Monument Town Council 'disavows' controversial report, findings on campaign finance violations

Apr. 13—This article has been updated to include the voting record for the resolution passed by the Monument Town Council on April 11.

After a little more than three months of investigation, the Monument Town Council this week voted to "disavow" a controversial report resulting from a town probe initiated late last year into campaign finance violations by the town in favor of a separate, contrasting report that found the violations had been satisfactorily cured.

In a single resolution signed Tuesday that rejected the findings of the initial report prepared by Grant Van Der Jagt, an attorney with Castle Rock-based law firm Starzynski Van Der Jagt, the council also endorsed a second report submitted by attorney Bob Cole of Lakewood-based law firm Collins Cole Flynn Winn & Ulmer.

The town hired Cole's firm in January to provide interim town attorney services.

Cole found town funds were used in violation of Colorado's Fair Campaign Practices Act to support a ballot question in the Nov. 8 general election seeking voter approval of Monument's home rule charter — but because those funds were reimbursed, the violation was considered adequately corrected.

"Reimbursement is considered to be a valid cure under both the (Fair Campaign Practices Act) and the Monument Municipal Code for improper use of public funds for campaign materials," Cole's 31-page report concluded.

It also found "the initial use of town funds for (the Citizens for Home Rule issue committee's) election material has no effect on the validity of the election," a direct contrast to Van Der Jagt's finding that "the issues in total created by the sequence of capricious errors and omissions ultimately undermined the procedural integrity of the entire (home rule charter) election."

Last year, the Citizens for Home Rule issue committee accepted an in-kind donation from the town of Monument worth $2,500 and used the money to print signs and door hangers bearing the words "Vote Yes," related to a ballot question seeking voter approval of the town's home rule charter.

The Fair Campaign Practices Act generally prohibits governments from using public funds to support or oppose campaigns, including state and local ballot issues. The law does allow governments to spend public funds on informational campaign materials, such as those including arguments for and against the proposal.

Laura Kronick, the registered agent for Citizens for Home Rule issue committee and now a Monument councilwoman, previously told The Gazette the violation was "an honest mistake" and "an unfortunate error."

Once the committee was informed of the error it refunded the $2,500 back to the town, Cole's report said.

Van Der Jagt's earlier report from Dec. 28 outlined numerous concerns, such as Town Manager Mike Foreman's work on the creation materials used to promote the passage of the ballot question, lack of oversight from the town attorney over the town's spending on materials to promote the question, and possible redistricting problems in the newly approved charter, among other issues.

In its April 11 resolution, the Monument Town Council said it rejected Van Der Jagt's report because it "goes well beyond the scope of the investigation" the town authorized late last year and also "contains erroneous statements of fact and law, and generally fails to provide any reasonable analysis or substantiation for its conclusions and recommendations."

Van Der Jagt said in an interview Thursday the council's decision to reject his findings was "par for the course."

"I'm not at all surprised by them covering up my findings. In my view, nothing has changed my opinion of how they conduct themselves," he said.

For months, the investigation into campaign finance violations that led to Van Der Jagt's report has been an emotional point of contention that largely split current and former members of the Town Council, as well as residents. Many members of the former council, which was called the board of trustees until January, supported Van Der Jagt's investigation. Former trustee Redmond Ramos and Mayor Mitch LaKind, who was a trustee at the time, generally opposed it.

For example, a special council meeting on Dec. 28 ultimately ended without a discussion of Van Der Jagt's report, originally planned as a session closed to the public, because the meeting descended into chaos with residents and former town leaders shouting at each other.

When the new Town Council took its seats Jan. 3, LaKind promised the town would continue its investigation into the allegations of campaign finance violations. The council, which now includes two members of the former Home Rule Charter Commission that drafted Monument's new charter, voted at that time to terminate the town's agreement with Van Der Jagt and his law firm.

LaKind said at the Jan. 3 meeting Van Der Jagt was not an impartial third party investigator and that his final report was outside the scope of the investigation previous town leaders authorized. Van Der Jagt previously said he had no conflict of interest and that his firing was retaliatory because some members of the council were upset with the findings in his report.

Also at the Jan. 3 council meeting, LaKind instructed Foreman, the town manager, to hire an interim town attorney as soon as possible to conduct a new investigation. Later that month, the town hired Cole's firm.

In its April 11 resolution the Town Council authorized town staff and the interim town attorney to "take reasonable measures" to implement several recommendations Cole put forth in his report to avoid future violations of the Fair Campaign Practices Act, such as regular training from legal counsel on campaign finance law guided by the Fair Campaign Practices Act and the town charter and municipal code.

Meeting documents show the seven-member council passed the resolution by a 4-0 vote.

Attendance and voting records provided by Monument Town Clerk Kyle Anderson show Mayor Mitch LaKind, Mayor Pro Tem Steve King and Council members Sana Abbott, Laura Kronick, Marco Fiorito and Kenneth Kimple were present at the meeting, with Councilman Jim Romanello absent.

LaKind, King, Fiorito and Kimple voted to approve the document 4-0, with Kronick and Abbott recusing themselves from the vote.

King and Abbott were former members of the Home Rule Charter Commission, and Kronick was the registered agent for the Citizens for Home Rule issue committee.