Councilman in Colorado town accused of "quid pro quo" as some try to recall him

An effort to censure a Castle Rock town councilman for alleged ethics violations failed Tuesday night.

Councilmember Mark Davis represents downtown Castle Rock (District 4). He was elected in 2024 and his term expires in 2028, but some Colorado business leaders say he needs to be taken off the job now.

Tuesday night's controversy stems from texts the councilman sent to a business owner who is leading the charge to recall him. While that censure failed, the recall effort is still pending. It's being led by downtown business and property owners, who are unhappy with Davis's efforts to restrict high-rises and other development downtown.

David Miles lives, runs a business and owns property in downtown Castle Rock.

"We've seen awesome growth, and really, downtown area is about community," Miles said.

But he claims Castle Rock Town Councilman Mark Davis has been stalling development there for years.

"I call it squashing development," Miles said. "He doesn't seem to want to actively listen to what we're telling him."

Davis has supported restriction on high-rise development downtown. He recently motioned to dissolve the Design Review Board, made up of downtown stakeholders like Miles, which reviews development applications.

Davis told CBS Colorado that board has only met once this year and has "repeatedly permitted development that threatens the character inappropriate scale of Wilcox and Perry Street."

"Giving that authority back to the town council means he's empowering himself instead of empowering the people," Miles said.

Miles and two other petitioners are now seeking to recall Davis from his seat.

After filing the paperwork, Miles says he got this text from Davis:

"Simply says, 'I'll drop getting rid of the DRB if you pull the recall. Let me know by Monday morning at 8 a.m.,'" Miles said.

Miles says similar texts were sent to others about the recall, and that the texts constitute quid pro quo, a major ethics violation.

"Quid pro quo is the phrase, is what he has done in those text messages, and that makes me highly uncomfortable to have to do something for my politician to get him to do something for the people," Miles said. "There should not be conditional government operations. If you do this, I'll do this. I don't want to see that in any government."

In Tuesday's council meeting, Miles passed out copies of the texts and called on Davis to step down.

"I'm here to say that this conduct is unacceptable from an elected official at any level of our government," Miles said in the meeting. "I call upon every member of this council to join me in asking for Councilmember Mark Davis to resign."

Another constituent spoke in favor of Davis.

"Recalling a representative simply because he's fulfilling his campaign promises and standing up for his voters is a direct attack on our local democratic process. The pressure to build high-rises downtown isn't coming from the people who live here, it is being driven by outside investors and builders who may not even call Castle Rock home. They see our town as a profit margin. We see it as our community," he said during public comment.

Some councilmembers agreed with Miles that the texts were an ethics violation.

"The actions of Councilmember Davis unfortunately are unethical. They go against our code of conduct. He is not a bad person. He made a mistake, but unfortunately, that mistake gives us all a bad look. It causes distrust in the town of Castle Rock and elected officials," said Ryan Hollingshead, Castle Rock Town Councilmember for District 1. "This action was not OK. So because of the unethical behavior and violation of our code of conduct, I move to censure Councilmember Davis moving forward."

Councilmember Bracken seconded the motion, with Max Brooks and Tim Dietz speaking against it.

The discussion led to some tense moments.

"You're no peach either when it comes to texting and accusing people of things. Do you want me to let the public know?" Dietz said to Bracken.

"Guys, guys, guys, absolutely stop. Absolutely stop," Castle Rock Mayor Jason Gray said. "I think that this is going to be tried in the public. It's going to be tried in social media, and eventually maybe even tried in a court of law. And I just think that the censure is something we should do now."

Ultimately, the mayor joined two others (Bracken and Hollingshead) in voting for the censure. The remaining councilmembers, including Davis, voted against it, and the motion failed 3 to 4.

Later in the meeting, members raised concerns that Davis should have recused himself, so another vote was taken. No one changed their votes, so the motion failed 3 to 3 with Davis recusing himself.

Also at the meeting, the discussion about Davis's motion to dissolve the Design Review Board was moved to a later date after some heated discussion.

"I don't hate anybody on the DRB. I'm not trying to get rid of it to be mean. I'm just trying to bring forward efficiency, accountability, that kind of thing. So this is not an attack on anybody specifically. This is just trying to be efficient," Davis said during that discussion.

Mark Davis declined to comment on the quid pro quo allegations, but told CBS Colorado:

"This recall effort is not about misconduct. It is a political response to my efforts to reform a development review process that has failed to protect our community.
I support eliminating the current design review board because it is repeatedly permitted development that threatens the character in appropriate scale of Wilcox and Perry Street. I am also working to establish reasonable restrictions on high-rise development in these areas.
Those positions have placed me in the direct conflict with politically connected individuals who benefit from preserving the status quo.
The design review board has only met one time this entire year. The board meetings are scheduled for twice each month.
I was elected to represent the residence of District 4, not trenched in political relationships, or unelected interest.
I will continue asking, difficult questions, demanding accountability, and defending responsible development, even when doing so creates powerful opposition.
Residence deserve to know what this recall is truly about. It is an attempt to remove an elected official for challenging a system that needs to reform. I stand by my record and respectfully as voters to reject political retaliation, disguised as public accountability."

Miles plans to amend the recall petition to include the text messages. Then he will have 30 days to collect 1,360 signatures to initiate a special election on recalling Councilman Davis.