{"id":1314212,"date":"2019-09-02T20:28:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-03T02:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/more-to-chief-of-polices-accelerated-retirement\/"},"modified":"2019-09-02T20:28:00","modified_gmt":"2019-09-03T02:28:00","slug":"more-to-chief-of-polices-accelerated-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/more-to-chief-of-polices-accelerated-retirement\/","title":{"rendered":"More to chief of police\u2019s accelerated retirement"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

In his updated resignation letter, former Glenwood Springs Chief of Police Terry Wilson said he was put in an \u201cuntenable\u201d position.<\/p>\n

Last month, the city announced that after 35 years of service, Wilson would retire on Feb. 1, 2020 and assist in the national search for his replacement.<\/p>\n

Neither will occur as planned.<\/p>\n

In a letter dated Aug. 19 and addressed to City Manager Debra Figueroa and City Attorney Karl Hanlon, Wilson voiced his displeasure with Mayor Jonathan Godes and Councilman Tony Hershey.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe state of the GSPD is poor at this time, largely attributable to Mr. Hershey and Mr. Godes listening to uninformed persons from within the Department and believing they have a role to play in addressing rumors and innuendo that frequently lack factual basis,\u201d Wilson stated in the Aug. 19 letter. \u201cThrough their participation in what amounts to rumor mongering, and their failure to refer those complaints to the proper channels, they have done immense damage to the department.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an interview Monday, Wilson said the letter acquired by the Post Independent through a public records request was intended as private communication between himself and his boss, Figueroa.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Wilson made clear that his comments concerning the state of the police department being \u201cpoor,\u201d had nothing to do with its officers but instead poor communication.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is nothing here to me, in my opinion, that is worth airing in the public forum,\u201d Wilson said Monday. \u201cIt is not corruption. It is not public safety. It is more of an internal matter between myself and a disagreement with practices of a couple of councilmen, hopefully that gets resolved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson, declined to comment further on the specifics of those practices. However, in his letter Wilson stated that Godes and Hershey had empowered some within the department to \u201ccircumvent their chain of command.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough I believe all of the [Councilors\u2019] views are skewed, their actions in trying to micromanage personnel and other processes clearly defines their lack of confidence in me,\u201d wrote Wilson. \u201cI believe it also clearly defines their lack of understanding of their role in government and their lack of judgment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson said Monday, that although health factored into his original, Feb. 1 retirement decision, it played no role in his decision to move it up to Sept. 2.<\/p>\n

\u201cI keep getting texts and calls [asking] \u2018Are you OK, did something else happen?\u2019\u201d Wilson said. \u201cIt is so wonderful to hear that people are concerned but I don\u2019t want them to think that\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson, who suffered a heart attack in the past, said he was in great shape currently.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy health is fine and I appreciate the concerns about it,\u201d said Wilson. \u201cBut, if officers were going to other sources with their concerns, then there is an internal breakdown that I know from experience would be very difficult, very stressful to deal with. And, frankly, after my health scare last year, I didn\u2019t feel like I could put the energy and the stress into it that it\u2019s going to take to make it right.\u201d<\/p>\n

As of Sept. 3, Lieutenant Bill Kimminau has assumed the role of acting chief of police as the city conducts a national search for Wilson\u2019s permanent replacement.<\/p>\n

Sept. 3, council will hold a public work session at 6 p.m. in council chambers for councilors to provide their input concerning the chief of police search. The city has selected KRW Associates, based out of Colorado Springs, to conduct the national search. Additionally, Sept. 4 at 10 a.m., the business community and residents may provide their input to the selection committee also in council chambers located on the first floor of City Hall at 101 Eighth Street.<\/p>\n

Wilson did not think it was appropriate for him to assist in the search for his replacement but said he had a great deal of respect for Figueroa, who as city manager ultimately will make the decision.<\/p>\n

Figueroa has said she hopes to hire a new chief of police by year\u2019s end following input from city employees and the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile I am saddened by the departure of Chief Wilson, I have full confidence in Acting Chief Kimminau, Command Staff, and the entire Glenwood Springs Police Department,\u201d said Figueroa. \u201cThe Department will continue to protect and serve the residents and businesses of Glenwood Springs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Councilor Hershey said he had the utmost respect for the Glenwood Springs Police Department and thanked Wilson for his service.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter reviewing the letter I was disappointed that it wasn\u2019t given to Council earlier,\u201d Hershey said. \u201cEspecially, since it\u2019s factually inaccurate and the first formal indication, actually that I had that chief Wilson was really angry with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hershey confirmed that as a city councilor he did receive complaints from city employees about their work environment and issues with their manager.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was employees of the city, whose manager was Terry Wilson,\u201d Hershey said. \u201cWith any personnel issues I referred those employees to the city manager and the HR director. \u2026 I followed all of the proper procedures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mayor Godes, in a prepared statement, called Wilson a \u201cbeloved police chief\u201d and a valued city employee of 35 years.<\/p>\n

Godes explained that Council existed for three reasons: to set policy, set a budget and to exercise supervision over the city manager and city attorney.<\/p>\n

Godes said, as it pertained to running the city government and making day-to-day decisions, such a responsibility fell solely to the city manager.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs city councilors, we are occasionally approached by city employees with ideas, thoughts, or problems. I listen, and then refer employees to their supervisor, or to the city manager as the ultimate supervisor for all city staff,\u201d Godes wrote. \u201cThis is the appropriate role of council, and this is what I communicated to any employee, in any department over the two-plus years I have been on Council.\u201d<\/p>\n

Godes said in his role as mayor he does not direct the city manager nor does he interfere with Figueroa\u2019s authority over staff matters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not micromanage city staff,\u201d Godes wrote. \u201cThey have the experience, training, and leadership to handle staff issues in the appropriate manner.\u201d<\/p>\n

mabennett@postindependent.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In his updated resignation letter, former Glenwood Springs Chief of Police Terry Wilson said he was put in an \u201cuntenable\u201d position. Last month, the city announced that after 35 years of service, Wilson would retire on Feb. 1, 2020 and assist in the national search for his replacement. Neither will occur as planned. In a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1314212","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-26 21:01:03","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1314212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314212\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1314212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1314212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1314212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}