City Manager appears upset that the City’s antics are being exposed!

The following email was received by the MontroseMirror this past week concerning recent DOGE & White posts.

“Good morning. Please stop this nonsense. How long are you going to perpetuate David White and the DOGE’s lying about me and my family? It is one thing to disagree with a member of the government’s professional decisions, but it is not morally acceptable to enable them to continually attack children and family members and myself regarding things we have not done. At some point, this craziness has to stop. You and they are tearing apart our community and ruining peoples lives for no reason. Every single post the Montrose DOGE has posted has been filled with lies and misinformation, including this week’s…they apparently don’t understand what a payroll deduction is, so they tell the public that the city paid for me and several employees to be part of a corporate membership at the bridges using tax dollars is just flat out lying and you are spreading that information using your media capabilities, which is just as bad, if not worse than what they are doing. City employees are real people with families and this type of abuse is uncalled for and needs to stop!

William E Bell, MPA,

City Manager Montrose, Colorado

Montrose Citizen DOGE’s Response to City Manager Bill Bell.

Dear Mr. Bell,

We appreciate your outreach and understand your concerns regarding the reporting by DOGE and its coverage by the Montrose Mirror. However, we must address the inaccuracies in your letter and clarify the issues raised, which are grounded in public records and factual observations, not misinformation or personal attacks.

Firstly, DOGE has never targeted or mentioned your children in our reporting. The assertion that we have attacked your family is unfounded. Public records show that you invited your children to participate in city-sponsored golf tournaments at The Bridges and Cobble Creek. This was your decision, not an action initiated or highlighted by DOGE. Our focus remains on the use of public resources, not personal family matters.

Regarding the golf memberships, public records, including the City of Montrose's check registry, indicate that taxpayer funds have been used to facilitate memberships at private golf clubs, The Bridges and Cobble Creek, through payroll deductions for certain city employees. The issue is not the concept of payroll deductions (we are fully aware how payroll deductions work as our own experience as corporate business leaders has made us fully aware), but the use of public funds to subsidize access to private facilities. The coding of these transactions in the city's check registry lacks transparency, raising legitimate questions about accountability and the appropriateness of using taxpayer dollars for such purposes. There is no clear justification for why the City of Montrose should front costs for private golf club memberships, particularly when these benefits are not uniformly available to all employees or taxpayers.

MontroseDOGE, has on more than one occasion, offered, previously Mayor Reed, and later Mayor Frank, along with yourself, the opportunity to refute, in an open public forum, any perceived inaccuracies of David White and DOGE’ reporting, yet these offers have been met with silence. And instead of engaging with us directly you have chosen to attack the publisher of the Montrose Mirror. Despite DOGE providing a direct email address (info@montroseDOGE.org) in every one of our posts, neither you nor any member of the City Council or your staff has reached out to us. The only reasonable conclusion we can draw is that there are no legitimate grounds to dispute the evidence we have presented, which is based on documented public records.

Our mission at MontroseDOGE is to promote transparency and ensure public resources are used responsibly. Our posts are based on the city's own financial records, which are available for public scrutiny. We have not spread lies or misinformation but have sought to inform the community about how their tax dollars are being spent. If there are errors in our interpretation of payroll deductions or other financial mechanisms, we invite you to provide detailed clarification, including specific documentation, to correct the record. Our email remains open for such dialogue.

We agree that city employees are real people with families, and our intent is not to cause harm but to hold public officials accountable. The community deserves clear answers about why taxpayer funds are being used for private golf club memberships and why these transactions are coded in a way that obscures their purpose. We hope you will address these concerns directly to restore trust and unity in Montrose.

Sincerely,

MontroseDOGE