Questions swirl around wish to dismiss executive director

Leon Mason “put on unpaid leave” one month ago

The Denver City Council is preparing for a vote to fire its top staffer, the latest chapter in the reshaping of city hall after this spring’s elections.

The council already is searching for a replacement for Leon Mason, the executive director of the council’s offices, and one council member said Mason was “let go” soon after new members took office. But nothing is official yet, according to the elected body’s leadership.

“Leon was put on unpaid leave on August 9. He is currently still employed,” Council President Jolon Clark said in a brief phone interview earlier this week. He had earlier declined to say whether a vote had occurred, citing employee privacy concerns.

“I learned from talking to my colleagues that it was the will of the Council to move in a different direction,” Clark added in a text message.

Mason was offered a chance to resign and negotiate a severance agreement, but he didn’t respond by the Aug. 30 deadline, Clark said.

The council now is scheduled to take a public vote Monday on whether to fire Mason. The council president didn’t respond to further questions about the reason for the potential change. But Lisa Calderón, chief of staff for Councilwoman Candi CdeBaca, said complaints were circulating among council members and staff.

“Since Day One, there have been numerous challenges of onboarding our office. We have not gotten the support that we needed to get our office up to speed as quickly as other council members, particularly incumbents,” she said.

“And it goes to a culture of incumbency and gatekeeping that is pervasive in city hall. So we have been raising concerns with the lack of access to information, not just for our constituents, but also for our staff to be able to do their jobs. We are hoping that there will be a restructuring of the central office to make it more user friendly to the public.”

It could portend a public fight over—orwith—Mason.Councilman Kevin Flynn said he would vote to retain him, adding that he brought needed structure to the central office.

Meanwhile, the director’s absence has caused confusion in city hall, even for council members.

“It was made public on a Friday (in August) that he had been let go,” said Councilwoman Amanda Sandoval.

Clark delivered that news, according to Sandoval. Clark didn’t respond to a follow-up question Thursday about the reported announcement.

“Leon as a person is a great man,” said Sandoval, who worked with Mason when she was a council aide.

She believes that Mason may have been hired originally “for a certain skill set,” including policy creation, but ended up having to work more on human resources and administrative issues for the council and their offices.

“It’s challenging for the executive director to lead policy on a body with 13 council members,” she said.

City hall already is preparing to replace Mason. Ean Tafoya, a local political consultant and former council employee, said someone in city government