Top Loveland officials get council’s unanimous OK

LOVELAND — A Loveland City Council that has been deeply divided over the past year found some unity Tuesday night, voting unanimous approval of the appointments of James Thompson as city manager, Vincent Junglas as city attorney and Jennifer Edgley as municipal judge.

Even so, Mayor Jacki Marsh advised each, “Be careful what you wish for.”

Thompson will leave his post as city manager in Scottsdale, Arizona, to take the Loveland post. He will be paid an annual base salary of $305,000 beginning Dec. 30, along with a vehicle allowance. Rod Wensing has been acting Loveland city manager since spring, when the city council negotiated an exit agreement to force the departure of Steve Adams.

Junglas, who joined the City of Loveland as a municipal prosecutor, was promoted to deputy city attorney in 2021 and has served as acting city attorney since the similarly forced resignation of Moses Garcia in April. He’ll be paid an annual base salary of $280,000 beginning Monday.

Edgley will succeed Geri Jonesen, who left her post on the municipal bench in February. Edgley has more than 10 years of courtroom experience as a public defender and appellate attorney, and serves as a housing attorney with Colorado Legal Services. Whereas the employment agreements for Thompson and Junglas are for “indefinite” terms, Edgley’s appointment is initially for two years, at an annual salary of $175,000. She will assume her duties Nov. 25.

All three positions report directly to the city council.

Despite the council’s three unanimous votes of approval, some echoes of past contention were evident Tuesday night, especially the ongoing controversy over the financing and urban-renewal agreements the previous council approved last year for McWhinney Real Estate Services Inc.’s proposed Centerra South mixed-use development.

In comments aimed at Junglas, Marsh referred to an April 2023 council meeting in which he, then deputy city attorney and speaking in his role as principal negotiator for the Loveland Urban Renewal Authority, offered a forceful and at times effusive presentation touting the benefits of the Centerra South project that a visibly agitated Marsh had branded “propaganda.”

Marsh still remembered that exchange Tuesday night.

“You know this one I’ve struggled with,” she told Junglas. “The Centerra South, and what I called the propaganda piece, has weighed on me. I realize that you were doing the will of seven councilors and your boss.” However, she expressed hope that she and Junglas could continue to work well together and express disagreements openly and respectfully.

During the public comment period, Loveland resident Linda Rosa, who is active in a Facebook group where Loveland issues are discussed, also took issue with Junglas’ contention that the historically agricultural tract on Loveland’s eastern edge where the Centerra South project is planned qualified as urban blight, making it eligible for urban-renewal funding. That controversy led voters last November to pass Ballot Issue 301, an amendment to Loveland’s city charger requiring voter ratification if the city approved or modified urban-renewal plans.

Rosa said Junglas’ statements that Issue 301 was illegal before that November vote constituted “election interference.” She also blasted him for not placing a citizen-led recall of council member Troy Krenning on the November ballot.

“Trust in Mr. Junglas has not been restored for many citizens,” she said.

Junglas later said he’d like the chance to meet with Rosa and explain his actions.

Other council members also referenced the controversies but expressed hope for less-contentious times to come.

“It’s open between us that I didn’t quite have the trust,” Erin Black told Junglas, “but you have certainly regained that for me. You’re really eager to rebrand that office with trust and transparency.” And Patrick McFall noted that, “knowing what you knew, you still stepped up. I’m glad you stuck with us.”

During the public comment period related to Edgley’s appointment as municipal judge, Rosa blasted what she called “the incredibly high salaries that these three are getting. Why should a municipal judge be paid more than the head of the Colorado Supreme Court?”

Krenning, the only attorney on the council, responded that “misinformation is disinformation” and admonished Rosa that “the Colorado Supreme Court chief justice is paid $214,000. We’re not paying our municipal judge anywhere close to that.”

Council member Dana Foley indicated that, given the rancor that has marked Loveland city politics over the past year, the salaries the city offered Thompson, Junglas and Edgley were understandable.

“This whole process really gave me a true understanding of the view of Loveland outside of our echo chambers, how the rest of Colorado and other entities view this city,” Foley said. “To get the caliber of people we have tonight, it costs money. And it costs money partly because of the reputation we have. Hopefully moving forward, that reputation gets better rather than where it was, because it was not good.”

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