Jefferson County School Board member Vince Chowdhury has announced his resignation, effective Thursday, August 21. On July 9, Ethics Watch called for Chowdhury to resign after he pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting a child. On August 12, Chowdhury lost the Democratic primary in State House District 22 to Camille Ryckman.

Ethics Watch is presenting its continuing legal education ("CLE") course on "Ethical Concerns for Attorneys Involved In Political Campaigns" on Wednesday, August 20 at noon at Foster Graham Milstein Miller & Calisher LLP in Denver. The course has been approved for one general and one ethics CLE credit in Colorado. The course is open to all Colorado attorneys and is free of charge.

Douglas Bruce, representative from State House District 15 who was named one of Colorado's most corrupt public officials in Colorado Ethics Watch's 2008 Ethics Roundup, lost to Mark Waller in the Republican primary yesterday.  Rep. Bruce was the first state representative in Colorado history to be formally censured for misconduct.

Ethics Watch calls on Commissioner Torres to immediately return the unlawful contribution from Las Animas County Republican Women’s Club, which patently exceeds the $400 contribution limit, and immediately rectify his many other filing delinquencies.

The day after Ethics Watch filed a complaint with the Colorado Secretary of State against the Senate Majority Fund LLC (SMF) for failure to report thousands of dollars in campaign spending, SMF adjusted its reports to disclose nearly $100,000 in spending on political ads and mailings.

Colorado Ethics Watch is pleased to announce that it has been approved by the Colorado Supreme Court Board of Continuing Legal and Judicial Education to sponsor continuing legal education ("CLE") courses. Ethics Watch will present its first seminar, on "Ethical Obligations of Attorneys Involved in Political Campaigns," at the offices of Holland & Hart LLP in Denver on August 14 and Foster Graham Milstein Miller & Calisher LLP in Denver on August 20.

In response to the Denver District Court’s ruling today denying Colorado Ethics Watch’s petition against Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey, Ethics Watch renewed its commitment to pressuring district attorneys to enforce criminal standards of conduct for public officials.

Colorado Ethics Watch sent a letter today to key legislators renewing its call for reform of limited gaming funds in Black Hawk. The letter was spurred by a recent City of Black Hawk ordinance that would permit the city to divert State Historical Fund money to pay for the city's fire and public works departments. The ordinance raises serious questions regarding Black Hawk's management of State Historical Fund dollars and the additional $7.5 million in direct grants it received from Colorado's limited gaming fund last year.

Today, Colorado Ethics Watch issued a statement commending the Independent Ethics Commission ("IEC") for adopting a slate of rules that more closely align with the voters' intent, and called on the IEC to begin addressing complaints and requests for advisory opinions.

Today, Ethics Watch joined the Jefferson County School Board in urging Vince Chowdhury to immediately resign from his school board position based on Mr. Chowdhury's recent guilty plea for physically assaulting his daughter.

Today, Ethics Watch tesitifed to the Independent Ethics Commission ("IEC") regarding the IEC's proposed rules.

 

Colorado Ethics Watch, a nonpartisan, nonprofit legal watchdog group, is calling on the Independent Ethics Commission (“IEC”) to release information about the executive director it recently hired, Jane Feldman. Without any notice to the public, the IEC announced its decision to hire Ms. Feldman in a one-sentence statement on the IEC’s website. The announcement was apparently posted on June 30, 2008, the day before she began her official duties, July 1, 2008.

Today, Colorado Ethics Watch submitted to the Independent Ethics Commission ("IEC") comments on the IEC's Proposed Rules of Procedure. Ethics Watch submitted the comments in advance of the IEC's public hearing on its proposed rules, which will be held on July 7, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. in Conference Room 2A at 633 Seventeenth Street, Denver, Colorado.

Today, the Colorado Court of Appeals affirmed a precedent-setting ruling in a case filed by Ethics Watch that promotes greater transparency in campaign finance spending by affirming that political committees are liable for skirting the law.

In response to a letter sent by Ethics Watch on April 29, 2008, the office of the state auditor agrees to address the concerns relating to contracts entered into with SunGard and Delta Initiative, Inc. by the Colorado Community College System.

Yesterday, Attorney General John Suthers made a formal address to the
Independent Ethics Commission (IEC), advising the commissioners that
they had “no choice” but to be represented by his office. In response Colorado Ethics Watch released the following statement urging Attorney General Suthers to withdraw as the IEC’s counsel and clear the way for the IEC to hire independent counsel.

Today, Colorado Ethics Watch launches a new page on this site dedicated to the actions of the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission (“IEC”). To ensure the public has easy access to complete information about IEC activities, Ethics Watch has compiled this chronology of IEC activities and related documents submitted to or produced by the IEC.

Today, Ethics Watch Senior Counsel Luis Toro was a panelist at a public forum on the status of the Independent Ethics Commission ("IEC"). Toro was invited by the Colorado Social Legislation Committee to speak about the current status of the IEC, including its executive director search and rulemaking process.

Ethics Watch Director Chantell Taylor addressed the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission ("IEC") at its April 18, 2008 meeting as part of the IEC's rulemaking process. Ethics Watch also submitted a letter to the IEC.