Photo by Daniel J. Chacon

The drama between Mayor Steve Bach and the Urban Renewal Authority over access to the agency’s financial records seems to be subsiding.

The authority board emerged from closed executive session last week and decided to give the mayor “everything … that is reasonably possible,” Chairwoman Susan K. Wood-Ellis said in an email this weekend.

The vote was unanimous, she said.

“It goes without saying that we plan to continue to work with City government in a cooperative/collaborative fashion in order to continue our statutory mission of helping to implement redevelopment projects to improve this community and to advance the goals of the City,” Wood-Ellis said.

Laura Neumann, the mayor’s chief of staff, said she found out Monday that the board had agreed to “share all of the records” requested by the mayor’s office.

“Last week, we had received notification that they were not going to cooperate,” she said. “They were simply going to share the records that were available through CORA, the Colorado Open Records Act. (But) this board voted unanimously to do something a little bit different and be completely open with the records, so we do appreciate it.”

Earlier this year, the mayor called for an inspection of the authority’s financial records following a series of problems at the agency, including a default on bonds involving an urban renewal project on North Nevada Avenue, and a public blowup between Bach and former board member Jim Kin.

Board members led by Kin resisted the mayor’s inspection.

“The mayor has no power over us at all, and I think it’s really important for this authority to make that statement,” Kin said in February.

Since then, the mayor has appointed four new board members.

Kin applied for a reappointment. But Bach passed him over.

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