From the Colorado Springs Independent:  On Sunday, Aug. 3, readers of The Pueblo Chieftain understandably might have wondered who was really running the city of Pueblo.

The paper that morning reported that three of Pueblo’s seven city councilors had been receiving pointed guidance from Pueblo County transportation director Greg Severance, with one in particular, council vice president Ami Nawrocki, exchanging detailed and sometimes intimate emails with him.

Hundreds of emails obtained by the newspaper also call into question whether Nawrocki, Council President Sandy Daff and Councilor Chris Kaufman violated a law governing open meetings by discussing a trash-collection plan away from public view.

Following a tip to Chieftain reporter Peter Roper, the paper sought and obtained 1,186 pages of printed, partially redacted emails to and from city councilors, under the Colorado Open Records Act. And perhaps because Pueblo’s local government pulls emails directly from a server — unlike the city of Colorado Springs, which depends on the good faith of the requestee to deliver incriminating evidence to the public — the emails told quite a story. “Pueblo County official worked to manipulate councilors,” said the headline.

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