by Mark Craddock
WALSENBURG — Two members of the Huerfano County Sheriff’s office attended Monday night’s special meeting of the Walsenburg City Council, convened to discuss how to move forward in the wake of the council’s abrupt firing last week of City Administrator Gaye Davis.
They strode into council chambers while the meeting was in session and stood quietly in the back of the room.
Mayor Gary Vezzani later said that he had asked for a police presence, spooked by the visceral negative reaction among audience members to Davis’ surprise ouster, which came during the July 18 council meeting.
Vezzani’s fears were not realized.
The crowd was sparse and quiet, the discussion succinct, the meeting short.
Despite some less-than-subtle name dropping by the mayor over the past two weeks, there were no surprise hires Monday, either for the city’s top administrator spot or for water and sewer director.
For now, Colander in charge
On March 30, 1981 President Ronald Reagan was undergoing surgery after an assassination attempt. Chief of Staff Al Haig famously marched into the White House press room and declared “I am in control here.”
Deputy City Clerk Richard Colander was far less exuberant at Tuesday’s city council meeting.
But, unlike Haig, Colander really is in charge for now. Previous city council action actually saw to it.
Colander confessed he had not “done the clerk’s job since Tuesday,” the day Davis was fired, but he struck an optimistic tone at the special meeting.
“I did have a meeting with the employees on Friday,” Colander told the council. “And I said, I’m the kind of guy that knows how to flush the toilets. And that’s pretty much it, OK, and I need your backs. And they were all for it. So, yeah, it’s going to be difficult for me for awhile, but I’ll get used to it. I can manage just fine.”
On Jan. 19, 2023, the council unanimously approved two motions declaring Colander “first” acting administrator in case Davis is unavailable and, in the absence of both Davis and Colander, to declare City Accountant James Moore as “second” acting city administrator.
Moore, who has been on vacation during the tumult of the past two weeks, returned to work Wednesday.
The Jan. 19 move was in keeping with municipal code 2-3-40(21)(j), enacted by ordinance in 2008 and 2009:
“The City Administrator shall nominate a department head or other employee of the City to serve as Acting City Administrator during the temporary disability or absence from the City of the City Administrator. Such nominee, when confirmed and approved by the Mayor and City Council, shall perform all the duties and exercise all the powers of the City Administrator, but shall receive no additional compensation therefore.”
Colander and Moore have been down this road before.
After the 2022 resignation of administrator Dustin Stambaugh, Colander and Moore shared administrator’s duties until the council appointed Davis as interim administrator. At that time, the council approved additional pay for the pair. This time around, the council has taken no such action.
Consultants may assist in manager search
The city has advertised on its web site for an interim city administrator.
And Vezzani and council member Veroncia Maes reported Monday that they had a Friday Zoom meeting with representatives of KRW Associates, the Colorado Springs consulting firm hired to do a study of law enforcement in Walsenburg, to reaffirm the city’s commitment to continue the study.
They said representatives of KRW touted their deep experience in conducting executive searches, and suggested the city could contract with them to help find an experienced temporary administrator and conduct a 90-120 day search for permanent city administator candidates.
Maes said the cost was not nailed down, but would be “under $15,000,” and was well worth it.
The council unanimously passed a motion directing Colander to put together a proposal for KRW for council review at its Aug. 1 meeting.
City seeks more staff
Colander announced that the city has hired Bob Martin to serve as a part-time building inspector. In the absence of a local inspector, Davis and her staff had been doing routine building inspections.
For larger projects and those requiring a higher level of expertise, the city in May contracted with Pueblo-based AEC-West Consultants to provide building inspection.
Colander said Martin will be working three days a week, and the city will continue to utilize AEC on an as-needed basis.
In an effort to shore up its beleagured ranks in other departments, the council unanimously passed a motion directing Colander to advertise for two employees in the water and sewer departments, as well as one in the streets department.
Council also heard a report from HR/payroll technician Sharon Miranda regarding last week’s direction to Davis (before her ouster), to re-advertise for a water/sewer supervisor, utilizing an amended job description approved at the July 18 meeting.
Miranda said she has placed the ad through the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Colorado Rural Water, the World Journal and Chronicle-News newspapers, and she is setting up an account on indeed.com.
Council member Jacque Sikes reiterated her request from the July 18 meeting that staff provide the council with a comprehensive list of employees, as well as unfilled positions in the various departments, to help ensure the council does not over-spend the budget while adding new personnel.
Seeking help with grants
Vezzani said he has spoken with Tara Marshall of the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA), who offered to help ensure existing proposals, such as the $100,000 grant to conduct a comprehensive study for the city, continue unabated.
And he said the city’s consultant engineers, GMS, Inc., has a department dedicated to grant writing which the city can utilize.
“They did this for us in the past,” he said. “They had no problem doing that under (previous administrator) Dustin Stambaugh.”
Parting words from Colander
“I’m here to do whatever I need to do to be the glue, and keep the wheels rolling,” Colander told the council.
“So, it’s just a question of coming to the reality of this whole scenario,” Colander said. “And then I think the city can get on course and I can go back to being a city clerk. But in the meantime, know that I will do everything I can.”
