Consultant demands fees and non-contact terms for missing $25,000 state report
SageRiver Consulting is setting conditions for returning a document ordered by a Denver judge, while the Public Trust Institute argues the state must pay the retrieval cost.
By Mateo Thompson ·
A consulting firm is now demanding terms before it returns a report written for the Colorado Secretary of State.
The dispute centers on a document valued at $25,000. The state hired SageRiver Consulting to perform leadership development tasks. A purchase order shows the agency was paid for training and findings. Suzanne Taheri of the Public Trust Institute filed an open records request eight months ago. She saw the invoice on the state transparency portal. She wanted to see what the public received for that sum.
A judge ordered the Secretary of State's office to contact the consultant three months ago. That order came after the office claimed it did not have the report. Former staffers say the document is critical of Secretary of State Jena Griswold. It includes an employee survey. The office initially said no report existed. It later admitted one was created but claimed it never received the final product.
SageRiver Consulting closed temporarily during this period. An attorney for consultant Susan Heinzeroth stated she retired. She said she shredded all hard copy documents. She also stated she attempted to delete and erase all electronic files. Heinzeroth offered to search her electronic archive for two hours. She set the price at $1,600. Taheri agreed to pay that amount.
Last week, the consultant issued a list of demands. She wants the Secretary of State's office and the Public Trust Institute to agree not to contact her. She wants them to agree not to subpoena her. She wants them to agree not to hold her liable. She also wants a protection from disparagement. If any of those conditions are broken, the parties must pay her $25,000. Her attorney stated the search is a favor. He noted that SageRiver is not the official custodian of the report.
Taheri disagrees with that assessment. She argues that a third party paid with public money creates a public document. She stated, "If you are a third party that took public money, that's a public document, and you have to produce it." She warns that any government entity could avoid records requests by outsourcing work. She called this the most obstructionist case under the Colorado Open Records Act she has handled.
The Public Trust Institute is a conservative non-profit focused on government accountability. Taheri filed hundreds of records requests before this one. She says the Open Records Act only requires her to make the request. She is willing to pay for the search. She finds the current demands ridiculous. She notes that accountability to the people comes with the job of working for the government.
Griswold is currently running for Attorney General. Taheri says the state retention policy requires the office to hold documents for ten years. There have been no repercussions for failing to do so. Taheri wants Griswold to explain why the report and survey results were not kept. If Griswold becomes Attorney General, there are serious consequences for not maintaining documents. This includes documents that damage a case.
Taheri has filed a new motion with the Denver District Court judge. She is asking him to order the office or SageRiver to turn over the report and survey results. The consultant's attorney insists Heinzeroth gave the report and survey results to the Secretary of State's office. CBS Colorado reached out to the attorney but has not received a response yet.
