Complaint Against Two Longmont City Council Members sent to Boulder County District Attorney

This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

Confirming key aspects of a story originally reported by John Fryar of the Times Call, the Longmont Observer can report that a complaint against two Longmont City Council Members has been forwarded to the Boulder County District Attorney for review. The complaint was filed by Julia Rush, President of the Board of Directors of the OUR Center, a non-profit which provides services to homeless families in Longmont.

The complaint, which was obtained by the Longmont Observer via an open records request, alleges Polly Christensen and Joan Peck attempted intimidate the OUR Center into not re-applying for funding to operate the Coordinated Entry program in the City of Longmont. The OUR Center earlier this year decided that it would no longer participate, but was reconsidering the decision.

Christensen and Peck both serve on the Way Home committee of HOPE, a non-profit which provides services to the homeless in Longmont and was bidding to operate the program. The Way Home committee does not have any official governance or other responsibilities at HOPE, but serves as a mechanism for interested members of the public to be involved in HOPE's mission.

In an email forwarded by Rush to Mayor Brian Bagley, Boulder County District Attorney Mike Dougherty and the Boulder County Purchasing Division, Christensen invokes her official positions on the Longmont City Council and the Housing and Human Services Advisory Board despite sending the message from her personal email address. Christensen also appears to imply that other funding that the OUR Center is applying for could be endangered by the application. In a follow-up message, Christensen explicitly confirms that she has communicated with Peck on this matter and that they are in agreement.

Christensen could not be reached for comment on Sunday night.

As part of the conversation, Christensen also implied that she, Peck and Council Member Marcia Martin are all involved in HOPE and would act together to negatively impact the OUR Center's funding. In an expansive interview on Sunday night, Martin categorically denied any involvement or conversation with Christensen and Peck and condemned the messages sent to Rush as unethical. When probed as to whether Martin ever had a conversation with Christensen and Peck about a preference between HOPE and the OUR Center, Martin said that she may have expressed the opinion that HOPE would likely be more effective. In general, Martin said that her interactions with Christensen and Peck are limited even in the context of their involvement with HOPE as Martin's official duties often conflict with Way Home committee meetings.