Mayor Mobolade’s Office pushing back on City Council criticism of Mayor’s city resource policy

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - Mayor Yemi Mobolade's Office is pushing back against criticism of his policy regulating the use of city resources by the Colorado Springs City Council.

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On Thursday, the Mayor's Office announced that Mayor Mobolade signed new administrative regulations establishing clearer policies regarding the use of City-owned vehicles and protective detail for elected officials.

The need for a clearer policy arose when the Colorado Springs Office of the City Auditor released their findings into an anonymous waste, fraud, and abuse hotline report that alleged the Mayor misused city resources. Chief among the allegations was that the Mayor took his personal security detail on personal errands and that the Mayor's wife drove a city vehicle for more than 150 miles while her car was in the shop.

The auditor found that no rules had been broken because there were, in essence, no rules to break and recommended that the city create new rules regarding the use of city resources by elected officials.

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The new policy states in part:

"The City recognizes that in such circumstances the need for protection may extend outside official hours and official duties. In these circumstances, the protective detail will provide security and related tasks but generally will not perform tasks of a personal nature. For example, the protective detail may accompany the elected official to a grocery store but will not choose, carry, load, or unload the groceries."

For the use of city vehicles:

"An elected official may be provided with a City-owned vehicle for their official use. If the elected official’s normal work week includes more than 40 hours of City work, that elected official may use the vehicle for incidental personal tasks within the City of Colorado Springs."

According to the new policy, family members are not allowed to use city vehicles, barring an emergency. There are no penalties for not following these rules in the policy; it only states that the elected official will be required to reimburse the city at the standard IRS mileage rate.

"A number of those folks indicated that had they used city resources in a way consistent with the use from our Mayor recently, that they would likely lose their jobs," said Colorado Springs City Councilor Brian Risley, opening up discussion around item 8J at the council's work session.

8J is the council's attempt to regulate the use of city resources by elected officials.

"I don't think the policy put forth by the administration really has any teeth," Councilor Risley said.

The ordinance would introduce a penalty for any elected official, including a city councilor, if they didn't follow rules around the use of city resources. The ordinance reads as follows:

No covered person or their immediate family members shall
misappropriate services or other resources of the City for personal benefit. For elected officials and their immediate family members:

(1) It is not a violation of this section to use City-funded security for official duties or for personal activities where a reasonable security risk exists as determined by the Colorado Springs Chief of Police or designee. Elected officials and their immediate family members may not use City-funded security for personal errands unrelated to safety.

(2) City-owned vehicles will be used for official purposes only and shall not be used for personal errands. City-owned vehicles will only be operated by elected officials unless operation is necessary to support repairs or maintenance. City vehicles will only be used to transport passengers who are elected officials, City employees, or individuals engaged in official business with the City.

The penalty for violation is censure.

However, Wayne Williams, the Mayor's new Chief of Staff, pushed back on that sentiment.

"I am not sure how one group of elected officials censuring another serves any possible purpose other than to reduce the ability of the city to work together," Williams said. "I don't think the mayor writing a letter of reprimand or city council issuing a censure has any practical reason or a practical purpose."

As for the idea that the policy put forward by the mayor's office has 'no teeth,' Williams says it is in line with similar regulations the council has for the CEO of Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU).

"This [proposed policy] is more restrictive than what your personnel policy adopted by city council and more restrictive than what you have provided with respect to the CEO of Colorado Springs Utilities," Williams said.

KRDO13 reached out to the Mayor's Office for further clarification on the Mayor's opinion on the council's policy, and discussions had on the dias Monday. This story will be updated when/if they provide a statement.