OLATHE, Colo.—Former Mayor John Harold has filed suit against the Town Board, claiming it violated the state open meeting law by filling two vacancies by secret ballot and then destroying the ballots.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Montrose District Court, seeks to void the appointments of Town Board members Linda Steele in August 2006 and Kelley Collins in June 2007.
Harold’s attorney, Christopher Beall, said Harold had asked the board to fill the vacancies by special election but the board declined.
Mayor Woody Palmer was out of town and unavailable for comment, his office said. Other board members and the town attorney either could not be reached or did not return calls.
Olathe, a town of 1,700, is 45 miles southeast of Grand Junction and 180 miles southwest of Denver.
