COMMERCE CITY — Commerce City wanted a city manager so much in 2007 that the City Council gave Gerald Flannery a $450,000 home loan nearly interest-free that would not have to be paid back for four years.
The city also gave Flannery a $72,000 relocation fee and paid his $19,250 moving expenses, according to records.
“It’s just wrong. It’s wrong on all levels,” said Kathy McIntyre, editor and owner of the Gateway News, which publicized the Flannery deal and has editorialized against it. “He should have waited to buy a house until he sold his other house. And if you decide to become a bank and you’re going to take taxpayer money and loan it to a city employee, then at least get a market interest rate on it.”
Flannery told 9News he asked for the home loan when he was considering taking the Commerce City job while living in Arizona. He was the deputy county manager of Coconino County at the time, earning $115,000 a year plus a $4,200 car allowance, according to his resume.
“The contract I have right now is not one of my making,” Flannery said. “They wanted me to come here and not have the worries about having two mortgages.”
Flannery owned a home in Flagstaff at the time and put it up for sale when he accepted the Colorado job.
The City Council offered him a standard $160,000 starting salary (which is comparable to other cities of Commerce City’s size), a $10,000 car allowance and paid his $19,250 moving expenses. The council also used taxpayer money in a loan to buy one of the most expensive homes in the city at the newly developed Reunion subdivision, according to real estate records.
The interest rate for that $450,000 loan has varied from zero to 0.34 percent.
