Mancos to pay ex-clerk $10,000

Mancos to pay ex-clerk $10,000

Sept. 28, 2000

By Tom Vaughan
Mancos Times Editor

After a brief executive session with town Attorney Jim Hatter, the Mancos Town Board on Sept. 13 approved a payment of $10,000 to settle the claims of former Town Clerk and Treasurer Diana Velasquez.

The substance and discussion of executive sessions are secret. "The settlement documents have a confidentiality clause," according to Fred Ritsema, attorney for CIRSA (Colorado Intergovernmental Risk Sharing Agency), which insures the town.

Therefore, details of the claims, and answers to the questions of who will pay Velasquez’s attorney’s fees and whether CIRSA will be making any additional payments on behalf of the town are unavailable.

In approving the settlement agreement, the present trustees closed the book on a story that began before most of them took their seats on the board.

Mayor Pro Tem Paul Christensen voted against adding the executive session to the agenda and against going into executive session. When the board reconvened after the session, he made the motion to approve the payment, which carried unanimously.

Velasquez was Mancos town clerk when questions about her performance were raised in February 1999. There ensued a series of discussions about evaluation procedures and standards, allocation of duties and supervisory roles.

She was placed on administrative leave by the board on March 10, 1999, having first been removed from the supervision of then-Town Administrator Terry Short. On April 14, the board voted to prefer five charges against Velasquez, and set a hearing date of April 21, which was cancelled in order to negotiate an agreement.

Velasquez returned to duty on May 28 as clerk/treasurer, the result of a confidential settlement agreement worked out between her attorneys and the town. Less than six weeks later, on July 8, she was again placed on administrative leave with pay and was also given written notice of grounds for termination, for reasons that could not be released because they related to the confidential settlement agreement.

This action revealed that the settlement agreement included a provision for a 30-day arbitration process if such a situation arose.

Arbitrator Robert Crane decided that, while improvements could be made in Velazquez’s performance, he did not find a basis for termination. She returned to duty on Aug. 12, 1999.

At the close of business on Aug. 13, Short had cleaned out his desk and the conditions of his departure were the subject of a special board meeting on the following Monday. As part of an Aug. 17 settlement agreement between the town and Short, the beleaguered town administrator agreed to resign his post effective Aug. 31.

By the Sept. 8 board meeting, Velasquez was on sick leave, which became extended sick leave. On Oct. 13, the board directed Interim Town Manager Bill Ray to advertise and fill the position on a temporary basis.

Velasquez was later asked, in a letter from Ray, to clarify her intentions regarding her job by Nov. 10, on which date her attorney notified the town that she had filed for workmen’s compensation. The details of her claim are confidential, as are any allegations made against the town .