Investigators who delved into Denver Fire Department leadership's use of comp time for things like memorial services, retirement gatherings and community events called it "an organizational failing" and a "problematic practice."
After hearing the blistering report Tuesday night, Mayor Mike Johnston said he was asking Fire Chief Desmond Fulton to return some of the vacation time he cashed out since 2023, CBS Denver reported.
Johnston called the years-long practice 'a troubling and systemic misuse of Flex Time.'
While Fulton and his top staff were cashing in unused vacation days, they prohibited rank and file firefighters from doing the same thing, which the report authors said was a "double standard" that was "contradictory, appeared hypocritical and ... unjustified."
In a written statement issued after the report's release, Fulton wrote, "I take full responsibility for continuing a problematic timekeeping practice that violated city policy."
Fulton cashed in unused vacation days between 2021 and 2023 for about $42,000. For the same time period, two division chiefs were paid $25,000 and $27,000 for unused vacation days while other command staff members received between $11,000 to $19,000 for unused vacation time during the same three years, investigators determined.
"All current Command Staff members 'banked' and later used (comp time hours) instead of using available vacation leave. They all received larger cash payouts for unused vacation leave than they otherwise would have. All of them engaged and benefitted financially from this practice," according to the report.
A CBS News Colorado Investigation in April sparked the probe handled by a former U.S. attorney. Examining documents, reporters uncovered Fulton and his top commanders were awarding themselves comp time for attending everything from firefighter memorials to retirement ceremonies to community events.
However, the authors said none of the department commanders "fully exploited it to maximize payouts for unused vacation hours." They did not intend to violate the law, said the report, but "this practice did violate the Denver Revised Municipal Code," which prohibits fire department executive staff from collecting additional compensation for working extra hours.
