New Greeley City Council Member Sued After Swearing In
By Stan Bush
GREELEY, Colo. (CBS4) - Greeley's newest city council member was sued over his election just hours before being sworn in.
Eddie Mirick says he did not disclose to voters that he accepted a plea to felony forgery 40 years ago in California because the charge was supposed to be downgraded to a misdemeanor.
"I don't know why someone decided to look into my past and see if there was something wrong, to see if there was some kind of criminal activity or something I may or may not have done wrong like we all do," Mirick said.
Greeley's town charter says convicted felons are not allowed to run for public office. Mirick's political opponent in the election contends the charge should have disqualified him.
"It says right on there that you cannot have a felony conviction, he lied," Deb Suniga, who ran the campaign against Mirick, said. "What has happened is wrong and the reason that we're doing this is to put integrity and the decency back on the city council."
Suniga is suing, claiming Mirick's campaign was illegal.
A motion for city council to hold their own hearing to investigate Mirick's status failed on a voice vote.
Mirick says he will follow whatever a judge decides.
"I think the real truth of everything will come out through the court process," Mirick said.
