The Town of Palmer Lake has chosen to put itself in legal limbo.

Near the end of a seven-hour-plus meeting Thursday evening and into Friday morning, the Palmer Lake Board of Trustees voted to terminate Town Attorney Scott Krob.

Krob had already announced his resignation at the Dec. 11 trustees meeting but had agreed to stay on in an interim basis until a replacement was selected. At Thursday’s meeting, however, Trustee Elizabeth Harris suddenly made a motion to end the contract with Krob effective Friday at 5 p.m.

“The public has no trust in attorney Krob right now,” she said.

The lengthy motion severed all ties with Krob and directed city staff to find an interim replacement no later than Jan. 30. Staff members in attendance expressed dismay.

“You’re showing your inexperience in municipal government here,” Interim Administrator and Chief of Police Glen Smith said. “To put a hard stop on this without already having somebody in place, which I doubt I could get before the 30th, you’re showing an inability to function.

“I have been quiet and I have listened, but this is bush league politics right here. You have no idea what you’re doing when it comes to this.”

Town Clerk Erica Romero joined Smith in expressing frustration on behalf of town staff.

“We are trying to do the right thing. Staff is not involved in the politics each day,” Romero said. “We have met unreasonable expectations. I don’t know that we can continue meeting these expectations when the resources we have been provided are being cut from us left and right.

“I can’t do my job without legal representation. I would open the doors to risk for the town.”

The trustee triad of Harris, Roger Mosely and Atis Jurka stood firm despite the protests. Harris asserted that CIRSA (Colorado Intergovernmental Risk Sharing Agency) would provide coverage in the interim.

Smith and Romero both expressed doubt that CIRSA operated that way. In a phone call after the meeting, Mayor Dennis Stern told the Tribune that CIRSA would only provide a list of possible replacements.

During the meeting, Mosely said it was a chance he was willing to take.

Smith reiterated that the move was “hasty and inappropriate.”

Stern said that Palmer Lake is now unable to conduct any business that requires legal council, which includes an upcoming declaratory judgment concerning a citizen’s initiative passed in Novemebr that requires all annexation questions to be put to a vote in the citizens. The language of the iniotiative is vague, though, and doesn’t spell out procedural matters such as whether the citizens vote should occur before or after the trustees voted.

“Everything comes to a screeching halt,” Stern said.

“This decision reflects a broader and troubling trend,” Stern said in a statement issued Friday. “Palmer Lake has experienced multiple resignations in recent months, resulting in the loss of institutional knowledge and professional expertise. That pattern should concern anyone who cares about the stability and effectiveness of local government.”