Local resident Dennis Simpson is seeking the release of two lease agreements made by businesses that have constructed buildings in the Las Colonias Business Park and has begun court proceedings to get them.
Simpson said he made a Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) Request of the Las Colonias Development Corporation (LCDC) for the agreements, but was told they were not subject to CORA. Last week, a motion was filed on Simpson’s behalf seeking determination that the agreements are “likely public records.” This is a first step prior to a future hearing.
The development corporation markets the Las Colonias Business Park to attract new businesses to construct buildings within the park. It was formed by the city of Grand Junction.
Under CORA, a public document is essentially a document produced by a political subdivision of the state, which includes local governments. The lawsuit cites Denver Post Corp. v. Stapleton Development Corp., which found a nonprofit development corporation was covered by CORA. However, it also stated it could withhold confidential commercial or financial information.
Simpson said the core of his issue with the development corporation is that they are acting as a subsidiary of the city and should be subject to all sunshine laws, including open record and open meetings laws. The lawsuit notes that the City Council formed the LCDC, which it is operating to benefit the city, and that the city and the Downtown Development Authority each appoint one of its board members.
“My reason to ask for them in the long run is to deal with the fact that they are just a subsidiary of the city of Grand Junction,” Simpson said. “They don’t have power of their own and therefore all of their meetings should be open to the public. They should have agendas and they should publish them.”
Grand Junction Economic Partnership Executive Director and LCDC Board Member Robin Brown said they have been open to the public. She said they even made their standard lease agreement available to Simpson, just not the ones specific to the two businesses that have located in Las Colonias. She did say she did not believe the development corporation was subject to CORA.
“The LCDC is as transparent as we can get,” Brown said. “The only thing that is not available to the public are leases and that’s really because our tenants consider those private leases between the Las Colonias Development Corporation, which is a nonprofit development corporation, and their company.”
Simpson said he expected the court proceedings to move slowly, but he said it was important to move forward.
“I want to know what kind of deals those two entities got and whether they were fair market value leases,” Simpson said. “That’s important, but far more important to me is to establish that you can’t avoid the public eye by simply forming an entity that has no substance.”
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December 25, 2020 at 02:15PM
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Local man takes development corp to court - The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel
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