A Durango man has filed a lawsuit against the city of Durango claiming he was wrongly denied financial records having to do with the city’s lodgers tax collections in 2021.
John Simpson filed the lawsuit Friday in 6th Judicial District Court against City Clerk Faye Harmer in her official capacity as clerk for the city of Durango.
He said Harmer denied his open records request, as did Durango City Council.
Simpson was seeking the city’s unaudited 2021 financial statements because he’s wary of the city’s attempt to retain excess lodgers tax funds collected in 2021 and 2022. The city must acquire voter approval to keep the tax revenues, and a ballot question is expected to cost up to $55,000 to place on the November ballot.
“This is important because with the election coming up the people should have an idea of how much money the city has in the bank and if they need this lodgers tax,” he said Friday. “Similarly, the City Council has a duty to watch the city staff and verify when they say they need this money.”
According to the four-page complaint, Simpson requested Durango’s unaudited financial report on Aug. 8. One week later, on Aug. 15, Harmer denied Simpson’s request saying the financial statement was “work product” and not covered by the Colorado Open Records Act.
Simpson disagreed and contacted the city two times in an attempt to resolve the dispute, but was denied the records both times, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit says the city’s financial report is subject to CORA requests because it “involves the receipt or expenditure of public funds,” and is not “work product” as defined by CORA, which also defines financial reports as public records.
Simpson is requesting the court require Harmer to produce the 2021 financial report and show why the report shouldn’t be provided for public inspection. He is also requesting an order declaring Harmer violated CORA and that Harmer pay his costs, expenses and attorney fees.
Tom Sluis, spokesman for the city of Durango, said the city doesn’t comment on pending litigation.
“Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports are published on our website at https://www.durangogov.org/383/Budgets-and-Financial-Reports,” he wrote in an email.
The city’s 2021 annual financial reports were not available at the link provided as of Friday evening.
“What’s going on is council is just relying on city staff for their financial analysis. And this is what got the city in trouble with the fraud ... when Julie Brown stole all the money,” Simpson said.
He was referencing Julie Brown, former city finance director, who was sentenced to five years in prison in 2021 for embezzling more than $700,000 from the city over more than 11 years. (The sentence was later reduced to 90 days’ jail and 20 years’ probation.)
“These are the exact same issues I was bringing up with the city back then, saying look, City Council needs to hold city staff accountable. And the best way to do it is with these annual financial reports,” Simpson said.
He said the city of Durango has “a significant amount of money.”
“I mean millions and millions,” he said. “Not only does statute require the financial statements, but also, the (city) charter requires these financial statements. So I’m just asking for these statements that by law are required.”
At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, councilors met in executive session to discuss legal advice with Dirk Nelson, city attorney, regarding two notices of intent to file lawsuits from Simpson and his attorney, Matt Roane.
City Council remained in executive session for one hour down to the minute. After exiting the executive session, councilors discussed three options, including releasing the financial documents requested by Simpson, denying the request or taking no action.
Councilor Jessika Buell motioned to deny Simpson’s request. City Councilor Melissa Youssef seconded Buell’s motion. The City Council passed the decision to reject Simpson’s request in a 4-1 vote.
Councilor Olivier Bosmans voted against the motion.
The lawsuit isn’t the first time Simpson has taken on the city of Durango. He was among residents calling for former Durango Mayor Dean Brookie’s resignation from City Council after the Brown financial scandal in 2021. And he has previously called the city’s financial and tax policies into question.
cburney@durangoherald.com
