In addition to the potential prosecution for charter violations, the Loveland City Council on Tuesday handed down other corrective action in the harassment complaint against Erin Black by Loveland Police Chief Tim Doran.
After emerging from a 75-minute executive session to discuss the matter, council members approved two motions aimed at addressing discrimination claims in the case and one to make investigation documents available to the public.
For Councilor Andrea Samson, who introduced the motions, the affirmative votes struck a good balance between accountability and resolution in the matter.
"I feel like what we've done is enough, and I was glad to have the support that I did have from council, and that we could come together to take some kind of action and acknowledge what had taken place," she said on Wednesday.
Before making her motions on Tuesday, Samson also delivered a statement on behalf of the council affirming its "highest regard" for state and federal anti-discrimination laws and condemning harassment in any form.
The first of Samson's motions directed the city manager and city attorney's offices to conduct "comprehensive" council training, though specific topics were not specified.
On Wednesday, Samson said that she didn't have any specific topics in mind, but aimed to establish a formal program for members.
"It came from the conversation that there really isn't any training," the councilor said. "And that's something Erin said in her rebuttal (to the harassment investigation.)"
The motion went on to pass unanimously with no prior discussion.
The second motion didn't get much discussion either, but it also wasn't unanimous. By a vote of 7 to 1, members removed Black as liaison to the Police Citizens Advisory Board, a post she assumed shortly after her election a year ago. Councilor Troy Krenning cast the lone no vote.
Samson's third motion directing Black to adhere to the "strictest interpretation" of Loveland city charter section 8-5 generated considerable discussion, as well as accusations of unfair targeting by several council members, including Mayor Jacki Marsh and Laura Light-Kovacs and Black herself.
Krenning went a step further and offered an amendment to Samson's motion directing all council members to communicate with city staff members only through the city manager's office in order to stay on the right side of the charter.
"Loveland is a strong city manager, weak City Council form of government," Krenning said. "My observation over the last 10 to 12 years is that we have drifted away from that, primarily because city managers have had to deal with council members involving themselves more frequently and deeper into any subject that comes to mind. It's wrong, and it's a bad habit we need to break ourselves of."
Council ultimately rejected both the amendment and the motion, but Samson said on Wednesday that it's a topic that needs further discussion.
"I really think there's room for us to delve into this as a body and really make a decision on how we want to adhere to that," she said, referring to charter section 8-5, which governs how City Council members should interact with staff. "I hope that it is included in the training."
Samson's fourth and final motion directed the City Attorney's office to make public a redacted version of the investigation report and associated documents in the name of "transparency." After a short discussion, it passed unanimously.
Those documents will be released by the city sometime in the coming weeks, City Attorney Vince Junglas said on Wednesday, after he's had a chance to redact information that could damage the city's legal interests.
"My goal is to provide narrow, minimal redactions," Junglas said, "but otherwise, providing for as much information as possible for public consumption."
Once the redaction is complete, Junglas said the documents will be "at a minimum" released through an email to City Council members, but possibly also posted on the city's website.