The Daily Times-Call newspaper is claiming the Longmont City Council violated the state’s open-meeting laws by voting on a controversial issue behind closed doors.
The Times-Call, in a lawsuit filed this week, is asking Boulder District Chief Judge Roxanne Bailin to review tapes of the June 23 executive session and then release the relevant portions to the public.
The suit says the council moved to executive session to receive legal advice over litigation involving the town of Firestone. Afterward, Mayor Roger Lange and a councilwoman told Times-Call reporter Rachel Carter that during the executive session, the council decided it would appeal a judge’s recent decision that favored Firestone.
The councilwoman, Mary Blue, said the council’s decision to authorize the appeal was not a ” ‘binding vote’ but merely a ‘straw poll to find out if there’s a majority opinion about something,’ ” the suit said.
Times-Call attorney Adam Platt said the council vote — no matter how informal — was made during an executive session, which is a clear violation of the state’s open-meetings law.
“It should have been a public vote, but it was, in fact, not conducted in public,” Platt said.
Longmont City Attorney Eugene Mei said Friday that the city followed the open-meetings law. “We adhered to the law and, for that matter, that’s why the tape of the meeting was not made available.”
The lawsuit is the latest episode involving legal wrangling between Longmont and Firestone. The two have been squabbling over whether Firestone can annex two big parcels of land east of Longmont for development.
One chunk centers around LifeBridge Christian Church’s 350-acre Union development, which faced fierce opposition when it asked to be annexed into Longmont in 2007.
The church withdrew its annexation request from Longmont and then went to Firestone. A Weld district judge in May ruled against annexations made by Longmont to try to block the Firestone annexations.
Platt said the judge should make a ruling in the case within two weeks.
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com
