The Greeley Tribune filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday accusing a Weld County official of withholding legal advertising from the newspaper in retaliation for its editorial stances on certain issues.
The lawsuit accuses Mary Hergert, the county’s public trustee, of misrepresenting advertising rates for the Tribune, and a sister publication, the Windsor Tribune, in an effort to dissuade parties from using the publication for foreclosure notices.
Hergert did not return a phone call for comment.
Each Colorado county has a public trustee, appointed by the governor, to advise homeowners facing foreclosure of their rights, conduct sales and enforce foreclosure rules.
In February, the Tribune published an editorial expressing the newspaper’s opinion that the office of public trustee throughout the state ought to be abolished.
It also had written a news story about Hergert’s efforts to create a retirement plan for herself and her employees. And the newspaper had editorialized against certain Republican political candidates whom Hergert publicly supported in the last election cycle.
The lawsuit asserts that Hergert expressed anger over the editorial positions and news coverage and told a newspaper staff member she was considering moving her office’s legal advertising to a competing newspaper.
The newspaper is asking that Hergert be prevented from engaging in further retaliatory action and be forced to disseminate the publication’s correct advertising rates. It is also seeking damages for lost revenue.
Staff writer Alicia Caldwell can be reached at 303-820-1930 or acaldwell@denverpost.com.
