Denver is committing $100,000 to investigate the fire department’s timekeeping practices

The city of Denver has approved up to $100,000 for an independent investigation into the use of flextime by Denver Fire Department command staff, which was first revealed by an investigation CBS News Colorado investigation In April.

The investigation could take up to two years, according to a contract signed last month between the city and former U.S. Attorney Robert Troyer. CBS News Colorado received the order through an official request to the Denver Department of Public Safety.

The Department of Public Safety provided this statement to CBS News Colorado Investigator Brian Maass regarding the investigation: “We expect a quick and thorough investigation. Although it is likely that the investigation will be completed within a few months, the contract timeline ensures that the investigation and any follow-up actions identified during the course of the investigation can be completed without the need to request a contract modification. For the same reasons, the contract value was set at $100,000 to avoid contract modification if expected deadlines or costs were exceeded. The investigation would cost $100,000.

In April, we reported that Denver Fire Chief Desmond Fulton, who makes $230,000 a year, has amassed more than 400 hours of free or flex time over the past three years by attending memorial services for firefighters, retirement parties for his co-workers and attended a candlelight vigil for victims of a mass shooting in 2022.

A current Denver firefighter described the practice as “disgusting.” Numerous other firefighters, who wished to remain anonymous, expressed similar sentiments.

Following our investigation, Armando Saldate, executive director of the Denver Department of Public Safety, ordered an immediate halt to the practice, saying he was not aware of it. Records show the city signed a $100,000 contract with Troyer in late April to conduct an investigation limited to two years. The agreement calls for Troyer to “conduct an independent investigation into the practice of using ‘Kelly Flex Time’ by the Denver Fire Department’s command staff.”

Denver’s municipal code appears to specifically prohibit Fulton and… the fire department command staff from the accumulation of comp time. The city code states: “Department chiefs, deputy chiefs and the fire department chief who work overtime after the end of a regular shift will not receive compensation.”

One issue that will likely be investigated is whether Fulton or his command staff used compensatory or flex time to take time off and take vacation, which then allowed them to cash out or sell back to the city unused vacation days at the end of each year. Selling unused vacation days is permitted under the collective bargaining agreement between the fire department and the city, but rank-and-file firefighters are under intense pressure not to engage in the practice, apparently to save the city money.

Records show the city paid Fulton $14,987.30 in 2023 for vacation days he did not use in 2022. The city paid department head Robert Murphy $10,992.66 for vacation days he did not use in 2022. For Fulton and his senior staff: The city paid them a total of $81,043.93 for unused vacation days in 2022. When Fulton accepted the job as fire chief in 2020, he noted, “We are facing a budget crisis the likes of which we have never seen.”

While top department leaders pocketed thousands of dollars for unused vacation days, internal emails from 2022 show they were simultaneously pressuring rank-and-file firefighters not to do the same.

In a December 2022 email to department heads, Murphy wrote to his colleagues: “Please take a look at the following members and let me know the plan to eliminate these vacation hours before the end of the year. These hours must be used before January.”

That same month, Assistant Director Kathleen Vredenburgh sent an email to department heads and copied the email to Fulton.

Titled “LEAVAGE REVIEW 2022,” Vredenburgh urged commanders to “look at the listed individuals in your division who still have vacation and ASL (accumulated sick leave) balances and make sure they have the rest of their time on the books. There are only three and a half weeks left in the year.”

City records show Vredenburgh received $9,243.77 for her unused vacation days as of 2022.

A Denver Fire Department spokesman said Fulton and his command staff would not discuss current issues given the ongoing investigation.

Mayor Mike Johnston wrote to Chris Ferguson. the president of the Denver Firefighters Union, on May 1 to officially inform the union about the comparison period investigation.

“I know we remain faithful to our expectation that public safety work in Denver is conducted with integrity and transparency at all levels, and especially in leadership,” Johnston wrote in the one-page letter to Ferguson.

In his letter, he asked that “Local 858 assist with the investigation and wait for its conclusion before taking any formal action.”

That line appears aimed at staving off a possible “no-confidence” vote in Fulton that has been discussed among Denver firefighters.

“I am aware of the frustration and anger your members may be feeling,” the mayor’s letter said, saying “our desire is to receive an accurate report of what happened.”

Although Fulton has repeatedly declined to be interviewed on the subject of flextime, he previously released the following statement:

“I want my fire department team and our broader community to know that I have always followed what I believe are best practices to promote transparency and maintain public trust. Tracking flextime is a long-standing practice used by fire chiefs. During my transition to chief in 2020, I continued to follow the practice and track all activities and hours in our reporting system – a practice that has been fully followed by other department chiefs for at least a decade “We are supporting an investigation into how these hours were used and have asked department heads to immediately stop this practice.”