{"id":2456577,"date":"2020-04-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-01T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=323588"},"modified":"2020-04-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-04-01T06:00:00","slug":"basalt-open-meetings-feud-heads-to-colorado-court-of-appeals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/basalt-open-meetings-feud-heads-to-colorado-court-of-appeals\/","title":{"rendered":"Basalt open meetings feud heads to Colorado Court of Appeals"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/basaltappeal-atd-040120-1024x768.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/basaltappeal-atd-040120-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/basaltappeal-atd-040120-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/basaltappeal-atd-040120-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/basaltappeal-atd-040120-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/basaltappeal-atd-040120-2048x1536.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><figcaption><strong>Basalt town government is facing a lawsuit over alleged violations of the Colorado Open Meetings Law.<\/strong><br \/><em>Aspen Times file<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">A long-simmering court battle between a Basalt resident and the town government over alleged violations of Colorado Open Meetings Law is headed to the state Court of Appeals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The Court has scheduled oral arguments for May 12 in the case of Ted Guy versus Basalt Mayor Jacque Whitsitt, the Basalt Town Council and town clerk Pam Schilling.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Guy filed a lawsuit in October 2016 contending that four executive sessions held by the council in office at the time didn\u2019t disclose enough about the matters being discussed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The lawsuit also claimed the open meetings law had been violated by council member Jennifer Riffle in emails sent to other members to discuss town business and by Whitsitt for text regarding town business.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\">\n<div class=\"row at-donation p-0\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/at-banner-paypal.jpg)\" class=\"col-xl-8 p-3 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/donate\/?utm_source=website&amp;utm_medium=news%20article&amp;utm_campaign=donation\">Donate<\/a><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Eagle County District Judge Russell Granger issued a <a id=\"N0x28d3be0N0x2a21150:N0x28d3be0N0x287b178\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/judge-rules-primarily-in-favor-of-basalt-in-lawsuit-with-resident-over-open-meetings-law\/\">split decision<\/a> in the case in 2017. Granger found that the town properly held executive sessions \u2014 where the public is excluded \u2014 when there was attorney-client privilege and when personnel matters were discussed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">He ruled in Guy\u2019s favor when executive sessions were held on property issues and negotiations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe court finds that the substance of the town\u2019s action was proper,\u201d Granger wrote. \u201cIt is only after a full-day hearing and hours of attorney argument second guessing the town\u2019s motions is this court able and required to find a technical violation of (the Colorado Open Meetings Law).\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Also in his ruling, Granger said Whitsitt didn\u2019t violate the town\u2019s record retention policy by erasing texts to town officials. The evidence showed those texts were of \u201ctransitory value,\u201d meaning they didn\u2019t have to be saved as public record.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Guy said at the time of the ruling he was disappointed that the judge determined the council\u2019s repeated failure to abide by the Sunshine Law was minor or inconsequential. He indicated he might pursue an appeal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In a later ruling on another portion of the lawsuit, Granger determined Riffle\u2019s email to three other council members in July 2016 <a id=\"N0x28d3be0N0x2a211b0:N0x28d3be0N0x287b4d8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/judge-basalt-council-violated-open-meetings-laws\/\">violated the open meetings law<\/a>. He also found that a series of emails in August 2016 among council members, the mayor and town staff were also a violation and should be open to public scrutiny because they addressed policy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Prior to the initial lawsuit, Riffle apologized for the email and said she has stopped sending emails to conduct town business. As someone elected to public office for the first time in 2016, she said she hadn\u2019t received proper training in public meetings law. Ryan Mahoney, who became town manager in June 2017, said previously that the town has improved its transparency and has trained newly elected officials on open meeting laws.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Guy filed his appeal of Granger\u2019s ruling in July 2019. A panel of three judges will hear the oral arguments, limiting the attorneys for Guy and the town just 15 minutes apiece for a short presentation and questions from the panel.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In the appeal, Guy contends the town was required to be more specific about the need for holding executive decisions and that Granger erred by finding some of the executive sessions were adequately noticed. The appeal noted that the town government has changed its ways since the litigation and specifies the reasons for closed sessions more thoroughly \u2014 an indication that rules were followed previously.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">One of the executive sessions in question was held to discuss the contract of former town manager Mike Scanlon, who parted ways after a dispute with the majority of the council. The town contends it couldn\u2019t disclose it was holding an executive session on Scanlon without violating his contract. Guy contends the town could have disclosed it was discussing a personnel matter about Scanlon without committing a violation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The town\u2019s response said any technical deficiencies in disclosing topics for executive sessions were outweighed by attorney-client privilege, confidential negotiations and personnel matters on Scanlon. The town contends Granger ruled correctly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The two sides also traded barbs in their briefs. The town noted that the judge said lawsuits over open meetings issues shouldn\u2019t be used as an \u201cincome stream\u201d for attorneys.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Guy\u2019s attorney countered that a citizen should be commended rather than belittled for seeking transparency in government.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Denver attorney Katayoun Donnelly is representing Guy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Steve Dawes is representing the town government.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Guy wants the appellate court to find that the town did violate the opening meetings requirements with inadequate notice for all four executive sessions in question and that Whitsitt\u2019s texts were not inconsequential and should have been retained.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Guy also wants the appellate court to assign a different district judge to determine how the town and Guy should divide attorneys\u2019 fees.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The town wants Granger\u2019s ruling upheld and for no attorneys\u2019 fees to be awarded.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">It is unknown how long it will take before the three judges make a ruling.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Whitsitt will be out of office by the time the appellate court hearing is held. She is finishing her second four-year term. A new mayor will be elected on April 7, with a swearing in process later in the month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Riffle is seeking re-election for a council seat after completing her a four-year term.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:scondon@aspentimes.com\">scondon@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/basalt-open-meetings-feud-heads-to-colorado-court-of-appeals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Basalt town government is facing a lawsuit over alleged violations of the Colorado Open Meetings Law.Aspen Times file A long-simmering court battle between a Basalt resident and the town government over alleged violations of Colorado Open Meetings Law is headed to the state Court of Appeals. The Court has scheduled oral arguments for May 12 [&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":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2456577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 06:49:26","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&#039;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\/2456577","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=2456577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2456577\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2456577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2456577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2456577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}