A simple question has turned into a three-day spectacle for city government.

Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach on Wednesday became the latest in a string of city officials to weigh in on controversial remarks made Monday by the chairman of Bach’s Transit Solutions Team to Councilwoman Brandy Williams.

Bach said Robert Shonkwiler lost his cool when he told Williams that it was none of her business whether he rode a city bus as part of his research on public transportation in Colorado Springs. But the mayor also said he was “very disappointed” in the way some council members treated Shonkwiler.

“He was peppered with questions by councilors — and yes he lost his composure. However, I am very disappointed in how he was treated,” Bach said in a statement. “I believe we need to have some deference for citizens who are doing their best to try and help.”

(Was Robert Shonkweiler disrespectful to Councilwoman Brandy Williams? Vote in poll.)

Shonkwiler appeared before the City Council to present the team’s recommendations after it had spent three months evaluating the city’s transit programs.

“What should have been about a 20-minute presentation ended up lasting over two hours,” Shonkwiler said Wednesday.

When Williams asked whether anyone on the team tried to get around the city using only the bus system as part of their research, Shonkwiler refused to answer.

“I was asked to (serve on the team) by the mayor, and there weren’t any qualifications that I had to do that,” Shonkwiler told Williams.

“And frankly, our recommendations stand where they are, and personal questions about what I do or don’t do, I think, is my business,” he said.

When Williams said she wasn’t meddling in his personal business but asking about his research, Shonkwiler disagreed.

“I don’t think you’ve got any right to ask me that question, and I respectfully decline to answer,” he said. “It’s none of your business.”

At the beginning of Tuesday’s council meeting, Council President Scott Hente said Shonkwiler’s response was “not in keeping with the civility and the decorum” expected at council meetings and then he apologized to Williams because he didn’t say anything Monday.

“That sort of instant will not happen again,” Hente said.

Williams on Tuesday said she was “taken aback” by Shonkwiler’s response, which she called “disrespectful.”

On Wednesday, Shonkwiler said he was “more than happy” to answer any question about the policies the team recommended or their ramifications.

“Clearly, she was asking a question about my own personal behavior and frankly I don’t believe that’s appropriate,” he said.

Shonkwiler said he was “a little frustrated” by the time Williams asked her question.

“After over an hour of questioning on things that were not in our report, this just was kind of the limit for me,” he said, adding that he doesn’t believe he was disrespectful.

Shonkwiler, who serves on the city Planning Commission and recently was appointed by Bach to serve on the Urban Renewal Authority, said his experience “would make any average person think twice” about volunteering for the city.

“The mayor is correct. There’s a certain amount of deference that needs to be paid to people who are volunteering their time and trying to do what they can to better the community,” he said.

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Reaction from Councilwoman Brandy Williams’ colleagues:

• “Shonkwiler is one of the brightest minds in the public policy debate. To call him out was very disrespectful and is another reason we cannot get more community involvement. Private citizens won’t put up with the brain damage,” Councilman Tim Leigh wrote on Facebook.

Later, in a telephone interview, Leigh said, “Someone should ask her if she’s sold a hospital before,” referring to Williams, one of two council liaisons to the Memorial Health System negotiating team.

“If there’s an apology to be made, I think it should come from her to him because if there’s anybody who’s doing on-the-job training, it’s Brandy,” Leigh said.

• “‘Brightest minds in the public policy debate’” — gimme a break,” responded Councilwoman Lisa Czelatdko. “According to whom and displayed when Tim? Also, an expert in Boulder does not make an expert in Colorado Springs.”

• “It’s not whether or not he used public transportation. It was his reply that was uncalled for. All he had to say was, ‘No I haven’t, but I had experience in Boulder…’” Councilman Bernie Herpin wrote on Facebook.

Mayor Steve Bach Photo by JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE