13 Investigates uncovers city sex harassment scandal

FLORENCE, Colo. (KRDO) – Former Florence City Manager Mike Patterson first captured headlines when he was arrested at the Denver International Airport in November 2021.

A fraction of the allegations against the former city manager became public when he was charged with stalking his female employees.

But this story isn’t just about those allegations

It’s about the system that failed three women by empowering their perpetrator, even as reports of his abuse piled up.

13 Investigates reviewed legal records that included a string of text messages between Patterson and Kibler. 

“I even looked at your butt today. It’s actually very nice,” Patterson wrote.  “You did not,” Kibler responded. 

“I did. I know I shouldn’t have. But I decided to peak (sic) today. It was good!” Patterson wrote. 

Kibler says it was difficult to navigate responding to her new boss. 

“What do I do to keep my job? So, I would kind of laugh it off, change the subject in most cases,” Kibler said.

Kibler said the messages continued and quickly escalated to Patterson texting the clerk how he fantasized about having sex with her along with his wife.

“It was two o'clock in the morning. It was weekends and was during the day during meetings. All-day every day,” Kibler said of the text messages.

Kibler added Patterson frequently showed anger towards employees. With the combination of his anger and messages, the city clerk decided she wanted to report the city manager. 

“Bad behavior from the manager [who] just yells and screams and slams doors and points fingers, and if it didn't go his way, it wasn't no way at all,” Kibler said.

Kibler says the stress left her physically ill. She started breaking out in hives and lost 65 pounds within months

Due to her responsibilities as both the human resources officer and the city clerk, she eventually decided to confide in Finance Director Lori Cobbler before reporting the inappropriate text messages. She also took her concerns about Patterson to then-Mayor Keith Ore

“I said [to the mayor] it’s your job and my job to get rid of this problem. We have to stop this,” Kibler told 13 Investigates. “He told me that there's nothing he could do because he was going to be gone.”

At the time, Ore could not run again because of election term limit rules and was leaving office in five months

Kibler said she reported the harassment to Mayor Ore on a Friday. Four days later, on Tuesday morning, June 11, 2019, Patterson called her into his office

He handed her a  termination letter. 

“Despite training efforts on behalf of the City, you are unwilling or unable to perform the duties of the position in a satisfactory manner. Therefore, I am terminating your employment with the City of Florence effective 6/11/2019,” read the letter, signed by Patterson.

13 Investigates requested employment records for Kibler, including disciplinary records. The city said it only had her application and termination letter.

Kibler contacted employment attorney Andrew Swan that afternoon. He sent Mayor Ore a letter on June 12, 2019, alleging wrongful termination and sex-based discrimination after reporting sexual harassment.

As an example of the city’s ambivalence towards Patterson’s behavior, Swan notes Patterson’s previous felony conviction for domestic violence in 2008. The specific charge was for committing the abuse in front of a child. Patterson pleaded guilty. He received a deferred sentence for completing an  18-month domestic violence program .

Swan tells 13 Investigates, “[W]hen [Mike Patterson] was hired by the city of Florence over a decade ago, the city was on an actual notice that he was a predator. They did a background check. We know that the background check pulled up his history of being a predator against women when he was a city manager in the Pacific Northwest. Florence hired him anyway. And in the last decade, given his history, I don't think any reasonable person would be surprised that he continued his pattern and practice of harassment.”

In 2019, the City of Florence was still operating under its  1995 employee policy handbook .

13 Investigates obtained a copy of the  sexual harassment policy that was updated in 2006 , which said sexual harassment was prohibited. The handbook also directed employees in 2019 to report harassment to their supervisors or the city manager.

Patterson’s  employment contract with the City of Florence reads:  “The City of Florence policy manual shall not apply to the manager, except as specifically provided in this agreement.”

13 Investigates reviewed the employment agreement – the contract never mentions sexual harassment. 

Kibler said of the suit, “It wasn't about the money. It was about getting rid of Mike Patterson. We were told that within six months, Patterson had to go, and that's when I was willing to settle.”

City records show the insurance provider spent more than $102,000 to settle the claim, with $54,000 being paid out to Kibler’s portion of the claim. The city of Florence previously said in a written statement that it spent $1,000 in a deductible payment related to Kibler’s claim.

When we asked Kibler’s attorney the settlement agreement did not have a written provision specifying that Patterson would leave the city within six months.

Hard Evidence

Eight days before the city of Florence and its insurance provider finalized the settlement with Kibler, the city council made another set of important decisions regarding Patterson.

 They approved a nearly-$4,700 raise  for Patterson, boosting his annual salary to more than $96,000. They also decided to grant him a yearly $2,500 water credit for his personal home. Finally, regarding the idea of terminating Patterson, the city council promised Patterson a 6-month salary severance package, in the event he was fired.

The group making that made those decisions included Mayor Keith Ore, Councilman Allen Knisley, Councilman (now Mayor) Paul Villagrana, Councilman Mike Vendetti, Councilman Dick Upton, Councilman John Cobbler, and Councilman Larry Baker.

They were serving at the time of the settlement. Current City Attorney Matt Krob was representing the city in legal matters at the time. 

Councilman Allen Knisley was serving his second term in 2019 when he and his colleagues officially settled Kibler’s claim. Councilman Knisley said the city council was first told about Kibler’s case in an emergency executive session after an investigation had already begun. The councilman said that happened after “legal demands” from Kibler’s attorney were presented to the city. Councilman Knisley confirmed to 13 Investigates over text messages that the city’s insurance provider, Colorado Intergovernmental Risk Sharing Agency (CIRSA), recommended Patterson’s firing.

Councilman Mike Vendetti and current-Mayor Paul Villagrana, who were serving at the time Kibler’s case was settled, have told 13 Investigates they were not aware of a recommendation to fire Patterson in 2019. CIRSA did not respond to questions about what, if anything, it recommended to city leaders while resolving the legal issue involving Patterson’s behavior. 

13 Investigates sent a copy of Florence police records it obtained about Kibler’s lawsuit in February 2022 to a city council member who shared it with other council members, including councilman Vendetti.

"I was really surprised when I looked in there to find that Mayor Ore had actually received a package than we were aware of at council or ever made aware of,” Vendetti said.

Councilman Vendetti, who was also serving his second term on council in November 2019, said he first learned of the text message Patterson had sent Tammy in 2019 from 13 Investigates in February 2022. Former Mayor Keith Ore did not respond to a request for comment from 13 Investigates about the allegations that he didn’t share the information with his fellow council members back in 2019.

"There was actual hard evidence that this behavior was going on, which we didn't see, I didn't see. And it would have changed things quite a bit as probably how I would have reacted myself. Because it would have made it far easier to say remove Mr. Patterson,”

Vendetti also told 13 Investigates an employment attorney from the city’s insurance provider in 2019 recommended Patterson attend harassment training.  The City of Florence does not have records showing what corrective action or discipline Patterson faced after Kibler’s claim was settled, according to the city’s official response to 13 Investigates’ records request. 

“This is where council more or less dropped the ball because no one was put in charge of making sure that happened. Mr. Patterson was the HR department at the time,” Vendetti said.


After the settlement, Patterson remained in his position managing all city staff. The only thing that changed was his salary, which was higher, and a sense of financial protection from termination.

For Kibler? It would take two years after her firing until she found another job.

Soon after, she received an unexpected Facebook message from a Florence city employee in distress. Kibler says it took her a while to respond to Florence’s planning technician Shay Ardrey, but the two eventually spoke. 

“That kind of was painful when she called me and said it was still happening. Right, I thought maybe they didn't let him go. Maybe he learned his lesson, but apparently, he didn't. It didn't phase them,” Kibler said

“I didn't have any experience in planning at all. And he told me that'd be okay to go ahead and come to work and they would teach me everything I needed to know,” Ardrey told 13 Investigates.

Within a day of starting her new position, Ardrey says Patterson began texting her.

“They started out like very friendly flirtatious. You look beautiful this morning, or you have such pretty eyes,” Ardrey explained

Ardrey says within two weeks, the messages became sexual. 

“They elevated to more of I want to lick you. They became rather inappropriate, rather quickly,” Ardrey said.

Ardrey didn’t know how to respond. She said she liked her job and wanted to continue working but did not want to give off the impression she was interested in Patterson’s sexual advances. 

“So I at first ignored him, and then he would make comments that he needed me to answer the question,” Ardrey said. “How many ways can you tell somebody you're not interested without being offensive?”

13 Investigates reviewed text messages between Patterson and Ardrey. Ardrey attempts to redirect the conversation to Patterson’s significant other multiple times. 

Patterson's messages to Shay

Patterson's messages to Shay

“I usually would try to redirect his attention to his relationship. I thought that was a safe exit. Initially, it was a little bit deterring. But it didn't stop him,” Ardrey said.

The messages continued, and eventually, Ardrey’s boss asked her if she would be interested in having sex. Ardrey says Patterson even offered her the option of living in his basement.

“Ultimately asking me if I would have a threesome with him and his wife,” Audrey said. “I didn't tell anybody because I'm from the area, born and raised in Fremont County. I know everyone. I was pretty embarrassed."

Patterson invited Ardrey and other city staff to his wedding in June 2021. She was worried she would get in trouble for not going, so Ardrey asked her supervisor, then city planning director Sean Garrett if she was required to go. Garrett told her he wasn’t attending, and she didn’t need to go either.

“Mike was not happy that we didn't attend. We got the silent treatment for a couple of days and then had a couple of work-related arguments over building permit issues. And I thought that it was going to get worse because Mike was angry. And so I decided that I needed to tell Sean what was happening because I was afraid I would get fired,” Ardrey said.

Ardrey tells 13 Investigates she first notified her supervisor about Patterson’s harassment in July 2021, about a month after he started texting her. of some of the harassment she was experiencing from Patterson.

“I offered to show him, and he read just a couple of messages and couldn't read anymore,” Ardrey said. “Then, we started talking about what to do and who to tell. And I had a lot of anxiety about going to the mayor, or the city council, because I had been talking with staff and I had learned about some of the women before me, including Tammy. A and I, knew when she reported it to the mayor, she got fired. So, I didn't want to lose my job. Sean was also concerned about going to the mayor. We were both pretty new there.”

Ardrey says she and Garrett eventually decided to take the issue to finance director Lori Cobbler — the same woman that Tammy Kibbler says she chose to first confide in. In a 90-day employee benefits enrollment meeting, Ardrey revealed to Cobbler what Patterson had been texting her.

“Lori was trying to get my information so that I could have my employee benefits, and I started crying. I told her I didn't think that we needed to do that because I didn't think I was going to be able to stay and she asked me why. And so I told her what was happening and she was very upset,” Ardrey said. 

The three left city hall and went to lunch where Ardrey showed Cobbler some of the text messages. Ardrey says it was an uncomfortable conversation.

“Nobody felt comfortable going to the council or the city attorney or the police chief,” Ardrey said.

“We have discussed this day for a couple of weeks, and as difficult as it is, I feel the time has come for me to resign from my position from the City of Florence. This situation is affecting my overall health, physically, mentally, and emotionally,” Ardrey wrote. “The stress of being there and not knowing what to do, pretending to be ok is taxing.”

Ardrey told Garrett he was the best supervisor she ever worked with and she had the “utmost respect” for him and his leadership

“I realize the position you're in is difficult, and I cannot thank you enough for the respect you have shown me in honoring my wishes in keeping my situation confidential. This entire situation has been hard on me as I have struggled between what is the right thing to do and what would be the easiest thing to do, as it turns out, nothing is going to be easy!  I trust that you and Lori will make the best decision you can with the only option you have, I just pray that this stays confidential and you both aren’t jeopardizing your jobs,” Ardrey wrote.

Ardrey noted in her resignation that she showed both Garrett and Cobbler the messages and said she believed they all had witnessed Patterson’s “manipulation” of the city staff, council, and the city attorney. She said she was “heartbroken” over the lost opportunities to help make a difference in Florence. 

Ardrey’s resignation would become the catalyst that would soon force the city council to take action. The resignation prompted Garrett to inform the council, once again, of Patterson’s documented sexual harassment. On August 27, 2021, the Florence city council held an emergency executive session. The council was provided proof of Patterson’s text messages to Ardrey

At first, Ardrey sent some messages that she says showed sexual harassment and proof that Patterson’s phone number was sending the messages.  Then, a request came for more evidence. 

“I was asked if I could send the nasty messages, which was probably the hardest part to do. I felt like they weren't believing me. I felt like maybe there should have been a little more consideration for what I'd already went through. And I don't know how reading that things that disgusting made it any more real,” Ardrey said. 

Ardrey was also asked to provide a statement for the council:

Three days later, the Florence City Council was preparing for another executive session on August 31, 2021. 

In preparation for that meeting, Lori Cobbler, who was appointed by the council last year to handle human resources for the city, handed Florence City Clerk Jessica Hill a manila envelope and told her if there was anything she needed to say it was her chance.

Inside the envelope were screenshots of text messages Patterson had sent Ardrey. 

“My heart immediately dropped because I literally had the exact same text messages word for word,” Hill explained.

Hill said she immediately went to Cobbler to show her she had the same messages from Patterson. She said she felt bad she hadn’t come forward sooner but tells 13 Investigates she didn’t know who to report the harassment to until that point. She was worried she would get fired.

“[Cobbler] said ‘get in the car, and we're going to the mayor's house,’” Hill said.

Hill tells 13 Investigates she showed then-Mayor Dick Upton the messages she received before the executive session that night. 

The morning after he was fired, the city council unanimously voted to fire Patterson, City Clerk Jessica Hill went to the Florence Police Department, just a few yards away from city hall. Hill was the first woman to speak with police about Patterson’s behavior. According to  police records , Hill told Detective Jeff Worley she was recently sexually assaulted by Patterson while in his office. Hill also told the detective she had been receiving text messages from her boss for months asking for her to have a threesome with his wife. Hill told police she kept this a secret never told anyone because she was afraid she would lose her job. 

Detective Worley and another detective met with Police Chief Shane Prickett and then Deputy Chief Bill Venelli. During that meeting, the city’s two top cops directed the detectives to investigate the Patterson case within the Florence Police Department, as opposed to having an outside agency investigate the man who had supervised the police department just days before

Police reports show that same day, detectives met again with Hill. Hill provided the Florence Police Department with at least nine witnesses and other women to speak to about Patterson’s alleged behavior. The detectives then instructed Hill to conduct a pretext recorded phone call with Patterson about the alleged sexual assault. Police provided Hill with a recording device to take home to record any calls from Patterson

In Hill’s first phone call with Patterson, police records show she told him she had something on her mind that really upset her. In the conversation, Hill brought up the day Patterson kissed her in his office and put his hand down her shorts, according to police records. 

Police records say Patterson’s tone became more subdued

“Yeah, uh, I, yeah, I’m sorry about that,” Patterson said in a recorded phone call. Police records say Patterson paused for a second and then asked a question.

“That never came out?” Patterson asked.

Hill promised she had never told anyone about the incident.

The next day on September 2, 2021, Patterson called Hill. He said he was driving back from Pueblo, heading to the Florence City Hall to pick up his stuff from his office after a “command order” from city officials. Patterson broached the subject of the incident in his office with Hill, according to police records. 

“When it was happening, I felt like, I remembered saying ‘Are you OK with this?’ or something like that, but I wanted to make sure I did not hurt you,” Patterson said. Patterson told Hill she was his best friend at work and pressed her, asking further asked if he had done something bad.

Hill told Patterson it “freaked her out” when the door was shut. She said it was a “struggle” that he was her boss. Patterson replied, saying he realized he should not have done what he did but he “felt like it was both of us.”

Police records say it was difficult to hear Patterson in the recorded phone call because Hill mistakenly spoke with him on speakerphone during the second call. 

Hill described the recorded phone calls she had with Patterson to 13 Investigates.

“And [Patterson] goes, ‘Well, you're not gonna charge me with sexual assault, are you?’ So he made it clear that he knew what he did was completely wrong and against the law in a recorded phone call,” Hill said.

Police also examined Patterson’s work notebooks in his office during their investigation. Those notebooks were where he wrote about city business and also had names of women, most of whom were part of the criminal investigation into his alleged behavior at city hall. The women were listed in various orders including their ages and heights were noted, according to police records.

During the criminal investigation, detectives spoke with a council member. That individual council member said they believed Patterson had “boundary issues.” The council member told police their spouse had previously warned them to never be alone with Patterson. The council member then shared a text message with the police indicating they had received an inappropriate message from the city manager.

“Can I say something that’s really bad to my friend who is also my boss?” Patterson wrote in part. 

“Lol. Yes. I am not your boss right now,” the council member responded.

Patterson went on to tell the council member about his sex life in extremely explicit detail.

Some Charges Filed, Others Vanish

After more than two dozen interviews and conversations with current and former city employees, a council member, and others, the Florence Police Department secured an arrest warrant for Patterson on November 3, 2021. Still, it would take 12 days before Patterson was arrested by police at the Denver International Airport on November 15, 2021, following a vacation to Florida. Authorities booked Patterson into the Denver County Jail where he was charged with felony stalking, unlawful sexual contact, and providing alcohol to a minor. All of Patterson’s current charges are connected to his alleged behavior with his female staff at city hall.  However, police never filed charges against Patterson in Hill’s case. Chief Prickett previously told 13 Investigates after the city clerk filed a federal lawsuit, Hill was eliminated as a criminal victim through evidence but did not say why. Prickett declined to comment as we were preparing this report, citing pending litigation against the city.  

Hill was notified on November 3, 2021, that a warrant for Patterson’s arrest had been secured,  according to a text message she received from a Florence detective.  The message also indicated that the Fremont County District Attorney’s office elected to not charge Patterson for what she had reported. The detective said the texts between her and Patterson gave the former city manager too much “wiggle room” to be charged, despite the recorded phone calls with Patterson about the alleged assault. 

“It makes me very angry," Hill told 13 Investigates. "I don't understand how a recorded phone call with the person who assaulted you, admitting that they assaulted you, eliminates you as a victim."

Emails obtained by 13 Investigates show Prickett previously told the council he was aware of inappropriate behavior by Patterson towards women while in an executive session after Patterson was fired. Prickett sent the email to city attorney Matt Krob on January 25, 2022, nine days after he says the interim city manager notified him that he was under investigation. In the email, Prickett said he was being investigated for an allegation that he knew about alleged sexual harassment by Patterson and failed to report it. In the email, Prickett says his agency’s police reports show interim city manager Sean Garrett and finance director/Interim HR director Lori Cobbler knew about Patterson’s alleged sexual misconduct and failed to report it immediately. 

Prickett declined to comment on the email citing pending litigation – despite previously telling 13 Investigates that the allegations him in federal lawsuits were false. Those federal lawsuits allege Prickett knew about Patterson’s sexual harassment for years and failed to report it.

The women believe there was a conflict of interest with the police department investigating Patterson from the beginning. 

“I'm very disappointed that it was kept as an in-house investigation. It never should been that way. I mean an investigation by the city about the city? I mean, for its police departments investigating its own city manager. It's a conflict of interest. We asked for an outside agency. I feel let down on many levels,” Ardrey said.

Ardrey wasn’t the only one who asked for an outside agency to investigate the Patterson case.

In January 2022, Councilman Allen Knisley told 13 Investigates after Patterson was fired he and “others” asked for the district attorney and sheriff’s office to be brought in “for the purpose of securing city property for evidentiary purposes.” Knisley alleges that city attorney Matt Krob told the council that the district attorney would not consider the city’s problems.

The women say what’s possibly been most disappointing is that they feel like the process has been dehumanizing.

“I think firing him was something they had no choice but to finally respond,” Ardrey explained.  “But I don't feel like they did their due diligence, and I think that it's very disrespectful that it's taken them all this time to ever give us a statement. We've never been spoken to, we've never been apologized to. We've had no offerings of support. I'm very disappointed in the way the city's dealt with any of this.”

Both Hill and Ardrey say they’ve received more support from citizens than city staff and elected officials.

13 Investigates' Due Diligence

Patterson is currently awaiting trial. On February 8, 2022, a special prosecutor was ordered by the judge presiding over the case after no objection from Fremont County prosecutors on his defense attorney’s motion that there was a conflict of interest with the Fremont County District Attorney’s Office trying the case, a special prosecutor was ordered by the judge. 

Following the hearing, 13 Investigates tried to get answers from Patterson. He refused to answer questions about the crimes he is charged with or about the women that have accused him. His attorney did not respond to 13 Investigates' request for comment as we were preparing this story.

City records show Patterson’s job performance was only evaluated by the council in 2012 and 2020, despite working for the city for a decade. The performance evaluations of Patterson’s employment acknowledged Patterson’s work ethic, ability to maintain the financial health of city funds, and good communication skills. 

13 Investigates sent a public records request for Patterson’s disciplinary records to the City of Florence. The clerk said the only record the city had was the city council meeting minutes from August 31, 2021, when Patterson was fired. The city council previously said in January that Patterson was not paid his 6-month salary package of $48,000 when he was fired.

 13 Investigates requested on-camera interviews  with Police Chief Shane Prickett, Sean Garrett, Finance/Interim Human Resources Director Lori Cobbler, Mayor Paul Villagrana, Councilwoman Melissa Hardy, Councilman Mike Vendetti, Councilman Allen Knisley, Councilman Anthony Esquibel, Councilman Brian Allen, Councilwoman Kristal Wood and City Attorney Matt Krob about the allegations in this story.

On February 9, 13 Investigates reached out to all of the current city council members, mayor, former interim city manager Sean Garrett and Finance Director Lori Cobbler requesting a sit-down interview or comment on the allegations about what they knew about Patterson’s behavior.

Current Florence City Council

Then two days later on February 11, we followed up telling them all the women we interviewed wanted a public apology because they felt ignored, degraded, and not believed. 

11 days later, a stunning change of tune came in the form of a public statement from Councilman Brian Allen who never responded to our requests for an interview.

"This evil was a very dominant trait in our city for many years. That is until the women that were being victimized by these shameful acts stood up and said no more. It took some very strong women to finally end his reign of terror. I commend their strength for coming forward for bringing that darkness in the light, it was overdue. To those women, I can only deeply and sincerely apologize.”

More than six months after Patterson was fired, the city council approved a temporary external human resources contract with Employer’s Council. Florence staff can contact them by phone or Zoom if they have work-related issues. Officials say an external human resources member will be at city hall twice a week.

The Fallout

Hill says continuing to work at the city amid a criminal investigation and a federal lawsuit has been extremely difficult.

“It's been hell,” Hill admitted.  “I don't sleep. I don't eat. Trying to balance being so hurt because nobody even seems to really care about what you've gone through and still trying to do a job that you love, and you don't want to leave. It is just daily hell, nobody should have to go through it.”

Hill and Ardrey both have filed federal lawsuits against Patterson and the City of Florence, seeking an unspecified amount in monetary damages. 

They both tell 13 Investigates more than anything; they want accountability, systems to be put in place to prevent what they experienced from happening again, acknowledgment of what transpired, and a public apology.

“I would like to see the people that are in my eyes just as responsible as Patterson stepped down and not be in that position of power anymore,” Hill said. 

“Resignations,” Ardrey said.

The women wouldn’t share specifics on who they thought should resign.

The Blinds on the Window

"The residents of Florence deserve better,” the victim’s civil attorney Andrew Swan told 13 Investigates.

He adds that the thread that runs through the entire story of Florence is a lack of transparency

The city could have stopped him. They could have stopped him by not hiring him in the first place. They could have stopped him by firing him the moment credible allegations came forward years ago. They could have stopped him when rumors continued to swirl around him. But they didn't. They gave him raises. They gave him hidden perks. And you know what [the city] also did? At his request, they put blinds on his inner office window. “A reasonable employer would have fired him.”

Weeks ahead of our report, interim city manager Sean Garrett submitted his resignation. The council appointed Tom Piltingsrud to the post. Piltingsrud promised to shine a “xenon searchlight” onto the city administration. 

His first act was to have the blinds taken off the city manager’s office.

Patterson's messages to Shay

Patterson's messages to Shay

Current Florence City Council