Mayor Ben Huseman told CBS4 investigators, “I would hope that going forward, that if we have a contract executed with a key employee like this, that we would have provisions in place that would ensure our duties are executed here locally instead of from a remote location like that.”
A “nothing burger” is how Commerce City Manager Roger Tinklenberg, who signed off on the chief working remotely from 755 miles away, said about the situation.He also refused to speak to CBS4 saying “Being interviewed would be a waste of my time.”
CBS4 reported that on one of his road trips from Colorado to Vegas, Nichols was ticketed in Utah while driving his city-owned vehicle. In an email to the police department, Tinklenberg wrote: “Yes, he received a speeding ticket on a drive there. It was for 2.5 miles over the speed limit!” wrote the city manager. “The reason he got the ticket? He refused to let them search the vehicle which any citizen has the right to do and, in his case, would have been a waste of time.”
Nichols receives a base salary of $155,000.
