Fire department billed Colorado taxpayers thousands for spouses, extra travel expenses: "Violation of public trust" says ethics expert
Top fire chiefs and administrators with the South Adams County Fire Department, along with some of their board members, have regularly taken their spouses along to winter conferences in Florida and fall conferences in Colorado's high country, billing taxpayers for their spouses' meals and other expenses, and extending their stays before and after conferences.
One Colorado ethics expert characterized this as "sounding more like a vacation than a business trip" and suggested, "they've been misusing funds."
The questionable expenditures emerged from a CBS News Colorado investigation of the fire department's conference expenses over the last three years, prompting the department to announce updates to its travel and conference policies.
The South Adams County Fire Department, serving Commerce City and parts of unincorporated Adams County, primarily relies on property taxes for funding.
Jane Feldman, former head of Colorado's Independent Ethics Commission and now with Denver's Board of Ethics, criticized the Fire Department's practice of spending taxpayer dollars on spouses, calling it "a violation of the public trust."
She argued, "bringing your spouse to a conference sounds like a personal trip rather than a business trip, and therefore those expenses related to spouses should be paid by the public official."
Spending records reveal that taxpayers have regularly covered the expenses for the spouses of fire department officials and board members.
In February of this year, Fire Chief Ken Koger, Deputy Operations Chief Bobby Noel, Deputy Chief Randall Weigum, accreditation specialist Amanda Foote, and Craig Machuga, chairman of the district board overseeing the department, all attended an annual conference in Orlando, Florida, accompanied by their spouses.
They flew from Denver to Orlando two nights before the conference began, renting large SUVs for transportation, incurring nearly $2,000 in costs. They stayed at the Caribe Royale hotel, where rooms during the conference cost over $300 per night.
Taxpayers footed the bill for expensive meals for the spouses before, during, and after the conference, including a dinner at an Orlando steakhouse costing $822.48 for department employees, board members, and spouses.
Another dinner, celebrating department accreditation, cost $1,825.41. Meals during the conference, including spouses, totaled $3,936.16.
While some attendees flew home after the conference ended, Koger, Noel, Weigum, Machuga, and Foote stayed an extra night, with taxpayers covering the expenses.
Maria Carabajal, a department spokesperson, claimed they stayed an extra night due to flight schedules, despite evidence showing available flights to Denver that Friday afternoon.
For a three-night conference, the South Adams County Fire personnel spent six nights in Orlando, incurring thousands of dollars in additional expenses.
Similar practices were observed at conferences in Colorado. For conferences in Keystone in 2022 and 2023, department personnel brought spouses and extended their stays, incurring additional costs for lodging and meals.
Expenses for dinners and additional nights amounted to significant taxpayer spending.
Feldman reiterated that taxpayer money should only be used for government business, stating, "if you're bringing your spouse, that sounds like a personal trip rather than a business trip, and therefore those expenses related to spouses should be paid by the public official."