City Manager Under Investigation

City Council has hired a private investigator to investigate a

dispute the city manager had with a petitioner.

On March 26, the Fort Collins Police Department responded to a

911-disturbance call reporting a verbal altercation between two

men.

The police responded to the call and interviewed the witnesses

and reviewed the surveillance tape from the King Soopers where the

dispute occurred.

“The District Attorney’s Office determined that there was not

sufficient evidence to charge anyone, either Mr. Rice or Mr.

Fischbach,” said Rita Davis of the Fort Collins Police

Department.

After receiving a formal complaint about the incident, City

Council hired John Frey to investigate in an attempt to clear

concerns on the issue.

“We want to clear the air, whether there’s a violation or not,”

Mayor Ray Martinez said.

Martinez said that the incident was being investigated, because

it was a ballot initiative issue.

“We don’t normally conduct inquiries unless there’s a real

strong allegation,” Martinez said. “We’re just trying to put some

closure as to whether something happened or not.”