Jackass Hill Road closed indefinitely by sinkhole

BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

e City of Littleton has closed Jackass Hill Road inde nitely as they conduct repairs on the sinkhole that collapsed under a moving car on June 12.

e city’s public works department learned that the sinkhole, which is located on Jackass Hill Road north of West Mineral Avenue, was caused by the collapse of a corrugated metal culvert under the roadway, Public Works Director Keith Reester said.

A culvert is a tunnel that allows water to pass under a road or railroad.

South Suburban provided the application question responses to e Littleton Independent but did not provide the requested letters of reference that applicants were also required to submit.

South Suburban cited Colorado Revised Statutes Section 24-72204(3)(a)(III), which states that letters of reference may be denied from open records requests.

‘More closely to the text of the law’ e process of selecting Gardner as the new appointee on June 14,

At the meeting, Board Chair Susan Pye asked if all board members had read the applications and then called for a nomination. With a motion from Board Member Ken Lucas to appoint Gardner and a second from Board Member Pam Eller, there was no discussion and the motion passed unanimously.

Several audience members walked out of the meeting in protest of the way the decision was made, some of them speci cally saying they were

As additional rain fell over the course of June 12, a second culvert in the same area partially collapsed, according to a June 14 press release. “ ere’s two 48-inch pipes underneath that road and they were installed in 1985,” Reester said. “ e joint just failed, and that happens. It’s an unusual amount of water for us, this much moisture … it’s all of us in the Front Range who are dealing with it.”

SEE SINKHOLE, P15

Read an important message regarding Colorado Community Media’s print products on Page 25 frustrated by the lack of explanation of the board’s decision.

After the meeting, e Littleton Independent asked Pye why no information was shared with the audience regarding their selection. Pye said that would be a better question for the executive director, Rob Hanna, or their legal counsel, Jim Collins, whose guidance the board followed in the meeting.

In an interview with e Littleton Independent, Hanna said he did not give the board any guidance on the decision process beyond informing them of the related legal requirements, policies and bylaws.

He said he did not know why the board had no discussion about their selection.

“Typically, when there’s a unanimous decision like that with little discussion, there was obviously a clear top candidate,” he said. “So I can only assume that that’s what happened, that one candidate stood above others.”

Collins, the board’s legal counsel, said he explained the law to the board members and advised them of “what they had to do as a minimum — not that they shouldn’t do more — and left it at that.”

He told e Littleton Independent that he thought it would have been helpful for the board to publicly share reasons for choosing Gardner.

“I don’t think, in the context of the meeting, that there was anything that could not be shared with the public, such as ‘I’m impressed with this applicant’s quali cations because …,’” he said. “And that would have been a helpful, I think, dialogue, but didn’t occur.”

Collins said the board “absolutely, unquestionably” followed the text of the open meetings law during their decision-making process.

When asked how the board’s execution of the process t with the spirit of the law, he deferred to the text.

“Well, there’s always a question of the spirit of the law versus the actual text of the law, and I can say that I believe the board chose to stay more closely to the text of the law,” he said.

‘Con dential’ applications e applications for the board seat stated to applicants that their answers would be kept con dential “to the extent permitted by law.”

“To that extent, I think (the board members) have a right and an obligation to comply with their promise to any prospective applicants,” Collins said, o ering a reason why the board may have not shared information from the applications with the public.

Hanna also mentioned the board’s commitment to keep applications con dential. He said this commitment is why the district did not include the applications in the agenda for the June 14 meeting.

“We had noted that we would keep their applications con dential on the application, so that’s what we did,” he said. “I mean, we release the names, so it’s very easy to do your own research nowadays. It’s not like anything’s secret anymore, so I guess I don’t understand the issue.”

When asked how the concern for con dentiality for the applicants ts with residents’ rights to know information publicly about who’s representing them, Hanna said he did not want to “try and anticipate what a citizen’s perceptions are on the process.” e Douglas County School District Board of Education is also conducting an application process to ll a vacancy. In their case, the board will appoint a member to ll the seat of Elizabeth Hanson, who abruptly resigned during a meeting in May. During two upcoming public meetings, the school board plans to interview applicants, make nominations and vote.

“I think the board followed and went above and beyond the legal process required for lling this position,” he said.

He added that, in 2009, a South Suburban board lled a vacancy by appointing John Ostermiller with no call for applications. He said the current board did more than was required by having an application process that was open to the public.

Hanna said he did not remember any speci c conversation with South Suburban board members about having public interviews as part of their application process.

“I think most of the comments that I received were they wanted to do more than what was required for them to do and open (applications) up to the public,” he said.

Applications received

South Suburban sent e Littleton Independent the applications of Alexis Barrere, Michelle Cutter, omas Rundell and Keith Gardner.

A district resident named Amy Conklin also said she applied for the seat, but South Suburban manager of administrative services Jennifer King said the district never received her application. ey received a letter of recommendation on her behalf, King said, but no application form.

During the public comment period at the June 14 meeting, Conklin said she was willing to accept some of the blame for not realizing her application did not go through, but she also expressed frustration that no one from the district followed up to tell her that only part of her application went through. She also wondered aloud why the application instructions did not tell applicants to expect a con rmation email.

Conklin asked the board to consider her application. She also said she wondered how many other applicants faced the same issue.

Gardner’s application e applications for the vacancy began with several questions about contact information, years the ap- plicant has lived or owned property in the district, what South Suburban facilities they use and what volunteer positions they have held in the past. e questions also asked applicants what they feel is essential to ensure South Suburban meets its goals and how they would work with board members they disagree with. ese past experiences played a large role in inspiring Gardner, who has lived in the district for 24 years, to apply for the seat.

Applicants were then asked to answer ve more in-depth questions related to their reasons for applying, past board experiences and qualications, ideas of a board members’ role and priorities for the board.

In response to the question about past board experiences, Gardner listed 18 positions he has held over the years, namely serving on Centennial City Council from 2008 to 2016. For one of his four-year terms, he served with Lucas on the council.

Many of the other positions Gardner listed arose from his role on council, including serving as a liaison to the Littleton Fire Protection District, Littleton Public Schools and South Suburban.

He also said he served as board president of the Littleton Fire Protection District, an appointed board member for the Arapahoe County Water and Wastewater Authority and more.

“I would like to be a member of the South Suburban Board for a number of reasons,” he wrote on his application. “Among them, I miss having the opportunity to serve the community.”

If selected as a board member, Gardner said he would build relationships with the cities and towns the district serves, address constituent needs and concerns, look for ways to continue to provide excellent services and improve on the delivery of those services to the community.

He also said he would work with, support and learn from sta .

“One of the most essential ways to ensure the Board and sta are on the same page is clear and concise direction from the Board,” he wrote.

“Asking questions to make sure the Board is aligned with the direction and goals the Board is looking to achieve. Ensuring relationships between board and sta are cohesive to meet the best interests of the community.”

When working through di erences of opinion with fellow board members, Gardner said he would use his curiosity and empathetic listening skills to create spaces for productive communication.

“I look to nd a middle-ground between our perspectives when things are seen di erently,” he wrote. “Working in the best interest of the community has, and always will be rst.”

Gardner will serve the remainder of the term left vacant by the sudden passing of David Lawful in May. His term will last until 2025.