Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen has been in office less than a year but already her family is cashing in on the public’s dime.
Joe Biden would be so proud.
Pettersen’s husband, Ian Silverii, is the former director of ProgressNow, whose consulting firm landed a $340,000 contract with Jefferson County under a questionable bidding process, reports Page Two over at Complete Colorado.
Silverii’s personal consulting fee is $180,000, while JeffCo taxpayers pay Silverii’s firm for political campaign services to raise their taxes.
Jefferson County is paying Rep. Brittany Petterson’s husband $180K in taxpayer money for a consulting fee to help the county persuade taxpayers to give up their TABOR refunds.
Something doesn’t smell right here.https://t.co/5KOiK9V86K#copolitics
— Ben Murrey (@benamurrey) January 15, 2024
Page Two explains Jefferson County’s taxpayer bitch slap:
Silverii is hoping he can help secure what looks to be another ballot initiative to de-TABOR county revenues and/or raise taxes in some form.
It’s not just who was awarded the contract that’s problematic — the couple has political ties to all the Jefferson County commissioners and donated to their campaigns.
Political activist Natalie Menten says taxpayers are unwittingly funding a political organization complete with campaign manager and communication specialists to pull political stunts so politicians can keep more of their TABOR refunds.
“That’s an obscene use of taxpayer money. We have said no twice. Spending our public money on the Bighorn political operative is an abuse of power on the county commissioner’s part and a misuse of taxpayers’ funds.”
Sherrie Peif did some tenacious reporting on the bidding process and Silverii’s company, The Bighorn Company. Read her story here.