Colorado Springs Mayor Lionel Rivera has received a dubious distinction in Colorado Ethics Watch's second annual report featuring the "good, the bad and the ugly" in state ethics.

Rivera, who is being investigated for a possible conflict of interest because of his financial ties to a developer who won a city contract, landed in the "ugly" category.

The city's ethics commission is investigating Rivera and has not yet reached a conclusion.

However, Colorado Ethics Watch, a nonprofit watchdog organization, said Rivera "appears" to have committed an ethics breach.

"Based on the evidence presented thus far, it appears that Mr. Rivera's conduct fits squarely within the definition of conflicts of interest set forth in Colorado Springs Code of Conduct," the group states in its Ethics Roundup 2009: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which was released today.

The report highlights officials or agencies that "have either committed ethics violations or taken commendable action to promote higher ethical standards."

Rivera ended up in the report's unflattering category because of his business relationship with Ray Marshall, chairman of LandCo Equity Partners, which was selected over three other companies last year as the lead developer on the now-defunct $53 million deal to build the U.S. Olympic Committee a new headquarters and other facilities.

Rivera, a vice president of investments at UBS Financial Services, handled at least three brokerage accounts tied to Marshall before LandCo was selected for the deal, according to documents submitted to the city ethics commission by John Cook, an attorney for Marshall.

Only one other official, Joe Blake, a member of Colorado State University's governing board who was selected as the sole finalist for a newly created chancellor position, was placed on the "ugly" list. A judge ruled that the board violated the state open meetings law when it selected Blake, according to The Associated Press.