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Archive for the 'Colorado Ethics Watch' Tag

Quote of the Day

December 20th, 2012, 5:16 pm by

Rich Coolidge

“To refer to Ethics Watch as a legal-based watchdog group is total bunk. I mean, it’s very clear that they’re a liberal group that only attacks Republicans, and if you look at the data, that’s all they attack.”

– Rich Coolidge, communications director for Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler, who was listed in Colorado Ethics Watch’s Top 5 ethical scandals of 2012.

Here’s what Ethics Watch wrote about Gessler:

“Scott Gessler’s Personal Piggy Bank:  Controversial Secretary of State Scott Gessler made a name for himself while attempting to reshape Colorado election and campaign finance laws in this election year.  He earned fame of a different kind when a review of public records revealed evidence of misuse of public funds by Secretary Gessler, including the use of state funds to cover travel expenses for partisan events, which implicates several laws against public corruption.”

 

Posted in: People • Politics • • • | 6 Comments »

Watchdog group lists state’s top five ethical scandals

December 20th, 2012, 12:19 pm by

Secretary of State Scott Gessler was named in the report

Whew.

Nobody in the city of Colorado Springs made it on Colorado Ethics Watch’s 5th annual report on the top ethical scandals of 2012.

The report focuses on “the five most public and egregious lapses in judgment and ethics by public and elected officials,” according to Ethics Watch, a Denver-based legal watchdog group.

“The report highlights the lack of structure of Colorado’s government to prevent and respond to corruption, and the need for ethics enforcement to match the laws that are currently in place to keep state government clean,” the group said in a news release.

Colorado Springs was on the list of ethical failures last year because of its embarrassing confusion about campaign finance laws.

“The five scandals detailed in this year’s Ethics Roundup are the clearest examples of where our enforcement system is working, and where it is lacking,” Director Luis Toro said in a statement.

“When a city council is its own ethics panel, or where a public official who has been convicted of crime related to his office and awaits trial for more such crimes is still in office, we know we have a problem.  The sooner local governments and our state legislature recognize the shortcomings in our enforcement systems, the sooner we’ll have government that we can all trust,” he said.

In a telephone interview, Toro said Ethics Watch is “keeping an eye” on a recently filed request for an ethics investigation of City Councilman Tim Leigh.

“At this point, we just don’t know enough to say this is really a big deal,” he said. “It may turn out that next year this blows up. I know there’s so much money involved with the Drake power plant that if it’s big, it’s going to be really big.”

Toro said his organization is also keeping a close eye on “all these issues” with Mayor Steve Bach around open-records requests.

“That’s been kind of a hot and cold thing. It sounds like there hasn’t been as much problem lately,” he said. “We were certainly aware that there’s been a lot of questions about his transparency.”

Among those listed in the group’s Top 5 ethical scandals of 2012 is Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler, who is the subject of a criminal investigation that grew out of a complaint from Ethics Watch.

Gessler’s communications director, Rich Coolidge, called Ethics Watch is a liberal group that targets only Republicans.

“They’re trying to get Gessler attached to corruption,” he said. “They’re writing this to fudge it and make it look sensationalized.”

 

Posted in: People • Politics • Transparency • • • • | Post a Comment »

Report says city lacks ‘regard for ethics rules’

December 28th, 2011, 12:57 pm by

Former City Clerk Kathryn Young

The city of Colorado Springs has landed on a list of “Top Ethical Failures” in Colorado in 2011 because of its embarrassing confusion about campaign finance laws.

“Colorado Springs’ first municipal election under its new “strong mayor” system revealed a city incapable of enforcing, or sometimes even understanding, its own election laws,” Colorado Ethics Watch wrote in its fourth annual report of what it describes as ethical blunders.

“In fact, Colorado Springs government actively fought against transparency when it refused to enforce its own newly adopted rules,” the group said.

The group’s report, called Ethics Roundup: Top Ethical Failures of 2011, highlights “Colorado’s public officials, agencies and municipalities who have either committed ethics violations or shown significant lack of judgment that places their behavior in the top tier of ethical failures in the state in the past year,” the group said.

“Only by paying attention to the actions of our government agencies and officials, identifying ethical lapses, and shining a light on them will we be assured to have what Colorado voters have demanded – transparent and accountable public leaders,” said Luis Toro, director of Colorado Ethics Watch, said in a news release.

Ethics Watch said it “honed in on the largest controversies” to come up with the report.

“The most egregious of ethical failures took place in Adams County, in the Secretary of State’s Office, and in Colorado Springs, where multiple examples demonstrate a consistent lack of regard for ethics rules, laws and values,” the group said.

The read the full report, click here.

 

Posted in: City Administration • Elections • Etc. • • • • | 8 Comments »

Council poised to meet behind closed doors to discuss ‘election matters’

May 23rd, 2011, 10:17 am by

The City Council is scheduled to meet behind closed doors today with City Attorney Patricia Kelly to talk about “economic development projects involving the electronic industry, election matters and storm water matters,” the agenda states.

The item involving “election matters” is new.

The agenda doesn’t go into specifics, so it’s unclear exactly what issue the council is discussing in executive session.

But earlier this month, Colorado Ethics Watch filed a complaint against Americans for Prosperity, saying the group was violating election laws by not reporting its donations and expenditures. Conservative radio host Jeff Crank is the group’s state director.

This is the second time that the council will meet in executive session to discuss an economic development project involving the electronic industry and pending litigation regarding storm water.

The city and El Paso County officials are at butting heads over the city’s plans to collect delinquent storm water fees by recording prejudgment property liens at the county.

Posted in: City Council • Lawsuit • Meetings • • • • • | 1 Comment »

Watchdog group asks city to investigate Bruce and his political committee

March 10th, 2011, 11:57 am by

Colorado Ethics Watch is asking for an investigation into possible campaign finance violations by Douglas Bruce and the Reform Team Political Committee.

Here’s the full text of the group’s press release:

DENVER – Today, Colorado Ethics Watch asked the Mayor and Vice Mayor of Colorado Springs, as well as members of the City Council, to direct the City Attorney to investigate possible violations of Colorado Springs’ campaign finance ordinance by Douglas Bruce and the Reform Team political committee.  The Reform Team is a registered political committee, with Bruce as the registered agent.

Bruce and four other candidates for at-large City Council seats who have been identified as members of the Reform Team on the website www.reformcityhall.com – Ed Bircham, Richard Bruce, Helen Collins and Gretchen Kasameyer – have filed declarations of candidacy, personal financial disclosures, and other documents required to qualify for the ballot.  None of them, however, has registered a candidate committee or disclosed any contributions received or expenditures made as candidates.  Instead, the “Reform Team” filed as a political action committee (PAC) with Douglas Bruce identified as its registered agent.

The Fair Campaign Practices Act, incorporated into the Colorado Springs Municipal Code, defines a candidate committee as a committee operating under the authority of a candidate.  With Bruce serving as the registered agent of the Reform Team while at the same time running for a city council seat, Ethics Watch believes that Bruce has violated campaign finance laws by failing to register a candidate committee or file disclosures specific to his own campaign.

“It is simply not OK for a candidate to operate a PAC and spend money on his own and others’ campaigns through the PAC, while skipping the obvious step of registering a candidate committee,” said Luis Toro, director of Colorado Ethics Watch.  “PACs are supposed to operate independently of candidates.  This is not some technical filing mistake but rather one more example of Doug Bruce’s express contempt for campaign finance laws.”

The Colorado Springs Municipal Code provides that in addition to being assessed a fine, a candidate who knowingly violates the Code’s disclosure provisions “shall, in addition, forfeit the right to assume the nomination or to take the oath for the office to which the candidate may have been elected, unless the candidate has already taken the oath, in which case the office shall be vacated.”  Because the potential violation could affect Bruce’s eligibility for election, Ethics Watch urges the City Council to act quickly to direct the City Attorney to investigate and, if appropriate, file and prosecute a complaint.

For the letter requesting this investigation and all related documentation, or for more information on Colorado Ethics Watch, visit www.coloradoforethics.org.

Posted in: Elections • • • | 2 Comments »