The Adams County Board of Commissioners on Friday asked Treasurer Alex Villagran to resign his post, alleging that he engaged in “inappropriate behavior involving multiple county staff members.”
An investigative report obtained by The Denver Post says Villagran was accused of conduct that included sexually suggestive remarks, touching and inappropriate gestures.
In a news release Friday morning, the county said that the independent investigation confirmed that Villagran, a Democrat who was elected as treasurer in 2022, had engaged in a “consistent pattern of inappropriate conduct.” But officials did not provide details about what was alleged against him.
The Post obtained a copy of the investigative report, which was conducted by Flynn Investigations Group, through an open records request. It outlined a series of sexually suggestive remarks and behaviors that female county employees said Villagran had made toward them, including “mimicking sex by pumping his arms and pelvis” and adjusting a female employee’s bra strap when it had fallen off her shoulder.
Another employee said Villagran had spoken to her about his troubled marriage and how he had no sex life due to his wife going through menopause, according to the report. She claimed Villagran told her that her “husband will ‘need to be patient’ with her during menopause.”
Villagran was also accused of looking “women up and down,” hugging them, touching their shoulders and lower backs, and taking video of women who were getting married in the lobby area of the county building, the report stated.
Others said the treasurer had a habit of standing uncomfortably close to them when talking to them, the report says.
The report concluded that Villagran “more likely than not” made “unwelcome and objectively offensive remarks of a sexual nature to Adams County employees.”
Lynn Baca, the chair of the board of commissioners, issued a statement on Friday addressing the matter.
“We are deeply disappointed with this situation,” she said. “However, Adams County remains committed to a safe and respectful environment for employees and visitors alike.”
Villagran’s office referred any questions to the county’s public information officer.
In a response to the county from his attorney that was included in Flynn’s report, the attorney wrote that his client “denies much of what is alleged and asserts that he has never treated any employees of his office or of other offices in Adams County differently in any manner based on the sex of such employee.”
The attorney’s name was not included in the report.
The attorney wrote that Villagran had been struggling with a separation from his wife after 23 years and that it had “affected his work and demeanor.” The attorney’s email also said Villagran had “physical limitations and cultural differences that may be perceived as other than what they are or are intended to be.”
That included the treasurer standing close to people when he spoke to them, in order to properly see and hear them, the attorney wrote.
In their Friday news release, the commissioners said Villagran had so far refused to resign but did agree to a “strict protocol ensuring all county employees feel safe, supported, and heard.”
“He has complied with these requirements,” the commissioners wrote.
As an independently elected official, Villagran can be removed from office only through a recall election or at the next regularly scheduled election. Villagran has a year left in his term.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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