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July 12, 2009 03:43 AM UTC

Governor helping companies get business in this tough economy

  • 19 Comments
  • by: DavidThi808

( – promoted by ClubTwitty)

from the Denver Post

Gov. Bill Ritter turned down a $75-an-hour offer from the Colorado attorney general’s office to handle legal matters regarding the disbursement of federal stimulus funds, instead hiring his former law partners for up to six times that cost.

This is good to see. Without this kind of targeted stimulus funding attorneys at Hogan & Hartson might have had a reduction in pay. And that would have hurt the little people, their housekeepers, gardners, strippers, etc.

And it’s not like this was a sweetheart deal or anything like that.

A few weeks later, Ritter hired Hogan & Hartson through a no-bid contract.

…

Although the firm is working at a discount, lawyers receive either $290 or $450 an hour, depending on who is working on the case.

See, they are working almost at minimum wage for this deal. I worry they might not be able to keep the lights on. Because when billing a corporate client those rates shoot up to $291 – $451. (Actually I don’t know what they go up to but I pay for top corporate legal talent at times and $450 is in the ballpark of what everyone else pays.)

And while this might look questionable, sole-source contract to the highest bidder where Ritter used to work there, we don’t need to worry because we have full transparency.

The March contract between the firm and the governor’s office is vague. A letter attached to the contract says Hogan & Hartson will represent the governor’s office in analyzing the recovery act and help ensure that the state “receive and distribute its full share” of the funds.

Other documents that may shed more light on the work the firm is doing for taxpayers were withheld by the governor’s office on the grounds of “attorney-client privilege.”

And the client in this case is the State not the Gov so we need to keep this info from us to protect us, the client. I get it!!!

And when Ritter, rather than wasting time and money on putting it out for bid, where law firms that are not politically connected would waste his time with lower priced bids, he just went straight to the firm he knows best.

Ok sarcasm off. This is total bullshit. Every law firm that is qualified to do this work has been screwed over. And this is not hiring someone to represent Ritter, it’s hiring someone to represent the state. Using this logic, if Ritter directly gets a company to build a highway he can just hand it to whichever buddy of his he wants to.

And going single source, to the highest bidder, who is very closely connected to the official handing it out, is questionable at best. One can have pure intentions and their decision remains colored by what they know of the people they hire.

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19 thoughts on “Governor helping companies get business in this tough economy”

  1. Maybe Democrats can get him to bow out to ‘spend more time with his family’ so we might actually have a chance of beating the Republican.

  2. I wanted to jump on and provide some information on this, which I hope helps.

    When the President signed the 1200 page bill in Denver, Gov. Ritter and all of us who work on these issues knew we needed help understanding all of our obligations and opportunities under the act.  That included deadlines, which if we didn’t meet, would mean we’d lose federal dollars.

    This contract was done in March.  We did not feel that the AG’s office had the necessary federal expertise to provide the best possible advice and help.  Hogan and Hartson has a DC office, and a Stimulus Task Force, a history with the bill and experience that simply could not be replicated in the Governor’s office or the Attorney General’s office.

    Also, a competitive bid process takes weeks; that would have meant we would miss deadlines and lose dollars for Colorado.

    So, we entered into an agreement with a law firm that has expertise and experience.  Yes, the Governor was a partner there. But we needed their services, fast.  They have helped the state get stimulus dollars out the door.

    Jim Carpenter

    2. First off, I also want to thank you for participating here.

      1) A couple of years ago a train accident blew up a bridge on US-36. CDOT was able to use an expedited process where they took bids from selected contractors and selected the winner in I think 48 hours. Why didn’t the Governor do the same thing here?

      2) Why did you wait for the bill to be signed before moving on this? It’s not like the day before no one knew a stimulus bill was working it’s way through Congress.

      3) Why does attorney-client privilege come in to play here? Isn’t this work being done for the state? Doesn’t that make all of us the client?

      1. This is at least the second time I’ve agreed with David this week.  He makes the point at least as good as I could, so I’ll only add one thing:  Given the size and scope of the stimulus package (which, full disclosure, I didn’t and still don’t support), I want the best legal minds on this, whatever (within reason) it costs.  On the whole, it is likely to save us money by making the most of the dollars we do get.  But I think being the former law firm of the Governor, there is a conflict of interest and not only should they not have been selected for a no-bid contract, they should have been disqualified from bidding.

        I also can’t say that I have a J.D., but I would hazard a guess that Suthers, Blue, and the other lawyers involved in the state’s legal work are among the most qualified legal minds in the state.  We shouldn’t assume that just because they only would have charged $75 they are 1/6 as qualified as those at Hogan & Harston.

      2. Idiot pick up truck driver causes tanker semi to leave the road and wind up under overpass.  An absolute inferno. (The driver survived but died a few days later.)

        FDOT already had bridge plans for a new one someday in the future, and they picked the contractor no-bid based on the contractor’s excellent track record with the state, and being able to start yesterday.  I think the only folks upset with this were possibly, and I don’t know for sure, other contractors.

        The new bridge was open ahead of schedule and under estimate.

        And people say government can’t do anything right!  

  3. Ritter is not an idiot. He’s a seasoned DA with cultivated skills; I mean, after all, this guy has a machine no one has the guts to oppose. This guy has most Dems waiting in line to lick his heels.

    Secondly, to say that Ritter selected a former employer because only they could handle the job of distributing money smacks of staggering condescension. No other company or firm could handle this job? No one could do it cheaper? No one dared to ask the Governor “Hey, this looks shady and self-serving, maybe we should just hire somebody we know can do this and you didn’t use to work for?” Or is the Governor in so deep, that he either doesn’t see it, or doesn’t care?

    The actions and ethics here are clear. He cares about the “art of the deal” as it benefits his future, his family, and his investments; and one can only hope voters will pick up on this sooner than later.  

    1. Can you name a single credible source for any corruption of any kind concerning Ritter? I’ve never even heard a hint. You can zing him for a stupid move here, but stupid does not mean corrupt.

      1. I will do whatever I can (within reason and inside a system) to get Ritter out of office.

        But he’s not dirty.  He’s not on the take.  He’s a good man, and has a great family.

        He’s made some goofy decisions in his first term (from my point of view), but it’s a little offensive even to me to infer that there’s some big scandal with him.

  4. Opinion is just that, and fact is more valuable, of course. My views on this issue are a coupling of the two. If I had legal documentation to support specific views, this would not be the proper venue for them as you’ll agree. This should be a forum for informed opinions and suggestion. My goal is commenting was and is not to simply cast feces in someone’s direction, but to state my view-whether piloried or otherwise. I doubt my encouragement of Crummy’s reporting will have any impact on her priorities.  

  5. And David’s comment re: Ritter’s political considerations in any given situation, with which I concur.

    I keep thinking that Ritter operates with good intentions and kumbaya methodology, leaving the details to the bevy of attorneys who surround him, and who quite likely have their own agendas.

    Not that Machiavelli isn’t stuck in time, but a few basics – like the broader political context of any action – might aid our gov: “…it will be found that something which looks like virtue, if followed, would be his ruin; whilst something else, which looks like vice, yet followed brings him security and prosperity.”   Politics is 90+% perception.

    Another thank you to JC for weighing in.   However, the complexity of that explanation will unlikely make it into our ever-diminishing press.  

  6. First, thanks for welcoming me (BTW, I am not a lawyer!)

    Second, David, I don’t know exactly the answer about US 36 and CDOT, except that CDOT has some unique procument rules, especially during emergencies.  Remember also that this bill was rushed through and there was great controvesy about whether Members of Congress had actually ready it before voting on it.  There are dozens of deadlines, specific issues in there that mean the difference between getting money fast or not at all.

    Third, due respect to Karen at the Post, we proactively disclosed this to the Colorado Economic Recovery Accountability Board (CERAB) weeks ago.  It’s not like she had to dig this out.  And we did provide her the copy of the agreement letter, etc.  I think this is all on http://www.colorado.gov/recovery website (where we put everything we can about ARRA funds; check it out; it’s a good site).

    Fourth, Hogan and Hartson is enormously qualified to do this work.  There are few people around who know Colorado issues as well as Cole Finegan and Ted Trimpa.  Plus their DC expertise.  And should they be disqualified simply because the Governor once worked there?  It’s not like we didn’t think about the political implications of this.  But not everything we do in Bill Ritter’s office is dicated by political considerations.  Some people actually think that’s a virtue!

    Anyway, I understand and appreciate the concerns expressed here; I welcome and appreciate the good feedback; and again, thanks for the welcome.

    I realized that in my original post, I didn’t put my title.  So, for those curious:

    Jim Carpenter

    Chief of Staff

    Gov. Bill Ritter

    1. Thank you for the reply. A couple of follow-up questions.

      1&2) The legislation passed committee Jan 27 so you had some time. I understand that the normal process was too slow, but I don’t understand why you couldn’t give each qualified law firm 2 days notice and then 1 hour to present their offer. The bottom line is Ritter’s familiarity with H&H got them this gig.

      3) Why are you invoking attorney-client privilege on this? Is H&H representing the Governor or the state in this effort?

      thanks – dave

      1. David, that’s shorthand for a standard exemption to the Colorado Open Records Act. There’s nothing unusual about withholding certain documents under that provision of CORA — governments at all levels do it all the time. Which is not to say it’s always invoked appropriately, but what you’re insinuating simply isn’t the case.

    2. Finegan and Trimpa are qualified lawyers.  But it’s not about their qualifications, it’s that no matter how brilliant they are, there is a conflict of interest when the company selected is the Governor’s former stomping grounds.

      I’d also like to know what was wrong with Suthers’ office handling this.  I’ll respect you immensely if you can tell me it’s only about the party affiliation.  I just want to know what makes that group less qualified than Hogan & Hartson.

      1. would have answered those questions.

        If there was no other firm as qualified that could handle this task at a lesser price, then why not allow bids? If the firm could “proactively disclosed this to the Colorado Economic Recovery Accountability Board (CERAB) weeks ago” why couldn’t they proactively ask for competitive bids? Poor planning? Doubtful.

        Instead, the governor’s office along with H&H will spend the next year deflecting criticism at great expense. But both the firm and Governor Ritter got their sweet deal, so I guess it’s a win-win for everybody except those footing the bills.

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