ROCK SPRINGS — No wrongdoing was discovered following an investigation into the City of Rock Springs.

The city’s Request for Proposal process was investigated by the Sweetwater County Attorney’s Office and Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office following allegations made against the city. The city was cleared of all allegations made against it.

Mayor Max Mickelson addressed residents through a video on the city’s Facebook page Tuesday afternoon.

“Corrupt as hell, that’s the accusation that got thrown around about our city,” Mickelson said.

Mickelson said the allegations came from a resident and a Rock Springs City Council member whom he declined to name. The only Council member making those accusations has been Rick Milonas. Milonas is also seeking to oust Mickelson from the mayor’s office in the coming elections.

Mickelson said the city cooperated with the investigation, saying nothing was withheld. He said the investigation revealed the city follows state statutes with its RFP procedures, saying the city goes beyond what the law requires in some areas. Mickelson said the statement from the county attorney’s office will be available to anyone who asks for it.

Mickelson said investigating the claim cost more than the time and taxpayer money spent by the sheriff’s and county attorney’s offices.

“The employees in our city get up every day and do this work honestly and serve our community heard ‘corrupt as hell’ applied to their jobs and applied to their work,” Mickelson said. “That’s not a political jab, that’s somebody’s name and that’s the reputation of our town.”

He said baseless allegations don’t just disappear when they’re proven wrong, that they leave marks on people who “didn’t sign up for political games.”

He said if there’s evidence that shows the city is engaged in wrongdoing, he wants to see it. Beyond that, Mickelson said he’s tired of the games. 

“I am incredibly tired of people throwing mud, for whatever reason, about who we are,” he said. “Rock Springs is better than that and I will not stand for people disparaging the employees who get up and serve all of us every day without any actual evidence … those baseless accusations hurt us all but they hurt the good people who work for us the most.”