{"id":386,"date":"2026-06-12T18:07:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T18:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=386"},"modified":"2026-06-12T18:07:02","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T18:07:02","slug":"lawsuit-alleges-palmer-violated-open-meetings-law-in-golf-course-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=386","title":{"rendered":"Lawsuit alleges Palmer violated open meetings law in golf course talks"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A new lawsuit against the city of Palmer and the Palmer City Council contends officials violated a state open meetings law early this year when they made decisions about the operation of the city\u2019s golf course.<\/p>\n

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The suit was filed May 20 in Palmer Superior Court by Palmer resident Michael Borgford, a former seasonal employee of Eagle Golf Course Management Inc., which managed the city-owned facility for about two decades. Borgford is representing himself in the suit, he said in an interview Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The city took over golf course operations this spring after officials and the facility\u2019s longtime operator did not reach a new contract agreement by an early March deadline.<\/p>\n

The complaint asks the court to void the city\u2019s decision to end its contract with Eagle Golf Course Management; require the city and city council to hold public meetings to reconsider its golf course operations plans; release executive session records about the management decision; and require the city and city council to update their policies and hold training regarding open meetings laws. It also asks the court to order the city to pay for fees related to the suit.<\/p>\n

City Attorney Anna Crary will file a response by June 23, she told the council during a regular meeting Tuesday. The council held a about 45-minute closed session to discuss the matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are evaluating a few possible courses of action, and we have some initial thoughts about strategy and about risk that I will advise the city on during tonight’s executive session,\u201d Crary said during the meeting. \u201cWe will continue to provide the city with updates once the response has been filed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The suit does not individually name council members or city employees.<\/p>\n

Borgford attended the meeting Tuesday and declined a request to comment about the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis is an ongoing investigation by my team, and I cannot comment in any way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Borgford declined to identify the individuals who are working with him on the suit.<\/p>\n

Palmer Mayor Jim Cooper also declined to comment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve read it but cannot comment on pending litigation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The suit alleges that the city council improperly skirted the public process required by state law by using closed executive sessions early this year to make golf course-related decisions in private before bringing them to a public vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe subsequent public votes functioned primarily as ratification of matters already substantively deliberated outside public view,\u201d it states.<\/p>\n

State law allows elected officials to hold closed sessions only for topics that would negatively impact finances if the discussion were to be held in public; topics that could hurt an individual\u2019s reputation; matters required by law to be confidential; topics regarding confidential government records. No action may be taken during such sessions.<\/p>\n

Discussion about the golf course contract did not fall under any of those parameters, the suit states. The information discussed in the closed session \u201cimpaired the public’s ability to observe* understand, and participate in governmental decision-making,\u201d and \u201cundermine transparency, accountability, and public confidence in municipal governance,\u201d it states.<\/p>\n

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The complaint asks the court to void the city\u2019s decision to end its contract with Eagle Golf Course Management.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":385,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nLawsuit alleges Palmer violated open meetings law in golf course talks - Alaska Moving Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=386\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lawsuit alleges Palmer violated open meetings law in golf course talks - Alaska Moving Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The complaint asks the court to void the city\u2019s decision to end its contract with Eagle Golf Course Management.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=386\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Alaska Moving Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-12T18:07:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/?p=386#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/?p=386\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4e09896005b88414084eb4bd3215ab0a\"},\"headline\":\"Lawsuit alleges Palmer violated open meetings law in golf course talks\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-12T18:07:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/?p=386\"},\"wordCount\":571,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/?p=386#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/6bb2d986e86b6059ee07ae1daa38a79b.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/?p=386#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/?p=386\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/?p=386\",\"name\":\"Lawsuit alleges Palmer violated open meetings law in golf course talks - 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