MONTE VISTA- City Attorney Karen Lintott resigned her position effective immediately on Thursday, March 15, leaving council without legal representation for that evening’s meeting.

Lintott had served the city since January 2017. Valley Publishing reached out to Lintott but she did not return requests for comment. Lintott was reaffirmed again as city attorney last month following public interviews as part of a Request for Proposals process in which the only applicants were herself and former City Attorney Eugene Farish.

Following an executive session, council selected local attorney Michael Trujillo to be the interim City Attorney by a 4-to-1 secret ballot vote.

Council proceeded with citizen comments and the agenda as scheduled Thursday night until the “Contracts/Agreements/Leases” portion of the agenda, which had included “Discussion of contract for City Attorney”, leading to speculation Lintott would have been removed from the position at the meeting if she had not resigned.

Mayor Dale Becker requested a motion to move to executive session to discuss the city attorney contract, which passed unanimously. Becker noted the executive session would be recorded and no formal action could occur before returning to the public session, where they returned after approximately half an hour.

When council returned Becker thanked the remaining audience members for their patience and Councilor Gary Johnson moved for a paper ballot vote to appoint the interim city attorney, which also passed unanimously.

City Manager Forrest Neuerburg requested the motion be amended to reflect “to direct the City Manager to enter negotiations with the selected individual.”

Council completed a paper ballot provided by City Clerk Unita Vance, who tallied the votes with Police Chief John Rosecrans. Because of the secret ballot, it’s not known who the minority vote was cast for or who cast it. Moments after Trujillo was nominated for the interim position and council continued with the agenda, Farish, who had been in the audience for the duration of the meeting, rose and left without returning.

Later in the agenda, resident Ray Skeff, who had asked questions and interjected during citizen comments along with other citizens, interrupted Jim Belknap’s attempt to begin his Information Technology staff report, announcing he had to go and asking of Becker how long the city deemed “interim” and what happened next in the process.

Becker answered “up to six months right now.” Skeff in turn asked if they would complete another RFP at that time and Becker answered in the affirmative.

“What happens in six months if Gene Farish has made a commitment elsewhere?,” Skeff asked. “What happens if you don’t get another qualified applicant?”

Skeff emphasized Farish was very qualified for the position and noted his business experience with his appliance store made him qualified to speak on behalf of shopping local. “Don’t go out of town for an attorney,” Skeff said.

Becker answered to Skeff and the community at large, “You the community elected us, we appreciate that. There’s a lot of change for everybody,” and encouraged patience with council in the personnel changes and other procedures.

Skeff added, “Well I know Joe [Schlabach] would rather take a beating than vote for Gene Farish but I’m just saying don’t go out of town for an attorney,” before leaving the meeting as well.

Farish and Skeff were both backers of the Monte Movement political committee for Becker, Johnson and Councilor Victor Sigala in their successful 2017 election campaign.

Skeff and Farish also allege misconduct stemming from comments Schlabach made following the city attorney interviews last month, remarking on Farish’s military service being tarnished by his alleged misconduct when he was city attorney.

Farish, in a letter to the editor in last week’s Monte Vista Journal, called for Schlabach to be charged by the police with disorderly conduct and disciplined by council for what he says are false statements in his allegation of threats of a beating and house burning from Skeff, and the remarks made to him following his interview.

Trujillo, who was not present at Thursday’s meeting, was also a donor to the Monte Movement as well as a vocal opponent of Lintott’s hiring in 2017.

On January 19, 2017 Trujillo, another local attorney and other community members came before council to remark on the city attorney situation. Trujillo spoke about Farish being treated unjustly in his removal and protested the former council’s decision to hire Lintott based on an old RFP process, stating if appropriate transparency was followed, council should have had another RFP process immediately prior to Farish’s removal and Lintott being hired.

“Your procedures provide for notice to the public for transparency if you want to make some changes, you didn’t do that,” he said.

Trujillo also stated he believed Lintott should be paid half of what Farish was paid instead of just the $5,000 pay cut she did accept, as he believed Farish had more experience. Trujillo also said he wouldn’t accept the position then, “I’m busy…I have more than I can do right now… but it’s a slap in the face to me and a slap in the face to every attorney that works in this community” that an RFP was not done before Lintott’s hiring and that city council hired an attorney who does not live in Monte Vista.

Lintott has since moved to Monte Vista but in January 2017 lived in another town in the Valley. Trujillo was not an applicant in the 2016 or 2018 RFPs for city attorney.

Valley Publishing reached out to Neuerburg Monday morning who stated “Mr. Trujillo has indicated he will accept the position.  We are still finalizing an agreement.”