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The circumstances of Councilmember Marsh-Holschen improper expenses charged to the City and County of Broomfield - and ultimately to you the taxpayer - were discovered through a Colorado Open Records Act Request (CORA). In an email exchange that you can read here between City Staff. Councilmember Marsh-Holschen, Mayor Pro Tem Shaff, and Mayor Castriotta, the Broomfield City Staff identified and then confronted Councilmember Marsh-Holschen for his misuse of his PCardto charge personal or inappropriate expenses on two different trips 2024.
In the email, City Manager Hoffman explicitly states to Councilmember Marsh-Holschen that under Broomfield policy (1) “PCard reimbursement from an employee is a rare circumstance – for employees, allowing them to use their PCard and then reimbursing CCOB is only accepted for unintentional (mistake) or for extreme/emergency circumstances”, (2) a “clear and long-standing rule – CCOB doesn’t cover alcohol”, and (3) “If it were an employee, we would not reimburse the alcohol amount and collect the PCard”.
Councilmember Marsh-Holschen took advantage and violated all three of the rules above rules to improperly charge $2,233.92 to the City and County of Broomfield. This is on top him exceeding is individual expense budget by $6,206.60 in 2024 is absolutely appalling.
City staff made 5 different requests to Councilmember Marsh-Holschen to obtain receipts and reimbursements for his improper charges on his PCard for his November 2024 trip. Councilmember Marsh-Holschen admitted that he needed to reimburse the amount of $1,621.46 to the CCOB (and to the taxpayers). It is not clear if Councilmember Marsh-Holschen has provided his reimbursement back to the City and County of Broomfield.
What is the Broomfield Council doing about this?
Well, Mayor Pro Tem Shaff, Mayor Castriotta, Councilmember Marsh-Holschen agreed amongst themselves to suspend Councilmember Marsh-Holschen’s PCard for 30 days, require that he schedule additional training on the use of the PCard, and that future expenses need to wait until all previous receipts and reimbursements have been made.
And, they agreed to handle to matter "internally without public discussion of Council." Rather than truly holding Councilmember Marsh-Holschen accountable, he was given a slap on wrist and are sweeping this under the rug.
This is unacceptable. Public officials must to be above reproach, and to operate at a high and professional standard, higher than CCOB employees.
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