Insurance pool counsel briefs council on liability, open-meetings and electronic communications

Sam Light, general counsel for the Colorado Intergovernmental Risk Sharing Agency (CRRSA), gave a training for Commerce City elected officials and staff about municipal liability, insurance coverage and risk management for public officials.

Light described CRRSA as "the city's insurance provider for property and casualty coverage" and explained it is a public-entity pool that covers many Colorado municipalities. He told the council the pool provides public officials liability coverage, and he described common legal risks for elected officials: open meetings law violations, open-records requests, executive-session procedures, social-media and electronic communications, and the line between legislative and administrative roles.

On the open meetings law, Light warned that Colorado courts construe rules in favor of openness and that "anyone, anywhere" can bring a lawsuit alleging an open-meetings violation; successful plaintiffs can recover attorney fees. He highlighted the risk of "serial" or "daisy-chain" discussions that, in practice, substitute for a public meeting and urged caution around off-line deliberations and executive sessions.

Light urged elected officials to rely on city counsel for legal questions and to use staff as the proper conduit for administrative issues. He stressed that the council acts collectively and that decisions adopted by the council are institutional actions that provide protections to members when taken properly.

On electronic communications and public records (CORA), Light said correspondence of elected officials can be subject to public-records requests and civil discovery. He cautioned, "Don't say anything you wouldn't wanna say in a public meeting, that you wouldn't wanna read in the newspaper, or that you wouldn't wanna have read back to you in a civil deposition." He recommended copying a designated staff contact (the city manager) on city business communications to support record-keeping and response to requests.

Light addressed social media and quasi-judicial matters, noting that social-media activity can create perceived bias in planning and land-use hearings. He recommended that council members avoid commenting publicly on pending quasi-judicial matters and refer public complaints to the manager's office. He also discussed executive-session confidentiality, advising councils to identify at the end of each executive session which confidential items may be shared publicly.

Council members asked about specific concerns, including whether restrictions on oil and gas operations expose the council to claims from landowners (Light said legal questions in that area should be vetted by the city attorney and that council should deliberate collectively). He also discussed protections available when the council follows fair process and legal standards.

Light recommended a ‘‘no-surprises’’ approach, to slow down high-pressure decisions until legal and operational information is available, and to use staff resources to manage public inquiries. He also briefly noted Colorado's legislative action on deep fakes related to elections and described best practices on threats and harassment encountered by officials.

The training was delivered during a council meeting; no formal council action or vote was taken during or as a result of the presentation.