Phil Lane (in orange), Chris Jenkins (in white) and Doug Quimby (in black), pictured here with Councilwomen Jan Martin and Brandy Williams, are members of the Regional Leadership Forum.

Ever since Mayor Steve Bach and others suggested that the Regional Leadership Forum get involved in the Memorial Health System RFP process, people have been asking: Who is this group?

“The RLF is an organization dedicated to taking the Operation6035 report and getting to work on one of the core suggestions…leveraging our unique community assets,” the group says on its Facebook page.

“The RLF is a member-funded organization with the sole mission of getting big things done…we’ll measure ourselves purely based on whether or not we succeed,” the group wrote.

According to Facebook, here are its members:

Ron Butlin, Downtown Partnership
Dave Csintyan, Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce
Steve Cox, City of Colorado Springs
Sam Epply, Sparrow Hawk
Jeff Greene, El Paso County
Steve Helbing, Wells Fargo
Chris Jenkins, Nor’wood Development
Mark Jones, U.S. Olympic Committee
Mike Jorgensen, Red Nolan Cadillac
Pam Keller, Keller Homes
Phil Lane, Operation 6035 / Regional Leadership Forum
Christina McGrath, Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region (COPPeR)
Nathan Newbrough, Colorado Springs Philharmonic
Tom Osborne, Colorado Springs Sports Corporation
Dave Palenchar, El Pomar Foundation
Doug Price, Experience Colorado Springs
Doug Quimby, La Plata Communities
Dr. Pamela Shockley Zalabak, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
Martin Wood, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs

Nick Kittle

Nick Kittle, who had been the team leader of the city’s Public Works Department, is now the innovation and sustainability manager, a new position under the Bach administration.

Kittle, who will report to Chief of Staff Steve Cox, will be paid $110,333 a year, the same salary he had been getting as public works team leader.

Kittle joined the city in 2004 as a senior analyst earning $53,382 a year.

Kittle, who received yearly pay raises, went to work  in what used to be the City Manager’s Office as part of a reorganization in 2010. His salary at the time was $92,496.

Kittle received a $17,837 salary increase in April 2010 when he became the public works team leader, overseeing the fleet, engineering, streets and transit departments.

Kittle has myriad responsibilities in his new job.

“Kittle will lead citywide grants coordination, sustainability efforts, and city contracting functions. He will also be responsible for implementing a comprehensive innovation effort for the entire organization. This will include an analysis of different service models to maximize performance in the most cost-effective ways. He will also review practices and policies to improve business processes, increase efficiency, consolidate redundant services, and realize the maximum potential of new technologies,” a press release states.

“Examining the true cost of doing business and striking the right balance between contracted and in-house service is key to maintaining the organization’s fiscal health as we go forward,” Kittle said in a statement.

“We want to ensure that services are being provided in the most effective way possible, and I am looking forward to taking on this challenge,” he said.

According to the city:

Kittle has a bachelors of science degree in Industrial Management from Purdue University and a MBA from the University of Colorado.

Before joining the city, Kittle worked in the private sector with British Petroleum, PricewaterhouseCoopers, El Paso Natural Gas and co-founded and invented EasySubmittals in 2003, which was the nation’s first electronic construction submittal approval process.

He has recieved several awards for innovation, including the 2001 Innovative Leadership Award, and was named the 2005 Internal Support Services Employee of the Year.

Colorado Springs city employees received the following email today:

Mayor Steve Bach and Chief of Staff Steve Cox want to let City employees know that at the discretion of your immediate supervisors, you are encouraged to take a short break on Monday afternoon to enjoy the festivities at the finish line of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge Prologue!

The Local Organizing Committee recommends heading toward the finish line at Colorado and Cascade around 3:20 p.m. on Monday to be there for the final top riders coming through.

This is going to be a great event to showcase Colorado Springs to both visiting cycling fans and a national TV audience. The event will also have a significant positive impact on the local economy. Experience Colorado Springs reports this is typically a very slow weekend for hotels with schools starting back, but this weekend most of the large hotels are sold out!

Hope you can get out and enjoy not only the race on Monday but also the many ancillary events going on this weekend around town brought to you by the Pikes Peak Cycling Society. The calendar of events can be found at www.pikespeakcyclingsociety.org.

(not the actual bus)

Call it the SDS Express.

A city-owned bus is transporting former Mayor Lionel Rivera, City Council President Scott Hente, Colorado Springs Utilities CEO Jerry Forte and other city officials and Utilities employees Friday to the Pueblo Dam for a celebration commemorating the start of major construction on the 62-mile Southern Delivery System water pipeline.

“This is a more efficient way to transport the group than individual cars,” SDS spokeswoman Janet Rummel said in an email. “Those riding the bus will participate in a tour of construction at the dam prior to the event.”

Mayor Steve Bach is scheduled to attend Friday’s event, but he’s not going by bus, according the passenger list.

Rummel said such bus transportation “has been done for similar events that many Council members have attended in the past.”

Colorado Springs ratepayers will apparently foot the bill.

“I have been told that the bus gets 6 miles per gallon and the cost of the fuel per gallon is $2.56,” she wrote. “For the roundtrip, we estimate the cost of fuel to be just under $40. The City also has designated a City employee to drive the bus that morning instead of their normal dispatch duties.”

The bus is fueled from a city fuel station, Rummel said.

“Our understanding is that the driver was already scheduled to work that morning. We will work with the City to reimburse them for their costs,” she said.

Here’s the passenger list:

Council members riding the bus:
Scott Hente
Merv Bennett and his wife
Brandy Williams
Val Snider
Jan Martin
Tim Leigh (tentative)

Staff riding the bus:
Steve Cox
Jerry Forte
Gary Bostrom
John Fredell
Ken Burgess
Sherri Newell
Dave Padgett
Bill Cherrier
Bruce McCormick
Janet Rummel

In addition, former Mayor Lionel Rivera and Vice Mayor Larry Small will be riding the bus.

“I am hopeful that former and present City employees will now step forward with the facts about improper financial wheeling and dealing that have damaged the integrity of our local government.”

– Terri Velasquez, former director of finance and administrative services, said today in a statement released by her attorney.

In the statement, Velasquez, who claims she was fired by Chief of Staff Steve Cox after she reported alleged mishandling of funds, said she is ready to cooperate with an “unbiased investigation.”

Terri Velasquez, who was fired Thursday as the city’s director of finance and administrative services, issued the following statement today:

“I am providing this statement to help clarify the situation concerning my termination of employment with the City of Colorado Springs, which occurred on July 28, 2011.  I was terminated from my position as Director of Finance and Administrative Services, and offered no new employment.

On June 27, 2011, after nearly 24 years of proud and faithful service to the community of Colorado Springs, I was presented with a four month severance package to resign from the City.  The package contained a provision that would prevent me from communicating anything negative about the City.  When I asked Steve Cox, the Mayor’s Chief of Staff and my supervisor, why he wanted to end my employment, he stated that he had given me a year to get on board and I had not gotten on board.

During my performance review with Steve Cox in April 2011, he never mentioned that I was not on board.  The rating Steve Cox gave me exceeded expectations.

If what Steve Cox was referring to was a cover up of facts relating to financial problems or mismanagement, I was not on board.  One of these instances included an overpayment of $4,913 to Mr. Cox, which occurred in May 2010, and while he was Chief of the Fire Department.  Mr. Cox never voluntarily brought this overpayment to the City’s attention.

Six months after this overpayment occurred, Finance staff discovered the problem.  This overpayment could have caused taxpayers to pay Mr. Cox an additional $160 per month in pension benefits for the rest of his life.  I took the initiative for the public good and reported the overpayment to Denny Nester, Internal Auditor.  Within days of reporting the concerns to the Auditor, however, I was requested by the Administration to consider a voluntary severance from employment.  I refused the implied or expressed request to resign.  Mr. Cox ultimately repaid the City.  There were other fiscal improprieties that were discovered and reported.

I also have not been on board in regard to the El Pomar Foundation’s donation to the City for the USOC project and the alleged mishandling of those funds.  In April 2011, I was asked by a City official to prepare a statement to the El Pomar Foundation regarding their donation to the City for the USOC project.  That statement was to certify to El Pomar that the donated funds had been used appropriately.  I declined to provide that statement given that the funds were used by LandCo in a manner inconsistent with the required usage terms.  The District Attorney’s office met with me in June 2011 regarding its investigation into the alleged improper use of El Pomar funds.  I was cooperative in this investigation and reported the meeting to the Administration before it actually occurred.  I was not told that I could not meet with the District Attorney.  Soon after cooperating with the DA’s investigation I was presented with a new severance package for a voluntary resignation.  I understood that I was being threatened with termination of employment if I did not sign a voluntary resignation.

On June 28, 2011, I met with Mayor Steve Bach.  I told him I was upset at what was occurring and asked the Mayor if he had reviewed the severance package.  The Mayor said that he had not seen the package.  I asked the Mayor if I could continue with my employment and suggested that I report to him directly or someone else.  The Mayor said that I could not.  I asked the Mayor if he knew why I was being forced out of employment and terminated, and explained to him my perception that I was being terminated for reporting financial mismanagement.  The Mayor refused to act and said that he would support Mr. Cox in his decision.

I have now been terminated from employment.

I intend to fight this wrongful termination.  I have done nothing wrong, and the citizens of Colorado Springs have a right to know how their officials are functioning and also have a right to demand honesty and transparency in government.  It behooves the City Council to conduct an investigation into whether there have been any improprieties and wrongdoing by high ranking City officials.”

Any additional questions about the situation should be referred to my attorneys at the law office of Frank and Finger, P.C.

Terri Velasquez

Terri Velasquez‘s 30-day paid administrative leave ended at midnight last night.

But the Bach administration is refusing to say whether Velasquez, a longtime city employee who was most recently director of financial and administrative services, is still employed by the city or even if she received severance pay.

“This remains a personnel matter and we do not have additional information to release at this time,” city spokeswoman Mary Scott said today in an email.

Velasquez, who has worked for the city since 1987, was placed on paid administrative leave by Steve Cox, Mayor Steve Bach’s chief of staff, on June 25.

Cox and Bach have refused to say why, calling it a personnel issue.

“I can’t discuss it because it’s a personnel matter,” Bach said July 14.

“I will tell you that Steve Cox … is authorized to make that type of decision,” he said. “He consulted with me in advance. I was aware of the decision. I’m sorry I can’t tell you more. But it’s not a closed matter yet.”

UPDATE: To see which employees make more money than the mayor, click here.

Mayor Steve Bach may be the head honcho at City Hall, but he’s hardly the highest paid.

As the city’s chief executive, the mayor gets $96,000 a year.

Poor Bach.

According to information requested by The Gazette, there are 429 employees of the city, Memorial Health System and Colorado Springs Utilities whose base pay is higher than the mayor’s.

The request was strictly for base pay and didn’t include other forms of compensation, such as bonuses or overtime.

So by year’s end, many more city employees – especially police officers, firefighters and nurses – will likely make more money than Bach.

Even Bach’s chief of staff, Steve Cox, makes more than his boss – almost twice as much, in fact.

Cox, a longtime city employee, is paid $182,448 a year.

Cox is the second-highest paid municipal government employee.

The highest paid is City Attorney Patricia Kelly, who gets $183,736 a year.

Assistant City Manager Nancy Johnson is third with a base annual salary of $165,899, though Johnson is poised to take a pay cut in her new job as director of parks, planning and public works.

In a recent interview, Bach said the city and The City Committee — a group of business leaders who have been studying city operations for the past year — plan to hire a consultant to complete a thorough wage and salary review of city employees.

“For the … civilian positions, we’re going to compare to the local private sector – major private sector corporations in Colorado Springs,” Bach said. “That’s our competition, isn’t it?”

At Utilities, CEO Jerry Forte is the highest paid employee with $276,750 a year in base pay.

Forte is also entitled to receive incentive pay. His 2010 incentive pay was more than $76,000.

The other top earners at Utilities include Chief Energy Services Officer Bruce McCormick, whose base pay is $245,003, Chief Water Services Officer Gary Bostrom, whose base pay is $224,390, Chief Planning and Finance Officer Bill Cherrier, whose base pay is $220,002 and Carmelo “Carl” Cruz, whose base pay is $194,064. Cruz is the utility’s chief customer and corporate service officer.

At Memorial, the highest paid employee is Dr. Bryan Mahan, whose base pay is $588,079.

Memorial CEO Larry McEvoy and Dr. Laura Klein are tied for second with base annual pay of $550,000.04.

Dr. Aime Hollard isn’t far behind. Her base pay is $550,000.03.

Aimee Cox has been selected as the first City Council liaison, a new position created to provide a link of communication between council members and city staff.

Under the old council-manager form of government, council members had a direct line to city staff. But under the new strong-mayor form of government, all municipal government employees work for the mayor.

“In the old days – a couple of months ago – council members would call or send an email to the appropriate staff person to get an answer to a constituent’s question. That line is broken now,” council President Scott Hente said today.

As a result, Mayor Steve Bach and Hente came up with the idea to create a council liaison to keep those lines of communication through one point of contact.

Cox, a Manitou Springs city councilwoman who works for the city of Colorado Springs, will also be responsible for facilitating communication among council members and preparing council agendas, among other duties, Hente said.

“She’s been with the city for some time and so she obviously knows the city staff. She knows the way around. She knows who to deal with,” Hente said. “She is well thought of and well respected within the city staff. I think she’s the right person.”

Hente noted that Cox serves on the Manitou Springs City Council as mayor pro tem, which gives her a unique insight.

“She understands the sensitivities and the politics of municipal governments,” he said. “If I could write a description of the perfect candidate, she would probably fit it.”

Cox is a former parks and recreation employee who most recently worked in the city housing office, Hente said.

“It was a complete lateral change, so this is no cost to the taxpayers,” he said. “There’s no salary change and there is no addition to the city work force.”

Cox’s current annual base salary is $74,000, according to city spokeswoman Mary Scott.

Cox is not related to Steve Cox, who is the mayor’s chief of staff.

Photo by Daniel J. Chacon

Colorado Springs Councilwoman Angela Dougan vehemently opposed a proposal to spend taxpayer money on a rooftop mural touting the city as the home of Olympic champions.

She was overruled 8-1, but that hasn’t stopped Dougan from asking questions — a lot of questions — about the project.

On Monday afternoon, Dougan sent Mayor Steve Bach an email asking for help in getting answers to questions from her constituents.

The email landed in city spokesman John Leavitt’s inbox, and Leavitt answered almost all the questions by 10:32 a.m. the next day.

Among the questions: Did the city have a contract, apparently with the muralist, that spelled out all the details?

“No,” Leavitt responded.

“We used our sole-source system for professional services to allow for a quicker response.  We have a ‘not to exceed’ estimate from (Vladimir Jones) for the mural,” he wrote.

Dougan also wanted to know whether the city had the ability to say the mural didn’t meet expectations and not pay for the work.

“We believe the work has and will meet our standards,” Leavitt responded.

“We have no contractual ability to not pay.”

Say what?

“Are you saying that we have no contract, but we’re still obligated to pay for the work?” The Gazette asked Leavitt today in an email.

“We received permission from the contracting office to use Kim Polomka (through Vladimir Jones) as a single source professional service because of the unique nature of his business (outdoor murals).  We did not negotiate a contract per se, we accepted a ‘not to exceed’ estimate from VJ for completing the mural.  Informally, we have emphasized our desire to have the mural completed as soon as possible, unfortunately recent weather patterns have prevented the artist from completing the mural to date,” Leavitt wrote.

“We are pleased with the progress to date and are confident in the design oversight being provided.  We look forward to a completed mural that declares our pride in having the U.S. Olympic Committee headquartered in our City,” he wrote.

“We would hope you would share that vision,” Leavitt added.

Here’s the entire Q & A between Dougan and Leavitt:

How much is the actual cost of the painter? The painter, Mr. Kim Polomka, will bill us no more than $19,000 for materials and labor to complete the mural.

How much for Vladimir Jones? VJ will bill us no more than $2,500 to oversee production.

(Vladimir Jones has decided to waive that fee in an effort to allay some of the controversy surrounding the project.)

Do we pay if painter does not adhere to design or will he fix at no cost? Graffetti? (sic)  VJ is making sure the painter adheres to their design.  Any subsequent fixes will be the responsibility of the City.

Time line on finishing? The latest estimate is to finish by the end of next week.

Did we go out to bid on this and what were the other bids? We did not go out to bid because of the super-short time frame.  The USOC offered to pay for the design but basically insisted we use their contractors.  Given the fact they had final say on the design, we felt it was expedient to accept their offer and get the work done as soon as possible.

What type of paint is being used to help with longevity of sign? I don’t know what type of paint is being used, but it has been chosen by Mr. Polomka, who is an outdoor muralist by trade.

Have we received the private money for the welcome signs in the 33,000 fund? No, all the private funds are being funneled directly to the Partnership for Community Design.

Have we paid anyone yet? No, no one has been paid yet, although we have receive invoices for the temporary signage produced for us by a local sign shop.

Do we have a contract with all the details? No, we used our sole-source system for professional services to allow for a quicker response.  We have a “not to exceed” estimate from VJ for the mural.

What did the USOC actually donate? The USOC donated design costs for the mural, the billboards and the soon-to-be completed Greener Corners recycling bin signs.

What is the proportions of the actual artwork and the proportion of the roof that has been painted? I am checking with the vendor and will give you a response as soon as possible.

(In a later email, Leavitt said the roof is 400 feet by 48 feet and that the mural is intended to cover the entire area.)

Where there any promises made that this mural could be done by July 4^th and in turn higher cost for the painter? No, we received approval from Council to move forward on June 14.  There was one week of roof repair and priming that was done.  The subsequent delays are all weather related.

Who decided to pay for sign greeters out of general fund tax payer dollars? I proposed the idea to Mr. Cox, the chief of staff, and he provided the go ahead.

Do we have the ability to say “does not meet standards” with end product and not pay? We believe the work has and will meet our standards.  We have no contractual ability to not pay.

Do we know actual life expectancy in writing? No, the artist cannot guarantee the lifetime of the rooftop mural, but other murals he has done has lasted for years.  We believe it will last for about a year.