A group of residents alleging that Elbert County gave two officers hefty employment contracts outside of the public’s purview has retained a law firm in an effort to reverse the local government’s decision.  

The county earlier decided to increase the salaries of County Manager Shawn Fletcher and longtime County Attorney Bart Greer to $220,000 each. 

The residents have retained the law firm of Zansberg Beylkin LLC, which wrote County Commissioners Chris Richardson, Dallas Schroeder and Grant Thayer, asking the officials to “formally acknowledge” that the two contracts the county entered into with Fletcher and Greer are “legally invalid” because they were were approved outside of a public meeting. 

In the letter from the law firm dated Aug. 14, the residents — Kenneth Cardwell, Jill Duvall, Jim Duvall, Chris Hatton, Nic Meyer, Robert Rowland and Bob Ware — said in June, either two or all three county commissioners privately discussed outside any publicly noticed meeting whether the county should enter into two new three-year employment contracts.

They then authorized Commissioner Chris Richardson to sign these contracts, thereby binding Elbert County to the outlined terms, the residents claimed. 

That contract should be rescinded and declared void, the group said. 

Colorado Politics reached out to Richardson for comment. He acknowledged the county’s receipt of the letter but would not comment on it.

Richardson publicly defended the decision at a recent town hall meeting. He cited Colorado’s open meetings law and said the statute specifically states that “day-to-day oversight of employees” is not subject to notice and that individual employee evaluations and compensation discussions are considered “day-to-day” oversight, per a 2015 ruling against Lake County. 

“Appropriations for spending do require public notice,” Richardson said. “The county operates multiple governmental funds. The primary fund that supports services to the citizens is the general fund. So long as spending from this fund does not exceed the full amount appropriated in December for 2024, no additional appropriation is required. Therefore, no notice of or associated public meeting,” Richardson said. 

Duvall accused Elbert County commissioners of having a habit of ignoring citizens’ concerns and staff attorneys of rationalizing and defending the elected officials’ actions, regardless of what the law says.

Duvall said she hopes the legal nudge will compel the commissioners to rescind the current contracts for both Fletcher and Greer, force the county to hold a “properly” noticed public meetings, and listen to residents’ concerns regarding “excessive/exorbitant salary and benefit increases.”

“We would also like to share the research citizens have completed comparing our county pay scales to those of similar-sized counties,” Duvall said. “We hope to avoid a lawsuit but are fully prepared to move forward if necessary.”

“(I) would hope they respond as they should, given the obvious acts that are clearly illegal under the Open Records laws,” added Rowland, a former Elbert County Commissioner. “They need to explain how this happened and agree to a realistic and satisfactory cure to the actions taken by those illegal acts. Given their refusal to be transparent on this matter, and their denials of wrongdoing, I am not optimistic.” 

Fletcher, who has been on the job for less than 18 months, saw a pay bump of $80,000 over his 2023 contract, bringing his annual salary to $220,000. Additionally, he gets to use a county-owned or leased vehicle, a monthly housing allowance of $1,500, and an extra two weeks (eight days) of vacation leave above his current accrual rate. 

Greer, who has represented the county for close to seven years, will also receive an annual salary of $220,000 and use a county vehicle. A previous contract signed by Greer in January 2023 placed his yearly salary at $145,500.

Some residents have filed open records requests for the contracts.

“Elbert County citizens, without exception, are fully in support of rescinding these contracts and substantially reducing the outlandish increases in pay and benefits,” Duvall said. “We have full confidence that citizens will prevail and that the facts and the law are on our side.”

Rowland warned the commissioners.

“This letter is not a game,” he said. “We are well organized, and the citizens have responded to our actions in overwhelming support, including commitments to support whatever action is necessary to make this right.”