The director of Denver’s excise and licenses department told city council members on Wednesday that she is leaving Denver to take a job as deputy assistant solicitor in the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington.
In an e-mail to council members, Awilda Marquez said she gave notice to Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper on Monday.
She said in the e-mail that her decision to leave, in part, involved monetary considerations.
“The tanking of our economy has probably made many of us think about how well we are planning for retirement,” she said in the e-mail. “Me, too. As a result, I realized I needed to harvest a valuable retirement asset — a potential federal pension.”
She said she already has 13 years of federal service and needs seven additional years to vest in a lifetime pension.
Penny May, the deputy director in excise and licenses, will take over the department on an interim basis, said Eric Brown, the mayor’s spokesman.
