Apr 27, 2007 8:07 pm US/Mountain
Aurora Negotiates With Fire Chief For Resignation
Contact reporter Brian Maass at bmaass@cbs.com
by Brian Maass
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) ―
Aurora City administrators are in discussions with fire chief Casey Jones about the chief stepping down from the job he has held since 2002. CBS4 investigator Brian Maass reports a source familiar with the situation says the negotiations began in recent days as more and more controversy ensnared Jones.
Jones does not have a contract with the city.
News of the departure discussions comes on the first day of the chief being placed on administrative leave. Aurora administrators announced Thursday they were suspending Jones as of Friday until further notice.
"The administrative leave just gave us a chance to step back and sort of reassess where we were with all the information in hand," said Deputy City Manager Frank Ragan. "I'm hopeful this will give him (Jones) the opportunity to focus on resolving these issues so we can all bring this to closure."
Ragan was referring to questions about the fire chief's golf habits. A CBS4 investigation found 23 cases of Jones apparently playing golf on scheduled work days last year. Jones did not use vacation, leave or personal time for any of those scheduled tee times.
The chief has also come under suspicion for his relationship with Assistant City Attorney Julie Werking, who served as the fire department's legal advisor.
Werking's husband, Rob, has accused his wife and the chief of carrying on an extramarital affair. CBS4 obtained phone bills that showed regular phone calls from Julie Werking to the Chief late at night, on weekends and holidays. Some of the calls lasted more than two hours.
CBS4 also obtained several e-mails between the chief and Julie Werking from Feb. 15, 2007. One of the exchanges appeared to contain sexual innuendos.
"Anytime those relationships take on the appearance of creating impropriety or something in the workplace more or less than professional would give us rise for concern," said Deputy City Manager Ragan.
While Ragan said the emails "give rise to some suspicion of maybe some behavior that was not appropriate," Julie Werking's supervisor, City Attorney Charlie Richardson, said he does not believe his employee and the fire chief had a sexual relationship.
"I'm pretty confident," Richardson said, "based on the totality" of the evidence, that Julie Werking did not have a sexual relationship with the fire chief. A sexual relationship between an attorney and their client is considered unethical and can result in disciplinary action.
Richardson said he had talked to Julie Werking about the accusations of an affair. "She's been very forthright with me," said Richardson. "She has my full support," he said, indicating the assistant city attorney had told him she had not crossed any sexual or ethical lines with the fire chief.
Richardson called the emails between Werking and the chief "unguarded banter" and "G-rated."
The city has contracted with an outside investigation firm, Mountain States Employers Council, to investigate Chief Jones' golf habits and his relationship with Julie Werking. Its unclear how long that probe might take.
(© MMVII CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
