ELBERT COUNTY, Colo. — A group of “concerned citizens” in Elbert County have hired a law firm as they seek to overturn a pair of contracts recently handed out by county commissioners.
Robert Rowland and six others claim commissioners violated Colorado's open meetings law, by agreeing to large raises for the county attorney and county administrator outside of a public meeting.
The group recently sent a letter to commissioners, asking for clarification and a reversal of the decision by Sept. 4.
“It's about the process that was followed and the lack of transparency, and the people are upset by that,” Rowland said. “They should have posted that. There should have been public discussion. There should have been a chance for the public to get up and speak.”
Elbert County spokesperson Amanda Moore confirmed the county has received the letter, and attorneys are reviewing it.
Records show commissioners approved new contracts earlier this year for both employees, increasing their salaries from around $140,000 each to $220,000 each.
Commissioners defended those actions at a July 24th board meeting, after people raised concerns about how the process unfolded.
“I think the biggest piece that we heard was they were unaware, and I think when you’re unaware of something, certainly in today’s environment, it almost defaults to something is being hidden or there’s some nefarious reason why somebody didn’t know,” Commissioner Chris Richardson said. “So, I do think we could do better in that respect, and we can start that today.”
The commissioners then voted to “ratify” the contracts, with unanimous approval.
9NEWS reached out to all three commissioners for comment but only heard back from Commissioner Chris Richardson, who said it would be “premature” to do an interview at this time.
Rowland said depending on the response they receive from commissioners, they may consider a lawsuit to overturn the contracts.
“The people have a right to expect that their business is done in full transparency, and it has to be that way," Rowland said. "There is no other option, and in this case, we feel like that was circumvented, and we can't let it stand.”