A blistering, 26 page report on the use of comp or flex time by Denver’s fire chief and his top seven commanders calls the years-long practice a violation of Denver’s Revised Municipal Code, “an organizational failing” and a “problematic practice.” Mayor Mike Johnston said after the report was released Tuesday night he was asking Fire Chief Desmond Fulton to repay some of the vacation time Fulton has cashed out since 2023, and the mayor said what happened was “A troubling and systemic misuse of Flex Time.”
Denver Fire Chief Desmond Fulton
CBS
The investigative report, authored by former U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer, was prompted by a CBS News Colorado Investigation in April which revealed Fulton and his top commanders were awarding themselves comp time for attending everything from firefighter memorials to retirement ceremonies to community events, then using the accrued comp time for vacations, allowing Fulton and his executive staff to then cash out unused vacation time at the end of each year. The report notes that Fulton cashed in unused vacation days between 2021 and 2023 for about $42,000. For the same time period, two division chiefs were paid $25,000 and $27,000 for unused vacation days while other command staff members received between $11,000 to $19,000 for unused vacation time during the same three years.
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“All current Command Staff members ‘banked’ and later used (comp time hours) instead of using available vacation leave,” said the report. “They all received larger cash payouts for unused vacation leave than they otherwise would have. All of them engaged and benefitted financially from this practice.”
However, the report authors said none of the department commanders “fully exploited it to maximize payouts for unused vacation hours.” They did not intend to violate the law, said the report, but “this practice did violate the Denver Revised Municipal Code,” which prohibits fire department executive staff from collecting additional compensation for working extra hours.
In a written statement Tuesday night, Fire Chief Desmond Fulton wrote, “I take full responsibility for continuing a problematic timekeeping practice that violated city policy.”
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While Fulton and his top staff were cashing in unused vacation days, they prohibited rank and file firefighters from doing the same thing. The report calls that a “double standard” that was “contradictory, appeared hypocritical and … unjustified.”
The report says the comp time practice that is now being halted started 13 years ago by a previous chief who wanted department commanders to be able to show how many extra hours they were working. The report says that DFD’s “insular culture” allowed the practice to go on for more than a decade.
“Tracking extra hours turned into banking extra hours and using them instead of vacation leave,” said the report.
The practice was stopped in April immediately after the CBS News Colorado reports on the comp time abuse.
The report is most critical of Fulton, who the report says, “Was the most assiduous user of Kelly Day/Flex time. He repeatedly coded blocks of four to five days off in a row as Kelly Day/Flex time used instead of coding that time off as vacation or sick leave. He also used more Kelly day/Flex time than anyone else,” according to the report. “He had the highest number of hours paid out as unused vacation leave.”
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The investigators verified what CBS News Colorado previously reported — that Fulton was essentially getting paid to attend firefighter memorials, dinners at firehouses and community events. Critics said those duties should have been viewed as part of his $230,000 a year job.
Troyer’s report reviewed hundreds of pages of records and 37 interviews were conducted. He said various defenses of the comp time practice were offered but were “unpersuasive” and despite assertions that what was done was “best practice” he wrote that “we were unable to identify any fire departments that permit the use of compensatory or flex time in lieu of vacation hours for salaried, exempt executives in the same manner as DFD command staff used Kelly day/Flex time.”
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The report zeroes in on a 2022 national firefighter memorial in Maryland that Fulton attended with two of his command staff members. For the weekend, Fulton awarded himself 19 hours of comp time then used those hours to take three days off.
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“Chief Fulton in essence converted the 19 hours he spent at the memorial into 19 hours of saved vacation leave for which he was paid,” reads the report.
In a statement Tuesday evening, Denver Manager of Safety Armando Saldate said he would review the new report to see if disciplinary action against top fire department commanders was warranted.
The report recommends Fulton and his staff no longer be allowed to work four 10 hour days and that command staff should undergo mandatory training each year on the prohibitions against accruing and using comp time.
The report also notes that what has been happening creates the future possibility of additional monetary benefits for Fulton, his deputy chief and six division chiefs, as the vacation cashout amounts are included in a DFD member’s base salary which is then used as the basis for calculating his or her post-retirement pension payments. The report says the impact on pension payments cannot be calculated until the command staff members leave the department.
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Brian Maass
Your Investigator Brian Maass has a reputation for breaking major stories at CBS News Colorado. He is a veteran reporter who has established a high level of trust and credibility in the community. Read his reports or check out his bio & send him an email.
New York Knicks (9-7, fourth in the Eastern Conference) vs. Denver Nuggets (9-6, fifth in the Western Conference)
Denver; Monday, 9 p.m. EST
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BOTTOM LINE: Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets host the New York Knicks in a non-conference matchup.
The Nuggets have gone 5-3 at home. Denver ranks sixth in the Western Conference with 12.0 offensive rebounds per game led by Jokic averaging 4.4.
The Knicks are 4-5 in road games. New York ranks seventh in the Eastern Conference allowing only 112.4 points while holding opponents to 47.3% shooting.
The Nuggets are shooting 47.8% from the field this season, 0.5 percentage points higher than the 47.3% the Knicks allow to opponents. The Knicks average 14.3 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.2 more made shots on average than the 13.1 per game the Nuggets allow.
TOP PERFORMERS: Michael Porter Jr. is averaging 18.6 points and 7.1 rebounds for the Nuggets.
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Jalen Brunson is averaging 25.1 points and 7.4 assists for the Knicks.
LAST 10 GAMES: Nuggets: 7-3, averaging 118.4 points, 45.5 rebounds, 31.6 assists, 8.7 steals and 4.8 blocks per game while shooting 49.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 112.7 points per game.
Knicks: 6-4, averaging 120.3 points, 42.9 rebounds, 29.9 assists, 6.7 steals and 4.1 blocks per game while shooting 50.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 114.5 points.
INJURIES: Nuggets: Aaron Gordon: out (calf), DaRon Holmes II: out for season (achilles), Vlatko Cancar: out (knee).
Knicks: Precious Achiuwa: out (hamstring), Miles McBride: day to day (knee), Mitchell Robinson: out (ankle).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Could the Brooklyn Nets’ No. 1 scoring option team up with a two-time league MVP?
According to Paul Pierce, it’s possible.
On a recent episode of “Ticket & The Truth,” the former Boston Celtics star suggested a move from Brooklyn to the Denver Nuggets for Cam Thomas to provide the 2023 NBA Champions with a depth boost.
“Alright, let me put my GM hat on,” Pierce said. “I think right now, for Cam, I’d like to see him off the bench for Denver. …Because they need that spark plug off the bench.”
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He may want to take that hat off.
The Nuggets do not have an asset they’d be willing to part ways with that would entice the Nets enough to move off of a 23-year-old who’s turning in over 24 points per game. And even if Denver were to offer a king’s ransom of draft capital, as long as Nikola Jokic is healthy a Nuggets’ choice will never hold much value.
Oct 29, 2024; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Brooklyn Nets small guard Cam Thomas (24) shoots the ball against the Denver Nuggets during the second half at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images / Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
When reports suggested Thomas could be available in negotiations, they didn’t mean Brooklyn was looking to give him away. The return would have to warrant the transaction, and a hypothetical package consisting of Christian Braun and two first-round picks (no offense Christian) won’t be enough to entice Sean Marks.
The Nets shouldn’t look to move Thomas until a can’t-say-no deal emerges. Until then, let him continue to drop nearly 25 a night on the opposition and revisit any potential thoughts of trading the electrifying scorer at February’s deadline.
Want to join the discussion? Like Nets on SI on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Nets news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.
Mike Johnston, the Democrat mayor of Denver, has stated that he will urge citizens to oppose the mass deportations of migrants that President-elect Donald Trump has planned in Colorado. This comes as local authorities in “sanctuary cities” have started organising how to handle the issue.
Mike Johnston, mayor of Denver, Colorado, stated that he is prepared to serve time in prison in order to halt any attempts at deportation.(Bloomberg)
Speaking to Denver’s station 9, Johnston, 50, stated that he is prepared to serve time in prison in order to halt any attempts at deportation.
Calling it a “Tiananmen Square moment,” the mayor of Denver has pledged to use local police and 50,000 citizens “stationed at the county line” to protect migrants residing in his sanctuary city from Trump’s mass deportation.
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“More than us having [federal agents] stationed at the county line to keep them out, you would have 50,000 Denverites there,” he stated.
“It’s like the Tiananmen Square moment … right?” Johnston asked, making a reference to the well-known conflict between a Chinese student and a government tank at Tiananmen Square, China, during the 1989 uprising.
“You’d have every one of those Highland moms who came out for the migrants,” he continued, adding that “And you do not want to mess with them,” recalling the time when Denver people were reportedly ready to fight the federal government to the death.
Mike Johnston faces flak for his warning
Danielle Jurinsky (R), a councilwoman for Aurora City, told The Post that Johnston’s strategy will simply highlight his ineffectiveness in one of the nation’s so-called sanctuary cities, which deter or prohibit local officials from assisting federal immigration investigators in migrant cases.
“Aurora does not plan to provide the Trump administration any assistance, as far as I know, but we will certainly not stand in the way of what the American people voted for,” he stated.
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Also Read: Trump border Czar Tom Homan issues fresh warning to President-elect’s critics, illegal migrants: ‘You got a problem’
After Johnston compared his endeavor to Tiananmen Square, Xi Van Fleet, a Chinese survivor of Mao’s revolution, lambasted him on Thursday, telling Fox Business that he is “either profoundly ignorant of the history, or he did the false analogy on purpose.”
Elon Musk, who Trump just appointed to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), also reacted to Johnston’s warning, saying that it demonstrates “the mayor of Denver hates his constituents.”
Trump’s border czar speaks out
Tom Homan, Trump’s choice for “border czar,” told The Post that he hopes the incoming government will sue sanctuary communities and stop providing them with federal funds.
He claimed that if they don’t alter their stand, the Trump government will “flood” certain communities with Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel to stay outside local prison for the release of illegal migrants.
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Johnston declared that he would not permit local law enforcement to help the federal government apprehend undocumented migrants.
“Absolutely not,” Johnston remarked. “We won’t do it.”
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25739950/247386_Elon_Musk_Open_AI_CVirginia.jpg "Inside Elon Musk’s messy breakup with OpenAI")
