Is this the new direction Loveland voters anticipated?

Jacki Marsh was elected mayor for the first time six years ago. She frequently expressed her frustration that the council would not do what she wanted them to do. The past November she was successful in flipping the council, stating that they intended to go a new direction. Well Loveland, how is that working for the community? How about a little recap?

At the first meeting in which all the new majority were seated, the five rescinded a contractual agreement with a local developer. This brought about the first of three lawsuits. This first, brought by the developer, asserted that the council lacked the authority to unilaterally cancel the agreement that had been approved by the previous council. Council has since rescinded the rescission, and the lawsuit with the developer is on hold. The other two cases are following the legal process.

The second lawsuit was brought by citizens who allege that the five members of council violated the charter by not taking their action to rescind the URA agreement to the voters for ratification. Approval of ballot measure 301 required that any changes to a URA in Loveland go to the voters for ratification. Although members of the council asked if that was necessary, the council failed to take the matter to the voters.

A third lawsuit was brought against the city for conducting a background investigation on a newly elected councilor when that councilor refused to comply with established policies and procedures to submit to background investigation, something that all other candidates had complied with. The assertion is that the city lacked the authority to conduct the background investigation and therefore the councilor should not have been seated.

There is a fourth lawsuit pending, that by Bill Jensen alleging the four minority members of this council violated the Colorado Open Meetings Law. In his introduction to his motion, Councilor Krenning made a couple of key statements. 1) The city council has no authority over open meeting violations. 2) He did not think Bill Jensen’s legal case carried much weight and that he didn’t think they had much merit.

Despite those confessions by Councilor Krenning, the five majority members of council decided to preempt a decision by the courts in the ongoing court case initiated by Bill Jensen and insert themselves into the matter. The five voted unanimously to hire an attorney to conduct an investigation, an individual suggested by Councilor Krenning. What is so urgent about the Jensen lawsuit that it warrants council inserting itself into the matter? Why not let the legal process run its course?

The minority members of council responded by directing the city attorney’s office to hire an attorney to investigate the evidence for the two cases against the majority members of council. I feel it was an unfortunate but necessary action to protect the rights of the minority. I would have much preferred that we let the courts decide all these legal matters.

Upon the return of the council majority members, Councilor Krenning immediately informed City Attorney Garcia that he would be suspended with pay until his resignation took effect on April 2. As a body, the majority did suspend the city attorney. Can that action be anything but retaliation against City Attorney Garcia due to their belief that he had assisted the minority respond to the actions of the majority? Apparently, the minority is not entitled to assistance from the city attorney’s office.

Tuesday evening, the results of the investigation will be discussed. There was no court hearing. In fact, none of the four members were even contacted. Apparently, the investigation relies only on the allegations by Bill Jensen, which Councilor Krenning acknowledges have little merit. While the majority were not content to let the courts render a decision on the Jensen lawsuit, ultimately the courts will decide the matter. So, what has their action accomplished other than further divide council and fuel the ever-growing mistrust among council members, the city staff and the citizens of Loveland?

So, Loveland, is this the kind of new direction you anticipated and support?

Steve Olson is a member of the Loveland City Council, representing Ward 3. He was first elected in 2017.