By Brian Maass | CBS News Colorado
Top fire chiefs and administrators with the South Adams County Fire Department, along with some of their board members, have regularly taken their spouses along to winter conferences in Florida and fall conferences in Colorado’s high country, billing taxpayers for their spouses’ meals and other expenses, and extending their stays before and after conferences.
One Colorado ethics expert characterized this as “sounding more like a vacation than a business trip” and suggested, “they’ve been misusing funds.”
The questionable expenditures emerged from a CBS News Colorado investigation of the fire department’s conference expenses over the last three years, prompting the department to announce updates to its travel and conference policies.