A special meeting of the Dolores Public Library District Board turned heated Tuesday night as members voted to censure one of their own, Hassan Hourmanesh, amid allegations of misconduct including violating Colorado Open Meetings Law.
Censure is a formal public reprimand of a board member’s actions — a serious but largely symbolic punishment, as the member retains their seat.
The hourlong meeting, which began at 6 p.m., drew about a dozen members of the public and was marked by raised voices, frequent interruptions and arguments among board members.
Board President Sandy Jumper led the board through an hourlong meeting filled with raised voices and interruptions from both board members and the roughly dozen public attendees.
The board voted 4-2 to censure Hourmanesh after Jumper read aloud a resolution accusing him of violating the state’s Open Meetings Law, acting without board authorization and publicly criticizing the board during a Nov. 10 Dolores Town Board meeting.
The resolution passed with votes from Jumper, Virginia Hernandez, Correen Becher and Tamara Woodbury, who attended by phone. Hourmanesh and Emily Wisner-Meyers voted against the censure. Jeanne Becker was absent.
Jumper explained that although the issue had been introduced at the previous meeting Nov. 11, no formal action was taken. She said she had since received a memo from Hourmanesh and intended to address two points from it as she read from the resolution.
Specifically, the resolution states that Hourmanesh breached both the open-meetings statute and the board’s own code of ethics by emailing all fellow board members and at least three public entities, asking state authorities to investigate the library’s director and the board president over “concealment of records.”
The resolution in addition alleged he sent emails to board members and the Colorado Library Consortium, asking the organization to review board training.
Colorado’s Open Meetings Law, C.R.S. 24-6-402(2)(a-c), requires public notice of actions, recordkeeping and rules for executive sessions.
According to the resolution, Hourmanesh also “denigrated” the board during a Nov. 10 Town Board meeting, remarks that were a focal point of the library board’s nearly four-hour meeting the next night on Nov. 11, though no formal action was taken at that time.
Hourmanesh delivered a lengthy response before the vote, saying he was fulfilling his duty to raise concerns about legal compliance, board transparency and how library staff grievances were being addressed.
He said he did not want to be silenced by the other board members and that his goal was to serve the public.
“I serve as a fiduciary of this public library district,” he said, invoking a board member’s duty to the public trust. “I have a duty of care to be informed, ask questions and exercise judgment.”
He said that when his concerns weren’t addressed internally, he felt “escalation is an appropriate” external option to protect the public.
“All of these actions form a consistent pattern,” he said. “I’m doing the work of oversight – asking whether our practices align with the law … whether staff complaints are properly handled, whether the director’s file is complete and properly controlled.”
A discussion emerged over a 2023 staff document concerning employee evaluations, prompting questions about its origin, interpretation and relevance to the board’s handling of staff concerns.
Board member Woodbury asked where Hourmanesh obtained the document related to staff grievances.
Hourmanesh said he received it directly from its author, a former employee from 2023, but did not retain a copy out of respect for privacy and suggested board members request it from the director if needed.
Jumper responded that she had knowledge of the document, saying employees viewed it not as a complaint but as a request to have a witness present during employee evaluations with the director. She said the board had already considered the issue and declined to change the policy.
Director Sean Gantt told the board he wanted to address the timeline and began to speak about the matter’s history.
He restated that the document in question was an employee request in 2023 to have a third party present during an evaluation and that it was signed by other staff members only as part of that request, not as a formal complaint or Equal Employment Opportunity filing.
He said the letter alarmed him.
“I wasn’t sure what was going on. I did send it to my supervisor, my board president, to figure out what was going on,” Gantt said. “As you know, in 2023, this was toward the end, but well within the #MeToo movement.” (The #MeToo movement was a social campaign against sexual harassment and assault, often in the workplace.)
According to him, the employee had made multiple requests for policy changes that the board ultimately declined. When the board did respond, he said the matter was handled in a formal meeting and evaluations were recorded internally as part of the official process.
“Just for timeline sake, I want everybody to be on the same page, because I did not know what Hassan was looking for, because he was looking for a complaint,” Gantt said.
He stated that sending “unverified information” in front of the Town Board or to other agencies – could undermine his ability to do his job and harm the library’s reputation.
Wisner-Meyers pushed back, urging Gantt to be “very careful” about accusing board members.
After the heated discussion and the censure decision, the board turned to next steps to address the dispute.
In a unanimous vote, the six members present agreed to authorize the board President Jumper to consult and retain an attorney on behalf of the board “as needed.” Hernandez seconded the motion.
Hourmanesh requested a statement of work before approving expenditures. Jumper said that would occur once she contacted the attorney and the hiring would be within recommendations by the state library board.
The board agreed that attorney would advise the board on governance and policy questions that have arisen from the conflict. Woodbury said she also wanted legal guidance on whether the director has been defamed.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
