About the Board Members

Are you interested in serving on the State Personnel Board?

• The Board is comprised of five members: two are elected by certified state employees and three are appointed by the Governor.
• Each member of the Board must be a qualified elector of the state and may not be an officer or employee of the state or of any state employee organization.
• Board members serve three-year, overlapping terms and may succeed themselves once.
• Board terms conclude on the last day of the fiscal year, June 30, and new terms start on the first day of the new fiscal year, July 1.

Vacancies occurring for elected positions on the Board are announced in advance to employees in all departments of the State of Colorado and information is posted on the State Personnel Board web page. In order to be on the ballot for an elected position, eligible candidates must obtain a minimum of 100 verified signatures of certified state employees on official petitions. Certified employees vote electronically for their candidate of choice. The candidate obtaining the most votes is certified as elected to the Board.

Vacancies occurring for appointed positions on the Board are filled by the governor. Individuals interested in a gubernatorial appointment to the Board must submit an application to the Governor's office of Boards and Commissions. Gubernatorial appointees are confirmed by Senate committee when the legislature returns to session in January.

Board Member History

Biographies

Patricia Bangert

On July 2, 2019, Patricia "Trish" Bangert was certified as the elected State Personnel Board member after an uncontested state wide nomination process concluded July 1, 2019. Trish's term expires on June 30, 2022.

Trish has been a State and a federal employee. She worked her way through law school as an intern at the Federal Trade Commission, doing anti-trust work and then went to the Department of the Interior, where she worked as an attorney for the Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service and the Bureau of Reclamation. Trish moved to Colorado and worked in the Attorney General's Office in various capacities including as Deputy Attorney General for Natural Resources.

For the past 20 years she has been in private practice as a civil rights attorney, representing individuals who have suffered violations of their constitutional and statutory rights or have been subjected to discrimination or other employment wrongs. Trish has represented employees before the State Personnel Board, the Merit Systems Protection Board, the EEOC, and Denver Career Services Board. She is an adjunct professor at the University of Denver and off and on for the past 10 years has taught Administrative Law, Torts, Civil Rights and Environmental Law. Trish also created and taught the Animal Rights class at the University of Denver.

F. Robert Lee

On November 24, 2021, Governor Jared Polis appointed F. Robert Lee to complete a term ending on June 30, 2023.  Mr. Lee is a real estate broker with Kentwood Company.  He is serving his fifth term on the Board of Directors of the Denver Metropolitan Major League Baseball Stadium District.  He served a Chief of Staff to Governor Bill Owens and as the Director of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade.

Bob is a graduate of Regis University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.

Kimberley Dempster Neilio

On November 24, 2021, Governor Jared Polis appointed Kimberley Dempster Neilio to complete a term ending on June 30, 2023.  Ms. Neilio is an attorney with Greenberg Traurig, LLP with a practice focus in the area of employment law.  She is a member of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Colorado, where she served as Secretary for five years.  She also served on as a member of the Executive Council of the Colorado Bar Association.

Kimberley has a Bachelor's degree from Christopher Newport University and a J.D. from the University of Denver's Sturm College of Law. 

David Ruchman

David was first elected to the State Personnel Board for a term beginning on July 1, 2021, after being nominated in an uncontested state wide nomination. His first term ends on June 30, 2024.

David is a retired state employee who served as a Hearing Officer for the Colorado Department of Revenue.  His experience includes serving on the Regional Transportation Board of Directors and on the First Judicial District Judicial Performance Commission.  He also served on the Planning Commission and Park Board for Colorado Springs.

David has a Bachelor's degree from Johns Hopkins University, a Master's degree from Stanford University, and a J.D. from the University of Denver's Sturm College of Law.

Sarah Wager

In June 2019, Governor Jared Polis appointed Sarah K. Wager to the State Personnel Board for a three-year term beginning July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2022.

Sarah is the Director of Internal Audit for the Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA). She has 23 years of experience in state government having previously worked in the Colorado Department of Human Services as Interim Director/Deputy Director of the Office of Administrative Solutions and the Acting Director/Deputy Director of the Office of Community Access and Independence. Prior to DHS, she worked for the Colorado Office of the State Auditor as an Audit Manager.

A graduate of the University of Colorado-Denver with a Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Sarah is also licensed as a Certified Public Accountant. She is a current member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Colorado Society of Certified Public Accountants. In 2016 she was awarded the Leadership and Innovation Award from the Office of Community Access and Independence and in 2015 was a participant in the Governor's Performance Management Academy.