CAA: GA News, "Commissioners sued over Colorado airport deal"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Thursday, October 17, 2002

Commissioners sued over airport deal
An airport developer sued the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners for
$100 million
By Steven Graham
The Jefferson County (CO) Sentinel


BJC Development Corp. and BAMAA filed the suit in Jefferson County District
Court Oct. 10, alleging a breach of contract, racketeering and extortion in
connection with the development of nearly 130 acres of land at the Jefferson
County Airport.

BJC Chief Operating Officer Michael Zinna also alleged commissioners Rick
Sheehan and Michelle Lawrence told him not to attend public meetings.

Lawrence and Jefferson County Attorney Bill Tuthill said BJC never had a
contract with the county.

"It's just a business dispute," said Tuthill, adding the allegations of
racketeering and extortion are "smoke and mirrors."

BJC, which leases property at the airport, was among at least six firms that
offered bids to develop 100 acres on the southwest corner of the airport in
the summer of 2000. According to Tuthill, then-Airport Manager Jeff Price
and then-Jeffco Attorney Frank Hutfless chose the BJC proposal, which
included a hotel and conference center as well as restaurants and office
parks. It also included development on nearly 30 acres in addition to the
100-acre lot.

In September 2000, county purchasing supervisor Marcia Sieben sent a letter
to Zinna inviting him to meet with county officials and begin negotiations.
Over the next nine months, according to the BJC lawsuit, "the firm spent
tens of thousands of dollars in engineering fees, architectural fees,
surveying fees, planning fees and other costs associated with its
development plans."

In holding pattern

However, in July 2001, then-County Administrator Ron Holliday sent a letter
to BJC calling off the project, citing a need for "proper and thorough
planning," including a potential realignment of Simms Street through the
100-acre parcel.

"The county believes that negotiation with BJC Development concerning
approximately 100 acres of affected county property is premature at this
time," read the letter.

Zinna said the letter amounted to a breach of contract and is suing the
county for the money he spent on the project, as well as millions of dollars
in projected lost revenue.

"We had a deal in July 2001, and the county reneged on the deal," Zinna
said. "We didn't have a signed contract. But we had an enforceable
agreement."

However, Tuthill said BJC never was guaranteed a contract. He said without a
written contract, Zinna's complaint will be rejected in court.

"The general rule is that a contract to purchase real estate has to be in
writing," Tuthill said.

He said the county's acceptance of a proposal bid does not guarantee a
contract. He added that firms regularly spend money on a development that
may not be finished.

"It's a risk that you have to take in a project," he said, adding that
another airport development project was cut off in 2001.

Also, Tuthill said the land never was surveyed and questions any BJC
expenses beyond initial designs.

"I don't know where they claimed to have spent tens of thousands of
dollars," Tuthill said.

Zinna said he has plenty of evidence proving the firm spent a substantial
amount on the project.

"There's thousands of man hours alone in this deal," Zinna said. "All of
this took place before Mr. Tuthill's tenure, and he'll be shocked by our
documentation."

He said he has 30 witnesses and plenty of evidence to back his charges.

"This company would not have made these allegations unless we were confident
we could substantiate them," Zinna said. "We have accumulated an enormous
amount of information to substantiate these claims. These are serious
allegations, and we would not have made them frivolously."

Secret tapes

Zinna said he would not describe specific evidence in a pending court case.
However, as part of his lawsuit, he submitted transcripts of conversations
he secretly taped with several county officials, including Lawrence and
Hutfless.

"I have many hours of audio tapes that will be evidence in this case," Zinna
said. "I have an overwhelming amount of evidence - letters, memos,
affidavits, virtually all kinds of supportive documents and material."

Zinna submitted an excerpt from a recorded conversation with Lawrence in
which she suggests that he stop attending public meetings of the board of
county commissioners.

"Every time you show up, it ruffles feathers," Lawrence said, according to
the transcript made by Zinna. "You know it would be nice if you just
wouldn't ruffle my feathers."

Zinna and Lawrence then alluded to earlier suggestions from Sheehan that
Zinna stop sitting in on meetings.

"You've heard it from two of us," Lawrence allegedly said, "and now if that
isn't enough ..."

Sheehan said Zinna would spend hours at a time in the commissioners office
and he made the commissioners and their staff uncomfortable.

"I encouraged him to not just hang around all the time," Sheehan said.
"Never would I ever suggest that he could not come to any public meeting at
any time."

Lawrence admits she told Zinna "you should stay low on the radar screen."
She said Zinna befriended the commissioners and become active in county
Republican politics. However, Lawrence said she began to feel uncomfortable
with Zinna's regular presence around the commissioners' office.

"I felt like he was trying to intimidate me into seeing things his way on
his airport dealings," Lawrence said. "I felt more and more like he was
trying to intimidate me. I finally broke off the friendship."

Zinna said if she felt she was being intimidated, Lawrence should have
alerted the proper authorities.

"The assertion that I tried to intimidate Michelle Lawrence or Rick Sheehan
is laughably ill-timed and nothing more than a pathetic attempt to deflect
attention from their vile behavior," Zinna said.

Tuthill also accused Zinna of a "pattern of intimidation" with a string of
broad and costly open records requests.

"Mike just relishes in the opportunity to ask people to drop everything and
jump," Tuthill said.

However, Zinna said the requests are legitimate attempts to keep county
officials honest.

"My goal is to build a fortress around those who perpetrate the illegal
behavior at the county," Zinna said "I feel I accomplish that through the
open records requests and by attending public meetings. It's my position
that they withhold information that would be detrimental to their position."

Not politics

Zinna denies allegations that he is playing election-year politics in
attacking Sheehan during his re-election campaign.

"I am a registered Republican. I have never voted for a Democrat in my
life," he said. "Any allegation that this is politics is pure horse manure
and a desperate attempt to deflect attention from the truth."

The BJC lawsuit is a response to a declaratory judgment suit Tuthill filed
in July on behalf of the commissioners. They complained Zinna was
obstructing new contracts and regular business at the airport. The suit
asked a judge to declare BJC had no contract with the county.

"No agreement was ever reached, no legal description of the land at issue
was ever prepared and no leases or deeds were ever prepared," reads the
suit.

County officials now must respond to the countersuit within 20 days. Tuthill
said he plans to file a motion to dismiss the personal claims of extortion
and racketeering against the commissioners. He said he still wants a judge
to issue the declaratory judgment.

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