Colorado Ethics Watch sent a letter today to key legislators questioning 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.

An Ethics Watch investigation earlier this year confirmed that Black Hawk city officials spent thousands of dollars in tax dollars in 2007 on a lavish trip to Las Vegas for themselves and their spouses without reimbursing the city for unauthorized expenses. Black Hawk city policy expressly requires city officials to cover expenses for family members and friends with personal funds, not tax dollars. In addition to these Las Vegas trips, Black Hawk paid for official travel to Atlanta, Chicago, Washington, DC, Snowmass Village and other destinations during 2007. Ethics Watch also investigated the historic preservation grants programs administered by Black Hawk city officials and confirmed that they have awarded each other hundreds of thousands of dollars in historic preservation grants for improvements to their own residential properties.

On May 30, 2008, Ethics Watch sent letters to Senator Abel Tapia, the Chair of the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, and Representative Al White, who was previously involved in legislation regarding management of the state limited gaming fund. In the letters, Ethics Watch called on the legislature to consider a legislative fix for the ongoing problems in Black Hawk.

On June 12, 2008, Ethics Watch called for a criminal investigation of Black Hawk Mayor David Spellman, who was named one of Colorado's most corrupt public officials in Ethics Watch's 2008 Ethics Roundup, and City Manager Richard Lessner, for their use of public funds for personal and family travel expenses. On June 20, First Judicial District Attorney Scott Storey advised Ethics Watch that the Colorado Bureau of Investigation is investigating historical preservation spending in Black Hawk, Central City and Cripple Creek and that the investigation includes potential criminal matters.

Today's letter was sent to Senator Tapia and Representative White. In the letter, Ethics Watch stated that Black Hawk's recent move to use State Historical Fund money for everyday municipal services is an admission that the city, which has only 118 residents and 79 residences, has run out of ways to spend State Historical Fund money. The ordinance also raises serious questions about how Black Hawk is spending the $7.5 million it received in direct grant money from the state during the 2007-08 fiscal year. That direct grant money does not flow through the State Historical Fund and is not restricted to historic preservation purposes.