It appears that the citizens of Colorado Springs, and I, are about to fall victim to the old “bait and switch”.

Colorado Springs’ current city auditor, Natalie Lovell, was appointed by City Council five months ago at an annual salary of $189,000. As a condition of her appointment she agreed to receive her Colorado Certified Public Accountant (CPA) within two years. CPA certification was actually a minimum qualification for the position, so she was appointed even though she was not fully qualified. She pledged to become qualified.

During the selection process for this position, I and some other council members preferred fully qualified candidates. However, because it was clear that Ms. Lovell would have enough votes to be appointed, we went ahead and voted for her, to allow her to start in the position with clear support from Council.

We had her commitment to achieve her CPA within two years.

Unfortunately, rather than honoring her pledge to attain her CPA, less than three months later, she presented a “business case” to council members and Human Resources (HR) justifying removing the CPA as a requirement. HR concurred, and last week, on the first of two votes City Council voted 8-1 to remove the requirement for Ms. Lovell and any future city auditor.

Council is scheduled to vote a second and final time next Tuesday, Aug. 26. I was the one NO vote last week, and I will vote NO again on the 26th.

What do our previous city auditors think of this?

In a series of emails to Council, Denny Nestor, Colorado Springs city auditor from 2010 to 2020, has repeatedly warned council that this is a mistake. “I am respectfully asking you to not approve the proposed change.” Nestor states “…I believe the current City Auditor is embarrassing City Council by asking for this change. It benefits the City Auditor and makes Council look more like cheerleaders than Community Leaders. Being a Community Leader requires you to hold those who report to you responsible to fulfill their commitments.”

It is worth noting that when Nestor retired as our city auditor in 2020, he was one of seven CPAs in the office. When his successor, Jacqueline Rowland retired in early 2025 she was one of four CPAs. Since Lovell was appointed, two of our remaining three CPAs have decided to retire — leaving only one CPA in the office today.

Mike Hall was our city auditor from 1999 to 2004, and started in the office in 1987. He warns Council: “I strongly urge you to carefully consider why you are doing this, and the big picture, long-term ramifications of your action. Is this in the best long-term interest of the City, or just the easiest way to hire someone who may be politically astute but not technically proficient?”

I have received warnings that Lovell has taken portions of the CPA exam in the past but failed them. I asked her about this in an email but she did not answer the question. I asked her in person at our last council session but was immediately interrupted by the council president, who stated: “That’s not what we are voting on today and I’m going to redirect those questions for another time.” Once again, our city auditor did not answer the question. Why? Council then voted 8-1 to remove the requirement for her to honor her commitment to achieve her CPA.

Our second and final vote will be on Tuesday, Aug . 26. You can email City Council at allcouncil@coloradosprings.gov.

Dave Donelson is a Colorado Springs City Councilman, representing District 1.