{"id":2454176,"date":"2020-02-05T21:28:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-06T04:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/public-criticizes-aspen-housing-board-for-negotiating-with-burlingame-resident-facing-eviction\/"},"modified":"2020-02-06T07:40:03","modified_gmt":"2020-02-06T14:40:03","slug":"public-criticizes-aspen-housing-board-for-negotiating-with-burlingame-resident-facing-eviction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/public-criticizes-aspen-housing-board-for-negotiating-with-burlingame-resident-facing-eviction\/","title":{"rendered":"Public criticizes Aspen housing board for negotiating with Burlingame resident facing eviction"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Lee Mulcahy, right, addresses the Aspen-Pitkin County Housing Authority board Wednesday night before the group went into executive session to discuss his case. Mulcahy has been found in violation of APCHA rules and is being evicted.<\/strong>
Carolyn Sackariason \/ The Aspen Times<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Members of the public railed on the Aspen-Pitkin County Housing Authority Board on Wednesday for negotiating behind the scenes with Lee Mulcahy on the sale of his deed-restricted home in an effort to have him go peacefully once he is evicted.<\/p>\n

More than a half-dozen people spoke during public comment at the well-attended APCHA board meeting.<\/p>\n

Those who spoke warned of the precedent it would set if officials negotiate with someone who threatens violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis opens up the door to literally destroy the entire program,\u201d said Jim Pomeroy, who lives in a deed-restricted unit regulated by APCHA. \u201cEveryone will negotiate deals. \u2026 Veiled threats of violence should not be an investment strategy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not right and shouldn\u2019t be the way it\u2019s done.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that he believes board members who engaged in ex-parte conversations<\/a> with Mulcahy overstepped their authority.<\/p>\n

Found out of compliance in 2015 for not working the required 1,500 hours a year in Pitkin County, Mulcahy has levied veiled threats<\/a> in front of elected officials during public meetings saying that violence could ensue when he and his mother, Sandy, are evicted.<\/p>\n

Worried that could be carried out in the dense, family-oriented neighborhood of Burlingame Ranch located across from Buttermilk Mountain, officials representing the APCHA board and county government have been in backchannel conversations with Mulcahy to reach a possible settlement.<\/p>\n

APCHA board chair John Ward, County Commissioner Kelly McNicholas Kury and County Manager Jon Peacock said they have been in separate discussions with Mulcahy in recent months.<\/p>\n

McNicholas Kury said Wednesday that she has not discussed specifics surrounding a settlement, but rather as a neighbor and an elected official showing compassion for the situation Mulcahy faces.<\/p>\n

Some options that have been floated include a higher sales price on the property\u2019s capped amount of $995,000 by as much as $300,000, as well as allowing Mulcahy to recoup the appreciation on the property for the period of time he was out of compliance \u2014 valued at $62,000 \u2014 and waiving legal fees of nearly $80,000<\/a> that have been incurred by APCHA since the legal battle began in 2015.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear who\u2019s been behind the specific negotiations that were discussed in an APCHA board executive session Jan. 15.<\/p>\n

What is clear is that negotiations were done without the knowledge of APCHA Executive Director Mike Kosdrosky, APCHA Deputy Director Cindy Christensen and APCHA attorney Tom Smith.<\/p>\n

In a January email chain obtained by The Aspen Times, Kosdrosky, Christensen and Smith were shocked to learn individual board members were negotiating with Mulcahy.<\/p>\n

In a Jan. 21 email to his boss, City Manager Sara Ott, Kosdrosky expressed his concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m genuinely concerned that any deal would send the wrong message to the community that compliance and enforcement are negotiable,\u201d Kosdrosky wrote. \u201cThat if you threaten violence in response to a compliance and enforcement action, you will be financially rewarded even though you lose your case in a court of law.\u201d<\/p>\n

Members of the public who spoke at Wednesday\u2019s board meeting agreed with Kosdrosky\u2019s position.<\/p>\n

Tom McCabe, a former executive director of APCHA, said the board should not cave to a person who is using bullying tactics.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe runs around and acts unpredictable,\u201d McCabe said, pointing out to the board that it has tools it can use, specifically law enforcement. \u201cMr. Mulcahy made his own bed.\u201d<\/p>\n

After listening to the public\u2019s opinions, some board members thanked their constituents and said their comments were being taken seriously.<\/p>\n

APCHA board member and County Commissioner George Newman said it was refreshing to hear community members share their understanding of the program and their desire to protect it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve only been hearing from Lee\u2019s side,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mulcahy, who sat in the back of the room during public comment, addressed the board and read court documents as part of his litigation with APCHA.<\/p>\n

The board closed the public meeting at 6 p.m. and went into executive session for an hour to discuss the legal case that the agency has won against Mulcahy and his appeal to the 10th Circuit of Appeals.<\/p>\n

Prior to the closed-door meeting, Aspen resident Jay Maytin told the board that the appeal is a weak case and to follow the final court ruling, which appointed a receiver<\/a> to sell the property at 53 Forge Road.<\/p>\n

\u201cLee himself represented in open court that he did not meet the requirement of employee hours and the court agreed and ordered eviction,\u201d Maytin said. \u201cThere is another family that will follow the rules that needs that house.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe resolution of this case will have long-lasting effects if this board allows Lee to remain in his home or agrees to settle a legal precedent that after the court rules that you are in violation you can keep your home,\u201d he continued. \u201cIf the court doesn\u2019t uphold the court\u2019s decision in this legal battle then you can get ready for a bunch more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also in on the meeting was Smith, Ott, City Attorney Jim True and Assistant County Manager Phyllis Mattice.<\/p>\n

After the executive session, Smith said no decisions have been made.<\/p>\n

If there is a settlement, it could become public if the city uses taxpayer dollars to purchase the home on behalf of APCHA before selling to a qualified owner.<\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lee Mulcahy, right, addresses the Aspen-Pitkin County Housing Authority board Wednesday night before the group went into executive session to discuss his case. Mulcahy has been found in violation of APCHA rules and is being evicted.Carolyn Sackariason \/ The Aspen Times Members of the public railed on the Aspen-Pitkin County Housing Authority Board on Wednesday […]<\/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":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2454176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 17:18:37","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":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2454176"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2454200,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454176\/revisions\/2454200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2454176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2454176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2454176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}