FLORENCE, Colo. — All Florence City Council Members, except for the mayor, resigned following Monday night’s council meeting. The former council members said it was amid ongoing corruption as well as the inability to do anything about it.

All Florence City Council Members resign Tuesday

“We became so frustrated because here we had this rock in the middle of the road, and we can’t move it,” said former council member, Mike Vendetti.

In February, council member, Brian Allen, asked the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to investigate $90,000 in unauthorized interest-free loans and a severance package for a former Chief of Police. But, Vendetti said the Chief of Police only looked into the severance package, but not the large interest-free loan program that was using city funds.

“The individual who was supposed to do the investigation does not work for us. He works for the City Manager and we can’t really go to the city manager and say ‘Tell the Chief to do a better job’,” Vendetti said.

He said that was when things began to change and three of the stronger city council members resigned.

“We no longer had a quorum. So we could just sit down a play tiddlywinks or whatever, but there was no reason for me to be there,” Vendetti said.

The Florence Interim City Manager, Tim Piltingsrud, held a press conference on Wednesday where he responded to the resignation. He said instead of resigning, the council members could have voted him out.

“It would have taken a vote, a second and two more votes, a motion to vote, two more votes and I’d be gone. Why they didn’t do that, I really can’t say,” Piltingsrud said.

The city said they are working on bringing in more city council members as quickly as possible.

“We’re still working with the County to see how we’re going to affect this special election, but it will happen. Hopefully, we’ll get concerned citizens to step forward and want to exercise their civic duty,” Piltingsrud said.

In the press conference, Piltingsrud said the council members’ resignation would not affect the day-to-day lives of people living in Florence. City employees would still be working and getting paid.

View the resignation letters here.