Shady spending habits by newly elected Denver City Councilwoman Flor Alvidrez, including $14,000 for a Halloween parade float, are under investigation by an ethics panel.
The complaint was filed by one of her staffers, all of whom quit after only five months.
More than $4,200 of that parade float money went to her ex-husband.
The ethics board is investigating the suspect spending that also includes alcohol purchases, a $300 flight upgrade for a trip to Chile, and a questionable per diem payment.
Denverite broke the story:
These records show Alvidrez requesting reimbursements for things potentially barred under spending rules or that raised concerns about spending transparency among her staff. The complaint document also alleges that Alvidrez yelled at staff in response to pushback regarding spending concerns.
The councilwoman told the Denver Post this week the claims aren’t true, and denied yelling at her former staffers about it.
What happens if the board finds out she’s guilty? Apparently nothing, according to this word salad from Lori Weiser, executive director of the ethics board.
From the Denver Post:
“The Board of Ethics does not have independent authority to discipline or penalize an officer, official, or employee upon finding a violation of the Denver Code of Ethics,” Weiser wrote in an email. “The Ethics Code provides that the Board may recommend discipline to the appointing authority.”
In the case of elected officials, the appointing body is the voting public — with public scrutiny of the violations by voters serving as the effective punishment.
Systemic corruption, that’s when elected officials can spend taxpayer dollars on their own personal pleasures and the ethics board is toothless to do anything about it.