Manitou Springs City Council held two meetings Tuesday, Feb. 15. One was a work session in which councilors interviewed Interim Police Chief Bill Otto for the vacant chief position.
A regular meeting followed this work session. The regular meeting passed a revised ordinance codifying the creation of the Manitou Arts, Culture, and Heritage Advisory Board and adding it to the official list of the city’s boards and commissions.
The revised ordinance also updates the sections of the ordinance dealing with the Transportation and Parking Advisory Board, which was renamed the Mobility and Parking Board.
Neither meeting was available on You Tube, which has been the practice. Instead, council put the meeting on Zoom to accommodate absent members but, as it turned out, all were present. One member of the public attended the work session in person.
There was no notification that Tuesday’s meeting would not be publicly available digitally. Mayor John Graham told the Bulletin on Wednesday that City Council will return to the You Tube public meetings starting with the March 1 regular meeting.
There will be no City Council meeting on Feb. 22.
Most personnel matters are dealt with in executive (closed) sessions, not work sessions. Graham told the Bulletin that Otto’s interview took place in a public work session in order to err “on the side of caution” and to avoid mistakes.
Otto is the only applicant for the chief position and no more applicants are expected. His interim appointment runs until March 1.
The position has been open since Brian Churchill resigned in March 2021. Otto, a longtime El Paso County Sheriff’s Office employee in various positions, joined the Manitou Springs Police Department as a detective in July 2020.
Council has until Feb. 22 to notify Human Services Director Kelly Padilla of its choice for the position. The date of hiring has not been set.
Council could have conducted an expensive nationwide search for a new chief, looked regionally for one or hired from within. Hiring from within was council’s choice.
Otto’s promotion to interim chief was seen as providing stability to the department and a morale boost for its personnel. Graham noted Otto’s introduction of bicycles to the police force as providing a “human, approachable” face to the department and said that these values were reflected in Tuesday’s interview.
“The department has been on an improved trajectory,” Graham said.
Council adjourned to three executive sessions to discuss matters of personnel and property acquisition. There were no announcements after the executive sessions.