December 29, 2011 01:07 AM UTC

Ethics Watch: "Top Ethical Failures of 2011"

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• by: Colorado Pols

‘Tis the season for annual shame lists, from Colorado Ethics Watch’s release today:

In its annual effort to round up the year in ethics in Colorado, Ethics Watch honed in on the largest controversies and qualified them as the Top Ethical Failures of 2011.  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 other two ethical failures – by former Jefferson County Commissioner Kevin McCasky and by an organization now called WAIT Training – shine a light on the kind of corruption and undue influence that take place in government every day.

Adams County Meltdown:  From the Quality Paving scandal, to a corrupt county assessor and abuse of power in the sheriff’s office, Adams County was the unquestioned epicenter of ethics problems in Colorado during 2011. These ethical failures caused voters to demand reform.

Gessler in the Tank:  Secretary of State Scott Gessler reduced a campaign finance fine for the Larimer County Republican Party in spite of its clear negligence in failing to file disclosure reports, then compounded the ethical failure by offering to personally help the group raise money to pay off the fine.

Colorado Springs Sues to Avoid Enforcing Its Own 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. In fact, Colorado Springs government actively fought against transparency when it refused to enforce its own newly adopted rules.

Golden Parachute:  After submitting his resume for a highly paid position at the Jefferson Economic Council, Jefferson County Commissioner Kevin McCasky voted to approve a $400,000 grant, an increase of $20,000 over the previous year, from Jefferson County to that organization.

WAIT Not Worth It:  An August Westword story by Andy Kopsa raised serious questions about how an abstinence-only sex education group was able to work with members of the State Board of Education to circumvent state laws against such programs, and later received federal dollars through the state despite scoring the lowest of all applicants on Colorado’s grant evaluation rubric.

Read their full report here, and more coverage at at Jeffco Pols.