El Paso County Board of County Commissioners Chairwoman Cami Bremer will step down from the board early next year to lead the Pikes Peak United Way as its chief executive officer.

She will serve in both jobs until early next year.

Bremer said her plan was to resign from the county at the beginning of 2025 while “communicating stability.”

“I knew that it needed to have kind of a planned transition,” she said. “Thankfully, the board is going to allow that time where I’m doing both jobs.”

The nonprofit’s Board of Directors selected Bremer after a nationwide search to succeed Cindy Aubrey, who in May announced her retirement as the organization’s president and CEO, a news release said. Pikes Peak United Way is one of the area’s oldest and most influential social service organizations, financially partnering with 29 local nonprofits this year.

Bremer is stepping away from her elected position at the same time that her husband, former El Paso County Republican chair Eli Bremer, is embroiled in a state GOP battle. On Wednesday, a claim by Eli Bremer that he was elected in a special meeting to replace current state Republican Party chair Dave Williams was invalidated in district court.

The controversy may have implications for Cami Bremer’s replacement as commissioner. The El Paso County Republican Party Chairwoman Vickie Tonkins has publicly supported Williams in the conflict over chairmanship. The county Republican Party, as Cami Bremer’s official party, is also responsible for convening the vacancy committee to choose her commission replacement.

Bremer said that politics were not factoring into her decision making.

“It doesn’t matter what side you’re on, it doesn’t matter what partisan politics are. My job is to steward the county and ensure confidence in a smooth transition, and that needs time,” she said.

In Bremer’s time as a commissioner, other members have on several occasions been openly critical of nonprofits. In January, Bremer and board vice chair Commissioner Carrie Geitner led a press conference in which the board announced that El Paso County would be “non-sanctuary” and dissuaded migrants from coming.

Geitner spoke directly to area nonprofits.

“I urge our nonprofit community and partners to refrain from welcoming this crisis by welcoming migrants,” said Geitner.

Bremer said she disagreed with any effort to dictate to her new partner organizations how they should approach their work, especially those with faith-based missions.

“I am not here to tell any nonprofit how to live out their mission,” she said.

The Board of County Commissioners also denied the recommended amount of grant funding in April to United Way partner Peak Education after a debate over its position on race-based college admissions. Bremer, along with Commissioners Longinos Gonzalez and Holly Williams, opposed withholding the money.

Pikes Peak United Way board Chairman Dan Nordberg said in the release that Bremer is the right choice to lead the organization.

“She knows the community; she’s led brilliantly as an elected official, and she knows how to get things done. Cami brings the right combination of nonprofit management and fundraising expertise to our already successful organization,” he said.

Some of the most contentious public meetings during Bremer’s tenure focused on COVID-19 restrictions implemented by the state and election security following President Donald Trump’s 2020 loss.

Bremer will leave the board in early 2025 along with Commissioners Stan VanderWerf and Longinos Gonzalez, who are term-limited.

Geitner is running for reelection on a board that has not elected a Democrat in several decades.

So, Geitner and Commissioner Holly Williams could provide continuity on the board.

In her commissioner job, Bremer earns about $130,000 a year, a salary set in state law.

Bremer was previously the provider and community relations manager at The Penrose Cancer Center, and once worked as the regional director for the American Heart Association. She also held previous roles as a city of Colorado Springs spokeswoman and as the director of governmental affairs for the Colorado Springs Chamber & Economic Development Corp.