District 7 Councilmember Flor Alvidrez is facing an ethics investigation for office spending that may be barred under city rules.
The Denver Board of Ethics reviewed a complaint submitted by a former aide in December and unanimously voted in January to move forward with the ethics investigation.
Denverite obtained and reviewed documents submitted as part of the ethics complaint through an open records request. These records show Alvidrez requesting reimbursements for things potentially barred under spending rules or that raised concerns about spending transparency among her staff. The complaint document also alleges that Alvidrez yelled at staff in response to pushback regarding spending concerns.
Separate from the ethics complaint, a City Council spokesperson said that staff filed Human Resources complaints about Alvidrez, but the city's HR office did not move forward with an investigation into those complaints because they did not constitute discrimination, harassment or retaliation.
All four of her aides have resigned since December.
Alvidrez did not respond to Denverite's request for comment.
Alvidrez pushed staff to submit payment records and reimbursements for purchases they did not feel comfortable with, the former employee alleged in the ethics complaint report.
One receipt reviewed by Denverite shows a charge for sangria, though alcohol is not allowed for purchase or reimbursement on city cards. In a response to the ethics complaint, Alvidrez said that she was not aware of any reimbursements submitted for that lunch.
In another instance, Alvidrez commissioned a float for the Broadway Halloween Parade. According to the complaint and associated invoices, her office ultimately paid for two floats, one costing $10,000 made by the nonprofit Youth on Record. The second float cost $4,234 and was made by Cesar Duron, Alvidrez's ex-husband. According to the ethics report, staff said Alvidrez attributed the two floats to forgetfulness due to multiple requests, ultimately spending nearly $15,000 total on Halloween parade floats. In a document responding to the ethics complaint, Alvidrez wrote that she asked multiple people about creating a float.
"Both had spent time and energy so I did not feel like it was right to cancel either one," she wrote. "I did not privately benefit from either transaction and Cesar is no longer related to me."
The complaint also details a number of concerns around expenses the Councilmember made during a trip to Chile for the Biennial of the Americas, including more than $300 in flight upgrades, which the complaint said were not covered under spending rules.
The report also detailed instances where Alvidrez allegedly yelled at staff for attempting to enforce fiscal rules.
In one instance detailed in the complaint, Alvidrez allegedly yelled at a staff member for requesting more details about spending on the Chile trip to meet a financial reporting deadline.
"I have a different characterization of the interactions, and I have worked, or plan to work, with City Council Central Staff to ensure that my credit card transactions are verified or reimbursement is made to the city," Alvidrez wrote in her response to the ethics complaint.
In another situation, Alvidrez allegedly requested a per diem for a trip to a conference in California. But according to communications with city financial staff, per diems must be requested before departing on a trip, and Alvidrez was already in California. According to the report, Alvidrez pushed staff to get the per diem anyway.
The timeline for the ethics investigation is unclear.
Ethics board Executive Director Lori Weiser said that the board is currently gathering information, reviewing and investigating the complaint. The investigation could lead to a public hearing at Alvidrez's request before the board makes a decision.
"When the Board of Ethics is reviewing and investigating a complaint, information is gathered until all the Board's questions are answered," Weiser said. "All I can say is that it can be a slow process."
This story has been updated to reflect that HR complaints made against Alvidrez did not prompt an investigation and that all four aides in her office have resigned.
