Board of Ethics Chairwoman Katherine Burgess said Wednesday after adjourning executive session to review the complaint: \u201cMr. LeBlanc entered into an agreement with a company owned by a sitting member of City Council. We believe that that showed an appearance of a conflict of interest.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Board of Ethics will host a public hearing about whether LeBlanc\u2019s actions rise to the level of an ethics violation. The meeting has not been scheduled.<\/p>\n
LeBlanc did not immediately respond to a call for comment Wednesday.<\/p>\n The Herald<\/em> published a story July 27 exploring the details of LeBlanc\u2019s real estate sale listing with Durango Land and Homes, a brokerage co-owned by City Councilor Chris Bettin<\/a>. The city ethics code forbids supervisors from engaging in \u201csubstantial financial transactions\u201d with subordinates. The city manager reports to, and is managed by, the City Council.<\/p>\n The Board of Ethics cleared Bettin of wrongdoing<\/a> two weeks ago. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday night.<\/p>\n Bettin previously told the Herald<\/em> that former mayor Christina Rinderle, his business partner and girlfriend, was the broker in charge of selling LeBlanc\u2019s house. Bettin said he and Rinderle are dating, live together, split the mortgage and co-own the same business. But they keep their finances separate, he said.<\/p>\n LeBlanc chose Durango Land and Homes out of about 75 real estate firms in the area \u2013 according to a count by the Durango Area Association of Realtors \u2013 because \u201cI think it\u2019s a really good real estate firm and they have a good track record,\u201d he said in July. The house sold Aug. 13 for $649,000, according to county records.<\/p>\n Two ethics complaints were filed with the City Clerk\u2019s Office in the weeks after the Herald<\/em>\u2019s story about the city manager\u2019s real estate agreement.<\/p>\n The first complaint, filed Aug. 1<\/a>, is handwritten on a Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics Complaint Form bearing city of Durango letterhead. The accusation cites the Herald<\/em>\u2019s July 27 story. Peter Norton of Durango signed the document. Norton did not return a phone call Wednesday evening seeking comment.<\/p>\n A second complaint, filed Aug. 19<\/a>, spans eight pages and reads much like litigation, including sections like \u201cGENERAL ALLEGATIONS\u201d and \u201cCLAIMS FOR RELIEF.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Durango resident John Simpson filed the document and, after city staff denied the Herald<\/em>\u2019s request to review a copy of the complaint, provided a redacted copy to the newspaper. Simpson has since withdrawn his complaint. In an email to the Herald,<\/em> Simpson said he is not interested in \u201cpunishing\u201d LeBlanc, who announced Aug. 20 he plans to retire in early 2020.<\/p>\n