The owner of The River Pizza & Subs in Boulder is suing the city of Boulder, Mayor Rusty Giulio and Rose Perna, the city’s accounting assistant, over allegations that a dispute over city code enforcement involving business licenses ballooned into threats, intimidation and defamation from Giulio and Perna. The city—and Giulio and Perna—deny the allegations.
A scheduling conference to determine dates and deadlines for future steps in the lawsuit was set for 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 2, in Jefferson County Fifth District Court. The conference was set to be held via video call.
The lawsuit, filed Nov. 12, 2021, stems from an incident on July 1, 2021, when Greg Hughes, the owner of The River restaurant, was having carpet delivered to a house he owns across Main Street from the restaurant. While Hughes was in Helena, according to the lawsuit, workers from Butte were delivering carpet to the house, located at 108 S. Main St., around 3:15 p.m. While the workers were making the delivery, the suit alleged, Perna entered the home and told the delivery workers that they couldn’t work in Boulder without a city business license, and she then told the workers to leave.
