Your time is up — that’s all, folks!

Talk about a sudden-death ending. When Commerce City’s council decides time is up, it apparently doesn’t matter what’s going on at the moment. It’s lights out. 

Some folks recently found that out the hard way when presenting the council with the latest details of a major residential development planned for the city. Just as their presentation was getting underway — and the presenters were about to take questions from the council — Mayor Ben Huseman interrupted, saying he had to “do something administratively.”

lt seemed the clock had run out on the regular council meeting, and Huseman had to ask for a motion to extend the session two and a half hours. He got the motion and a second, but there weren’t enough votes to pass it. So the mayor next asked for a motion to adjourn — which passed. 

The meeting was over, just like that. Not a word of explanation from the council as to why the hearing couldn’t proceed or what would happen next with the remaining meeting agenda. A staffer had to chime in, on the fly, that any unfinished business would be resumed at the Aug. 7 council meeting.

Was it a slight aimed at the project under consideration at that moment? Or, did each council member who voted to adjourn suddenly have some really important personal business to attend to? Or, were they just bored? 

A representative from developer Oakwood Homes who had been cut off in mid-sentence was left standing at the podium facing the council as council members gathered their things and prepared to leave. You can see it here.

It all looked a little strange and maybe more than a little unprofessional. 

It appeared to be a pretty important meeting. It was a formal hearing, kind of like a court proceeding, and had it been allowed to continue, the council would have voted to approve or disapprove final plats for two filings of the planned Reunion Ridge development. 

So, the abrupt ending seemed all the more awkward. 

It was the kind of thing that left you wondering whether some of the council members even know what they are doing.