(The Fort Morgan Times)-
Access to government records is essential to hold officials accountable. But if that access isn’t in harmony with modern times, it’s useless.
The Coloradoan newspaper in Fort Collins requested a digital database of Colorado State University’s employee names, salaries and raises to examine allegations by a CSU professor that the university has based pay raises on gender.
Nat Stein (The Colorado Independent)-
Monday Denver became the latest municipality to enact so-called construction defects reform. City Council approved a proposal out of the Mayor’s office that will make it harder for homeowners to file defects claims about sinking foundations, moldy walls, or leaking roofs. The rationale is that developers will build more if they’re not so scared of getting sued all the time.
Councilmember Debbie Ortega said she wasn’t thrilled with the measure, but voted “yea” because the city desperately needs more affordable housing… click here to read the full article >>
Carlos Illescas (Denver Post)-
Aurora City Councilwoman Molly Markert is flying to Ethiopia next week for two weeks to deliver donated eye glasses to its sister city at Aurora’s expense and effectively ending her council tenure in Africa.
Markert is using $1,200 from her council travel fund to fly to Adama, Ethiopia, to help pay for airline tickets. Adama is paying for lodging for Markert, who is going with a friend who is paying her own way, Markert said… Click here to read the full article >>
Corey Hutchins (The Colorado Independent)-
Colorado is not a state with a tradition of scandal-scarred government. Its governors don’t tumble from power in disgrace, and indictments of lawmakers and lobbyists aren’t the norm.
Periodic instances of impropriety do occur, largely at the local level. And just last year, Colorado’s Independent Ethics Commission fined a sitting statewide public official for the first time ever after finding then-Secretary of State Scott Gessler had used public money for personal and political gain. Only one state lawmaker has pleaded guilty to public corruption in the past two years… Click here to read the full article >>
Megan Schrader (The Colorado Springs Gazette)-
Colorado fared better than many states in a measure of how vulnerable to corruptible state government and officials are, but the research compiled by the Center for Public Integrity still found cause for concern – particularly with the state’s laws regulating open records, campaign finance and ethics.
The State Integrity Investigation was released Monday by the national nonprofit news group and gave all 50 states a letter grade based on a detailed rubric that scored performances in 13 categories… Click here to read the full article >>
Maria St. Louis-Sanchez (The Colorado Springs Gazette)-
There was once a time when a school board election involved a couple of yard signs and some handshaking at PTA meetings.
Tuesday’s election shows that those kinds of campaigns are a thing of the past in Colorado Springs School District 11 and Lewis-Palmer School District 38.
Click here to read the full story in The Colorado Springs Gazette.
Maria St. Louis-Sanchez (The Colorado Springs Gazette)-
The Lewis-Palmer School District 38 School Board election was particularly secretive this year, with large donors not reported on campaign filings and one secretive committee that has ties to a Colorado Republican operative who has been disciplined for political dealings.
“This race was very dirty,” said Sarah Sampayo, who narrowly beat out teacher-supported candidate Kris Beasley in Lewis-Palmer’s District 2 race. “This was my first experience with politics and hope it’s my last.” Click Here to read the full article >>
Maria St. Louis-Sanchez (The Colorado Springs Gazette)-
There was once a time when a school board election involved a couple of yard signs and some handshaking at PTA meetings.
Tuesday’s election shows that those kinds of campaigns are a thing of the past in Colorado Springs School District 11 and Lewis-Palmer School District 38… Click Here to read the full article >>
Corey Hutchins (The Colorado Independent)-
An election over whether to raise the local sales tax here to fix potholes is over — it passed — but there was one question still lingering today about the vote. Would Councilman Bill Murray try to collect on a $100 bet he made with anti-tax activist Douglas Bruce about how the tax measure would fare?
Murray won’t. Because doing so could be illegal… Click here to read the full article >>
Ivan Moreno (Associated Press)-
Three conservative school board members elected on promises to reform teacher pay and boost charter schools in suburban Denver were overwhelmingly recalled in a high-priced election that highlighted the continuing importance of teachers’ unions in education politics.
The fight in Jefferson County, Colorado’s second-largest school district, drew hundreds of thousands of dollars in spending from outside groups, all for offices that aren’t paid. Recall supporters included teacher unions, while the three board members were backed by the conservative powerhouse Americans For Prosperity.
Click here to read the full story in the Colorado Springs Gazette.
