State senator's ethics Inquiry

State Sen. Abel Tapia had a direct hand
in securing at least one contract from the Colorado State Fair, fair
officials said Wednesday.

Tapia, a Pueblo Democrat, attended the vetting interview for a $103,000 fair project his firm received, officials said.

On Wednesday, Tapia continued to say that he recalls no such meeting and downplayed his own influence.

Fair officials also confirmed Wednesday that a $1.1 million
appropriation that Tapia sponsored paid for a construction project that
his firm, Abel Engineering Professionals, oversaw.

The lawmaker faces an inquiry from a legislative ethics board
over whether he ran afoul of ethics rules by promoting fair funding
while his company benefited from $440,000 worth of fair contracts he
never disclosed.

"I continue to believe that our company is judged on its
previous work and that those judgments are made on quality, timing,
staying in budget and how we got along with the people there," Tapia
said.

He said he rarely mingles with the fair's contract decision-makers.

Fair officials, however, say Tapia appeared in 2004 at an
interview where staff determined that the senator's company would
receive $103,000 worth of contracts to revamp fair infrastructure.

Tapia's lawmaker status had no effect on the decision, said Chris Wiseman, fair manager.

"Was he heavy handed? Was he pushy? No," said Wiseman, who will appear today before the ethics board along with Tapia.

Tapia has said that he typically leaves such interviews to his son and two other executives.

His 2004 appearance raises questions with government watchdogs,
who believe the lawmaker should have disclosed the meeting, said
Chantell Taylor, director of Colorado Ethics Watch.

"This underscores the need for a thorough investigation . . .
more than an advisory committee can do," Taylor said. "Just by virtue
of his status alone, he is going to influence the process."

The ethics board called to consider Tapia's case can only
issue advisory opinions and does not have the power to subpoena
information or compel testimony.

It takes a formal complaint to create a legislative ethics committee with subpoena power.

Tapia has, however, freely disclosed financial information and legal opinions offered to him by legislative lawyers.

Also at issue Wednesday was a supplemental budget bill sponsored
by Tapia that covered projects for many state agencies — and included
$1.1 million for the State Fair.

As head of the legislature's powerful Joint Budget Committee at the time, Tapia sponsored many such bills.

Fair officials said that the appropriation allowed them to start
renovation on a fairgrounds carnival lot and that Abel Engineering had
secured the contract before the bill was filed.

Four months after the bill passed, Abel Engineering received
an additional $50,000 contract for another stage of the carnival-lot
project.

Tapia said last week that he would have disclosed the conflict
of interest if he had been aware of it. Senate rules prohibit
legislators from sponsoring or voting for bills in which they have a
financial stake.