Gazette

82°

Partly Cloudy and Windy 5-Day Forecast
City Desk ~ An insider’s view of the policies and politics of Colorado Springs city government

Archive for the 'Cindy Aubrey' Tag

« Previous Entries

City Council flak is a new position — sort of

April 3rd, 2012, 1:20 pm by

Photo by Daniel J. Chacon

No supplemental budget appropriation will be necessary to hire a new communications specialist for the City Council.

Council Administrator Aimee Cox said the council had approved funding in the 2012 budget to increase a part-time intergovernmental affairs position held by Tim Burke to a full-time position so he could help with communications.

But the plan didn’t work out, Cox said.

“During the legislative session, Tim works full-time on state bill review and basically he couldn’t provide the necessary level of communications assistance between January and May,” she said.

Cox said the council will continue to work with the mayor’s Communications Department but “needed someone internally” to help work on council speaking points for events, public engagement strategy and organizing town hall meetings.

“We needed additional assistance here to do the work of City Council, and (Chief Communications Officer) Cindy Aubrey’s office could not provide all of that assistance. But we still will work with her on press releases, budget hearings, those kinds of things,” Cox said.

Cox said she hopes to have the position filled by June 1.

 

 

 

 

Posted in: City Council • City employees • • • | 4 Comments »

Tongues wag over mayor’s two new hires

March 26th, 2012, 10:13 am by

Mayor Steve Bach may have eliminated 38 positions and trimmed $2 million in salaries from the 2012 budget, but two new hires in his office are all the talk at City Hall.

Last month, Chief of Staff Laura Neumann hired an executive assistant at $70,000 a year.

Neumann didn’t advertise the position, which she said is “unusual.”

But Neumann said she needed someone with the right skill set to give her a hand, especially since she was recruiting for seven manager positions that report directly to her. The seven positions were either vacant or filled by someone on an interim basis, she said.

Neumann’s new assistant, Samantha “Dani” Ewen, used to be the human resources director at Cheyenne Mountain Resort, which is where Neumann worked as vice president and general manager before she went to work for Bach in January.

“That’s not why she’s here,” Neumann said.

Ewen was one of four finalists for the city’s human resources director job and had been vetted through the selection process, she said. Even though Ewen didn’t get that job, Neumann said, she was a good fit in the mayor’s office.

Another new worker, Jason Lippert, is a former fellow at El Pomar Foundation.

Lippert, who joined the mayor’s office four weeks ago, was hired by the city from a temp agency. He gets paid $25 an hour, or $2,000 every two weeks.

Insiders jokingly refer to Lippert as the “assistant to the assistant.”

The city did not respond to a request for Lippert’s job description but said he helps with scheduling.

Bach has an extremely busy schedule, sometimes working from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., said Cindy Aubrey, the mayor’s chief communications officer.

“I know because I go to the events,” she said. “One person is not able to do all of that.”

Neumann and Steve Cox, the mayor’s chief of economic vitality and innovation, defended the hiring decisions, saying the two new employees are filling a critical need.

“We need to be able to be flexible as an organization,” Cox said.

Cox emphasized that the city is spending less on payroll this year than last year.

“The bottom line is we’re spending less money today,” Cox said.

As the city transitions to a new system of government that makes the mayor the city’s chief executive, Cox said the administration is making staffing adjustments as necessary.

 

Posted in: Budget • City Administration • City employees • • • • • • • • | 15 Comments »

City sends two communications workers packing

March 19th, 2012, 4:28 pm by

Cindy Aubrey

Two employees in the city’s Communications Department were shown the door Friday.

John Leavitt, a well-respected city spokesman who routinely handled open-records requests, and Bill Beagle, the go-to guy for all things SpringsTV, were let go “as part of the organization-wide efforts to pursue efficiencies wherever possible,” Chief Communications Officer Cindy Aubrey said Monday in an email.

“I want to stress that these were budgetary, not performance, decisions,” she said.

Aubrey’s explanation raises more questions since the city budget was approved in December and she hired Laura Benjamin, who volunteered on Mayor Steve Bach’s mayoral campaign, at the end of November.

“Laura has a different skill set and knowledge which she brings to the department,” Aubrey wrote in a follow-up email.

Aubrey also said some programming on SpringsTV Channel 18 will be eliminated.

“Springs TV will continue on – with additional replays of City Council and Planning meetings.  We will however, no longer be producing City vignettes about parks, streets etc.” she wrote.

“We will help City Council upon request for any needs they may have,” Aubrey added.

So, who’s left in the Communications Department and what do they do?

Here are the names and titles of who works there now:

Cindy Aubrey – Chief Communications Officer

Mary Scott – Public Communications Specialist I

Julie Smith – Public Communications Specialist II

Laura Benjamin – Public Communications Specialist II

Dee Brown – Public Communications Specialist II

Mary Webb – Communications Admin

Aubrey provided a job description for each employee.

“I am currently rewriting my job description – and will be absorbing some of John’s duties,” she wrote.

Here are their job descriptions:

Laura Benjamin – Communications Specialist

Key Responsibilities:

Produce online communication and news for the City and the Mayor’s Office which includes:

Writing summations for newsfeed, announcements, social media posts, press releases and citizen responses

Act as the primary web content producer as well as web facilities person for communications

Additional Communication Duties:

Daily releases as assigned by CCO

Develop strong, ongoing relationships with media

Respond to media queries with the use of established messaging

Attend events with the Mayor and City personnel, take pictures and update the public with details.

Public speaking on behalf of the City/Mayor

Assist City Council when needed or asked with communication needs

Provide speaker training and media assistance for all staff upon request

Mary Scott – Communications Specialist

Key Responsibilities:

Daily media releases for assigned departments or as assigned by CCO

Assist Donna Nelson with all things Spirit of the Springs

Organize Spirit of the Springs events- including marketing and publicity

Produce employee profiles for Springs TV

Research and present positive media coverage

Oversee E-Town Hall Meetings

Oversee and direct employee communications

Act as liaison between US Pro Cycling Challenge and City

Media Relations

Develop strong, ongoing relationships with media.  This includes quickly responding to journalist requests for stories etc.

Reaching out to beat reporters, assignment editors and news directors to pitch positive City stories

Internal / Employee Communication

Producing content for the Intranet

Answer questions for employees

Determine the best way to proactively communicate information and processes to department and City employees, employee meetings, brown bag lunches.

Julie Smith – Communications Specialist

Key Responsibilities:

Daily releases for assigned departments or as assigned by CCO

Working to find positive stories to tell about City efforts and the community.

Searching the city (media and any outlets available) for Spirit of the Springs’ candidates to celebrate and recognize.

Working with the Sister Cities Board, write all press releases and act as liaison between the City and the SC board.

Greener Corners

Work as a liaison with Nick Kittle to broaden the Greener Corners for the City.

Press Releases

Daily releases for assigned departments or as assigned by CCO

External Marketing

Assist in marketing efforts for the City.

Graphic Design

Assist all in City who request graphic design from Communications

Dee Brown – Communications Specialist

Key Responsibilities:

Operate cameras for all public meeting tapings and broadcasts including, but not limited to all City Council, formal and informal, Planning Commission,

Answer or direct all citizen remarks/complaints that are directed to City Communications

Act as a back- up editor and videographer for Springs TV

Event Planning

Assist in Event Planning & Implementation: Planning and implementing any events, including Spirit of the Springs, Solution Team events, Town Hall meetings or other events managed through the Mayor’s office.

Mary Webb – Administrative Assistant

Key Responsibilities:

Answer phones

Answer phone in department and forward all media calls to appropriate person.

Communications Budget / Contract Manager

Cindy & Dept Scheduler

Event Planning & Implementation: Assist in planning and implementing any events, including Spirit of the Springs, Solution Team events, Town Hall meetings or other events managed through the Mayor’s office.

Media Relations

Writing External & Internal Communication: Writing thank you notes, letters,

e-mails; responding to citizen and employee queries or complaints, etc.; and ensuring all written communication is on message.

Posted in: Budget • City Administration • City employees • Colorado Open Records Act • • • • • | 13 Comments »

Council ‘overstepped’ legal authority, attorney says

February 29th, 2012, 8:25 am by

This is an email from City Attorney Chris Melcher, provided to The Gazette through Chief Communications Officer Cindy Aubrey.

The email speaks for itself:

“I wanted to provide further information regarding the Opinion of the City Attorney’s Office issued February 10, 2012, entitled “Roles and Responsibilities of City Council and Mayor with Regard to Appropriations and Administration of Appropriated Funds”.  My office consulted with the several outside attorneys and other municipal government experts on the opinion, and carefully reviewed the proper roles of Council (the legislative branch) and the Mayor (the executive branch) in the appropriations and budget process under the City Charter and our new form of government.  In our research and discussions with outside attorneys, there was a consensus that the Colorado Supreme Court has clearly ruled many times on the respective roles of the legislative branch and the executive branch in appropriations and budget implementation.  These opinions of the Supreme Court have defined the respective roles of the legislative and the executive branch – and describe in detail the limitations on improper legislative interference with the executive administration of the budget, as well as limitations on the executive ignoring or contradicting appropriate legislative major budgetary determinations.   The City Attorney’s Office memorandum of February 10, 2012 discusses in detail the 3 major rulings by the Supreme Court in the past 30 years and similar rulings by other State Supreme Courts, describes the proper roles of Council and the Mayor under our City Charter, and provides clear guidance to Council and the Mayor on both the 2012 Budget Ordinance and on future budget cycles.

It is worth pointing out that the Mayor decided in early 2012 to adopt a conciliatory and collaborative approach in the 2012 Budget, and agreed to implement the Council veto override budget requests.  This was despite the fact that at least 2 of those veto overrides (the additional code enforcement officer and the tennis court maintenance directives) were under the City Charter and Colorado law an inappropriate legislative interference with the executive administration of city departments.  It is important to understand that in light of the Mayor’s decision to implement the Council veto override requests, there is currently no “injury” to either Mayor or Council that requires further action, and no requirement that further City time or resources be expended on this question.  The City Attorney’s Opinion on the appropriations in the 2012 Budget is an “advisory opinion” to clarify for Council and Mayor their proper roles in the budget process, based on the actions in the 2012 Budget.  The City Attorney’s opinion is also provided as “guidance”, to help both the Mayor and Council navigate future budget cycles, and was completed at the request of both Council and Mayor for this purpose.

The City Attorney’s Office memorandum states that Council overstepped their lawful authority under the Charter in the 2012 Budget and sought to exert power they did not properly possess — it was not the Mayor impermissibly seeking new budget powers.  The heart of the issue was whether Council could seek to instruct the Mayor how many employees to hire for code enforcement, and seek to instruct the Mayor how to use the “Parks and Rec” budget funds, in this case on tennis court maintenance.  The Colorado Supreme Court in 3 landmark decisions has stated that decisions on staffing and decisions on allocation of budget resources are central to the executive role, and generally are not appropriate matters for legislative direction.  The veto over-ride or the supermajority vote by Council in December 2011 was certainly a significant fact, and when taken in support of a proper legislative action would of course be binding on the Mayor.  But a veto override cannot in and of itself overcome a violation of the Charter (our City constitution).   In such a case, the veto override is not the critical factor, the critical factor is whether the Council has taken action outside their lawful role and overstepped their bounds as defined under the Charter.  If so, the Council veto override is invalid and the Mayor’s veto would stand.

In our conversations with outside experts, both outside attorneys and political experts, the consensus view strongly advised that conflicts between the legislative and the executive branches on appropriations and budget questions are best resolved through the political process — through dialogue, through compromise and collaboration, or through the election process when differences cannot be resolved.  The legal process is a last resort, and is often very expensive and very inefficient – particularly when the answer is already clear.  Most of the Colorado Supreme Court decisions on these issues took many years to resolve, and left the affected citizens and the government agencies in limbo and uncertainty for long periods of time before clarity was obtained.  The existing Supreme Court opinions are well established as the clear direction from the State’s highest court.

Two of the attorneys in the City Attorney’s Office that worked on this opinion (Wynetta Massey, Pat McDivitt) have a combined experience as municipal law attorneys working for the City of over 35 years (they reported to Council for virtually all that time, prior to the Charter change).  I was personally involved in developing and writing this opinion, carefully reviewed every case, and discussed the issues with numerous individuals before rendering our opinion.  I have over 25 years experience in legal practice, including 5 years as a federal prosecutor, over 10 years as a general counsel or senior executive to public and private businesses, and over 5 years as general counsel to nonprofit organizations (JD Yale Law School 1986, BA Carleton College 1982).

The outside attorneys and outside experts consulted by the City Attorney’s Office include the following:

  1. John Cook, Managing Partner Colorado Springs, Hogan Lovells
  2. Cole Finegan, Managing Partner Denver, Hogan Lovells (former Denver City Attorney)
  3. Chantell Taylor, Attorney, Hogan Lovells
  4. Doug Friednash, Denver City Attorney (current)
  5. Adrian Kwiatkowski, President, Strong Mayor-Council Institute
  6. Robert Loevy, Professor Emeritus, Colorado College (Ph.D. in Political Science, tenured professor for over 40 years; numerous publications, paper, and awards during career; appointed by the Governor as a member of the Colorado State Redistricting Commission 2011; recognized national expert and public commentator on issues of government and politics)
  7. International Municipal Lawyers Association (national association for city attorneys and municipal law practitioners)

I hope this information is helpful.  Thank you,

Christopher J. Melcher

City Attorney/Chief Legal Officer

Posted in: City Administration • City Council • Lawsuit • Politics • • • | 8 Comments »

61% of mayor’s meetings held under shroud of secrecy

February 27th, 2012, 8:14 am by

Last month, Mayor Steve Bach told reporters he had “all kinds of discussions all the time” with people who don’t want their names out in public.

He was right.

According to the mayor’s 2012 calendar, about 61 percent of Bach’s meetings are held under a shroud of secrecy.

On Feb. 10, The Gazette requested the mayor’s calendar and/or appointment book for January and February of this year.

The mayor’s Communications Office complied with the open-records request and submitted a response three days later as required by Colorado law.

The office provided Bach’s calendar for January and through Feb. 13.

The calendar shows that Bach had about 132 meetings during that time period.

Of those, about 80 — or 60.6 percent — were with people whose names the Bach administration is hiding.

The analysis included both face-to-face and phone meetings.

In instances where the calendar lists the entry as “Mtgs” or “Phone Mtgs,” two meetings were counted as part of the analysis.

But it’s impossible to tell whether there were more than two meetings during a particular time slot because the calendar doesn’t specify the number.

The analysis did not include meetings of the City Council or the Mayor’s Counsel, which are both posted and open to the public.

Highlights of the mayor’s calendar during the Jan. 1-Feb.13 time period:

Bach has had eight meetings each with Chief of Staff Laura Neumann, City Attorney Chris Melcher and Steve Cox, chief of economic vitality and innovation.

Bach has had seven meetings each with Chief Communications Officer Cindy Aubrey and Donna Nelson, economic vitality and innovation specialist.

He has has two meetings with police Chief Pete Carey and one with fire Chief Rich Brown.

He has had three meetings with his assistant, Brenda Bonn.

He met with former Mayor Lionel Rivera on Jan. 9.

The mayor has had at least five meetings with a “primary employer.” However, the calendar keeps the employer’s identity a secret.

When questioned last month about his calendar,  Bach — who promised transparency when he was running for office — said the city was complying with the open-records law and that if someone saw otherwise, “engage legal counsel and come after us.”

To watch video of the mayor’s remarks, click here. The discussion starts about 6 minutes and 30 seconds into the video.

The city is providing the media “what we think is appropriate in the way of my public meetings,” Bach said last month.

“That’s just the way it is, and I’m sorry that doesn’t satisfy you,” he said.

Posted in: City Council • City employees • Colorado Open Records Act • Meetings • Transparency • • • • • • • • • • | 15 Comments »

Twitter not so tweet after all, city says

February 23rd, 2012, 5:55 pm by

Mayor Steve Bach has made a big deal out of using social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, to communicate with Colorado Springs residents.

When he announced a town hall meeting for Wednesday night, Springs resident Justin Burns went on the mayor’s Facebook page and suggested that Twitter would be “a great Q & A tool” to use for the event.

At least 200 million people actively use Twitter.

“Thank you Justin, that’s a great idea,” was the response.

But the mayor’s Communications Office didn’t chirp a single tweet.

The Gazette asked Chief Communications Officer Cindy Aubrey how many of her employees were at the town hall meeting and why no one — including a recent addition with supposed social media expertise — didn’t tweet from the event.

Here’s her response:

For the Town Hall meeting, we had John Leavitt, Mary Scott, Laura Benjamin, Julie Smith, Bill Beagle and myself.

John – Front door greeter and usher – helped with set up.

Julie  – Videographer – helped with set up.

Bill – Videographer

Laura – Collected questions, took pictures and co-emceed with Steve Cox – also helped with set up

Mary – Took notes to write a summary for Q & A – to get something posted today for those who were unable to attend

Cindy – Event producer

Given the hour and the event, was not sure how large of an audience we would have on Twitter.  I have to think about return on investment.  I have included an article about Twitter time – and listened to panel of three Twitter uber users today – they all concur that 8-5 is prime time.  We will discuss and even post a poll to determine if we should have someone tweeting at all events – or if resources should be allocated differently.  This was our first Town Hall, so we learned from it.  Our goal is to provide excellent customer service always.  If enough of our citizens would like to get tweets, we will provide.   http://pinterest.com/pin/270286415106330645/

Cindy

Posted in: City Administration • City employees • Meetings • • • • • • • | 8 Comments »

Urban Renewal ‘welcomes’ probe of finances

February 16th, 2012, 9:38 am by

Even though the problems at the Colorado Springs Urban Renewal Authority have been widely reported, The Gazette asked the Bach administration yesterday to explain why it was inspecting the authority’s financial records.

Cindy Aubrey, who is Mayor Steve Bach’s chief communications officer, provided the following statement:

“The Urban Renewal Authority Board asked the City for a line of credit last fall – they wanted a loan from the general fund to cover expenses. The City initially understood that the Urban Renewal Authority was seeking an excessive amount of money for the Ivywild development project.  The Mayor intervened.  Urban Renewal Authority recently announced that they defaulted on money they borrowed for the North Nevada redevelopment project. The Mayor thinks it is appropriate to take a look at the Urban Renewal Authority.  The Mayor “shall have charge and supervision over all accounts and records of the City, and all boards or groups required to keep or make accounts.and may inspect or cause to be inspected all records or accounts required to be kept in any of the offices or departments of the City, and cause proper accounts and records to be kept and proper reports to be made.”

The statement apparently reached a wide audience.

Today, City Council President Scott Hente issued a rebuttal of sorts.

Here’s what Hente wrote:

Scott Hente

All,

Please allow me to comment on a couple of things:

1) The CSURA has always been totally transparent with its bookkeeping, financial reports, and audits.  All of those items have always been discussed in open session, with the media sometimes present, and are referred to in the agendas and minutes, which can be found at its web site http://www.csurbanrenewal.org.  The CSURA welcomes the opportunity for any agency to take a look at its financial records and will work constructively and cooperatively with the Mayor’s office and provide any information they may request.  As an aside, the CSURA’s annual audit, to be conducted by the locally respected accounting firm of BiggsKofford, is due to begin later this month.  As has always been the case, that audit report will be a matter of public record.

2) There never was a proposal to seek “an excessive amount of money for the Ivywild development project”.  There was an initial pro forma, which was basically a mathematical exercise, to ascertain the feasibility of whether tax increment financing would be a viable option.  The numbers used in that pro forma were for analysis purposes only and were never vetted, discussed, or approved by the CSURA Board.  The Ivywild Urban Renewal Area will prove to be an outstanding urban renewal project and will be an economic driver for that part of town.

As always, please do no hesitate to contact me with any additional questions you may have.

Scott

 

Posted in: City Administration • City Council • Politics • • • • | 6 Comments »

Mayor and his wife celebrate 28 years of marriage

February 10th, 2012, 1:53 pm by

Congratulations are in order for Mayor Steve Bach and his wife, Suzi.

Mr. and Mrs. Bach are celebrating their 28th wedding anniversary.

“The Mayor is taking some personal time,” Chief Communications Officer Cindy Aubrey said an email.

But Bach has been “staying close in touch with his office,” she said

Bach and his wife are out of town, but Aubrey said she didn’t know exactly where.

“It’s pretty close to home,” she said in a telephone interview.

Wherever it is, congrats!

Posted in: City Administration • People • • • | 3 Comments »

Quote of the Day

February 9th, 2012, 2:41 pm by

Is the Bach administration trying to dissuade reporters from filing open-records requests?

The mayor’s Communications Office, led by former TV news director Cindy Aubrey, has been sharing open-records requests filed by one media outlet with every news organization in town for about the past month.

It’s happened to The Gazette twice and to the Independent once so far.

“It smells of punitive action,” Al Tompkins, senior faculty member at the Poynter Institute for journalism in St. Petersburg, Fla., told the Indy.

Some City Council members can relate.

“I share your and Daniel’s frustration with the difficulty of getting information from the executive branch of the Colorado Springs city government.  As we work through this new form of government, Council members have occasionally been the last to know some information and, on more than one occasion, we find out something either in the media or when a media person calls us asking for a comment,” Councilman Bernie Herpin said in an email to the Independent’s J. Adrian Stanley and The Gazette.

Mayor Steve Bach, in case you’ve forgotten, pledged transparency when he was running for office.

 

Posted in: City Administration • City Council • Colorado Open Records Act • Transparency • • • • • | 3 Comments »

Quote of the Day

February 2nd, 2012, 3:41 pm by

Mayor Steve Bach, who pledged transparency when he was running for office, held a closed-door meeting Thursday with regional leaders in what is being called the Pikes Peak Region Mayors Caucus.

Bach said he got the idea after attending the Denver Metro Mayors Caucus.

Unlike Bach’s meeting, however, officials in Denver aren’t afraid to let the sunshine in.

Catherine Kearney Marinelli, principal of Civic Results and the director of policy and programs for the Denver Metro Mayors Caucus, said Denver’s meetings are open to the public.

“We often have a number of people sitting around the outskirts of the table. Only mayors sit at the table because it’s really intended to be an opportunity for them to have a dialogue about whatever pressing issues they’ve decided to address on the agenda. But we do have visitors in the room quite often and sometimes members of the press.”

So, will future meetings be open to the public?

The answer is maybe yes, maybe no.

Here’s what Chief Communications Officer Cindy Aubrey said in an email:

“In the press release you will see that this was a “get acquainted” meeting with the mayors from around the region.  In the meeting, they had a discussion about whether or not this was going to be a useful, productive get together.  Mayor Bach, having attended the Denver Metro Mayor’s Caucus, thought that this same kind of gathering could be a good idea for our region.

After the group discusses the format, whether or not they will be public and the frequency of the meetings, I will let you know.  This is a brand new idea for our region – still working out all of the details.”

Posted in: City Administration • Meetings • Transparency • • • • | 8 Comments »

« Previous Entries
ADVERTISEMENT 
ADVERTISEMENT 
powered by
google
Search
        Search: Web    Site

Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Site Map

Autos | Homes & Real Estate | Jobs | Classifieds | ColoradoSprings.com

Local Business Directory | Webmaster

Freedom Communications, Inc

Freedom Communications, Inc.

  

SEO Powered by Platinum SEO from Techblissonline