Montrose City Manager Bill Bell’s 15-year tenure with the city ended Tuesday night after he and the City Council agreed to an immediate mutual separation.
The council unanimously accepted Bell’s written proposal following an executive session during its Sept. 1 meeting. Deputy City Manager Ann Morgenthaler, who has served since 2018 as Bell’s deputy, was appointed interim city manager effective immediately.
The separation agreement itself was not made available Tuesday. City Attorney Chris Dowsey said it would be placed before the council for formal ratification at its next meeting, when it will become a public record.
Bell and the city described the departure as amicable but gave no specific reason for it in statements released Wednesday.
“I truly believe this is what is in the best interests of the City of Montrose, as both an organization and as a community, at the current time,” Bell said.
Bell thanked residents, city employees, current and former council members, nonprofit organizations and government partners for working with him during his tenure.
“It has been with great pride and pleasure that I have been able to serve you all as your City Manager over the past 15 years,” Bell wrote. “It has been a very rewarding and exciting experience, and I am so appreciative of the positive impact it has had on me and my family.”
Mayor Michael Badagliacco, writing for the council, called the separation a difficult decision and thanked Bell for his service.
“Throughout his tenure, he provided professional administrative leadership and devoted substantial energy to the operations and advancement of our community,” the council’s statement said. “The City Council is grateful for the time and service Mr. Bell has given to Montrose and to the residents he served.”
During Tuesday’s meeting, Council member David Reed said accepting Bell’s proposal was in the best interests of the city, its residents, elected officials, employees and Bell’s family.
Reed initially referred to Bell’s departure as a resignation before being corrected that it was a mutual separation.
“You’ll have to forgive me tonight,” Reed responded.
Council members accepted the proposal effective immediately, subject to formal ratification of the written agreement in two weeks. Terms of the agreement, including any severance, continued benefits or other compensation, were not disclosed immediately.
Morgenthaler assumed leadership Tuesday evening as interim city manager, which is scheduled for retroactive ratification at the next council meeting.
“The City Council remains committed to stable, professional, and effective leadership for the City of Montrose,” the council’s statement said. “City services will continue without interruption during this transition.”
Departure comes after election dispute
Neither Bell nor the council connected his departure to a particular issue. However, the separation came less than a week after an unusually contentious special council meeting concerning the city’s April 2026 municipal election.
It also came one day after all five council members issued a joint statement expressing confidence in the election results and City Clerk Lisa DelPiccolo’s administration of the election while acknowledging areas where the process could be improved.
In the Aug. 31 statement, council members said they had received information from city employees, reviewed it and had opportunities to ask detailed questions.
The council said it was confident in the accuracy of the final election results and that DelPiccolo, the city’s designated election official, administered the election with “rigorous neutrality to ensure a fair, unbiased, and accurate outcome.”
At the same time, the council said the city would clarify election-administration responsibilities and pursue changes including city-specific agreements, a formal process for appointing election judges and an official location where all candidates would be invited to await results on election night.
City employees will continue reviewing election procedures and present recommendations to the council, according to the statement. The council did not announce an independent investigation.
The statement followed the Aug. 26 special meeting during which council members publicly argued over a confidential memo Dowsey had prepared concerning the election and whether the city should pursue an outside review.
The memo has not been made public, and its specific findings and conclusions remain unknown.
The public portion of the meeting became contentious as council members, Bell and Dowsey disagreed over who should participate in the executive session and precisely what the council intended to discuss.
Badagliacco had requested an executive session limited to council members and the city attorney to receive legal advice about how to proceed with investigating issues raised in columns published by David White in the Montrose Mirror.
Bell was initially asked to be excluded.
Reed objected, warning that the council had to be careful not to move into a discussion about DelPiccolo, who reports to the city manager rather than directly to the council.
“We have no jurisdiction or authority over her,” Reed said.
Bell and other council members then questioned how the council could meaningfully discuss the election without the employees who administered it.
“You’re saying you want to remove me as city manager and discuss this with my subordinates?” Bell asked.
Ulibarri responded that he believed a majority of the council wanted Bell excluded.
“I think that’s a really bad decision for you to do that, but you can go ahead and do it,” Bell said.
Bell argued that the council could discuss whether an independent investigation was warranted, but said administrators first should be given an opportunity to explain how the election was conducted.
“If you want to talk about the process of the election and decide if you need to do an investigation about the election, then let’s all talk about it and decide,” Bell said. “But to do that without giving anybody the opportunity to tell you what the city side is of how we ran our city election is not good. It doesn’t make any sense.”
Bell also argued that excluding him while questioning employees under his supervision would violate his and those employees’ due-process rights.
“Is it a violation of the law?” Ulibarri asked.
“Yes,” Bell replied.
“What law is it in violation of?” Ulibarri asked.
“My due-process rights and that of my employees that I oversee,” Bell responded.
Badagliacco then said he agreed that employees who report to Bell should not participate in the session if Bell were excluded.
“I would not want to have the employees who work under you here without you here,” Badagliacco told Bell.
Dowsey explained that, although the council appoints the city attorney, his client is the municipal organization rather than any individual council member or employee.
“My client is not City Council,” Dowsey said. “My client is the City of Montrose as a whole. That is who my best interests are here for. My ethical obligation is to the City of Montrose.”
Ulibarri challenged Dowsey’s description of that relationship, telling him, “We hire you. You work for us, and you also work for the city.”
Dowsey responded that his professional obligations could require him to advise the council if a city employee acted unlawfully—or advise others within the organization if members of the council acted unlawfully.
“If City Council is doing something illegal, I would have to let everyone else know on City Council, as well as Bill, because we would need to get that action done properly,” Dowsey said.
The discussion also exposed disagreement over the possible next step. Some council members believed the meeting had been called to consider an independent investigation, while others said they had not been informed that hiring outside legal counsel would be discussed.
“This is brand new to me,” Reed said. “I thought we were still discussing the April 2026 election, therefore the memo.”
Reed pointed to the mayor’s written request, which referred to receiving legal advice about how to proceed with an investigation but did not specifically mention retaining independent counsel.
Bell also disputed portions of Dowsey’s confidential memo.
“There is incorrect information in there,” Bell said.
Badagliacco said the disagreement demonstrated the value of an impartial review.
“There’s the story that we all read, there’s the story that’s in the memo and then there’s the truth,” Badagliacco said.
The mayor said he wanted an independent party to determine what happened during the election. Bell responded by asking whether Badagliacco was alleging that Dowsey’s memo contained falsehoods. Badagliacco said he believed it contained incorrect information and cited information discussed during a separate Monday meeting.
Reed and Frank ultimately placed objections on the record. Frank said the planned discussion did not match the purpose for which he understood the special meeting had been called.
“And I object because this is not what was published and therefore we do not have as per Colorado open meetings laws adequate notification of this special meeting for what we’re going to be discussing” Frank said.
The council then moved into executive session. What was discussed there remains confidential, and no public decision resulting from the session was announced.
The council ultimately moved into executive session. What was discussed there is confidential, and no public decision resulting from that session was announced.
Charter changes headed to voters
The election controversy arose amid tensions about a separate issue: the structure of city government and the authority exercised by the council and city manager.
Badagliacco and council members Ed Ulibarri and Adam Woodden, who form a majority of the five-member council, recently pushed for and advanced four proposed City Charter amendments to the November ballot.
One would move Montrose municipal elections from April to November in even-numbered years. Another would impose an eight-year lifetime limit on elected council service for candidates after Nov. 3, 2026.
The other two amendments would change the appointment and removal process for two senior city officials.
Under the current charter, the city manager appoints and removes the police chief and city clerk. The proposed amendments would retain the city manager’s responsibility for those decisions but give the council authority to approve or reject the appointment or removal of either official.
The proposed language states that the city manager would remain responsible for supervising the police and clerk’s offices and that council members would not be authorized to interfere with their daily operations.
Voters will decide the four amendments in November.
Bell’s separation agreement is expected to return to the council for formal ratification at its next regular meeting. Its release should provide the first public look at the financial and employment terms of his departure.
