Town Mayor Caught Selling Cut-Price City Vehicles To His Daughter: Report

A small town mayor is under scrutiny this week after an investigation found that he sold cut-price cars from the town fleet to his daughter, who then flipped them for a profit. The mayor of Lakeside, Colorado, reportedly sold two cars to his daughter who at the time also worked as a town clerk.

2024 Can-Am Spyder RT | First Drive

According to a report from local CBS News outlets, the mayor sold the cars for “prices well below” their actual value. The site reports that Lakeside Mayor Robert Gordanier signed a bill selling a 2013 Ford Fusion to his daughter, Brenda Hamilton, for just $1,000.

A Wyoming resident claims to have then seen the very same car listed for sale for a much higher price. CBS reports that the buyer traveled from Wyoming to Colorado, where they purchased the ex-town car for $12,000.

A second dodgy deal went down between Gordanier and Hamilton, when they attempted to offload an old Chevrolet Tahoe SUV that was previously owned by Lakeside authorities. CBS News reports:

CBS News Colorado found a bill of sale from September 2022 that showed Gordanier sold the town-owned vehicle to his daughter for $300. A man in Thornton then bought the SUV from Brenda Hamilton a few months later. He said he paid $7,000 cash for it and said it was a good deal and that the utility vehicle runs well with no problems.

A $300 car, apparently. Photo: Chevrolet

Rather worryingly, the Lakeside mayor is claiming that he had no idea what price the two cars sold for, and is instead blaming his daughter for the bargain buys. CBS reports that he claims to have “signed blank forms and let someone else fill in the sales prices,” with Mayor Gordanier adding “Had to be her, it wasn’t me.”

When questioned why he was selling town vehicles to his daughter for so little, Gordanier said, “She wanted to buy ‘em and so I sold them. It was a lot easier just to do it and be done with it than having to advertise it or anything.”

When CBS approached Hamilton about the sales, she reportedly refused to speak on camera and said “from behind a closed door” that she hadn’t personally re-sold the town vehicles. She also “denied buying the Ford Fusion for $1,000 and denied buying the Chevy Tahoe for $300,” CBS reports.

In an attempt to limit her profits from the sale of the two cars, Hamilton also claims that she bought a Dodge Charger for 9,500 of her own Dollars and gave it to the town.

Now, the whole ordeal is under investigation, including finding out just why Gordanier has appointed family members to senior positions in the town. A representative from the town told CBS that it would make “no further comment” until that investigation is concluded.