The Durango Board of Ethics and a complaint that’s been under review for about seven months are in limbo following the resignations of two ethics board members.

Ethics board member and acting chair Robert Bates-roshchin submitted a letter immediately tendering his resignation on Aug. 16, citing “unforeseen personal circumstances.”

Bates-roshchin’s departure left the ethics board with just two remaining members, one less member than what’s required for a quorum, or the minimum number of members needed to hold a meeting.

On Wednesday, board member Laurie Meininger also submitted her immediate resignation, citing the lack of a quorum and her overstay on the board.

She told The Durango Herald Friday she agreed to remain on the board past the end of her term in May to resolve an ethics complaint under review. The complaint involves former Durango Infrastructure Advisory Board member John Simpson, filed in January by then-Mayor Melissa Youssef.

She said that without a quorum, review of the complaint, which the ethics board appeared nearly ready to issue a ruling on during its Aug. 13 meeting, cannot be completed.

Ethics board member Jay Eagen, the sole remaining board member as of Friday, also agreed earlier this year to remain past his term limit to resolve the complaint filed against Simpson, she said.

The Herald’s efforts to contact Eagan or Bates-roshchin for comment were not immediately successful.

Meininger said the joined the Board of Ethics in 2018 because she firmly believes in having neutral bodies to observe and vet concerns about unethical behaviors by government staff, contractors and elected officials.

“My personal feeling as a citizen of Durango is that there needs to be a mechanism for that writ large across government. I think it helps keep people honest and focused on the work that they’ve either been hired or elected to do. And keeps citizens having a voice and a monitoring of government,” she said.

In July, Eagan motioned to dismiss the complaint filed against Simpson, clarifying he raised the subject for discussion and not because he supports dismissal.

Bates-roshchin said in July that he saw some justifications for Youssef’s complaint against Simpson, adding he doesn’t think a dismissal is the right thing to do right now.

Following Bates-roshchin’s resignation, which was briefly mentioned without naming him specifically during the Aug. 20 Durango City Council meeting, City Attorney Mark Morgan told the Herald that Simpson is “engaged in an intimidation campaign with ethics board members.”

He said Simpson has filed a records request regarding at least one ethics board member, Eagan’s application to the board, and has threatened lawsuits against board members and/or the city.

He added that Bates-Roshchin submitted his resignation letter within two days of Simpson filing his response to the ethics board’s investigatory report detailing five allegations lodged by Youssef against Simpson in the ethics complaint. Another five allegations were dismissed due to lacking evidence or to untimely filings.

In his written response to the ethics board, Simpson dismissed allegations of violating the Colorado Open Records Act and open meeting laws. He stated that Youssef showed no evidence that he may have violated any laws as a member of the IAB, adding the city ethics board has no jurisdiction over laws unrelated to ethics specifically.

Simpson, referencing a previous CORA lawsuit he won against the city, also noted in his response that his “victorious lawsuit caused a major loss of trust in city government, but that isn’t an ethics violation.”

At the Aug. 13 ethics board meeting during a public comment segment, Simpson threatened to take the same matter to the 6th Judicial District Court.

“You must understand the difference between statutes related to ethics and all other statutes. I am fine if you say I may have violated CORA,” he said. “But I also want you to say I may not have violated CORA. Only the district court across the street can make that ruling.”

He also rhetorically asked if the ethics board ruled he violated CORA, should the matter be taken to “the district for an injunction either way?”

“I think it’s important,” he said.

Later, he said he is contemplating another lawsuit against the city for not recording an executive session of the Board of Ethics.

He previously won a lawsuit about a rejected open records request against the city in 2023. He won again in an appeal by the city less than a week after the ethics board began investigating the complaint against him earlier this year.

Meininger said Simpson has threatened the ethics board with lawsuits on multiple occasions. And she disagrees with the notion that possible CORA violations are outside the ethics board’s purview.

“When you look at the city of Durango’s ordinance around ethics and conduct, it clearly states that one of the requirements, expectations is that all people who are governed by the ordinance, which are staff, contractors, members of boards and commissions up through six months after they’ve left their positions, are all required to adhere to all of the local, state and federal statutes and laws. And CORA would be one of those,” she said.

She said Durango’s codes of ethics and conduct might be broader than other municipalities in Colorado, but it ensures “people engaged in the business of the city of Durango by the ordinance are law abiding in the process of doing that work.”

Simpson said in an email to the Herald that he’s filing another response to the Board of Ethics on Monday that will “answer a lot of questions.”

Morgan said the resignations shouldn’t impact review of the ethics complaint in the end. After City Council appoints new ethics board members, the process can resume where it left off.

Meininger noted the board’s had another vacancy since springtime, and community interest in serving on boards and commissions has generally been “lackluster” this year, she said.

cburney@durangoherald.com