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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 »

Secretary of State: City ‘well poised for another successful election’

March 25th, 2011, 9:46 am by

Scott Gessler

Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler says the City Clerk’s Office is well prepared to conduct the April 5 election.

“Following my office’s initial review of the city’s election preparedness, I’m happy to report that the city clerk’s office is well poised for another successful election,” Secretary of State Scott Gessler said today in a statement.

“In particular, the clerk and her staff have established sufficient security protocols and thorough procedures to ensure the integrity of this election,” he said.

The review was triggered by several mayoral and City Council candidates who expressed doubt about City Clerk Kathryn Young’s ability to run the election after a series of missteps.

“I am satisfied with this report,” Buddy Gilmore, one of the mayoral candidates who requested an observer, said in an e-mail.

“I believe this interim report provides a sense of comfort to the voters that the clerk’s office is working diligently to ensure all ballots are handled properly, and that results will be reported accurately,” he said.

Mayoral candidate Brian Bahr’s campaign manager, Kyle Fisk, echoed a similar sentiment.

“The Bahr campaign is pleased to hear this report,” he said, also in an e-mail.

“This is about the voters of Colorado Springs and ensuring they can have the highest confidence in the accuracy of the election results,” he added. “We appreciate the work of the Secretary of State and his office.”

Gessler said his office would continue to observe the election next week to review ballot processing and other procedures.

“Again, I would like to thank City Clerk Kathryn Young and Mayor Lionel Rivera for their warm welcome and cooperation,” he said. “I look forward to continuing our successful working relationship.”

Rivera and Young are holding a press conference at 2:30 p.m. today to comment on the report.

Posted in: Elections • • • • • • • | 5 Comments »

Quote of the Day

March 16th, 2011, 3:30 pm by

Tom Gallagher

“We had no knowledge of the press release, so it was probably a campaign stunt, but it’s a campaign stunt by Bahr.”

— Councilman Tom Gallagher, who signed a letter to Secretary of State Scott Gessler asking Gessler to send an observer to monitor the city’s April 5 election.

Gallagher, who is running for mayor, said neither he nor fellow mayoral hopeful Buddy Gilmore knew that Brian Bahr‘s campaign was going to send a press release about the request immediately after sending the letter to Gessler.

“Buddy and I did this because we thought … it would just add voter confidence to the process. We did not think that Bahr was going to issue a press release and attack Kathy,” he said.

Posted in: Elections • • • • | 1 Comment »

Mayor calls request for election observer a ‘cheap political stunt’

March 15th, 2011, 12:38 pm by

Mayor Lionel Rivera

Mayor Lionel Rivera accused three mayoral and two City Council candidates of using a “cheap political stunt” when they asked the Secretary of State’s Office to send an observer to monitor the April 5 election.

“It’s unfortunate these candidates are using a cheap political stunt to drum up media coverage for themselves one day before ballots are to be mailed out to voters,” Rivera said today in a letter to Secretary of State Scott Gessler.

“I have no personal investment in this election as I am not a candidate for mayor, being term-limited,” he wrote.

“I do, however, have a significant interest in protecting the professional character of Kathy Young, city clerk, and assuring our citizens we will have fair elections that meet the requirements of our charter and state law.”

Click here to read the letter.

Rivera also defends Young in the letter.

“Since being elected to the Colorado Springs City Council in 1997 through my re-election to mayor in 2007 and our last municipal election in 2009, I have participated in or observed seven municipal elections conducted by our City Clerk Kathryn Young,” the mayor wrote.

“Without fail, each election was conducted objectively, unbiased, fair, honest, with complete transparency and in accordance with state law.”

In an interview this morning, Young said she welcomed an observer from the Secretary of State’s Office.

“I don’t have anything to hide,” she said. “The process is open, so I welcome it.”

Mayoral candidates Brian Bahr, Tom Gallagher and Buddy Gilmore and council candidates Lisa Czelatdko and Angela Dougan sent a letter Monday asking Gessler to dispatch an observer to Colorado Springs to monitor the election.

“In the last several months, there have been ongoing concerns regarding Colorado Springs City Clerk Kathryn Young and her office,” they wrote in the letter.

“We now lack confidence that the upcoming Municipal Election will be conducted in a fair and unbiased manner. We are asking your office to step in, observe, and ensure a honest and transparent election process,” they said.

The five also raised concerns about a potential conflict of interest.

“Due to the passage of the Strong Mayor city charter amendment in November, 2010, Ms. Young, for the first time, will be directly affected by the outcome of this election,” the letter states. “Can she be an unbiased, objective election official given these circumstances?”

Rivera said Young, a council appointee, has been affected by recent elections because “either four or up to seven of her nine bosses were elected to office.”

The election of the city’s first strong mayor “has no bearing on how she will conduct” the April election, Rivera wrote.

“She is a professional and will uphold the standards of her office demanded of her in our City Charter and state law,” he wrote.

Posted in: City Council • City employees • Elections • • • | 49 Comments »