Attacking Instead of Asking
According to <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_23453397/colorado-secretary-s…; target="”_blank”">an
article in the Denver <i>Post</i> last week,</a>these are the words of Colorado's Secretary of State after the state
ethics commission found him in violation of an ethics provision, on
account of using state funds to attend the Republican national
convention last year:<blockquote>
"As we said from the start, I've had
grave concerns about this tribunal's ability to be fair and
objective. Every attempt we made to expose the truth and the facts
in the case were met with resistance or rejected outright. Instead
of impartial, engaged commissioners, I faced a group of my
political adversaries. In fact, two commissioners have donated to
my political opponents, and they both unsurprisingly ruled against
me."</blockquote>
But consistent with <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_23463914/scott-gesslers-ethics-mes…; target="”_blank”">a
Denver <i>Post</i> editorial</a>, here is what he should have said:<blockquote>
I could have avoided this
proceeding, and saved taxpayers over $100,000, had I just sought
an opinion from the ethics commission before taking the trip.</blockquote>
He also should have said, about political contributions by EC
members, "A few of the ethics commissioners, from both parties,
made contributions to candidates from their parties, making them
appear biased. It's good that no party has a majority on the
commission, but large campaign contributors should not be
appointed to the commission, and commissioners should not be
allowed to make any contributions while in office."<br>
<br>
But instead, the Secretary of State ignored the fact that
Republicans who gave to Republican candidates found him in
violation, too. Instead, he threw up a partisan
smokescreen to hide his double guilt: violating the ethics
code and failing to seek ethics advice.<br>
<br>
He did not only attack the ethics commission after the fact,
however. According to <a href="http://www.coloradostatesman.com/content/994237-gessler-decision-shows-…; target="”_blank”">an
op-ed in the Colorado <i>Statesman</i></a> by the executive director of Colorado
Ethics Watch, which filed the ethics complaint, the
Secretary of State's attorney made "personal attacks on the two
Democratic commissioners and the Executive Director [of the EC],
[filed] two lawsuits, [and made] a failed attempt to convince a
Denver district judge to block the proceedings."<br>
<br>
The Secretary of State could do all this, because his own office was
paying his legal fees. He had absolutely no incentive to settle or
to play fair. What he did originally is nothing compared to what he
did with respect to the ethics proceeding. If he cared about the
waste of public funds and the public's trust in its leaders, he
would pay his legal fees back to his office, and stop blaming
everyone but himself.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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