THORNTON, Colo — Thornton City Council voted 5-4 to create a vacancy in one of the council seats occupied by a council member.
In a vote that happened just before 1 a.m., Thornton's five conservative-leaning council members voted the Ward 1 council seat vacant. Jacque Phillips held that seat.
The slim-majority of the board determined that the city charter dictating vacancies came into play and voted Phillips' seat open because of her residency.
The board believed that Phillips is no longer a resident of Thornton because she bought a home in Alamosa last summer after taking a full-time executive director job with San Luis Valley BOCES (Board of Cooperative Educational Services).
The nearly six-hour meeting started with three hours of public comment, followed by nearly three hours of board discussion on evidence provided by both Phillips and Mayor Pro Tem Jessica Sandgren, who brought up the residency issue and voted to in favor of the vacancy.
Mayor Jan Kulmann and council members Sandgren, David Acunto, Adam Matkowsky and Tony Unrein voted to create the vacancy.
Council members Phillips, Julia Marvin, Kathy Henson and Karen Bigelow voted against the vacancy.
The city charter allows council to appoint a person to fill that seat. Based on the makeup of the board, the next Ward 1 representative will likely have 5-3 support.
"This is a political grab," Phillips told Next with Kyle Clark in an interview on Friday. "I did not move. I never moved. My condo is here. My business is here. My law office is here. I didn't move. I live in Thornton."
Sandgren provided council evidence of Phillips' home loan in Alamosa as proof that she no longer should be considered a Thornton resident.
A section of that loan stated: "Borrower shall occupy, establish, and use the Property as Borrower's principal resident within 60 days… and shall continue to occupy the Property as Borrower's principal residence for at least one year after the date of occupancy…"
"She signed a document that says she agrees to the terms of the conditions of the loan and one of those conditions is you must use and must occupy as your primary residence," said Sandgren.
Next with Kyle Clark spoke with her lender and the National Association of Mortgage Brokers. Both said that the provision means the person should be living in the home and not renting it out. A lender could do a residency check if it suspected something was not right.
Council debated the term "principle" or "primary residence" during the six-hour meeting.
When Phillips spoke with 9NEWS political reporter Marshall Zelinger about that issue, she did not provide a clear answer.
Zelinger: "How often are you in Alamosa?"
Phillips: "I do – I do a back and forth, so it depends."
Zelinger: "Um, do you live in Alamosa long – more than you live in Thornton? I have to ask."
Phillips: "I never moved from Thornton."
Zelinger: "That, so that, I mean I have to – where do you spend more of your time?"
Phillips: "I do a back and forth. It's pretty split actually. It's a pretty – it's a fairly even split."
A councilmember resigning because they have moved is not unusual. In the last two years that has happened in Aurora and Parker.
In this case, the councilmember had not resigned.
"The element of the charter is, 'did I move?' Well clearly, I did not move. I have my business here. I have my house here," said Phillips.
Before the vote to declare her seat vacant, Phillips proposed a motion to postpone the vote to a later date to give council time to consider all the evidence received during the meeting. That vote failed 5-4.
Sandgren proposed a motion affirming the section of the city charter that dictates when a vacancy occurs. The city attorney told the board that motion really had no action.
A motion to not vote on that motion failed 5-4.
Council then affirmed the city charter spelling out when a vacancy happens in a 5-4 vote.
After that, Matkowsky proposed a motion to create a vacancy for Phillips' seat vacant based on residency.
That vote passed 5-4.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Latest from 9NEWS