Erie sued over alleged rights violation
An Erie man has filed a lawsuit against the town alleging that his constitutional rights are being violated.
Specifically, resident Miguel Zuniga says in the lawsuit that Erie’s voter-approved home rule charter extends several council members terms in office by several months, which violates his constitutional rights. Erie officials in a statement said that extending some of the terms by the extra months is part of the town’s move to a home rule charter, and that voters approved the home rule charter — a governing measure — in November.
Town officials said in a statement they believe the “lawsuit is unfounded because the charter in whole and the transition plan within the charter was made widely available.” The statement adds that other Colorado municipalities have lengthened officials’ terms when transitioning to home rule, and have done so without challenge.
Zuniga said in the lawsuit that he should not deprived of the ability to vote for or against elected officials during the additional months they are in office.
The lawsuit calls for the elected officials in question to leave their offices in April, which would be their original end date of their terms. Doing so will create vacancies, which should be addressed by the procedures set forth in the home rule charter, the lawsuit says.
Zuniga is the husband of Kelly Zuniga who was removed from the town planning commission last summer in a 4-2 vote from the Erie Town Council.
Mayor Pro Tem Sara Loflin claimed at the June 27 meeting that Kelly Zuniga was being hostile toward town staffers. They said she was absent from required meetings multiple times, which caused the planning commission to not have a quorum, which delayed decisions.
Kelly Zuniga also ran for mayor in 2022 and ran for a seat on the Board of Trustees in 2020.
The lawsuit names Mayor Justin Brooks, Mayor Pro Tem Loflin and Councilmembers Brandon Bell, Ari Harrison and Dan Hoback as defendants.
The officials’ terms were originally set to end in April, but were extended to end in November.
The extension was added to transition the town to November elections and to a town council as set by the home rule charter. Such home rule charters are governing documents that allow local governments to manage their own affairs and draft their own rules.
The lawsuit does not name Councilmembers Emily Baer and Andrew Sawusch, since their terms were shortened by the new home rule charter.
Zuniga claims in his lawsuit that his “constitutionally protected interest” was violated as under Colorado Constitution Article 12, Section 11 states that “no law shall extend the term of any elected public officer after his election or appointment.”
The lawsuit states that the state ensures that “elected officials serve fixed terms of office that are not extended in a manner that circumvents the electoral process” and that the home rule charter directly violates the provision.
The statement said Erie will not comment further on the lawsuit. Zuniga’s lawyer, Jonathan Slie, declined to comment.