Will the upcoming election calm the chaos at City Hall?

Anyone who has followed Commerce City government over the past few years knows it has been a bumpy ride. That’s true in a number of ways, and one of them is the high turnover among senior staff at City Hall. 

Two city managers have resigned and a police chief retired under fire in the span of just three years. City Hall also hasn’t seemed able to settle on a city attorney in recent years. If you include permanent city attorneys and interim appointees, the office has changed occupants at least three times since 2016.

As longtime observers of City Hall know, it wasn’t just that better opportunities came along for those who left. There were personality clashes, allegations of malfeasance and assorted other factors that make for an unhappy workplace. 

City Manager Brian McBroom, for example, resigned in June of 2020 after filing a legal notice he might sue the city over the actions of Mayor Benjamin Huseman, as Denver’s Channel 4 reported at the time. McBroom had accused Huseman of mounting a campaign to smear him. The City Council narrowly approved a severance package aimed at heading off the threatened lawsuit.

Then, City Manager Roger Tinklenberg resigned in August of 2022. That was after the council had placed him on administrative leave over a controversy involving former Police Chief Clint Nichols. 

Channel 4’s reporting had revealed Nichols in fact commuted to his post in Commerce City — from Las Vegas, 1,600 miles away, where his family lived — and that Tinklenberg had approved the arrangement. It included allowing Nichols to use his city-issued vehicle to make the drive. In July of 2020, the police chief was stopped en route by the Utah Highway Patrol for speeding. Other allegations involving the traffic stop ensued. All very embarrassing, to say the least.  It also raised the question: Why couldn’t Commerce City hire a police chief who lived closer?

Aside from the more specific issues raised by all the turmoil in city ranks, the big problem with so much turnover in general is the same as it has been for Commerce City’s musical-chairs City Council. The council keeps turning over members and has two unelected appointees serving on it right now. As we pointed out here the other day, that creates inconsistency and uncertainty. It leads to topsy-turvy policies and administration.

Will the upcoming fall election at last be a turning point — giving voters a chance to elect council members who can calm things down at City Hall and bring order to its staff?