29 employees have left Pueblo Clerk and Recorders Office since 2019

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- Claims of a hostile work environment, favoritism, and bad management are just a few of the reasons former employees at the Pueblo County Clerk and Recorders Office gave for either quitting or resigning. In total, 29 employees have left since 2019.

Cyndi Vega told KRDO she left her job at the Motor Vehicle Department of the Clerk and Recorders Office a week and a half ago. She claims her decision to leave stems from a heavy workload, few employees, and poor leadership, specifically from County Clerk Gilbert "Bo" Ortiz.

"The longer that Bo has been in there, he's gotten more of a power trip because he knows that he can do anything," Vega said. "You had the few [employees] in there that were the favorites."

Vega had worked at the Clerk and Recorders Office for almost two decades.

"This was almost 20 years of build-up, of seeing how the employees are mistreated and it's so wrong what he was doing and was getting away with," Vega said. "I have been told by HR and the County Attorney that he is an elected official, you can't touch him."

She went on to say her decision to leave was because of a heavy workload and few trained employees combined with the loss of multiple family members.

"I did have a death in the family, but it was a build-up of seeing how the employees are mistreated and it was so wrong what he was doing and what he was getting away with. It was time for me to get out," Vega said.

When asked about Vega's departure, Ortiz told 13 Investigates he believed family matters were the reason for her retirement.

"She told me that she was retiring to take care of her mother. She did not say anything about me or those things of things when she retired," Ortiz said. "I knew that she was unhappy."

Ortiz also said his relationship with Vega was a love/hate relationship. He believes that she's now expressing her frustrations because she did not receive certain promotions during her tenure as an employee.

Another former employee, Shawna Biby, worked at the Clerks office in 2015 and left after two months. She said her first departure was due to alleged bullying and favoritism within the motor vehicle department. Biby said she returned in 2018 to find that not much had changed with workplace conduct and leadership.

"If you are a favorite, then you are golden. You get anything you want. Rules do not apply to you," Biby said. "If you are not a favorite, then they will definitely pick on you more. Pull you into the office and write you up. Stuff like that."

Biby claims she witnessed other employees be belittled and yelled at during work hours and in front of customers they were trying to assist.

"I don't think I was ever in Clerk Ortiz's office for praise or a compliment, it was always negative," Biby said. "We need new leadership point-blank. He has been in that office for too long."

When asked if a hostile work environment was dominant in the office, Ortiz said it was not and he doesn't have any idea why former employees would allege that.

"I've seen it hostile out there, but a lot of times, it's employee on employee hostility," Ortiz said. "As far as my executive staff, the supervisors, the Chief Deputy, or myself, we always treat people with respect. We never yell. We listen to them and if we can, we help them."

Ortiz told 13 Investigates that his employees do not fear him, but if they did, it was "not his problem."

"I can't control their fears. I mean if they fear that that is on them. I don't make my employees fear me so if they were afraid that's their issue. It's not mine. Human resources is there for them and for me also," Ortiz said.

Gilbert Ortiz is currently on his fourth term as the Pueblo Clerk and Recorder. His fourth term began in January 2020. He was first elected in 2006.

Vega and Biby did voice their concerns to the Pueblo County Commissioners during public comment at a meeting on August 19, 2021.

During that meeting, they claimed the Clerk's Office was a toxic workplace with favoritism and poor leadership.

Ortiz said he was also at that meeting but was advocating for a pay increase for his employees at a time when they could find better pay elsewhere or by remaining on unemployment during the COVID pandemic.

"I was reaching out to the commissioners asking for their help and Cindy and Shawna saw it as an opportunity to smear me and that's what they did," Ortiz said.

"I would like them to treat the people that work there like human beings and not like slaves," Vega told KRDO.

Ortiz maintains that a hostile work environment, favoritism, or poor management have not led to employees leaving the Clerks office.