During the Town of Westcliffe’s April 15 regular meeting, the board entered an executive session to receive legal advice from the town’s insurance provider, Colorado Intergovernmental Risk Sharing Agency (CIRSA), regarding a settlement offer on the Open Meetings Violation Lawsuit filed by Jordan Hedberg (this writer) on March 6 and April 4.
After the executive session, the board voted to agree to the settlement, which was the release of the executive session recordings for the meetings on December 12 and March 12. In addition, the town insurance provider would pay $6,000 to Hedbergâs attorney for fees incurred.
Before the vote was taken, town attorney Clayton Buchner stated to the board, âThere will always be the Hedbergs of the world who file these suits for gain.â What Buchner failed to mention was that Hedberg is not allowed to receive money for a lawsuit except to pay for attorney costs.
Mayor Wenke stated that after hearing advice from the attorneys in the executive session, this settlement was a good deal for everyone involved and allowed the parties to move forward. The vote of the board was unanimous.
In future editions of the Tribune, a detailed dive into the recordings will be published, with particular attention to Buchner, who is now employed as a full-time Deputy District Attorney in the 6th Judicial District and is a part-time employee of at least five towns as town attorney along with a half-dozen or more other communities as a municipal prosecutor.
â Jordan Hedberg
