GOLDEN — The mayor and five of six council members have been accused in a recall effort of fiscal irresponsibility, a lack of civility and a failure to adhere to their oaths of office.
The only council member not being sought for recall is Mary Weaver, who sued the city in 2007 over what she contends were illegally convened executive sessions.
Lynne Carrol, one of nine people filing recall documents, said she has “an ongoing concern about the quality of governance that has been predominant on the council.”
Several Golden residents who have formed a group called Citizens for Golden to fight the recall say paid petition circulators have used misleading and vague language to get people to sign.
“There are lots of folks in town who may not agree with everything the council does, but they’re not upset to the degree to kick someone off of the council,” said Josh Pollock, a Citizens for Golden volunteer.
The recall petitions say Mayor Jacob Smith and council members Karen Oxman, Bill Fisher, Diane Chesbro, Marjorie Sloan and Joseph Behm made or agreed to “unnecessary and cruel derogatory comments about citizens who volunteer in Golden.”
Officials also demonstrated fiscal irresponsibility, the petitions say, by approving a $600,000 contract for a experimental sound wall on Colorado 93, approved a $1.1 million contract for energy-efficiency improvements without bids and supported ending the Golden Pioneer Museum’s operating contract by accepting a bid that was $100,000 higher per year from another museum.
The officials failed to adhere to their oaths of office by illegally convening executive sessions, the petitions say.
City Manager Mike Bestor said energy improvements were put out to bid and the city also required the contractor to bid work to subcontractors. He said less money is being spent on the current museum contract than the city has in the past two years.
And the sound wall has been the focus of “thousands of hours” of public hearings over 10 years, he added.
Resident Pamela Gould said two canvassers told her Saturday they were working on a “fiscal responsibility” issue.
Gould said the men also told her they were being paid by Marian Olson, a city critic who publishes a political newsletter called the Voice of Golden.
Olson, who did not return calls asking for comment, funded Weaver’s lawsuit and has sued the city nearly two dozen times in the past 10 to 12 years, Bestor said.
The city has spent close to $1 million defending against the lawsuits, Bestor said, “and now she wants to cost us another $50,000 on a recall election in the spring when the general election is six months away.”
Ann Schrader: 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com
