DENVER — After 48 hours of uncertainty, the Denver City Council tells Denver7 it will in fact receive a full refund for the $26,000 mountain retreat it canceled in solidarity with laid-off city workers.
The council was set to hold what it called a “professional development workshop” at the Lone Rock, a swanky hillside resort in Park County, next week. However, after Mayor Mike Johnston announced 169 city workers would be laid off and another 665 open positions would be eliminated, the council nixed its plans for the workshop and its hefty price tag.
On Tuesday, the council was only certain that $7,600 of the cost could be refunded or moved to a later date. Another $16,500 already paid to the venue was in limbo.
On Thursday, though, a spokesperson for the office of the City Council confirmed to Denver7 that those expenses would be refunded in full. The payments for the facilitator and transportation had not been invoiced and were canceled.
The payments were paid out of the City Council central office budget and were arranged before news of upcoming layoffs surfaced this spring.
"This week has been an especially difficult time for all who work for the City and County of Denver,” council President Amanda Sandoval said in a statement Tuesday about the decision to back out of the retreat. “Our full attention must now be on supporting one another and helping our city move forward from this challenging period with the best interests of our constituents at heart.”
"With that in mind, and after consultation with the full Council, I have decided it is best to postpone our planned professional development and team-building workshop. It will be rescheduled for a future time and place to be determined.”
Council members Denver7 spoke to on Tuesday waffled over whether the workshop was postponed or canceled. In Thursday’s announcement, the city council said it was indeed “canceled.”
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