1-Color
June 25, 2014
75 cents Teller County, Colorado | Volume 53, Issue 25 A publication of
pikespeakcourier.net
A RODEO TRADITION
OFFICIAL PROGRAM INSIDE
Despite turmoil, it’s business as usual By Pat Hill
phill@coloradocommunitymedia.com
Bareback bronc busting is a traditional rodeo event featured at the Cripple Creek Rodeo. Photo by Sonja Oliver
Group forms committee to recall Turley City Charter sets recall election formula By Norma Engelberg Contributing writer
A group has formed a committee to recall Woodland Park Mayor Dave Turley, who in May was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust. As a few visitors to the Woodland Park Local Facebook page have commented, Turley has not been convicted of a crime. He was re-elected on April 8. If he is convicted of a felony he will be forced to resign. Recall rules are set out in Section 2.12 of the Woodland Park City Charter. The following is a summary of the procedure: A recall committee that consists of three to five registered city electors may request a recall petition from POSTAL ADDRESS
the city clerk. The petition’s language must meet certain requirements and once its form and language is approved, the committee has 60 days to gather signatures and return it to the clerk, who will then have five business days to determine whether or not the signatures are sufficient. Sufficiency means that the number of valid signatures is equal to 25 percent of all the votes cast for that office at the last regular election. On April 8, Turley and his write-in rival, Councilmember Gary Brovetto, received 1006 votes, 25 percent would be 252. If the petition is deemed sufficient, a written protest can be filed within 15 days. The protest should be based on the legalities of the petition’s language or form and/or the validity of signatures and not on the merit of recall. Voters get to decide that question. In the event of a protest, hearings must be held and a decision must be made within 30 days. That decision
can be appealed to district court. If the petition is deemed sufficient, the person facing the recall has five days to resign. If there is no resignation, a recall election date must be set no earlier than 30 days or later than 60 days from the date the petition was declared sufficient. If the officer is recalled, the office will be filled by appointment unless two appointees are already serving on council. In that case, unless there is a regular municipal election within the next 90 days, a special election will be called. If the recall fails or a protest results in a declaration of insufficiency, the incumbent could be compensated for actual election expenses and can’t be the subject of a recall unless a committee gathers twice as many valid signatures. Woodland Park’s “Code & Charter” are available at www.city-woodlandpark.org.
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The mayor gets arrested, bonds out and continues to lead the council while the finance director and three police officers resign. For Woodland Park City Manager David Buttery, keeping a cool head and sticking to business is the way to go. “There seems to be a little bit of turmoil but I can tell you that we’re doing our best not to let that bother us,” Buttery said. While Mayor Dave Turley is in legal limbo because of the ongoing investigation, life goes on in Woodland Park. “The city is an entity, not one elected official but a body of seven elected officials and a staff of 80 dedicated employees,” Buttery said. “He is still the mayor so we are conducting business as we normally would.” Turley was arrested May 23 on suspicion of sexual assault on a minor by a person of trust. To date, he has not been formally charged. Kellie Case, the city’s finance officer/treasurer, resigned after being on administrative leave since June 9. Case held the position for 17 years and submitted a letter of resignation June 13. Buttery is succinct. “Kellie, Cindy (Morse, city clerk), and I had a discussion on May 16 to discuss Kellie’s future,” Buttery said. “There are several things we discussed and on June 9, based on some of those discussions, I felt it best that she go on administrative leave until we answered some of the questions associated with the discussion.” Buttery emphasized that there were no improprieties with the city’s finances. “Absolutely nothing,” he said. “As of Monday, Kellie will have a letter from me extolling her virtues as the finance director and treasurer. She was very good at the technical aspects of her job.” Reached by email, Case said, “I have left the city to begin my own business to assist other municipalities in Colorado as a finance consultant. I have enjoyed the 17 years of service to Woodland Park’s citizens and will continue to reside here and continue all my volunteer activities for the important nonprofit organizations here.” In a subsequent phone conversation, Case added, “My health has improved and things are looking brighter and brighter,” she said. Case is a vital part of the annual home tour in December and is helping with the USA Pro Challenge. But with a gap in the finance department, Morse and her deputy, Suzanne LeClercq, are coordinating the workload with the finance team. “Everyone is doing a little bit of everything,” Buttery said, adding that the city has advertised the position and will begin the review process June 25. At the police department, Nikki Tezak, Nicole Leitner and Sean Goings resigned recently. “The police department is accustomed to people coming and going. So the city still has excellent coverage; we just have a good team,” Buttery said. “As these things happen, we continue to do good things for the community.” With personnel issues taken care of, Buttery was asked to comment on the November ballot issue:
Aquatic project, fleet maintenance and Memorial Park
“These are three projects the community has wanted for a long time. We’re going to do it without raising taxes,” Buttery said. “This is the right time in our history. Prior to this current date we couldn’t have done it. We’ve retired Turmoil continues on Page 3
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