December 18, 2004
By LORETTA SWORD
SPECIAL TO THE CHIEFTAIN
Twelve Pueblo West residents on Friday filed a lawsuit in District Court against Wal-Mart Corp., the Pueblo West Metropolitan District and its board of directors, and the Pueblo Economic Development Corp.
The lawsuit claims that negotiations among all three entities for a proposed Wal-Mart distribution center in Pueblo West were conducted in secret sessions that violate the state's open meetings laws.
Lawyer Lee Sternal, representing the residents, said the complaint seeks an immediate injunction against all pending legal and financial transactions regarding the proposed project until the defendants produce all records from the negotiation process that demonstrate exactly how the deal came about.
The plaintiffs also want the metro district board to postpone its vote on a land purchase agreement and memorandum of understanding - scheduled for Dec. 28 - until the metro district has conducted a nonbinding public referendum or some other "meaningful poll" of Pueblo West residents, to discern how the majority of residents feel about the distribution center and the package of incentives being offered by the metro district and Pueblo County.
The lengthy document claims that PEDCo should be considered a quasi-government entity and held to the Sunshine Law in this case because its negotiations with Wal-Mart on behalf of the metro district involve publicly owned land and taxpayer dollars.
It also claims that the metro board voted on various aspects of the project without giving fair public notice to residents that such a vote was pending.
For instance, one critical vote on the land deal was taken after the board reconvened from an executive session. The meeting agenda didn't clearly state the reason for the executive session and didn't indicate that the board would reconvene after the executive session, the lawsuit says.
"This board has done everything they absolutely could to keep this secret from us until it was too late to retract or rethink what's been done," Sternal said during a brief telephone interview late Friday afternoon. "We are trying to get representative government. We want them to do their job - find out what we want before they make decisions based on what they think we want and go out and do it."
A written news release signed by the 12 residents calling their group "Pueblo West Citizens for Open Government" says the group hoped to avoid legal action but, "after months of deliberations, our own research and failed attempts to redirect this process, we have come to the conclusion that this difficult course of action is necessary for the benefit of the community of Pueblo West."
The group said the metro board and metro district administration has ignored the wishes of 1,500 residents who signed petitions during the summer stating opposition to the project, and has demonstrated "a concerted effort . . .to prevent full public knowledge and participation" in the process.
Metro District Manager Don Saling, reached by phone Friday evening, said the metro district had not been notified of the lawsuit and he would have no comment until he has seen the complaint.
The plaintiffs in the action are John Beaudry, Jerry and Anne Beers, Linda Bloom, Steven Davis, Linda Freeman, James Holst, Susan Mauldin, Donna Sheppard, Bonnie Westerby, and Jack and Joan Wolther.
http://www.chieftain.com/metro/1103353200/1