Scott Gilmore was among 169 city of Denver employees laid off this week. We know this is a difficult time for those individuals and their families as they face the loss of income and unsettling uncertainty in a job market that is tightening amid federal layoffs and reductions in funding.

We are sympathetic to Gilmore’s valid concerns: Was he targeted for a layoff because of his wife’s role on City Council? Why lay off someone who is 4 years from retirement rather than offer a buyout? And will the city’s stellar work with the indigenous community grind to a halt without his advocacy?

However, we are concerned about the behavior of City Council Member Stacie Gilmore – Scott’s wife who was elected to council several years after Scott first started working for Denver Parks and Recreation.

Stacie Gilmore expressed her dismay that her husband lost his job during a recent City Council meeting and inferred that perhaps Gilmore was targeted by Mayor Mike Johnston because of her vocal opposition to some of the mayor’s decisions. We are not privy to the private disputes that may have existed between the mayor and Stacie and Scott Gilmore, so we’ll merely say that if she has that concern, she should absolutely bring forward evidence. We are certain other employees in the Parks Department would support her claim if it is true.

But we think Gilmore crossed a line when she began sending out mass emails from her City Council email address advocating for her husband’s job and encouraging others in the community to do the same.

This is a use of her official position that she didn’t exert on behalf of a single other person who was part of the layoffs this week. We know for certain that other valuable members of city government were let go during this layoff cycle, and yet a member of City Council used her position to only assist one of those individuals — her husband.

“History repeats itself unless the oppressed raise their voices,” Gilmore wrote, noting the good work her husband has done in the Parks Department to advocate for projects with many indigenous communities. “As the elected representative for District 11 it is my duty to be transparent and accountable to the people I serve, and I serve the American Indian Community of Denver, my residents in District 11 and anyone else who implores my assistance to navigate the bureaucracy of government.

“I ask that every individual on this email, share their thoughts with the media because this story deserves to be told and we have worked so hard to heal ourselves and come together for the community that we will not give up getting what is right and just.”

Many members of the community did share their thoughts with The Denver Post and others who were included on the e-mail.

Their concerns were valid. Without Scott Gilmore would the city continue core projects that are important to their communities?

There is a big difference between raising concerns that your husband was politically targeted for a layoff and making the public argument that your husband is so indispensable to the city he should be immediately rehired. Worse she used her position to pressure members of the community to also advocate for her husband’s job.

The good news is that the City of Denver is committed to the projects that Stacie Gilmore feared could get cut.

Denver Parks and Recreation Executive Director Jolon Clark, who is also a former Denver City Council member, said that the parks department is 100% committed to projects like the Buffalo Return Home Program that uses Denver’s mountain herds to provide bison for free to tribes looking to establish or grow their own herds.

“They are priorities for us as a department. They are priorities for us as a city, and they are not tied to any one person,” Clark said, noting that while Scott Gilmore was a deputy in charge of special projects, the projects on the list were not directly under his chain of command.

We are glad to hear that commitment to these projects will continue.

Hopefully, the decision to layoff Gilmore will not strain relations between the city and the indiginous community. Fortunately, Stacie Gilmore is still in a prominent position to help assure the community that commitment remains strong to rebuilding trust.

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