Call for Investigation of Colorado's Secretary of State
Last week, a citizen journalist broke the story that newly elected Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman hired an employee to oversee and maintain the state's master voter registration database, while this same employee had a for profit political firm that sold voter lists to partisan political campaigns. (epluribusmedia.org, 5/3/2007)
Coffman immediately denied that he ever knew about his employee's "side business" and instead, placed the blame on his employee. (Rocky Mountain News, 5/12/2007)
The facts about Coffman's denial:
Coffman's very own campaign expenditures from last fall show multiple expenditures to this very employee and his political consulting firm. These expenditures at can be seen at his own Secretary of State website: www.sos.state.co.us/cpf
Specifically, on August 9, 2005, Coloradans for Coffman-Coffman's campaign committee-made one of its very first expenditures to this exact firm for "software" to be used by Coffman's political campaign committee.
And on November 20, 2006, Coffman paid this same firm for political consulting.
In fact, Coffman's relationship with this very employee dates back to 1994. (Denver Post, 5/9/2007) This employee previously worked for Coffman in the Treasurer's Office during the same time at which he was also running the political consulting firm in question.
Coffman admitted that he knew that the employee ran a political consulting firm while he was working for him at the Treasury Office but said it didn't conflict with the business of the Treasurer's Office. (DP)
Violations:
Under the Colorado Personnel rules Coffman is "accountable for compliance with these [Board] rules and state and federal law." (Board Rule 1-11) These rules specifically state that Coffman is accountable when "outside employment…is inconsistent with the interests of the state (BR 1-14). In addition, it is a violation of state criminal law to utilize a public office for private gain. (CO Const. XXIX, CRS 18-8-407)
This would not be the first time Coffman has been investigated. In 2004 he was the first public official guilty of violating the Colorado Fair Campaign Practices Act for knowingly misusing his staff for political purposes. (DP, 12/7/2004)
We demand an independent investigation into these activities.
