By Deborah Grigsby | Colorado Politics
A group of Elbert County residents was hoping to resolve several lingering questions about how County Manager Shawn Fletcher and longtime County Attorney Bart Greer landed hefty new employment contracts without providing public notice—and outside of a public meeting.
Known collectively as “Concerned Citizens,” Elbert County residents Kenneth Cardwell, Jill Duvall, Jim Duvall, Chris Hatton, Nic Meyer, Robert Rowland and Bob Ware have retained the law firm of Zansberg Beylkin, LLC to compel County Commissioners Chris Richardson, Dallas Schroeder and Grant Thayer to “formally acknowledge” that the two contracted the county entered into with Fletcher and Greer are “legally invalid” because they were were approved outside of a public meeting.
In the letter dated Aug. 14, Concerned Citizens stated that on or about June 13, either two or all three county commissioners privately discussed—outside any publicly noticed meeting—whether the county should enter into two new three-year employment contracts. They then authorized Commissioner Chris Richardson to sign these contracts, thereby binding Elbert County to the outlined terms.