The city of Durango set what City Attorney Mark Morgan called a new precedent Tuesday when City Council voted to authorize him to defend a sitting councilor against an ethics complaint filed with the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission.

The complaint was filed by resident John Simpson this summer against Councilor Melissa Youssef.

Before City Council considered a resolution authorizing Morgan to defend Youssef, Youssef recused herself and excused herself from the Smith Council Chambers to avoid, she said, any appearance she was involved in the council’s decision.

The new precedent establishes the city attorney’s ability to represent councilors regarding official actions taken under the city attorney’s advice, he said. The scope of the resolution is limited.

“If you do your job as a councilor and you vote your conscience or you participate in a vote that I say it’s OK for you to vote in, and someone files complaints against you, then I can defend you,” he said.

He said the resolution does not apply to councilors who face accusations over private actions outside of the public eye and he would not defend a councilor in such a case.

“I do not want to defend a councilor who is doing things outside of their official capacity because of their title, and would never ask you to do that,” he said.

He added the resolution establishes that councilors must vote on whether to authorize the city attorney to represent one of them regarding official actions.

Councilors voted 3-1 to permit Morgan to represent Youssef.

Councilor Olivier Bosmans voted against the resolution. He said he would prefer to keep some distance between Morgan and the ethics complaint against Youssef, and added the Independent Ethics Commission deemed Simpson’s complaint against Youssef “non-frivolous,” suggesting the matter is serious.

“That way, should this case lead to more consequences, you can actually represent the city and our community in your role as city attorney versus being compromised, as you would have represented one party in a matter between one resident and one councilor,” he said.

Morgan said his obligation is to the city, and it is within his duties to represent a councilor who took official action in following his advice. And he said the “non-frivolous” term used by the Independent Ethics Commission does not automatically mean the complaint has merit, according to the IEC’s own rules and definitions.

“It’s my opinion the reason it was deemed non-frivolous was so they could make a decision on a jurisdictional issue. But we’ll see because it is a process, we respect the process,” he said.

Bosmans said the city has spent too much money over the last several years on ethics complaints and lawsuits, and a judge’s ruling or an independent commission’s ruling carries weight.

“Maybe we’re doing something wrong. Equally important, I believe most if not all complaints and legal cases over the past years could have and should have been prevented,” he said.

Mayor Jessika Buell said if she were to face legal action or a complaint while acting in her official capacity or for following the city attorney’s advice, she would hope to avoid having to pay out of her own pocket for legal representation and that her colleagues would support the decision to defend her.

She added that Bosmans himself is behind numerous ethics complaints against other councilors. She said he “has a tendency of twisting words” and is “abusing this privilege and this power and why we are in the situation we are in.”

Simpson announced at a Sept. 2 Durango Board of Ethics meeting that he had filed an ethics complaint against Youssef, who had filed a complaint against Simpson.

He said Youssef may have violated state law by voting to extend the terms of two ethics board members, who had agreed to stay on the ethics board past their terms in order to complete her case against Simpson’s case.

The Independent Ethics Commission did not immediately respond to a request Tuesday seeking an update about the status of Youssef’s complaint against Simpson.

Youssef filed her complaint against Simpson to the city ethics board in January. The complaint references multiple emails between Simpson and Bosmans released in a records request filed by the The Durango Herald last year.

“John Simpson has put his personal vendetta against other city officials above the best interest of the city,” she said in her complaint.

Her complaint contained 10 allegations that Simpson had violated the Colorado Open Records Act and anti-discrimination laws, concealed emails about city business and made unfounded, disparaging and racist allegations against city officials.

In September, the city announced it is taking Simpson to court over allegedly intimidating ethics board members by threatening them with lawsuits should they not drop Youssef’s complaint against him.

The city’s lawsuit seeks rulings that Simpson violated the Colorado Open Records Act.

cburney@durangoherald.com