heavily rely on resources the county provided,” said Bueno.
Next in front of the commissioners was Jeff Martin, who became the chief deputy of the Boulder County Coroner’s office in the fall before being named to lead the office in January.
Martin discussed the progress he has made in the coroner’s office. He noted that he has been working on establishing stronger relationships with funeral homes.
“There’s a law that’s currently in place where there’s a reimbursement amount of $1,500 for funeral homes taking unclaimed bodies and that’s been in the books for 20-plus years and has never changed. And so I have had legislative conversations to help increase those fees for funeral directors,” said Martin.
When asked about how he plans to lead, if he is named coroner, Martin said, “One of the things I’ve
learned over the years is anytime someone gets into power and power is one of those things that if you’re not ready for that power, it can be used as a weapon. My current style is all about it being us and we and not about me …I’m about creating opportunities for staff to be included in a discussion.”
The last interviewee, Deron Dempsey, started off on a similar note as Martin. Dempsey has been a Boulder County resident since 1999 and has worked in the field of death investigation for 20 years. Dempsey began his career in Boulder County as a death investigator
and currently works in Jefferson County.
“I can think of times when I was younger in my career,” said Dempsey. “When you start, you have this false sense of confidence. You know the nuanced details of the job, you’ve seen a lot early on and you feel confident going in processing the unknown and documenting events.”
When he was asked about his leadership style, Dempsey responded that gaining the employee’s trust and making sure they have support was paramount.
“I think that developing trust is going to be the
most important factor in being an effective leader in the office, leading by example, knowing that I have that relatable experience to the staff in being proactive and making sure that there are support systems in place.”
The next round of interviews will be held at 2 p.m. Feb. 15 at the County Comissioners’ Hearing Room at 1325 Pearl St. in Boulder. County residents will vote for a new coroner in the November election. In the meantime, the person the commissioners appoint as coroner will hold office until Jan. 14, 2025.