As the Denver Post’s Lynn Bartels reports:
Aurora City Councilman Ryan Frazier had the worst attendance record of any of the 10 council members from May 2006 through April.
Frazier, a Republican running for Colorado’s 7th Congressional District seat, missed 16 council meetings and 12 executive sessions out of 100 meetings during that four-year span. In the same time frame, two other council members running for office this year each missed five meetings and one executive session.
Frazier is one of four Republicans running in the 7th CD, which covers all or parts of Adams, Arapahoe and Jefferson counties. He faces Michael Deming, Mike Sheely and Lang Sias…
Frazier was first elected as an at-large council member in 2003, and re-elected in 2007. His council and campaign financial disclosure forms show he was employed by Avaya, a telecommunications firm, from 2006 through March 2009. He is a partner in Takara Systems, but doesn’t receive any income from that investment, campaign manager Jake Zambrano said. Frazier blamed Sias’ campaign for circulating the records. At least three Republicans have provided the Denver Post with the documents, which are on the Aurora government website.
Whatever Ryan Frazier’s excuse might be, day job or smear campaign, the fact is this high an absentee rate in any job would be grounds for dismissal–politicians are routinely castigated for missing considerably less work than this. Fellow congressional candidate Cory Gardner has been getting beat up all year for missing legislative days to campaign–and what did Senate candidate Jane Norton have to say recently about candidates who skip out on work?
Norton told the assembled crowd that she had quit her job to run for Senate, while her opponent, Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck, is still employed by the county.
Those running for office and other elected officials shouldn`t use taxpayer money or time to campaign, she said. [Pols emphasis]
Evidently, some friends of Frazier’s CD-7 primary opponent Lang Sias agree. One can try to claim they are “smearing” Frazier with this, but it’s not like they forced him to play hooky.
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Not to quibble about math, but Frazier’s absentee rate was 16%, not 28%. In Aurora, the council’s executive sessions are held just before the regular sessions. The stats suggest that there were several meeting dates where he attended the executive session but didn’t stay for the regular meeting.
In any case, his attendance sucks, and is indicative of his low overall intellectual and emotional commitment to the elected office he currently holds. Just one more reason (as if the voters of the 7th District needed one more) to re-elect Ed Perlmutter.
It depends on whether or not “100” is the total number of meetings, or total of meetings and executive sessions. Which is it?
Exec meetings are held before the Study Sessions which are held before the formal City Council Meetings. Occasional Exec meetings are held post study session.
Good question, BS, and I’m not certain about Bartels’ methodology. But 100 meeting dates (each of which would include both an executive session and a regular meeting) would be almost exactly on target for the 48-month period that was reviewed. The Aurora council generally meets twice a month, but three times in September — that would equal 100 meeting dates from 5/06 through 4/10. They take roll twice – once for the exec session and again for the regular meeting – so it’s possible to check attendance for each part.
In the absence of a clear answer, we edited.
He’s done.
For missing a couple of meetings in four years? You have to provide for your family plain and simple.
but that would be because Perlmutter is incredibly popular in his district, not because he missed some city council meetings over a few years.
As popular as Health care? My party as well as Perlmutter have gone way to far this time. Watch out for that anti incumbent waive.
Their isn’t a weigh to argue with ewe!
🙂