A Red Mountain resident now knows which one of her neighbors complained about an unapproved construction project at her property almost four years ago. Aspen Public Radio’s Carolyn Sackariason reports.
The identity of the so-called whistleblower and citizen complaint were made public Tuesday after the district court was ordered to release documents demanded by property owner Elesabeth Shook.
Pitkin County denied her request in 2012, citing its longstanding policy to protect whistleblowers’ identities in land use cases. The government feared Shook would retaliate.
She sued the following year, arguing she has a right to see who complained about her under the Colorado Open Records Act, or CORA.
Shook’s Aspen attorney, Chris Bryan, says CORA is a good law because it prohibits the government from playing favorites with what it releases to whom.
“I think the big part of this case that is of significance is that it gives some certainty and confirms what previous case law has said that the government shouldn’t be in the business of asking why the requester wants records, because think of the slippery slope that could create,” he said.
Bryan says he doesn’t believe his client has contacted her whistle-blowing neighbor yet.
