Colorado Springs is paying more than $130,000 for the severance package provided to Mayor Yemi Mobolade’s former chief of staff, Jamie Fabos, earlier this year.

Fabos served as the chief of staff beginning shortly after Mobolade was elected in 2023 until February.

The separation agreement for Fabos, provided to The Gazette via a record request, stated that she would receive six months of her salary after leaving the city. That severance translated to $137,500, including the required payout of benefits she had accrued.

The separation agreement and severance were agreed to on Jan. 13, roughly a month before Fabos left the position, and the agreement’s terms were not required by her employment contract.

City spokesman Joe Hollmann said that separation agreements like this are available to more than 120 city employees who qualify as senior managers because of their experience and position. City policy states that senior managers can receive up to six months of severance pay and benefits at the discretion of the mayor’s office.

“Senior leadership positions often include separation provisions that are standard in both government and private-sector organizations. The agreement associated with this transition is consistent with established City practices and reflects precedent,” Hollmann said in a written response Friday.

According to reporting from Gazette news partner KOAA, Fabos’ resignation letter said that it was the “city’s decision to separate [her] employment” and that the resignation letter was a condition of the separation agreement.

According to data provided by Hollmann, the city entered into five severance agreements since Mobolade took office in 2023. In comparison, the city provided six severance agreements during the eight years John Suthers was mayor and more than a dozen separation agreements while Steve Bach was mayor in the early 2010s.

City leadership is required to provide quarterly severance reports to the Colorado Springs City Council. A review of the recent reports provided through a record request showed that while Fabos received the largest severance amount, five other former city employees had received at least $100,000 in severance in the last three years.

The Gazette reported in 2024 that Peter Wysocki, who resigned as the planning director at the Mobolade administration’s request, received six months’ pay totaling around $119,600. Colorado Springs’ former human resources director, Michael Sullivan, received more than $125,000 when he left in early 2024, according to the quarterly reports.

Jeff Greene was the longtime chief of staff for Suthers. When Greene was fired in 2023, shortly after Suthers left office, it was reported that he received around $78,000 in benefit payouts but not a full severance package.

Smaller severance payments are much more common for city staff who are let go. KOAA reported that many of the 38 city employees fired last fall as part of Colorado Springs’ budget cuts and restrictions received either two or three months of severance pay.

On Monday, Colorado Springs laid off public works operations and maintenance manager Corey Farkas with a 30-day notice. A city spokesperson said that Farkas then submitted a letter of resignation and is no longer with the city. Details about whether he received a separation agreement and its terms were not available as of Friday afternoon.