Two Florence council members continue to seek truth on city’s corruption scandal
FLORENCE, Colo. (KRDO) -- A second secret recording of an improper executive session reveals two Florence Council members pushed for answers on the city's growing corruption scandal behind doors.
On the night former City Manager Mike Patterson was arrested in Denver International Airport and charged with stalking his female employees, Councilwoman Melissa Hardy pressed the current Florence Mayor on concerns she heard about his own behavior with female staff.
On the tape, Hardy is heard saying, "That's concerning to me. So I am hoping you can explain to me what happened when you left council last time and your relationship with staff? And the way that's going."
Mayor Paul Villagrana is heard responding with, "Yeah, I left city council because I got very angry. Um, I had made a remark. I uh, asked the city clerk to go get us some coffee, to make coffee. And the remark I said is because I like the way you walk. And unfortunately, in today's society, that remark was misconstrued and it was improper. And I recognize that."
Villagrana was elected in 2021 after he resigned from his council seat on the spot in 2019 after being confronted about that remark.
According to the recording, one of the people who confronted Villagrana was City Attorney Matt Krob, who was representing Florence at the time.
The secret tapes go on to reveal the city council at times had difficulty getting the city attorney on the phone to answer questions while grappling with a city sex scandal. Council members also repeatedly asked to release a public statement to help answer questions for citizens after Patterson was fired and arrested.
Those questions were answered in January by the council, but the women who were allegedly sexually harassed felt they weren't properly acknowledged.
Councilman Brian Allen made a statement 11 days after 13 Investigates told the entire council the women felt ignored, degraded, and not believed.
"This evil was a very dominant trait in our city for many years. That is until the women that were being victimized by these shameful acts stood up and said no more." "To those women, I can only deeply and sincerely apologize."
On March 7, Hardy called for the city attorney's firing. The council unanimously voted to fire Krob, who had represented the city in legal affairs since 2016.
In the same meeting, Allen revealed he had called the Colorado Bureau of Investigation for help on the case involving $2,000 of the city funds unaccounted for, something the Florence taxpayers had been begging for.
However, Allen's direction was not followed by Florence city management.
Interim City Manager Thomas Piltingsrud told 13 Investigates Thursday the CBI will not investigate because there is only $2,000 of missing taxpayer money, and that is not a felony-level theft.
Below is the full recording of the night Patterson was arrested in November 2021.
