The national NAACP is suing former directors and executive members of the organization’s Boulder County branch in the latest development in the conflict between the national and local organizations.
Executive members of the Boulder branch voted to dissolve the branch in March — something the national org says the local branch lacks the authority to do. The suit asks for a declaratory judgement that the branch has not been legally dissolved and for all the branch’s assets to remain with the national NAACP.
Those assets include a checking account with $77,000 and $25,000 in Google stock, according to the suit. Defendant and former NAACP Boulder County Treasurer Veronica Sommers “ignored multiple requests from the Administrator and/or NAACP to turn over the accounts,” according to the suit.
According to the Colorado Secretary of State’s website, the branch has been legally dissolved since April 25.
“As far as we know, it’s done,” former Vice President Judith Landsman, who is a defendant in the suit, told Boulder Weekly in April. “And if NAACP national wants to push it, then they’ll have to challenge it legally.”
The 13 defendants named in the suit filed June 16 in U.S District Court also include former NAACP of Boulder County President Annett James and former Criminal Justice Chair Darren O’Connor, who said in an email to Boulder Weekly they are not making any statements at this time.
The conflict began in 2021, according to the suit, when members of the Boulder branch “engaged in conduct which was inimical to the best interests of the NAACP” and leadership showed a “continued pattern of refusal to abide by the NAACP Constitution and Bylaws.”
The Boulder branch has previously said the decision to disband stemmed from its ongoing dispute with the City of Boulder. The group opposed Stephen Redfearn’s 2024 appointment as police chief and had repeatedly called for his resignation. The messy conflict included the branch releasing a partial transcript of a meeting with the police chief and city officials, and the city previously filing a complaint about executive members of the Boulder branch with the national NAACP for secretly recording the meeting and “threatening” to release it if Redfearn was appointed. The group accused the city of a “relentless campaign…to discredit and undermine and ultimately destroy our branch.”
According to the suit, all defendants have been suspended by the national org and “have been divested of all authority to act on behalf of the Branch or NAACP.” The national branch also claims that the Boulder branch’s actions effectively halted donations through the website and stopped new members from joining.
The complaint accuses the defendants of breaching fiduciary duty, conversion, civil theft and civil conspiracy.
Multi-year work on Sanitas underway
Mount Sanitas is getting a facelift thanks to a multiyear project to improve trails and restore the surrounding ecosystem.
The efforts will begin with work on the main summit trail and will eventually include constructing a new trail to connect neighborhoods northeast of Sanitas to the trail network and installing gathering areas, steps and fencing around eight bouldering formations on Sanitas.
No closures are expected, but “but visitors may experience intermittent delays,” according to a City of Boulder press release.
The Sanitas open space area draws over 300,000 visitors annually, according to the release.
In other news…
• The Boulder Safeway at 3325 28th St. has joined at least 20 other Colorado stores in an ongoing unfair labor practices strike. The strike began June 15.
• A federal judge ruled last week that the hate crime charge in the June 1 Pearl Street attack can move forward. The attacker now faces nine hate crime charges, with prosecutors arguing he targeted his victims based on “actual or perceived national origin.”
• The Longmont Herald, an independent community newsletter and Substack covering Longmont, is taking a pause, its founder Adam Steininger announced June 21.
“[I]t’s been a bumpy road. Financially and emotionally,” he wrote in the announcement. “I’ve sacrificed a lot, probably too much, to try to make this work. And despite my best efforts, the Herald hasn’t yet reached the point where it can support me in return.”