Top Walsenburg police chief candidate under investigation, unbeknownst to city council

WALSENBURG, Colo. (KRDO) - On Tuesday the Walsenburg City Council will vote to potentially hire a new police chief, but KRDO13 Investigates has learned the top candidate is currently under investigation in his previous city. Additionally, multiple city leaders said they didn't know that until KRDO13 Investigates told them.

Walsenburg Mayor Gary Vezzani tells KRDO13 Investigates he still thinks candidate Bill Vinelli is the right person to rebuild the Walsenburg Police Department.

Mayor Gary Vezzani said he found out about the investigation into Bill Vinelli the top candidate for Walsenburg's next police chief less than 48 hours ago.

"None of us knew this until it started showing up on Facebook. Just blurbs and that [made] no sense till Monday morning... I can't believe we didn't contact prior employers. That kind of bugs me."

A quick Google search of "Bill Vinelli" shows multiple top results about the investigation he's currently under by the city of Morrison, Colorado.

Vinelli served as police chief in Morrison until early November when he was put on leave.

The mayor wasn't the only one in the dark, another city council member said they only found out after KRDO13 called them to ask about the investigation.

Vinelli told KRDO13 Investigates his leave was based on three alleged policy violations.

"I think this is the right guy. This has to get cleared, but, we don't want to start out with a black mark on our, you know, we want to start out right?"

Joe Stillwell, current interim city administrator, was part of the team that interviewed and ran background checks on the three finalists, which included Vinelli. Neither the mayor nor any city council member was a part of the hiring committee.

Stillwell told KRDO13 Investigates he doesn't know how this ongoing investigation slipped through the cracks. He says the city did a background check and there were no negative marks. In fact, he was the only candidate who applied who had experience building up a police department, which he did in Morrison, CO.

The mayor said he would want the agreement to be put on pause until the investigation ends, which he says should happen in the coming weeks.

At Tuesday's City Council meeting, Vinelli will appear in front of the city council to answer their questions and attempt to quell their concerns.

Vinelli wouldn't agree to a sitdown interview at this time but said he was excited to be in Walsenburg. Vinelli has already set up shop in City Hall, he has already been hired as a city employee by the previous interim City Administrator, but his contract still needs to be approved by the City Council.

While Walsenburg continues to work on building up its own police department, Mayor Vezzani tells KRDO13 Investigates the city will be patrolled by the Huerfano County Sheriff's Office. He says the city and county have come to an agreement for 2025.