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Tag: Open Meetings Law

Perry: Your CORA request isn’t less important than RMV’s—isn’t it nice that Polis agrees?
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Approved, State, The Sentinel

Perry: Your CORA request isn’t less important than RMV’s—isn’t it nice that Polis agrees?

By Dave Perry, Editor | Commentary, Sentinel Colorado Journalism, like beauty and pornography, is established by the eye of the beholder. Given that everyone judges the quality and depth of each of those things on a wide and sometimes wacky spectrum, whom in the government would you trust to endorse as the most fabulous or vulgar thing ever? More important, which county wonk, city clerk or state bureaucrat do you think should decide whether former gubernatorial hopeful Heidi Ganahl’s far-right “news” website, “The Rocky Mountain Voice,” is as much journalism as is the Sentinel, or the Denver Post, or Donald Trump’s Truth Social blog? In what appears to have been a well-intentioned move by this year’s state legislature to make Colorado’s critical open records law more ...
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Colorado Parks and Wildlife settles with hunting groups that sued claiming commissioners violated open meetings rules
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado Parks and Wildlife settles with hunting groups that sued claiming commissioners violated open meetings rules

By Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun Two influential hunting organizations that sued members of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission claiming they violated Colorado Open Meetings Law and spread false information about mountain lion hunting say they agreed to a small cash payment and the promise that commissioners would be trained in open meetings law and the agency’s rules around hunting lions, lynx and bobcats.   CPW spokesperson Travis Duncan confirmed the groups had reached a settlement but said once the state proved the commissioners had never communicated outside of an official meeting, the hunting groups decided to settle for “a modest amount of $2,332 to avoid the expense of litigation.” Commissioners did participate in an open meetings training, he said, which “was also ...
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Who gets to know? Lawmakers, media and watchdogs wrangle over public records access
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Who gets to know? Lawmakers, media and watchdogs wrangle over public records access

By RMV Staff | Rocky Mountain Voice Last year Democrat lawmakers created a loophole to dodge public scrutiny—and Governor Polis made it law. Now it’s easier for lawmakers to evade state open meetings law, through written and electronic communication. Republicans Sen. Byron Pelton and Rep. Lori Garcia Sander introduced House Bill 25-1242 to repeal and close that loophole. But the bill was killed in committee along party lines, reinforcing a trend toward less transparency at the state capitol. In response, a coalition of government watchdogs and media groups from across the political spectrum is pushing a ballot measure to strengthen public access to records and keep legislative meetings open. Transparency advocates, including the Independence Institute, League of Women Voters an...
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Lawmakers introduce a bill to repeal Open Meetings Law shield for General Assembly
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Approved, Law Week Colorado, State

Lawmakers introduce a bill to repeal Open Meetings Law shield for General Assembly

By Law Week Colorado Last week, two Republican lawmakers in the Colorado House of Representatives introduced a bill aimed at government transparency laws. The measure would repeal a portion of Senate Bill 24-157, which was passed last year amid opposition from transparency advocates and organizations.  READ THE FULL STORY AT LAW WEEK COLORADO
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Colorado’s open meetings law under fire as lawmakers defend it during required meeting
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado’s open meetings law under fire as lawmakers defend it during required meeting

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics While it has been over nine months since Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill exempting the General Assembly from much of the state's open meetings law, the angst over the lack of transparency resulting from the law is far from having cooled. Even the Colorado Press Association, which had worked to make the bill less onerous, criticized the General Assembly in a hearing Monday on Senate Bill 24-157. The law required legislative leadership to hold the hearing, which the governor signed on March 13, the first day of National Sunshine Week. This week is intended to highlight the importance of public records and open government. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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Lawsuit alleges Estes Valley fire district violated open-meetings law
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Approved, BizWest, Local

Lawsuit alleges Estes Valley fire district violated open-meetings law

By BizWest The Estes Valley Voice, described as a “journalist-founded, locally owned digital newsroom”, has sued the Estes Valley Fire Protection District board of directors in Larimer District Court, alleging that it violated Colorado’s Open Records Act and open-meetings law by hiring Paul Capo as fire chief in a closed session on Oct. 9. According to the Estes Valley Voice, board members discussed Capo’s selection privately during an executive session, only later ratifying the decision in a public meeting without further public discussion. In a response to a Colorado Open Records Act request,  EVFPD board chair Ryan Bross told Patty Brown, the Voice’s editor and publisher, that “meeting protocol was determined by District legal counsel.” READ THE FULL...
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‘Concerned Citizens’ charge that Elbert Co. commissioners violated open meetings law on contracts
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, Local

‘Concerned Citizens’ charge that Elbert Co. commissioners violated open meetings law on contracts

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.  ...
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