{"id":1320245,"date":"2020-05-28T17:57:03","date_gmt":"2020-05-28T23:57:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=996662"},"modified":"2020-05-28T17:57:03","modified_gmt":"2020-05-28T23:57:03","slug":"in-wide-ranging-executive-session-glenwood-council-discuss-county-commissioner-sheriff-and-enforcement-of-health-orders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/in-wide-ranging-executive-session-glenwood-council-discuss-county-commissioner-sheriff-and-enforcement-of-health-orders\/","title":{"rendered":"In wide-ranging executive session, Glenwood Council discuss County commissioner, sheriff and enforcement of health orders"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"575\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/IMG_2071-1024x575.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/IMG_2071-1024x575.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/IMG_2071-300x168.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/IMG_2071-768x431.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/IMG_2071-1536x863.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/IMG_2071.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cA minor COVID update\u201d during a <a href=\"http:\/\/cogs.us\/364\/Audio-Recordings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Glenwood Springs City Council executive session<\/a> turned into a sometimes heated discussion that touched on county commissioners, Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario and enforcement of public health orders.<\/p>\n<p>The nearly 45 minutes of rancor resulted in councilors voting at the May 21 meeting to call for the resignation of one of their own: Councilor Tony Hershey.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2018Sensitive and Confidential\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>At the May 21 meeting, six councilors called for the at-large councilor\u2019s resignation and alleged Hershey, among other things, \u201cdivulged sensitive and confidential comments\u201d from the May 14 executive session. The letter, read into the record by his fellow council members on May 21, did not specify what Hershey had \u201cdivulged\u201d from executive session.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\" readability=\"6\">\n<div class=\"row gspi-donation gspi-donation-mobile p-0\" readability=\"7\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/03\/PI-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/03\/PI-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\" onclick=\"handleDonationButtonClickMidArticle()\">Donate<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The May 14 published city council agenda listed \u201c27th Street\u201d as the lone executive session item. However, Garfield County Commissioner John Martin, Sheriff Lou Vallario and Shooters Grill were also discussed.<\/p>\n<p>City Attorney Karl Hanlon said the city tries to provide notice of executive session items at least 24 hours in advance but sometimes information comes through late and the city has to react accordingly.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have one or two businesses that we have had problems with in the past that are going to take what\u2019s going on with Shooters and run with it,\u201d Hanlon said in the May 14 executive session. \u201cIt is going to leave us in a very, very difficult position.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hanlon also said Vallario had announced he would not enforce the state\u2019s COVID-19 public health orders locally.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>On May 14, Vallario wrote on the Garfield County Sheriff\u2019s Office Facebook page \u201cI will not arrest anyone who violates these health orders, because the rule of law and due process are absent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mayor Jonathan Godes said in executive session that Glenwood needed to either \u201cbe all in or all out\u201d with respect to enforcing public health orders.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a public health issue and not something that should be enforced by local law enforcement,\u201d Vallario said in an interview Friday after listening to the May 14 executive session recording. \u201cApparently, city council doesn\u2019t understand\u2026it\u2019s not up to the sheriff to enforce these laws within their city limits.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Hanlon also claimed Martin said the county would ignore the governor\u2019s order and announce that businesses could operate as they saw fit&nbsp; \u2014 instead of applying for a variance, which the county did on May 15.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe will not operate as businesses see fit,\u201d said Debra Figueroa, Glenwood Springs City Manager in executive session. \u201cWe will enforce the state law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Martin said in an interview Friday that he didn\u2019t say the county wouldn\u2019t apply for a variance but that it was \u201cconsidering\u201d not doing so.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI said we\u2019re considering, because of the frustration, not going forward [with a variance],\u201d Martin said. \u201cBut, we did anyway.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>At one point, Hershey became disconnected from the May 14 executive session.<\/p>\n<p>Once he returned, Hershey informed council he had called Martin.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Hershey said Hanlon and Figueroa had \u201cmisinformation\u201d and that the county was in fact applying for a variance.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Upon realizing Hershey had called Martin, Hanlon said the executive session was done.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCouncilor Hershey,\u201d Hanlon said. \u201cI don\u2019t actually have words.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To which Hershey replied, \u201cYou\u2019re not telling the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hanlon went on to say that he was simply reporting the best information that he had.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Martin said Hershey did call him but only to ask whether or not the county would apply for a variance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was about the end of the conversation,\u201d Martin said. \u201cThe things going on in city council, I didn\u2019t want to hear it, I don\u2019t want to hear it. That\u2019s their business not mine. [Hershey] did not divulge anything to me other than he needed clarification.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The county\u2019s request for a variance was partially granted and now restaurants, places of worship and gyms can reopen at half capacity with social distancing guidelines in place.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Release the recording<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Wednesday\u2019s special city council meeting was scheduled after the city received public record requests calling for the release of the May 14 executive session recording, including one filed by former Ninth Judicial District Attorney Sherry Caloia.<\/p>\n<p>Closed to the public, officials should utilize executive session to discuss property matters, develop strategies for negotiations and to receive legal advice.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Hanlon believed COVID-19 had been included in Councilor Charlie Willman\u2019s motion to enter executive session on May 14 and that the recording software did not pick it up.<\/p>\n<p>In a video from the May 14 public meeting, Willman only makes reference to \u201c27th Street\u201d in his motion to enter into executive session.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Shortly after the executive session began, \u201ca minor COVID update\u201d can be heard in the audio recording as being added to the topics up for discussion.<\/p>\n<p>No one on council objected to COVID-19 being discussed in executive session on May 14.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe city councilor who made the motion did not let the public know that legal issues related to COVID-19 would be a topic of discussion in the closed-door meeting,\u201d Jeffrey Roberts, Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition executive director said in an email response. \u201cThe city council did the right thing by acknowledging its mistake and voting to make the executive session recording public.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The city has maintained that COVID-19 was in Willman\u2019s motion and that the recording software just didn\u2019t pick it up.<\/p>\n<p>Roberts said three actions must occur for a local body to properly and legally go into executive session. First, it must announce to the public the legal basis for the closed-door meeting. Roberts said the local body must also announce the particular matter, with as much specificity as possible, without compromising the reason for executive session. Lastly, the motion to enter executive session must receive yes votes from two-thirds of the quorum present.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Hanlon said COVID-19 was discussed in executive session in order to provide council with legal advice.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe purpose of these rules is to give the public some idea of what their elected officials are discussing in private and to create a mechanism for policing whether public bodies are complying with the open meetings law,\u201d Roberts said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Elusive emails<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In an email exchange obtained by the Post Independent through a public record request, Mayor Jonathan Godes, Mayor Pro Tem Shelley Kaup and Councilor Rick Voorhees discussed what they believed should and shouldn\u2019t be included in the letter read into the record during the May 21 city council meeting, which called for Hershey\u2019s resignation.<\/p>\n<p>The letter was not available for public inspection prior to the May 21 council meeting, and still wasn\u2019t until a majority of council voted to make it public during the meeting itself.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSince it\u2019ll eventually be part of the public record, let me drain it of some of the histrionics (with which I fully agree) and bring it back to the oath we all took,\u201d Voorhees emailed Godes at 8:19 p.m. on May 16. \u201cHe\u2019ll continue to run amok unless we do this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hershey has repeatedly said he will not resign.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI may have made some mistakes but I was just trying to get to the truth,\u201d Hershey said.<\/p>\n<p>In an email intended for members of city council, Hershey acknowledged that he too contributed to the tone of the May 14 executive session, which he described as \u201crife with acrimony.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI take significant offense that the council thinks I violated executive session rules when the discussion occurring during that session was far afield from what is allowed under state law,\u201d Hershey wrote in a letter dated May 20 and addressed to his fellow council members. \u201cUnfortunately for you, the people elected me to the city council and only they can remove me.<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"mailto:mabennett@postindependent.com\">mabennett@postindependent.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/news\/in-wide-ranging-executive-session-glenwood-council-discuss-county-commissioner-sheriff-and-enforcement-of-health-orders\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cA minor COVID update\u201d during a Glenwood Springs City Council executive session turned into a sometimes heated discussion that touched on county commissioners, Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario and enforcement of public health orders. The nearly 45 minutes of rancor resulted in councilors voting at the May 21 meeting to call for the resignation of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1320245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-03 20:53:42","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1320245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1320245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1320245\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1320245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1320245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1320245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}