DEL NORTE – The Colorado Supreme Court earlier this month denied the “petition for writ of certiorari” by the Town of Del Norte, which was attempting to have a lower-court's ruling overturned in the lawsuit by former trustee Laura Anzalone that claimed the town violated Colorado’s open meetings law when it censured her in 2021.
Certiorari is a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. The denial of a petition for a writ of certiorari signifies only that the court has chosen not to accept the case for review and does not express the court's view of the merits of the case. The odds were not in the Town of Del Norte’s favor as a petition for a writ of certiorari is rarely granted.
Anzalone, who was a trustee from 2018-2022, was censured by the town board in a special meeting in October of 2021. Four trustees and the mayor went into closed-door, executive session for the stated purposes of receiving legal advice “concerning Trustee removal” and “Action by Town Board ... relating to Trustee removal,” according to town records.
After the board exited executive session, Mayor Chris Trujillo announced there would be a “motion for censure” rather than a removal of Anzalone from office.
Trustee Shelly Burnett then read from a document censuring Anzalone for allegedly “encouraging citizens to file complaints” about an ordinance, being “deceptive” when requesting a special meeting, and “creating unnecessary tension in the work environment” for town staff. The board members present approved the censure.
Anzalone then filed suit in 2022 against the board. Attorney Katayoun Donnelly argued it had violated Colorado's open meetings law by going behind closed doors to discuss whether to censure her, only coming back out to “rubberstamp” the decision.
Trial judge Crista Newmeyer-Olsen initially ruled in favor of the town in October of 2022.
Newmyer-Olsen dismissed Anzalone’s open-meetings lawsuit, concluding that the board’s opinion of her “performance as a trustee, which took the form of a censure,” was not subject to the law because a censure does not concern the “formation of public policy.”
Anzalone appealed to the Colorado Court of Appeals. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals in February ruled in her favor and voided the censure.
The panel of the state’s second-highest court wrote that Newmyer-Olsen “failed to recognize that the censure was a formal action and therefore … involved the Town’s policy-making powers.”
Shortly after the Court of Appeals ruled, Del Norte trustees voted 4-3 to send the decision to the Colorado Supreme Court. The public was divided on the issue.
Some said pursuing the case was not in the best interest of the community and that the money going toward the supreme court appeal would be better used elsewhere in the town. Other community members spoke for the decision, stating that the case needed to be resolved one way or the other because the money used to fight the case had already been spent.
In the months since the decision, the town has undergone several changes including voting in a new mayor, Burnett, in the spring and electing new trustees. Mayor Burnett and Anzalone were advised by their legal counsel to not comment on the verdict from the state supreme court at this time.
