Happy Merry New Years Eve Folks
A small recap of the last few days.
Hello All,
Hopefully you’re safe at home or with friends and family on the eve of our entrance into 2023. The last few days have been a whirlwind for me personally and professionally as I wrapped up my latest coursework, attended events with family and close friends and watched the events of the December 28th Town Council unfold from afar and online.
While I was unable to attend in person, I watched with great concern for our small town and was shocked with how the events played out. For those that are unfamiliar, all recordings of the Town Council and Planning Commission Meetings can be viewed online at the Town of Monument’s YouTube Channel:
The absurdity of it all was on full display and I’m not sure that I can fully capture the farcical nature of the the proceedings and ultimately the “report” that Grant Van Der Jagt reportedly prepared for the Monument Town Council.
The meeting eventually devolved into chaos as it was revealed by Mayor-Elect Mitch LaKind that Darcy Schoening had potentially violated the Confidentiality of the Report by providing a copy of the report up to 2hrs or more before the special meeting to an Editor and Reporter for the Colorado Springs Gazette. This negated the possibility of Grant Van Der Jagt of presenting his findings in Executive Session.
Additional legal concerns prevented the Council from discussing the contents of the report as it contained allegations against a town staff member and that staff member had not been properly notified, as the chaos and disarray of the Council’s efforts continued, Council Member Jim Romanello called for the meeting to be adjourned, while that motion failed 3-2, Mayor-Elect LaKind announced his departure and left the meeting before it’s termination. After a few more minutes of consultation, the Council called for adjournment again and finally voted to end the meeting without further action.
The meeting in general was marked with angry outbursts from the crowd who were very vocal in their opposition to the investigation that Grant Van Der Jagt was attempting to present. Of specific note Grant Van Der Jagt claimed that he had just presented the report to be distributed to the Council Members in the minutes prior to the start of the meeting, yet Darcy Schoening had possession of the report hours before other board members and was able to make the report public before any other board members were reportedly able to know the contents.
Since I was specifically mentioned in the report, I was provided a copy of the report after the meeting had adjourned. In the report it is reported that the reporting and commentary that I provide here in my SubStack articles “…also point to criminal behavior by Levier (sic)” (Sidebar: Like LaKind, I too have a second capital letter in my last name: LeVier) …while a small detail, the report was littered grammatical errors, logical fallacies and down right false facts.
The linked google drive contains 16 images, of the 16 images none of the images show where I have indicated that Darcy Schoening was a felon. The address to that google drive is found here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1I9IV8ymhpJPz_ZX4v0j4ITFPLd22iORN
The fact of the matter is that I had no definitive knowledge of if Darcy Schoening had ever been convicted of a Felony. I knew that she had been arrested and charged with a Felony. Information that was provided to me later showed that arrest and charges had been reduced to a Misdemeanor, but the most serious of misdemeanors. That theft conviction coupled with her thrice guilty pleas and convictions for DUIs and possession of illicit drugs spanning from the year 2000 to 2015 which ultimately resulted in spending 45 days in Jail point to a complete lack of regard for the American legal system and lawful behavior in my opinion.
The glaring first amendment issues of a resident of Monument reporting on factual proceedings in open meetings and a Special Investigator that was appointed with Municipal Funds indicating that my reporting and opinions are “criminal behavior” …using a “preponderance of evidence” …Mr. Van Der Jagt may be dancing dangerously with his legal reputation and ability to practice law at stake.
In a transcript from the Town of Monument Special Meeting on 12/16/2022 - Mr. Van Der Jagt makes mention of the fact that he has “never had an ethics complaint filed against (him)”. While that appears to be true:
It’s also not completely honest either. In fact, in 2017, it appears that the State of Colorado revoked Mr. Van Der Jagt’s Real-estate License and imposed a $50,000 fine. To understand how completely unusual that is, of the 22,000 licensed Real-estate brokers in Colorado in 2017, there were only 55 disciplinary actions taken. Most of those for fines and education, and only 14 license revocations (Van Der Jagt being one of the 14 revocations). The report on Mr. Van Der Jagt’s license revocation can be found here:
I am now pondering how one can still serve as a licensed attorney in the State of Colorado with such a serious infraction on their record. I am not an attorney, nor have I ever attempted the process, but I do have my own questions now.
Taking a step back in time to the Town Council Special Meeting on 12/13/2022, remember the initial opposition to the Town hiring of Scott Gessler was that Scott Gessler had a founded ethics complaint for the very same allegation that some Council members wanted him to investigate. With the revelation of Mr. Van Der Jagt’s background, and his less than honest statements to the board I also question the decision and process for which he was selected for this role.
As the meeting adjourned, several residents of Monument reported online that Darcy Schoening was escorted to her vehicle by Monument Police Department. The residents also reported that as she attempted to leave Town Hall’s parking lot, she proceed to back her vehicle into another resident’s vehicle causing minor damage. Monument Police Department then requested Colorado State Patrol to respond and investigate.
All in all, this past Wednesday’s Special Meeting proved to be chaotic and improperly planned with lots of questions left unanswered going in to the new year. I will continue to write for my SubStack with the full authority granted to me in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution in the Bill of Rights.
Stay Safe Monument.
-Ryan LeVier