Golden city leaders announced last week that a "deeply disturbing and racist act occurred within the Golden Fire Department" in March of this year.The city manager prepared a statement that was read aloud by the Mayor of Golden, informing the community that an employee hung a Black doll by a rope around its neck in a fire station stairwell. The novelty doll was called a Snoop on the Stoop," designed to model Snoop Dogg as a parody to the popular Elf on a Shelf doll. Watch the full story in the video player below. Golden Fire Chief on leave after public learns about racist doll incident: EmailA spokesperson with the City of Golden confirmed to Denver7 the employee at the center of this investigation was terminated from the position. The city did not elaborate on when that employee was fired, saying it cannot provide more details since it is a personnel matter.The city's statement last week acknowledged how employees in other departments, who only recently learned about what had happened back in March, felt like the city's response was not adequate.An email obtained by Denver7 from two City of Golden employees, who are remaining anonymous out of fear of retaliation, showed Golden Fire Chief Kasey Beal is on administrative leave. The email also said City Manager Scott Vargo is on extended personal leave.Holly Olivarez, a member of Golden's Race, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Task Force (REDI), confirmed she was informed the Golden Fire Chief was placed on administrative leave during a meeting Monday."I do think that it makes sense that he is not in his position of power during this time, but I also think to be on paid leave is confusing," Olivarez told Denver7. The fire chief probably used his authority when the incident was reported to protect his employee, and so he needs to be held accountable for that.This Tuesday during a special Golden City Council meeting, Mayor Laura Weinberg appointed councilors Gerchard Pfau and Sandra Knecht to a temporary subcommittee. They are tasked with selecting outside counsel for the third-party investigation into the March incident and how the city responded.There was a robust discussion Tuesday among council members prior to the subcommittee selections, where one goal was reiterated informing the public of the progress made as the investigation takes shape.Before council members spoke on Tuesday, members of the public addressed city leaders. One of them was Jacob Smith, a former mayor of Golden. "A city employee hung a Black doll by a noose. Whatever shape the knot was in, a Black doll hanging by a noose is an expression of violence," Smith said. "Only now, with staff demoralized, community members wounded and furious, and unflattering media attention, has the city manager acknowledged that maybe a Black doll hung by a noose in a city building is a much bigger deal.Weinberg met with Denver7 for an interview prior to the council meeting. Denver7's Colette Bordelon asked when the mayor first learned about the racist doll incident. "There's been a lot of information coming out little by little," Weinberg said. "There's just been a lot of uncertainty that just continues to exist, which is a lot of why we're having this special meeting tonight, so we can figure out how to move forward with an investigation to learn more.The mayor told Denver7 she knew about "an incident in the fire department" in March, but did not know "what happened with it at the time." She said she learned the details of the incident roughly two weeks ago with many other city employees.Weinberg continued to call what she read aloud at council last week an "initial statement.""It certainly wasn't, by any means, a statement about what council was going to do or what was next," Weinberg said.Later in the interview, Weinberg said that "where city council can act, we will act. It isn't a speedy process when you need to have a public meeting with seven individuals, but I and the rest of council are committed to acting and improving, and making the changes that are necessary as they're brought to light.In Tuesday's meeting, a handful of individuals called the rope associated with the doll a noose. Denver7 asked Weinberg why the statement prepared by the city manager did not use the word noose, which was a question that several city employees have voiced to Denver7.As a journalist, I would hope you would not jump to conclusions without evidence or facts, and I also do not want to do that, which is why we are hiring someone outside the organization to look at specifics," Weinberg replied. "I don't think it's fair to rush to any sort of conclusions or judgments without information. The information we have is what the city manager wrote in the statement, and that's what we know at this point.Denver7 acknowledged that the mayor and the prepared statement both referred to the act as racist."Any time that there's an incident where it is a Black doll figure, anything, it's hard to not see that it's racist," Weinberg said.She does not know when the employee who placed the doll in such a position was fired."I know as much as you do from that statement, which spoke to the personnel action that happened. So, I do not know anything further about the personnel decision-making except what was in the the statement," Weinberg said.The mayor did not confirm the fire chief was placed on administrative leave."I have no idea if those have been made publicly available. I received internal communication that I have not asked if that is to be made public. So, I do not want to be the one to release personnel information from the city," she said.Denver7 asked if the mayor believes the city should have handled the incident differently when it happened."That was from the city manager. My commenting on his performance or how I would have done things differently I don't know that I have something to share with you at this time. But, that is where my head will be between now and our discussion on the dais about that exact performance," Weinberg said.The email recently obtained by Denver7 also said an executive session may be held regarding "personnel matters related to City Manager Scott Vargo, pending a vote" by Golden City Council.Weinberg told Denver7 she added an executive session to the regular council meeting on August 11 in order to receive legal advice on personnel matters related to the city manager. She said after the executive session, council members will return to the public meeting to discuss what they learned.Denver7 filed a Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) Request with the City of Golden, seeking the original internal investigation conducted into the incident. The request was denied, with the city clerk's office saying records related to an investigation or subsequent disciplinary action are personnel files that cannot be released.However, the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition (CFOIC) asserts that such an exemption is limited to home addresses, telephone numbers, (personal) financial information, and other similar personal, demographic information." Denver7 asked the city to reconsider its denial of the request and is awaiting a response.Olivarez said she was disappointed, but not surprised, to hear the city did not release the internal investigation."It's a big tactic of deflect, deny, delay that happens in these types of situations when community members and media are trying to find out the truth, and the institution is more concerned with trying to protect how they think people view them, rather than just providing the information," Olivarez said. "I think that the more open and honest and vulnerable they would allow themselves to be, the more we might actually have a chance to create a culture change in Golden.According to the city clerk, no formal complaints related to the doll incident were filed to human resources within the Golden Fire Department. ...read more read less