A Denver councilmember is facing an ethics investigation following a complaint from a former aide who claimed that thousands of taxpayer dollars went to the elected official’s ex-husband to build a parade float, that she tried to get reimbursement for drinks and food for a birthday meal and that she paid for a project when there’s no proof the services were rendered.

In her complaint before the Denver Ethics Board, the aide, Leya Hartman, outlined several instances in which she said Denver’s District 7 Councilmember Flor Alvidrez spent on — and tried to get reimbursement for — items disallowed under city rules.   

Alvidrez disputed the claims. 

 “I did not privately gain from any of the identified transactions,” she said in a letter to the board.  

The claims are now the subject of an investigation by the ethics board.

In her complaint, Hartman claimed that Alvidrez bought items or travel upgrades with little regard to city policy over the use of taxpayer money.

Alvidrez won the southwest Denver District 7 seat in the 2023 election after incumbent Jolon Clark decided not to seek reelection. The Denver native, who grew up in Athmar Park and expressed pride that she was the first District 7 council member from the west side of I-25, took office in July. 

Hartman served the new councilwoman as a part-time senior aide responsible for budget management and constituent services, according to a written response from the councilwoman disputing many of Hartman’s claims.

“I was so overwhelmed by the number of purchase rules she was disregarding and I called a member of City Council’s central staff to let them know I was overwhelmed,” Hartman said. “They let me know that our office was being watched closely by city council’s central staff because it had been noted that Councilwoman Alvidrez was ‘adjusting more slowly to the role than other new members.'”

“They noted that as long as I did my job in expressing concerns I had with her purchases, I was covered ethically and legally and that was how they were treating their interactions with our office,” Hartman said. 

Trip to Chile

In her complaint, Hartman claimed the councilmember spent $366 in taxpayer dollars for upgrades for her United Airlines flight to Chile and became upset when told she might have to reimburse the city. 

A month later, Alvidrez produced receipts from the Chile trip that were not itemized, Hartman said.

“I worried it might mean she had used city dollars for more items that were not allowed,” the former aide said. 

Alvidrez also spent an additional $200 for an oversized bag coming back home, Hartman said. 

The councilwoman said the airline lost her luggage on the way to Chile and needed to buy extra clothes.

“Receipts I made for purchases abroad were provided to my staff,” Alvidrez said in her response. “In Chile, they do not itemize receipts the same way they do in the United States and there is nothing I could do to force them to provide this type of receipt.”

Parade floats

Alvidrez also spent $4,234 in taxpayer dollars for an extra Halloween parade float — after already paying a group $10,000 for a float, Hartman claimed.

Hartman said Alvidrez told aides she forgot one person already agreed to build the float.  

That $4,234 went to Alvidrez’s ex-husband, Cesar Duran, Hartman said.

“Cesar agreed to build one float for me for the cost of supplies and labor and Youth on Record solicited a sponsorship so that I could walk with them in the parade,” Alvidrez said in response to the claims. “Both had spent time and energy so I did not feel like it was right to cancel either one … I did not privately benefit from either transaction and Cesar is no longer related to me.”

Alvidrez also used her city-issued credit card to buy candy, “Frito Lay snacks” and an “oatmeal raisin cookie.”

“When I told her the city could only reimburse her for the candy she had given out at the parade and that the Frito and cookie purchases would most likely not be allowed, she said that she ‘did hand those out at the parade,'” Hartman said, adding she “found (it) strange because I’ve never seen someone hand out chips and one cookie at a parade.”

Alcohol reimbursement 

The councilmember also paid for a Margherita pizza, a “That 70s Pie,” chickpeas and two sangrias at Joy Hill restaurant on Oct. 17 for a birthday meal, Hartman said in her complaint.

The cost of the meal, which Alvidrez had with an aide, was $94.10, said Hartman, who said the councilmember then asked if her if the meal could be reimbursed.

“I found this extremely concerning that (Alvidrez) was asking the city to reimburse her for alcohol and tax when she had explicitly been told this was not an allowable use of taxpayer dollars,” Hartman said.

In her response, Alvidrez said she is “aware that City fiscal rules prohibit me from purchasing alcohol on my city credit card and I did not do so.”

“I was not sure that a one-on-one meeting with a staff member was an allowable expense,” she added. 

School community outreach funds

Hartman said that, on Sept. 29, she received two invoices of $3,000 each for a “School Community Outreach” from Alejandro Fuentes Mena for “Outreach Plan, Data Compilation, and Outreach.”

“I have still never seen any data, services rendered, or deliverables from this project,” Hartman said.

In her response, Alvidrez said Mena is in “no way related to me nor is he a business associate.”

“It is because of his expertise in education and my lack of experience in education that I hired him for this project,” the councilmember said, adding the project, at a cost of $75 an hour, would “help me map out every school in my district and identify how I can best support them.” 

Hartman said when she talked to Alvidrez on Nov. 7 about some “time-sensitive questions regarding the budget,” the discussion went awry.  

Hartman said as she continued through each transaction she needed information on, the councilmember “cut me off, raised her voice.” 

“I was shocked at how she yelled at me,” Hartman said. “I wondered if she may try to fire me because the more I brought up the topic of fiscal rules, the more defensive she became.”

Alvidrez said she has a different “characterization” of the interaction.

“I have worked, or plan to work, with City Council Central Staff to ensure that my credit card transactions are verified or reimbursements are made to the city,” Alvidrez wrote in her response.