COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — A complaint sent to the Colorado Springs Utilities Board, which is also Colorado Springs City Council, claims senior leaders at Colorado Springs Utilities withheld text messages responsive to a Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) request made in August.
The complaint, obtained through multiple sources by News5Investigates, was sent to board members August 30. It claimed there were 300+ text messages that would "damage Colorado Springs Utilities reputation if made public". The texts included discussions of electric capacity for Project Taurus, the proposed data center near Garden of the Gods Road.
The employee who sent the complaint to city council members also reported the text messages from a Springs Utilities employee talked about connecting Raeden, the company behind Project Taurus, with other employees in Colorado Springs Utilities to "indoctrinate them" and the texts detailed plans for outings where drinking was the focus, including luxury meals.
"The records are responsive," the complaint said in bold, referencing that it was releasable to the initial open records request.
Integrity Matters, a local advocacy group that is also an appellant of Project Taurus, made the CORA request the texts would be responsive to.
"I am not alleging a disputable interpretation of CORA. I am alleging that the records were correctly identified as discloseable and that they were withheld anyway, deliberately, by people who knew better," the complaint to city council said.
An investigation was requested in the complainant's letter, asking specifically for city council to look into the actions of Colorado Springs Utilities employees Travas Deal, Chief Executive Officer, Renee Adams, Chief Human Resource Officer, and Renee Congdon, the Utilities Division Chief for the City Attorney's office. The complaint also names 13 high level employees with knowledge of the situation.
Specifically, the complaint asked for an investigation to include:
1. All communications relating to the CORA response, including among the named individuals;
2. Any legal advice or determinations regarding disclosure of the requested records;
3. The instructions given to employees responsible for processing the request; and
4. All 300+ text messages that were reviewed for CORA responsiveness.
News5 Investigates reached out to Colorado Springs Utilities and asked if it was aware of the complaint and what Colorado Springs Utilities is doing, if anything to address it. In response, Colorado Springs Utilties said it is aware of the complaint and "to our knowledge we have released all responsive records to all closed CORA requests".
News5 Investigates has reached out to Integrity Matters who has agreed to speak with News5. Integrity Matters tells News5, it received two text messages on Thursday this week in response to a CORA request and has since include a supplemental to its appeal application.
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