PALMER LAKE, Colo. (KRDO) — Palmer Lake trustee and mayor pro tem Amy Hutson has announced her resignation as of Oct.3.

Amy Hutson, Courtesy Palmer Lake

In Hutson’s resignation letter, she states that she has been yelled at, defamed, and sued, writing, “My skin is too thin and I’m too bitter at this point to carry out my office.”

Hutson goes on to call Integrity Matters, a local non-profit organization, “a joke.” Referencing their lawsuit against her and Palmer Lake, a suit that a judge dismissed today.

Integrity Matters sued in January to “challenge the Town of Palmer Lake’s controversial decision to approve the eligibility for annexation of a property intended for a proposed Buc-ee’s Travel Center.”

READ MORE: Integrity Matters files lawsuit against town of Palmer Lake regarding proposed Buc-ees Travel Center

Hutson writes that if the board of trustees had the chance to vote on Buc-ee’s, she had planned to vote no. Hutson ends here resignation letter saying, “Good luck finding someone who knows the master plan and code as well as I do who has a kind servant’s heart.”

Any Hutson registration letter:

To the residents of Palmer Lake:

I have volunteered for 5 years for the Town of Palmer Lake as both a Planning Commissioner and then as Trustee. During that time, I have helped write and implement the current Community Master Plan, rewrite the sign code, rewrite the land use code, push for a code compliance officer, and push for a real plan for the Elephant Rock property. I became a trustee to honor the master plan and the planning commission. I was always trying to help and make things better. 

 I have been yelled at, defamed, accused of wrongdoing, and sued. Breaking news….The judge has dismissed all charges against me and all the other charges against the town. “Integrity” Matters is a joke. Look it up. Look up also that they tried to get the town to pay $775,000 to settle. 

My skin is too thin and I’m too bitter at this point to carry out my office. I officially resign my position as a Palmer Lake Trustee as of today October 3rd , 2025. And by the way, if BOT did get to vote on Buc-ee’s, I was going to vote No. Good luck finding someone who knows the master plan and code as well as I do who has a kind servant’s heart. 

This resignation is just one of many leadership shakeups in Palmer Lake.

Her predecessor, former mayor Glant Havenar, also stepped down due to threats over the proposed Buc-ee’s, and three trustees were recalled over the rest stop.

READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE: Former Palmer Lake Mayor discusses resignation after harassment & controversial texts

READ MORE: Preliminary results show Palmer Lake voters recalling trustees, approving annexation measure

KRDO13 spoke with Integrity Matters on the phone for comment. They say they’re not done fighting the annexation.

Integrity Matters complete statement:

Until and unless we prevail in court, the idea that anyone — whether the remaining trustees or the former disgraced mayor — would defend or celebrate this behavior is absurd. We do not believe the Court is endorsing their actions. It’s worth noting that anhy Trustee claiming this is a win is ignoring why two of their colleagues were recalled and why nearly 70 percent voted for the ballot initiative.

It’s important to remember that this lawsuit could have been avoided. In January, the Town had the opportunity to correct it’s errors in the eligibility for annexation and bring the process into compliance with the Constititution and Colorado law.

Again on March 17, we gave the Town another opportunity to resolve the matter (see attached). without further litigation if they would formally acknowledge their violations, commit to reform their process = transparency AND implement voter approval for flagpole annexations and reimburse the multiple plaintiffs only $10,000 to reimburse them for legal and advocacy expenses incurred thus far.

In exchange we would forgo all legal claims including Open Meetings Law and constitutional violations. 

Our letter closed with “we hope to resolve this matter cooperatively” to insure fair, lawful and transparent procedures.

Ms. Hutson’s continued defamation of the Plaintiffs, especially Integrity Matters is at best disingenuous. When she stated that she didn’t want to stay late, it showed that she was not concerned with her constituents.

Her decision to step down was appropriate.

A special election to decide whether or not to build the Buc-ee’s is expected to be held sometime next year.    

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