With the price of gas surging and Putin’s war in Ukraine consuming headlines, there are more than a few mainstream publications that overlooked a rather interesting development recently at the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission.
The commission voted unanimously Feb. 25 that an ethics complaint filed against Gov. Polis’s former Chief of Staff Rick Palacio “is non-frivolous and warrants a full investigation.”
The finding is significant because “only 10% of complaints received by the IEC since 2008 have resulted in an investigation,” according to Defend Colorado, the group that filed the complaint.
As we reported the complaint alleges Polis’s office approved a state consulting contract that paid Palacio $15,000 a month while he was still serving as the governor’s chief of staff.
Palacio, who earned at least $329,000 as a consultant supporting Polis’s 2018 campaign, allegedly began receiving payment for the $85,000 consulting contract while he was still on the state payroll.
“Governor Polis’s office committed a serious ethical violation by awarding a no-bid contract to pay a business owned by the governor’s chief of staff,” said former Arapahoe County DA George Brauchler, who filed the complaint on Defend Colorado’s behalf. “The law strictly prohibits this type of self-dealing.”
Palacio’s no-bid, double-dipping contract appears to violate state ethics statutes designed to prohibit state officials from leveraging their former position in state government for at least six months after they leave.
State statute prohibits a former employee from entering into a contract with their former state agency for six months. C.R.S. § 24-18-201(1).
State statute prohibits a state employee from obtaining employment within six months in which the employee could have a direct advantage, unavailable to others, of matters through their previous employment. C.R.S. § 24-18-105(3).
It doesn’t appear that Palacio’s consulting gig was anywhere near six months removed from his employment with the state.
And then there’s this:
“Most troubling is the fact that the governor’s office did not publicly announce or disclose this contract but attempted to hide it from the public by directing funds through an LLC. Using public funds for secret, self-dealing contracts is not only illegal but a serious violation of the public trust,” Brauchler said.
If the commission finds Palacio violated ethics laws he could face extensive fines. State law authorizes the commission to fine individuals up to twice the amount of the financial benefit received per infringement.
The commission fined Hickenlooper $2,750, the largest in history, when it found then-Senate candidate Hickenlooper accepted private jet and limousine trips paid for by private companies and groups. The fine was an estimate of twice the cost of the one-way jet and Maserati limousine rides.
In Palacio’s case, a fine of twice of even just one month of his consulting contract would total $30,000.
Unless Palacio has some yet-to-be-revealed explanation to legally excuse his conduct, he could be facing some truly historic consequences.