The City of Denver has authorized as much as $100,000 for an independent investigation into the Denver Fire Department command staff’s use of flex time, which first came to light via a CBS News Colorado investigation in April.

According to a contract signed last month between the city and former U.S. Attorney Robert Troyer, the investigation could run as long as two years. CBS News Colorado obtained the contract via an official request to Denver’s Department of Safety.

The Department of Public Safety gave CBS News Colorado Investigator Brian Maass this statement regarding the investigation, “We anticipate a quick and thorough investigation. While it is likely that the investigation will be completed within a few months, the contract timeline ensures that the investigation and any follow up identified as the investigation progresses can be completed without having to seek a contractual amendment. For the same reasons, the contract amount was set at $100,000 to avoid having to amend the contract if it exceeds anticipated timelines or costs. We do not expect the investigation to cost $100,000.”

In April, we reported that Denver Fire Chief Desmond Fulton, who makes $230,000 annually, amassed more than 400 hours of comp or flex time in a recent three-year period by attending memorial services for firefighters, retirement parties for his employees and going to a candlelight vigil for victims of a 2022 mass shooting.

“Disgusting” is how one current Denver firefighter characterized the practice. Numerous other firefighters, who requested anonymity, expressed similar sentiments.

Following our investigation, Denver Department of Public Safety Executive Director Armando Saldate ordered an immediate halt to the practice, saying he was unaware of it, and records show the city signed a $100,000 contract with Troyer in late April to conduct an investigation that’s capped at two years. The agreement calls for Troyer to “conduct an independent investigation into the practice of the Denver Fire Department Command Staff’s usage of ‘Kelly Flex Time.’”

Denver’s municipal code appears to explicitly forbid Fulton and the fire department’s executive staff from accruing comp time. The city code reads, “Division chiefs, deputy chief and the chief of the fire department who work overtime after the end of a regular shift shall not be compensated.”

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

Records show that in 2023, the city paid Fulton $14,987.30 for vacation days he didn’t use in 2022. The city paid Division Chief of Operations Robert Murphy $10,992.66 for vacation days he didn’t use in 2022. For Fulton and his command 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’re facing a budget crisis like we’ve never seen.”

While top department commanders were pocketing 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 commanders, Murphy wrote to his colleagues, “Please take a look at the following members and let me know the plan to get rid of these vacation hours before the end of the year. These hours need to be used before January.”

That same month, Deputy Chief Kathleen Vredenburgh emailed department division chiefs and copied the email to Fulton.

Titled “2022 VACATION AUDIT,” Vredenburgh alerted the commanders to “look at the attached people listed from your division that still have vacation and ASL (accumulated sick leave) balances and make sure they get the remainder of their time in the books. There’s only three and a half weeks left in the year.”

City records show Vredenburgh was paid $9,243.77 for her unused vacation days from 2022. 

A spokesperson for the Denver Fire Department said Fulton and his command staff would not discuss any current issues given the pending investigation.

Mayor Mike Johnston wrote to Chris Ferguson. the president of the Denver Firefighters Union, on May 1 officially informing the union of the comp time investigation.

“I know we are aligned on our expectation that Denver’s public safety work is conducted with integrity and transparency, at every level, and especially in leadership,” Johnston wrote in the one-page letter to Ferguson.

He asked in his letter “that local 858 support the investigation and await its completion before taking any formal action.”

That line appears to be aimed at fending off a potential “no confidence” vote in Fulton, which has been discussed among Denver firefighters.

“I recognize the frustration and anger your members may feel,” read the mayor’s letter, which noted, “our desire to get an accurate account of what happened.”

Although Fulton has repeatedly declined to be interviewed about the flex time issue, he previously released the following statement:

“I want my team in the fire department and our broader community to know that I’ve always followed what I believed were best practices to promote transparency and uphold the public’s trust. Tracking Flex Time is a long-standing practice that fire chiefs have used for many years. During my transition into the Chief’s appointment in 2020, I continued to follow the practice and track all activities and hours in our reporting system — a practice that has been in for at least the last decade by other department leads. I fully support an investigation of how these hours were used and have asked that department leaders cease this practice immediately.”

Denver Nuggets star Jamal Murray threw a heat pack onto the court during Tuesday night’s loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. In a Pool Report conducted by Vinny Benedetto of Denver Gazette, Crew Chief Marc Davis explained why no disciplinary action was taken at the time. 

The following transcription is per the NBA’s official Pool Report:

QUESTION: The item that was thrown onto the court in the first half, were the officials aware that appeared to come from the Denver sideline? DAVIS: I was the lead official and I didn’t notice it was on the floor or where it came from until [Karl-Anthony] Towns scored.

QUESTION:  If you had been aware of that, what would the punishment have been in that situation? DAVIS:  We weren’t aware it had come from the bench.  If we would have been aware it came from the bench, we could have reviewed it under the hostile act trigger. The penalty would have been a technical foul.

QUESTION: Definitely a technical foul and not an ejection. DAVIS: Yes. For an ejection, you would have to determine it was thrown directly at somebody versus thrown in frustration.

It will now be interesting to see if the NBA issues a fine for Murray’s actions, as that seemingly remains a possibility. For now, this is the extent of what the NBA has shared.

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Dear Amy: For the past 50 years, I have lied that I was in the military and served in Vietnam.

I’m now 71. I want to come clean with my son/family.

I ran away from a bad home life at 13 and lived on the streets. It was horrible. I was beaten up and sexually attacked. I tried to commit suicide twice.

My self-esteem was so low for many years. It still is.

I met a woman (she was older than me) and we had a son.

I believe this is around the time when I started lying that I had been in the military.

I was drafted for the army during the Vietnam War, but didn’t pass the physical.

I felt ashamed and embarrassed.

So, later on when guys got together and started telling war stories, I joined in with mine. Lies. I kept telling more lies to cover the first one.

I’m so afraid my son and grandson would be so disappointed in me for lying for so long.

Also, my health is not that great, and I’m scared that if something happens, my son will go to the VA for help.

I don’t want him to find out that way.

I have never used my lie to gain anything from the VA. I kept this lie within my family, but of course they told others which made my lie worse.

I want them to know the truth but don’t want to lose them or be looked at as a liar and disrespected for the rest of my life.

Can you help?

— Living a Lie

Dear Living: I think it’s vital that you understand that the most important respect you can earn is self-respect. The way to gain more respect for yourself is to understand your original motivations for this lie, and choose to make things right.

Telling the truth now will be hard to do, but it will liberate you from the burden you’ve been carrying. The truth will also liberate your son from unknowingly perpetuating this lie later on.

Telling the truth now is also the right thing to do for the many thousands of men who served during the Vietnam War, and who have oftentimes suffered because of their service.

The way to have a hard conversation is to preface it by stating: “This is very hard for me to say. I’m worried about your reaction. I hope you will understand, and I hope you will find a way to forgive me for what I’m about to tell you.”

My own reaction to reading your story is one of understanding and compassion. If you tell the truth with humility and without becoming defensive — and if you accept the consequences of your disclosure, this act of personal bravery should inspire those who care about you to forgive you and move forward.

Dear Amy: Every year, we host an exchange teacher’s aide from Latin America, as part of our child’s elementary school dual language program.

Our current exchange guest is a 22-year-old man who has less means than we do.

He has given us unsolicited gifts; these are souvenirs from American cities and theme parks he’s visited. A very kind gesture to be sure, and we thanked him.

That said, some are trinkets that we do not want, and would likely throw out.

I believe they would be meaningful mementoes for him to bring home.

Is there a way to politely give them back to him before he leaves in a few months?

— Polite Parents

Dear Parents: Even though your motive is kind, no, I don’t believe there is a polite way to give back these gifts. Doing so would highlight all the wrong things, including the fact that you don’t want these tokens.

Also, please don’t throw these things out. After the teacher’s departure, you could photograph the collection and send him the photo with a letter: “We thought you would enjoy this reminder of all of your adventures!” After that, you could donate these trinkets to Goodwill.

Dear Amy: Responding to “Torn in Wisconsin,” who was worried about her unemployed drop-out son’s lack of motivation, after a month living with us, I gave our “home from college” son the car keys and said, ”Don’t come home without a job.”

Ten years later he’s managing a car dealership and doing quite well.

He admits it was the best thing I ever told him to do.

— C in Wisconsin

Dear C: Short, to the point, and effective. Good for you!

(You can email Amy Dickinson at askamy@amydickinson.com or send a letter to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068. You can also follow her on Twitter @askingamy or Facebook.)

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