The Denver Parks and Recreation Department has demanded that its workers disclose many of their off-time personal activities – including board memberships, homeowner association affiliations and even work they do for their children’s schools.
Employees were told to file their disclosures by today or face possible discipline or firing, according to the policy, but the city on Tuesday appeared to be backing off that demand.
“We are making changes where there were concerns from the employees,” said parks manager Kim Bailey, when contacted by The Denver Post.
Instead of forcing employees to reveal participation on boards or in organizations, Bailey said the department would trust them to disclose what they believed might pose an actual or perceived conflict. However, most employees already have revealed the requested information.
City Attorney Cole Finegan, who’s also Mayor John Hickenlooper’s acting chief of staff, said employees raised some “legitimate objections,” and the Parks and Recreation Department was trying to “be reasonable and not interfere with people’s civil liberties.” Even so, many parks and recreation workers have complained that the requirement to disclose their participation in outside organizations is an invasion of privacy.
“Whoever drafted this took a page out of a communism handbook,” said local Teamsters union representative Ed Bagwell. “They’re making employees pledge loyalty to the city.”
The parks department has had problems in the past with employees working second jobs that conflicted with their city work. There is a risk that an employee may be part of a board that receives a grant from the city, for instance, said Assistant City Attorney Sybil Kisken. The intent of requiring disclosure and written approval for outside employment and business activities, as well as participation in an organization or nonprofit, she said, is intended to limit actual and perceived conflicts.
The new policy is more narrow than its 2003 predecessor, which required disclosure and approval of all volunteer activities, she said. However, that policy was not strictly enforced.
The new policy, which is stricter than those of other city departments, states that prior written approval is required before a parks employee can engage in any other work considered full time, part time, seasonal, self-employment and on boards. Those things are considered “a privilege, not a right, and such approval may be rescinded at any time, for any reason,” the policy states.
In a Nov. 7 memorandum to her employees, Bailey cited serving on a board of directors for a school or on a homeowners association as examples of board memberships. While she said an employee could consult the city’s Board of Ethics, she went on to say: “Ultimately, the decision as to whether you have permission to do the outside employment or activity is my decision – not the Board of Ethics’.”
A parks employee who would speak only on condition of anonymity said she and other workers have disclosed the requested information, including their participation on church boards, parent-teacher associations and political associations, because they are afraid to lose their jobs. But she also said she was afraid those activities could hurt her or her co-workers down the line.
“By disclosing a church foundation or a political organization, we’re disclosing personal, private info that we could be discriminated against for later,” she said.
Staff writer Karen Crummy can be reached at 303-820-1594 or kcrummy@denverpost.com.
