When Steve Cox announced his retirement in July after nearly 32 years with the city of Colorado Springs, he mentioned the possibility of doing consulting work for Mayor Steve Bach on big projects.

On that same day, Cox signed a separation agreement with the city that included a provision to “remain reasonably available to respond to requests for information and assistance” through Jan. 31, 2013, in exchange for payments and “other considerations.”

Since then, Cox has been paid $37,200 and is poised to receive $55,800 more, or $93,000 total, according to documents obtained under an open-records request.

The city said the work that Cox has performed under the agreement includes counseling the mayor on multiple projects, advising and assisting high-level employees on various matters and attending meetings.

Cox declined to be interviewed, but in a statement, Cox said the information provided by the city was accurate.

“I will continue to serve in whatever capacity the mayor needs, even beyond the terms of the agreement,” he said Monday.

The city and Cox entered into the agreement July 18. It is valued at $93,000, or six months of Cox’s previous salary. The city pays Cox every other week.

Under the agreement, the city also agreed to pay the employer share of Cox’s medical and dental coverage for six months. The value of those benefits is $4,312.

The city and Cox didn’t sign a separate consulting contract. Rather, the agreement to stay on retainer was part of the separation agreement, and the city declined to provide a copy of it.

“Other than amounts paid and benefits provided, separation agreements are not released to the public,” Human Resources Director Mike Sullivan said.

Before he retired, Cox was among the few high-level employees with deep institutional knowledge in the Bach administration. His résumé includes time as fire chief, interim city manager, interim chief of staff for Bach and then the mayor’s chief of economic vitality and innovation.

It was that background and his work in economic vitality that led Bach to keep Cox on retainer, said Laura Neumann, now the mayor’s chief of staff.

Neumann said Cox is serving as a consultant with “30-plus years of institutional knowledge” while also transitioning the business relationships he developed with companies the city continues to recruit.

“These have been ongoing relationships that he was very critical with that we did not want to sever those ties,” Neumann said.

The city said Cox has counseled the mayor on “several projects, including primary employer matters,” the revitalization of downtown and “other policy-making subjects.”

Cox “remains active” with city business and is in “fairly regular” contact with Bach and Bob Cope, who works in the mayor’s office of economic vitality, Neumann said.

The city said Cox “advised and assisted” Cope with “several major potential anchor projects” planned for downtown and “on matters related to retaining and enhancing existing military installations in the city.”

The city also said Cox has attended two meetings on the city’s behalf since he retired.

“As former city liaison with the Downtown Solutions Team and The Urban Land Institute visit, Steve has attended two Downtown Solutions Team meetings on the city’s behalf in the last four months and is expected to attend three more in the next eight weeks,” the city said.

The mayor formed the Downtown Solutions Team to inspire what he has called a downtown renaissance.

Neumann said the city is slowly moving away from Cox serving as the city’s point man on the downtown team and that she and Cope will play a bigger role in the future.

“We’ll cut those ties at the end of the year,” she said.

Finally, the city said Cox has and continues to advise Fire Chief Rich Brown, who has worked for the fire department since 1980, on getting a new fire station.

”A great asset during the Waldo Canyon fire, (Cox’s) decades of service to the fire department provide valuable input on various matters involving CSFD,” the city said.

—Contact Daniel Chacón: 476-1623Twitter @danieljchaconFacebook Daniel Chacon

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