Last month, Mayor Steve Bach told reporters he had “all kinds of discussions all the time” with people who don’t want their names out in public.
He was right.
According to the mayor’s 2012 calendar, about 61 percent of Bach’s meetings are held under a shroud of secrecy.
On Feb. 10, The Gazette requested the mayor’s calendar and/or appointment book for January and February of this year.
The mayor’s Communications Office complied with the open-records request and submitted a response three days later as required by Colorado law.
The office provided Bach’s calendar for January and through Feb. 13.
The calendar shows that Bach had about 132 meetings during that time period.
Of those, about 80 — or 60.6 percent — were with people whose names the Bach administration is hiding.
The analysis included both face-to-face and phone meetings.
In instances where the calendar lists the entry as “Mtgs” or “Phone Mtgs,” two meetings were counted as part of the analysis.
But it’s impossible to tell whether there were more than two meetings during a particular time slot because the calendar doesn’t specify the number.
The analysis did not include meetings of the City Council or the Mayor’s Counsel, which are both posted and open to the public.
Highlights of the mayor’s calendar during the Jan. 1-Feb.13 time period:
Bach has had eight meetings each with Chief of Staff Laura Neumann, City Attorney Chris Melcher and Steve Cox, chief of economic vitality and innovation.
Bach has had seven meetings each with Chief Communications Officer Cindy Aubrey and Donna Nelson, economic vitality and innovation specialist.
He has has two meetings with police Chief Pete Carey and one with fire Chief Rich Brown.
He has had three meetings with his assistant, Brenda Bonn.
He met with former Mayor Lionel Rivera on Jan. 9.
The mayor has had at least five meetings with a “primary employer.” However, the calendar keeps the employer’s identity a secret.
When questioned last month about his calendar, Bach — who promised transparency when he was running for office — said the city was complying with the open-records law and that if someone saw otherwise, “engage legal counsel and come after us.”
To watch video of the mayor’s remarks, click here. The discussion starts about 6 minutes and 30 seconds into the video.
The city is providing the media “what we think is appropriate in the way of my public meetings,” Bach said last month.
“That’s just the way it is, and I’m sorry that doesn’t satisfy you,” he said.
