The Colorado Springs Gazette final

Hasler confirmed as interim police chief

City manager: Search for permanent chief could take up to 6 months

BY NORMA ENGELBERG

At a special July 19 Woodland Park City Council meeting, the council unanimously confirmed Stephen Hasler as Interim Police Chief.

Hasler will step in for former police chief Miles Deyoung, who resigned July 1 after an investigation into his conduct recommended his termination.

Hasler has served in law enforcement for more than 40 years. He started his career in the London Constabulary in England. He moved to the United States and took a position with the Manitou Springs Police Department about 24 years ago.

He has served as police chief in several Colorado municipalities, including Erie and Elizabeth, which were in turmoil when he took over, and

Lone Tree, where he helped to found the department. Hasler retired in 2020 from the police department in Elizabeth.

“First you fix the inside — regain trust and make the officers feel safe,” he

told council. “If you fix the inside, the outside will take care of itself. The Woodland Park Police Department has had a tough time and needs leadership.”

Hasler said he learned while serving in England that most officers don’t want to work the same shifts as their bosses. “That’s a bad place to be,” he said. “You have to make the police station home; work with the officers and show them you’re for them, not against them.”

Once Hasler was confirmed to the role, City Clerk Suzanne Leclercq administered the oath of office.

City Manager Michael Lawson said the search for a new, permanent chief will likely take four to six months.

Since they were already in a public meeting, council members took advantage of the time to appoint an Zuluaga replaced as DDA liaison d reappoint liaisons to various boards and committees. This is typically done at the next regular meeting after a council position is filled, either by election or appointment.

Most of the liaison positions were filled with little controversy. However, Council member Rusty Neal said he was uncomfortable with reappointing Council member Robert Zuluaga liaison to the Downtown Development Authority, saying he doesn’t like the way Zuluaga votes on that board. Neal said the DDA liaison is supposed to represent council, but Zuluaga’s votes haven’t been in line with what the majority of council members want.

Unlike most liaison positions, state statute requires these appointees to be voting members. This can create a dichotomy for these appointees, which Acting Mayor Hilary Labarre described as “being caught between a rock and a hard place.”

Council member Stephanie Alfieri, who attended the meeting virtually, said Neal’s objection shows that he doesn’t understand how the authority board works. “The liaison represents the citizens, not the council,” she said. “I see this as politics and power. Robert (Zuluaga) has built a good relationship with the board, and it’s not in the community’s best interest to switch this up now.”

Council member Kellie

Case said the position is a liaison for council and not the other way around. “I think it’s a conflict of interest for the council liaison to vote, no matter what the state statute says,” she said.

“In my experience (as DDA liaison), I am the eyes and ears of council,” Zuluaga said. “I don’t go to the board knowing what council wants. I am a voting member — I take an oath — I must uphold the same standards I do on council.”

In the end, council voted 3-2 to appoint Neal as council liaison to the DDA board, with Zuluaga and Alfieri voting no. Neal was not allowed to vote on his own appointment.

The remainder of the liaison appointments were approved by consensus:

• Neal will also serve on the Historical Preservation Committee.

• Zuluaga is taking the lead on the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments Board, replacing Labarre, who said she needs to cut back on her responsibilities. Councilwoman Catherine Nakai will be Zuluaga’s alternate.

• Labarre will serve on the Colorado Municipal League Board, with Neal as her alternate, and the Utilities Advisory Board.

• Nakai will serve as liaison to the Main Street Program Committee.

• Alfieri will, again, serve as liaison to the Charter Review Committee, which will be restarted in the runup to the Woodland Park Municipal Election in April. Neal and Nakai also expressed interest in serving on the committee.

• Case will serve on the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and the Seizure Investment Fund, in which representatives of local law enforcement organizations decide how properties seized during raids and other actions will be distributed and used. This group has not met since Case took office.

PIKE PEAK COURIER

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2021-07-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-07-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://daily.gazette.com/article/283412014732446

The Gazette, Colorado Springs