Mr. Valdez joined the SDA Team as Director of Policy in July 2014 after 22 years as the Director of Legislative Relations at the Colorado Bar Association.

Michael brings his extensive experience of working under the Gold Dome to the Special District Association.  He has public policy experience in numerous areas of law: business, real estate, probate, family, juvenile, health, and the list goes on.  He loves working on public policy for special districts and is constantly striving to become an expert on Title 32 of the Colorado Revised Statutes. 

Mr. Valdez worked for the Colorado Judicial Department in various capacities from 1983 to 1992. Michael served as law clerk/bailiff for two district court judges (not at the same time) in Arapahoe County. He left the work in the courtroom in 1989 to help implement the statewide program that evaluates and makes recommendations regarding the retention of county, district, court of appeals judges, and Supreme Court justices. Mr. Valdez moved to the Bar Association in 1992 to take over the efforts at the capitol for the state’s leading attorney association.

Michael is a Colorado native and a graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder with a B.A. in Political Science. He has two years of law school at the University of Denver College of Law and has about 25 hours towards a Master’s Degree in Public Policy at the University of Colorado at Denver.