75 CENTS
April 27, 2017
ADVENTURES ELBERT COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
Mayor of Kiowa faces menacing charge Affidavit alleges official pointed gun at teenage son during drive STAFF REPORT
commissioner at the time who decided not to run for re-election in November • County Manager Ed Ehmann • County Attorney Wade Gateley The suit states officials had been monitoring Fenner’s countyissued computer since Sept. 24, 2015, “collecting over 50,000 screen shots from Plaintiff ’s open desktop.” In April 2016, the county contracted the Mountain States Employers Council to do a “workplace investigation” on Fenner, centering on her use of
The mayor of Kiowa is facing multiple charges after an incident in which authorities say he pointed a handgun at his teenage son. Lawrence A. “Larry” Perreault, 45, was arrested by the Elbert County Sheriff ’s Office at 10 p.m. April 15. He faces a felony charge of menacing and misdemeanor charges of harassment, reckless endangerment, prohibited use of a weapon by an intoxicated person and unlawfully carrying a concealed weapon. He was released from jail after posting $25,000 bond. Accounts given in the arrest affidavit tell of an outing to Aurora involving an Irish pub, a movie and a restaurant — and later, a heated argument and a gun. The night of April 15, sheriff ’s deputies discovered Perreault and his wife, Sharon, arguing while standing between two vehicles near the intersection of County Road 166 and County Road 13 on the outskirts of Elizabeth, according to the arrest affidavit. Sharon Perreault told deputies the two were having a disagreement that involved her son, the report states. She added that her husband had been drinking and had a weapon in his possession.
SEE LAWSUIT, P5
SEE MAYOR, P5
Kyle Fenner, Elbert County’s director of community and development services, addresses the board of county commissioners at a meeting in 2016. FILE PHOTO
Suit says county spied on, defamed employee Complaint names board of commissioners, top county officials BY CHRIS ROTAR CROTAR@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Elbert County’s director of community and development services has filed a lawsuit claiming her emails were improperly intercepted and monitored by the county and that county officials made defamatory statements intended to embarrass her.
Kyle Fenner, who has worked for the county since May 2013, has experienced “humiliation, anger, anxiety, emotional distress, frustration and embarrassment” because of the officials’ actions, the lawsuit states. The suit, which was filed last month in U.S. District Court, alleges officials invaded Fenner’s privacy and created “a hostile work environment” from late 2015 through the summer of 2016. The complaint names the following as defendants: • The board of county commissioners • Robert Rowland, a county
THE BOTTOM LINE PERIODICAL
‘I don’t often get into the feasibility of an applicant’s business plan…but the answer didn’t indicate a high degree of planning had been been done or provide confidence that they would do what was right versus what they could afford.’
Chris Richardson, county commissioner | Page 2
INSIDE
CALENDAR: PAGE 7 | VOICES: PAGE 6 | LIFE: PAGE 17
ElbertCountyNews.net
VOLUME 122 | ISSUE 13