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Colorado Ethics Watch uses high impact legal actions to hold public officials and organizations accountable for unethical activities that undermine the integrity of state and local government.
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“The fact that they only gave money when he was doing these final rules, that more than ever really raises flags. There’s something fishy going on.”
Rep. Mark Ferrandino, commenting on campaign contributions from payday lending companies to Attorney General John Suthers as Suthers writes regulations to implement a new payday lending law, as reported in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, August 13, 2010

State’s top ethics panel moves toward more open, transparent procedures

Legal questions over closed-door enclaves linger as attorney general's office takes varying approaches to state Open Meetings Law

By Ernest Luning, The Colorado Independent,
June 19, 2009
Six weeks after an investigation by The Colorado Independent found repeated violations of the Colorado Open Meetings Law by the Independent Ethics Commission, the panel charged with enforcing ethical standards among public officials across the state has taken dramatic steps toward greater transparency and disclosure.

At the same time, a lawyer from the Colorado attorney general’s office continues to advise the commission to go into closed, executive sessions to talk about general legal questions despite the Open Meeting Law’s requirement those discussions take place in public whenever state officials meet.

Last month, The Colorado Independent reported the ethics commission spent 85 percent of its time meeting behind closed doors to discuss complaints and requests for rulings on the conduct of public officials and government employees. Included were sessions where a member of the panel reported deliberating on an ethics complaint — since dismissed — against Mike Coffman, the former Colorado secretary of state who won election to Congress last fall.

For the full story, please visit http://coloradoindependent.com/31605/states-top-ethics-panel-moves-toward-m...

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