• Mar 2, 2021
This week on Local Motion, news director Gavin Dahl speaks with Erin McIntyre, co-publisher of the Ouray County Plaindealer newspaper, and Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition executive director Jeff Roberts. Together they explore the significance of the reverse CORA filed in district court by Ouray County administrator Connie Hunt and county attorney Carol Viner after they declined an open records request by the newspaper for personnel files about public health staffers responding to the coronavirus pandemic. KVNF News requested an interview or statement from the county officials with more than 24 hours notice, but received no response before airtime.
Miller Hudson
An ancient Chinese proverb theorizes an opportunity embedded in every political crisis. Winston Churchill recast it as: âNever let a crisis go to waste.â Rahm Emanuel then recycled Churchillâs sentiment in response to the Great Recession of 2009 when serving as chief of staff to Barack Obama. A corollary that may have similar origins is, âWhen a locked door opens unexpectedly, step through before it shuts.â
Brian Boatright, chief justice of the Colorado Supreme Court, has invited the legislative and executive branches to undertake a joint investigation of disgraceful behavior reported within the judiciary departmentâs disciplinary process and deliberately hidden before David Migoya of The Denver Post exposed the pattern to public view.
Colorado’s judicial branch will neither confirm nor deny whether it has any additional records on the allegation that a Court of Appeals judge negotiated an agreement with a law clerk
In the last two years, Craig City Council has found itself behind closed doors from the public in executive session 14 times out of 58 total city council meetings.
Of those 14 times, a majority of the executive sessions have dealt with council receiving legal advice on a civil suit from a local man against the police department for excessive use of force, while others have dealt with personnel matters, according to the last two years of council packets dating back to January 2019.
It is unclear if the three most recent executive sessions from Feb. 9, 2021 may have had a hand in Craig Police Chief Jerry DeLong’s reported resignation. City Manager Peter Brixius said DeLong submitted his resignation on Feb. 8, but one of the executive sessions was “to discuss City Attorney recommendations regarding use of force and implementing policies and practices to reduce liability.”
January 21, 2021
On Jan. 15,
Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, Colorado Capitol Press Association, Colorado Press Association, Colorado Broadcasters Association, Colorado News Collaborative, Society of Professional Journalists – Colorado Pro Chapter and Colorado Common Cause sent the following letter to state legislative leaders regarding transparency and public/journalist access to the legislative process:
Dear Speaker Garnett, President Garcia, Majority Leader Esgar, Majority Leader Fenberg, Minority Leader McKean and Minority Leader Holbert:
We, the undersigned organizations, want to thank you and other legislative leaders for taking steps during the fall 2020 special session to ensure public and journalist access to the legislative process at a time when many Coloradans do not feel safe appearing in person at the state Capitol. Adding a mechanism for remote testimony during committee hearings afforded interest groups and individual Coloradans all over the state e