Krenning’s protest of Loveland recall petition denied

LOVELAND — A hearing officer appointed by the Loveland City Council on Monday denied Ward 1 City Council member Troy Krenning’s protest of a recall petition that seeks to oust him.

Since the deadline has passed for the city to place items on the Nov. 5 ballot, a special election will need to be scheduled and approved by the City Council. Meanwhile, Krenning has 28 days in which to decide whether to seek judicial review of the ruling in district court.

In his 12-page order, Denver-based attorney Mark Grueskin ruled that the petition form’s verbiage “substantially complied with Colorado law” and that Interim City Clerk Angie Sprang’s “finding that the petition was legally sufficient was correct.” He rejected Krenning’s contention that it didn’t comply with state law and city ordinances because it stated that those signing it must be “eligible electors” instead of “registered electors.”

Grueskin ordered that Sprang “transmit this decision to the Loveland City Council to schedule an election to determine if Troy Krenning is to be recalled from office.”

Former City Council member Dave Clark and Loveland residents Earl Sethre and Marvin Childers, who had formed a committee called “Silent Majority Speaks,” circulated the petition to recall Krenning starting in June, and Sprang on Aug. 13 certified it for the Nov. 5 ballot. Among the committee’s claims are that Krenning’s actions since taking office last November have cost Loveland millions of dollars in legal fees, led to the departure of key city officials and staff members, and seriously damaged Loveland’s reputation and ability to attract job- and revenue-creating businesses.

Krenning filed his protest of the petition verbiage on Aug. 22. Sprang’s office at first said a hearing on the protest would be held in council chambers last Thursday, but Grueskin, a shareholder at the Recht Kornfeld PC law firm, agreed the day before with requests from attorneys on both sides to waive the Thursday hearing and simply issue a summary-judgment ruling.

Under state law, Krenning has 28 days in which to file for judicial review under Rule 106 of the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure, which allows a party to appeal an administrative decision from a lower body to a district court judge.

Reached Tuesday morning, Krenning said that “until that 28 days comes and goes, nothing cak happen. And if I seek judicial review, nothing will happen until after that.”

Krenning contended that the petitioners “failed to calculate the times correctly” to get their recall question onto the Nov. 5 ballot, and thus “the city would still have to have paid for a special election.”

In his protest letter, Krenning had written that a ruling by the hearing officer and subsequent judicial review would be unlikely to be completed before the deadline for the city to certify all issues it wishes to place on the Nov. 5 ballot, and that if the recall had to be held in a separate election, it could cost the city from $65,000 to $100,000, in his view invalidating the petitioners’ claim that the recall would come with no cost to Loveland taxpayers.

Krenning, the only attorney on the current council, has drawn continued fire from development and other business interests in Loveland since taking office. Two weeks after he was elected last November, Krenning led the drive to rescind the previous council’s approval of urban-renewal and financing agreements for McWhinney Real Estate Services Inc.’s Centerra South development on the east side of Loveland, a decision that subsequently was reversed after McWhinney sued the council alleging breach of contract. Krenning also led a push to investigate the four-member council minority over alleged open-meetings violations before the agreements were originally approved by the previous council in April and May 2023.

As for seeking a judicial review of Grueskin’s ruling, “I’ve got four weeks to think about it,” Krenning said Tuesday. “In the meantime, the city has to start a forensic audit of Centerra, and there’s folks out there that desperately don’t want that to happen.”

Acting as the Loveland Urban Renewal Authority, City Council members including Krenning will get an update Tuesday night on the pending audit of the original Centerra financing plan, which includes the Promenade Shops at Centerra.

The city on Aug. 29 sent out a “request for proposals” to find auditors who would conduct the study, which includes the plan’s overall financing structure as well as McWhinney’s compliance with the agreement. Proposals will be accepted through Sept. 26, and the LURA board will review candidates’ applications in October.