Colorado Springs Councilman Dave Donelson faces formal censure and could be removed from various boards this week, moves he said were “an overreaction” to a recent request he made regarding other councilmembers’ acceptance of developer campaign donations.

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An agenda for Tuesday’s special meeting, set for 3:30 p.m. at City Hall, shows the council will vote on a resolution issuing a censure to Donelson “for breach of decorum.”

They could also vote to remove Donelson from several boards, commissions and committees to which he acts as an appointed council liaison or a voting member, such as the El Paso County Board of Public Health. Donelson could be removed from regional boards, too, like the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments and Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority boards.

“I’m concerned about all of this animosity and I’m disappointed in the huge overreaction … to a simple request,” Donelson said Monday.

Last week, Donelson asked councilmembers Brian Risley, Michelle Talarico and David Leinweber to recuse themselves from voting on a controversial apartment proposal along Garden of the Gods Road because they received campaign donations from the company proposing the project during their runs for City Council last year. He too asked fellow councilmembers to disclose conflicts of interest or prohibited communication with any party.

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Donelson received pushback from other councilmembers at last week’s hearing for his request, including from Council President Randy Helms, who said Donelson was “impugning” other councilmembers’ integrity.

The council can vote by a simple majority Tuesday to pass a symbolic resolution censuring Donelson.

A censure is a formal reprimand expressing “severe disapproval of a councilmember’s behavior,” city spokesman Alex Ryden said. There are no specific conditions with a censure. If the council censures Donelson, he will still retain his council seat, title and voting ability.

The last time a censure occurred was in 2016, Ryden said, when that council censured former Councilwoman Helen Collins for ethics violations.

If he is removed from various boards, committees and agendas on which he serves in his capacity as a councilman, Donelson will no longer participate on those boards.

City code allows councilmembers to accept campaign contributions and states doing so does not constitute violation of the city’s code of ethics, a draft resolution states. City charter authorizes City Council to create its own rules of procedure and “punish councilmembers for disorderly conduct,” according to the document.

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The council’s most recent rules and procedures, adopted in October 2022, explicitly cite censure as a possible reprimand for councilmembers who do not abide by the confidentiality required of closed executive sessions, or for councilmembers who publicly discuss “confidential matters.”

The council president, according to the document, must resolve “violations of decorum or conduct of councilmembers.”

Recusals happen either on advice of the city attorney, or it is up to each individual councilmember to decide if they have a conflict of interest and if they should recuse themselves from a vote. It is not the role of councilmembers to ask others on the dais to recuse themselves, Helms said.

“We are responsible for ourselves,” he said.

Leinweber and Helms agreed Donelson’s statements have the power to shape public perception of the council.

Helms said Donelson has “inappropriately” implied wrongdoing on other councilmembers’ parts. Leinweber said that could “erode public trust” in the board.

“That entices people to think that councilmembers are bought and paid for by developers. That’s just (incorrect),” Helms said. He added that accepting a campaign donation from a developer does not mean an elected official will consider and vote to approve proposed developments because of the donation.

Leinweber said all councilmembers take an oath to serve the city when they are sworn in and their duty as councilmembers outranks how they ran their campaigns.

“When I took that oath of office, I believe everything that happened in the campaign is different. Now, I need to serve the city and work with the council. … Donelson used our campaigns in a public arena for political uses and that was very inappropriate,” he said.

The six other members of the council did not immediately return The Gazette’s requests for comment Monday afternoon.

Donelson repeated statements he never accused his colleagues of wrongdoing but tried to point out their accepting public campaign funds can create “the appearance of conflict of interest or lack of impartiality.”

“It’s not me saying it that erodes confidence in the council. It’s public perception,” Donelson said.

Over the weekend the council received thousands of emails from residents on the issue, Helms said.

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Several residents who included Gazette journalists in their emails to the board said they support Donelson and have called on the council not to censure him or remove him from other boards.

Donelson “recognized an oversight in the meetings process and tried to correct it! Shame on you for striking back at him for pointing out the oversight,” resident Laurie Nolan wrote in a Saturday afternoon email to the council.

Donelson said he believes “good things” could come out of Tuesday’s meeting, such as a possible reconfiguration of campaign finance laws for Colorado Springs candidates.

Meeting agendas are available on the city website at coloradosprings.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx.