Governor Jared Polis nominated Elise Jones — the former Executive Director of the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project, an advocacy organization that has actively lobbied to redirect CDOT’s budget away from highway capacity — to the Colorado Transportation Commission, the unelected body that controls billions in state transportation spending. Jones has served on the commission since her appointment took effect in September 2025, pending a Senate confirmation vote that has not occurred. The Colorado General Assembly adjourns May 13.
Jones led SWEEP from 2021 until her CDOT appointment. SWEEP’s stated transportation policy position is that CDOT overprioritizes highway capacity and that 30 percent of transportation funding should be redirected to transit, biking, and walking projects. SWEEP has been working to reshape CDOT’s 10-Year Plan along those lines. Jones now sits on the commission that will vote on that plan.
Her background runs deeper than SWEEP. Before joining the organization, Jones served eight years as a Boulder County Commissioner focused on transportation and sustainability, chaired the Denver Regional Council of Governments in 2016, co-chaired the RTD Accountability Committee, and ran Conservation Colorado for 13 years. Polis appointed her to six years on the Air Quality Control Commission before the CDOT seat — making this his second gubernatorial appointment of her.
The commission’s 11 members, each appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate, set general policy for the management, construction, and maintenance of Colorado’s public highways, advise the governor and legislature on transportation priorities, and adopt CDOT’s budgets and construction programs. District 4, which Jones represents, covers Adams and Boulder counties.
The Colorado Accountability Project reported that some Democratic senators have raised objections to Jones’ nomination on the grounds that her SWEEP background is incompatible with the commission’s highway management mission. No Senate floor vote or committee vote on Jones has appeared in the public record as of May 2.
What has appeared in the public record: the Senate Transportation and Energy Committee voted to recommend that Juan Marcano of Aurora — another Polis nominee to the commission, submitted the same day as Jones on January 14, 2026 — not be confirmed. That recommendation was pending a full Senate floor vote as of May 1. Jones, Marcano, and two other Polis CDOT nominees remain listed as pending before the committee with 11 days left in the session.
The CDOT nomination fits the appointment pattern HCA has documented across Colorado state governance. Six CPW commissioners appointed by Polis voted in March to advance the Center for Biological Diversity’s commercial fur trade petition — three of those commissioners held documented ties to CBD, none disclosed, none recused. Two of Polis’ three CPW commissioner nominees withdrew before a full Senate vote in April after the Senate Agriculture Committee voted against them. Nicole Rosmarino, whom Polis appointed to lead the State Land Board in June 2025, came from rewilding advocacy with no background in revenue generation — the board’s constitutional mission is funding schools through land management. HCA graded her performance a D after seven months. Polis appointed retired Army general Laura Clellan as permanent CPW director in February with no wildlife management experience; entry-level CPW field positions require more biological credentials than she holds. Great Outdoors Colorado, whose board is 16 of 19 governor-appointed, has directed $1.1 billion — 64 percent of all spending — to conservation easements, in violation of a 2017 state audit finding the board ignored.
Polis also appointed Matt Frommer, SWEEP’s Transportation and Land Use Policy Manager, to a separate state transportation advisory role. Jones’ current board memberships listed on her CDOT profile include Smart Growth America, the Western Leaders Network, the Colorado Agrivoltaic Learning Center, and Utah Clean Energy.
HCA has covered Governor Polis’s appointment pattern across state boards and commissions in an ongoing series. Related articles: “The Governor’s Wildlife Machine,” “The Six Votes,” “The Network,” “The Pattern,” “Polis Does It Again: CPW Director Has Zero Wildlife Experience,” “Nicole Rosmarino’s Report Card: Solid D,” and “Your Lottery Ticket Paid to Permanently Restrict Colorado Ranch Land, Not Build Playgrounds.”
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