Ex-state treasurer led reforms, also stepped 'on toes'

Active duty with the U.S. Marines was eight years behind him when Mike Coffman was called back in 1991 for the first Gulf War.

Overnight, the somewhat obscure second-term state representative from Aurora - described in news accounts as an "affable businessman" - became a celebrity in the House chambers just by not being there.

Coffman's desk on the House floor was draped in a Marine Corps flag and yellow ribbons. His letters were read on the House floor.

"When he came home, we were all out at the airport with big signs," recalled former Sen. Norma Anderson, who served with Coffman in the House.

In addition to his service in 1991, he volunteered for active duty again in 2005 to help Iraqis organize elections.

But while Coffman's image is still closely tied to the Leathernecks, he also gained visibility by diving into serious public policy issues at a level of mind-numbing detail most elected officials delegate to others.

He led the effort to reform Colorado's welfare system in the mid-1990s as chairman of the Senate finance committee. As state treasurer from 1999 to 2007, he waded into the finances of the Public Employees Retirement Association, which he believed was on a collision course with insolvency.

Coffman's intuition on the issues was often right - PERA was, indeed, on shaky ground.

But Coffman's brusque side often rubbed people - including members of the PERA board - the wrong way.

Coffman feuded with Gov. Bill Owens over the Republican chief executive's use of certain funds during the steep recession that engulfed the state during the early part of this decade.

"I was persona non grata," he says of his relationship with Owens.

"He (Coffman) has a tendency to step on people's toes," said Anderson, who counts herself among those who get along with Coffman.

But Coffman also earned praise from conservatives as a tight man with the public's money. He received high ratings as lawmaker from the Colorado Union of Taxpayers.

Coffman was born at Fort Leo nard Wood, Mo., where his father was a career enlisted man. The elder Coffman was reassigned to Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in 1964 when Coffman was 9.

As a teenager, Coffman volunteered at the hospital. He often speaks of the searing memory left by the wounded returning from Vietnam.

He dropped out of Aurora Central High School as a junior to join the Army. His own father had dropped out to join the military during World War II.

"I figured if my father could start his military career at 15, I could start at 17," Coffman said.

He completed high school and a year of college through the Army, went on to earn a bachelor's degree at the University of Colorado, then signed up for Officer's Candidate School with the Marines.

Following active duty, Coffman founded several property management firms in the Denver area. He sold his interests in 2000.

Coffman's second term as treasurer was interrupted by a six-month tour with the Marines in Iraq, where he helped prepare for elections. He returned to run for secretary of state.

During his term as treasurer, Coffman bailed out the St. Vrain School District, which had run up a $10.3 million deficit through mismanagement.

Coffman advanced state funds to the Longmont-based district but demanded a tight repayment schedule and fiscal austerity.

"His methods were heavy-handed," said former school board member Rick Samson. "He could have been a statesman. He wasn't."

Samson, a former Boulder County Republican Party chairman, particularly resented Coffman's statements to the media, which he felt were self-serving.

"It wasn't pleasant to have had that kind of a financial problem, but then to have somebody play politics with the situation, I thought was inexcusable," Samson said.

Coffman has no illusions about how the St. Vrain school board members and administrators felt about him.

"They hated me," he said.

But, Coffman said, the plan he imposed took all the cuts from the administration, not classrooms.

"The tensions were high, but the people in the district were happy, and I still get compliments today from people in that St. Vrain district," Coffman said.

As secretary of state, Coffman has come under fire for alleged ethics violations.

In one instance, Coffman picked a consulting firm for his congressional campaign that also worked with an election machine manufacturer, Premier Election Solutions. All of Premier's machines were cleared for use in the presidential election.

Coffman denied any link between the consulting firm and the decision to certify the Premier machines. The head of the consulting firm said work for Premier and Coffman's congressional campaign were not linked.

In another instance, Coffman reassigned an employee at the secretary of state's office who was running a political consulting business. State auditors cleared the worker of the most serious charge, that he sold state data to clients.

The group Ethics Watch has filed a complaint covering both ethics charges with a state ethics panel, which has not yet heard the case.