{"id":1320151,"date":"2020-05-21T21:13:31","date_gmt":"2020-05-22T03:13:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=996547"},"modified":"2020-05-21T21:13:31","modified_gmt":"2020-05-22T03:13:31","slug":"glenwood-springs-city-council-calls-for-resignation-of-councilor-tony-hershey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/glenwood-springs-city-council-calls-for-resignation-of-councilor-tony-hershey\/","title":{"rendered":"Glenwood Springs City Council calls for resignation of Councilor Tony Hershey"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"620\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/04\/swearingin-gpi-041919-4-2.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/04\/swearingin-gpi-041919-4-2.jpg 620w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/04\/swearingin-gpi-041919-4-2-300x207.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\"><\/p><figcaption><strong>In this file photo from April 2019, Tony Hershey is sworn in as an at large city councilor.<\/strong><br \/><em>Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Six members of Glenwood Springs City Council in a letter called for the resignation of councilor Tony Hershey at their regular meeting Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>The sixth item on the agenda, \u201ccouncil decorum and expectations,\u201d did not include the letter for public inspection prior to Thursday evening\u2019s council meeting. A copy of the letter was made available after the vote.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, all of council \u2014 with the exception of Hershey, who abstained \u2014 voted in favor of releasing the letter publicly during the council meeting itself.<\/p>\n<p>Hershey made clear that he would not resign from council but did not address the allegations further.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\" readability=\"6\">\n<div class=\"row gspi-donation gspi-donation-mobile p-0\" readability=\"7\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/03\/PI-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/03\/PI-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\" onclick=\"handleDonationButtonClickMidArticle()\">Donate<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Hershey said he had not had a chance to make a formal response.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen it comes, you\u2019ll see (my response),\u201d Hershey said. \u201cBut, no, I\u2019m not resigning, so thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Following the vote, members of council proceeded to read the letter\u2019s content into the record.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDear Councilor Hershey, on behalf of all six members of Glenwood Springs City Council, besides you, we unanimously request that you resign,\u201d said Councilor Paula Stepp. \u201cIt\u2019s based on recurring issues over the past year of your service with the culmination of your behavior on Thursday, May 14.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stepp, while continuing to read the first portion of the letter, called Hershey\u2019s behavior during an executive session on May 14 \u201cunethical.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Executive sessions are private meetings, generally held immediately after council meetings, between members of council, city manager Debra Figueroa and City Attorney Karl Hanlon often concerning legal matters.<\/p>\n<p>Following Stepp, Mayor Pro Tem Shelley Kaup read the letter\u2019s next paragraph and alleged that Hershey called City Manager Debra Figueroa a \u201cliar\u201d before taking a \u201cbrief hiatus\u201d from the May 14 executive session.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou returned to the meeting to announce that our city attorney and city manager were liars and that you had called a representative of the entity being discussed after you left the meeting,\u201d Kaup stated. \u201cYou also told the council that you divulged sensitive and confidential comments to that person.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to the May 14 special city council meeting agenda, \u201c27th Street\u201d was the lone item that was supposed to have been discussed in executive session.<\/p>\n<p>The May 14 incident was by no means the only troubling incident for members of council, the letter states.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou have routinely skipped work sessions that you do not care about\u2026watched football games during council meetings,\u201d said Councilor Steve Davis.<\/p>\n<p>Hershey was elected as an at-large Glenwood Springs City Councilor in April of 2019 after defeating then at-large city councilman Jim Ingraham, who was appointed to the seat, and another challenger Erika Gibson.<\/p>\n<p>Hershey earned the highest number of votes with approximately 1,000 ballots to Ingraham\u2019s nearly 600 and Gibson\u2019s 460.<\/p>\n<p>Hershey ran a campaign that largely focused on what he described as wasteful city spending. While campaigning, Hershey also opposed the 3\/4-cent street sales tax, which voters ultimately voted down.<\/p>\n<p>The Glenwood Springs Post Independent filed a CORA (Colorado Open Records Act) on May 20 and was ultimately provided a copy of the letter Thursday night \u2014 after a majority of council voted to make it public.<\/p>\n<p>Following Davis, Councilor Charlie Willman, who was also elected to council last year, criticized Hershey for allegedly not fulfilling his role as a council liaison to various boards and commissions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019ve only attended one (historical preservation commission) meeting, one (downtown development authority) meeting, four fire district meetings, no airport meetings and four (victim\u2019s assistance and law enforcement) meetings,\u201d Willman said. \u201cAttending ten meetings out of a possible fifty is discouraging to the citizens who volunteer their time and talent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Following Willman, Mayor Jonathan Godes stated that Hershey had created and nurtured a \u201ctoxic culture\u201d and spawned a hostile workplace for city staff and members of council.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn these council meetings, you routinely interrupt other councilors, belittle their sincere contributions and convictions,\u201d Godes read aloud from the letter. \u201cIn one memorable, though not rare tirade, you called us all \u2018f-ing idiots\u2019 before storming out of the meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Following Godes, Councilor Rick Voorhees finished reading the letter by saying Glenwood\u2019s citizen\u2019s deserved someone that will represent them with \u201ctrust, respect and dedication.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"mailto:mabennett@posindependent.co\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">mabennett@posindependent.co<\/a><\/em>m<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/news\/glenwood-springs-city-council-calls-for-resignation-of-councilor-tony-hershey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this file photo from April 2019, Tony Hershey is sworn in as an at large city councilor.Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent Six members of Glenwood Springs City Council in a letter called for the resignation of councilor Tony Hershey at their regular meeting Thursday. The sixth item on the agenda, \u201ccouncil decorum and expectations,\u201d [&hellip;]<\/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-1320151","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-25 04:22:34","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\/1320151","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=1320151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1320151\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1320151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1320151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1320151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}