Governor Hickenlooper loves to talk about the need to be "good stewards" of taxpayer dollars. He rightfully points out that people think there is way too much waste and corruption in government spending, and often refers to the trust deficit between Coloradans and their state government. 

How then does his political appointment of former House Majority Leader Paul Weissmann to the Boulder County public trustee position, when Weissmann's already collecting a state government salary from his Capitol job, help build trust with the public on spending?

How does House Minority Leader Mark Ferrandino — Weissmann's current boss — justify allowing the double dip?

Weissmann is currently the chief of staff for Ferrandino — a gig that pays in the ballpark of $60-80,000 sources say. Hickenlooper has appointed him to the public trustee position for Boulder County, which pays $72,500 per year.

In this time of tight budgets, both for families and the state government, how do Democrats justify this type of political patronage?

Here's Hickenlooper talking at one of his TBD meetings in July, per KDVR's Eli Stokols:

“I think there’s a great fear among a large number of people that there’s just way too much waste in government,” Hickenlooper said. “And as long as there is that tangible fear, we have a hard time asking for additional resources in almost any form.

“So part of this is that those of us in county government, state government and local government, we all have to redouble our efforts to build trust with people. We’ve got to do a better job communicating to people how we spend our money and why.

“It’s why I got into government, because I thought a lot of well-intentioned people weren’t spending their money as wisely as I would,” Hickenlooper said. [Peak emphasis]

Weissmann has not indicated publicly that he intends on cutting his salary from either position. He told The Denver Post he planned on staying in both jobs through November. 

When most people get a new job they have to leave the old one. Do Democrats think they get to play by different rules?