In pitching a new construction consulting business he launched earlier this year, Aurora City Councilman Bob Roth writes on his website to potential clients that he has the “ability to affect change at the local, state and even federal level.”
That influence comes because he has served on boards, commissions and is an elected official, Roth goes on to say on his company’s website, rcrinc.org. But critics say that business venture is pushing ethical lines, if not crossing them. Others say it’s a clear example of why the city needs to adopt stricter rules regarding ethics and conflicts of interest.
Roth told the Sentinel that he is by no means in the lobbying business and that his work in the construction industry does not include trying to change policy. He said the change that he can affect is how local governments perceive his clients.
For example, Roth said at Roth Collaborative Resources, he represents a group of unionized pipe fitters— most of which he said are located on the Western Slope.
“They want to get away from the traditional stereotype of how union contractors from 30 to 50 years ago have marketed themselves,” he said.
Roth describes the business he does as “construction development.” He offers services that range from “project discovery” and “legislative assistance” — terms for helping clients find business, which Roth said may include local and state government in addition to the private sector — to “interview skills” and “civic engagement.”
As for the pipe fitters, Roth said he knows the city of Grand Junction has a big project planned that may require pipefitters. He added that his consulting business could help the pipefitters earn the business of Grand Junction.
It would be his knowledge of how city governments work that gives him and his clients the advantage, Roth said. Not that he currently holds a city council seat in Aurora.
Though, it’s not clear whether Roth’s involvement in local and state government would contribute to earning such a contract for his clients.
Common Cause Colorado, which often pushes for greater ethical accountability in local and state government, said that’s the problem. They say Roth’s business does seem to cross clear ethical lines in that the council member, who was appointed in 2011 and then elected to another term, publicizes his public office and government involvement on his private business website.
When asked about the possibility of his clients doing business in Aurora, Roth said he didn’t believe his council seat would be a factor in his clients getting a job.
Roth also says on his website that on the Gaylord Rockies project he was the “Director of Business Development, in full charge of all aspects of the pursuit of this project.”
“The pursuit included due diligence for the construction team in Denver, CO and Orlando, FL; the A&E team in Dallas; the development team in Florida,” the website says. “This pursuit resulted in a $26MM electrical contract due to be complete in Q-4, 2018.”
Roth was a sitting council member in June 2011 when the millions in incentives were awarded to Gaylord. When asked whether Roth was working on Gaylord-related projects and making votes on city council, he said he couldn’t recall the timeline.
The council member and city staff had regular conversations about avoiding conflicts of interest, Roth said, making sure that he was “not crossing swords.”
At the time Aurora was considering Gaylord incentives, Roth worked for Intermountain Electric, which is one of just a handful of electric contractors in the state that could handle a project as large as Gaylord.
Working on bids was part of his job, Roth said. He added that he had no direct contact with Gaylord developers, but IME did have a relationship with the developer prior to his employment.
Wendy Mitchell, the CEO for the Aurora Economic Development Council, said the project was set up in a way that council members could not interact directly with the developer.
So far, the city hasn’t adopted its own code of ethics. Rather, it adopted a 2006 version of a state law. Those rules state that public officers should not “acquire or hold an interest in any business or undertaking which he has reason to believe may be directly and substantially affected to its economic benefit by official action to be taken by any agency over which he has substantive authority.”
The rules go on to forbid members from lobbying or soliciting lobbying business or contracts the council may take up or to “assist any person for a fee or other compensation in obtaining any contract, claim, license or other economic benefit from his agency.”
When asked if Roth would help clients get business with the city of Aurora, he said that could be a possibility, but not in a way that Roth’s council position would be implicated.
Councilwoman Nicole Johnston, who took up the issue nearly a year before she was elected, said indicators of whether a council members is acting ethically can be fuzzy at best.
Johnston sent an email to council members and Mayor Steve Hogan asking the body to adopt a set of its own ethics, adding: “We need ethics. We need standards. We need non-biased representation that is not tied to financial interests.”
Hogan responded that he agreed.
“That is exactly why I introduced an ordinance to establish an ethics board in the city. I was advised to wait until council re-wrote it’s rules to move ahead with the ordinance, because the rules were to answer all questions and the entity wouldn’t be needed,” he wrote in the email that was sent to Johnston and the acting council. “Surprise, the rules come out and there are no definitions of essential pieces like immediate family, private interest, or financial interest. That leaves those definitions up to an ever changing majority of Council. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want definitions up to whim. As a result, I will be reintroducing a form of the ordinance.”
Hogan died earlier this month after a short battle with cancer. He regularly recused himself from votes regarding E-470 where he was earning a paycheck. Other members have taken precautions to avoid even a perceived conflict of interest. Former councilwoman Barb Cleland said she once recused herself from a vote on whether to buy land owned by AT&T because she owned stock in the company.
Johnston said she’d like to take up the mayor’s vision for stronger ethics in the future, but it’s unclear when she may do so.
Johnston said she believes current council rules are so flimsy it’s difficult to tell whether a council member should recuse themselves. Roth sponsored a non-binding resolution last month that asks state lawmakers to address construction litigation.
He said the resolution — which asks lawmakers to support legislation that would require defect claims to go through an arbitration or mediation process before litigation — was not something he would directly benefit from.
City Attorney Mike Hyman said the city isn’t new to the issue.
“Over the years, many of our Council members, like Council member Roth, have day jobs. Our office is always careful to make sure that these council members are fully aware of the conflict-of-interest rules that apply to their service,” Hyman said, “if and when the need to do so should arise.”
Charlie Richardson, a current city council member and the former city attorney, told the Sentinel he was never asked by Roth to advise on potential conflicts of interest he may have had regarding Gaylord and his private employment. Richardson was city attorney at the time Gaylord incentives were approved.
Roth has been in construction for more than 30 years, he’s said on several occasions, and told the Sentinel it’s a major concern he hears from developers and others in the industry regularly.
Among the testimonials he puts on his website is Cherie Talbert, the vice president for the Home Builders Association of Metro Denver — that organization has been a vocal proponent of legislation that would limit the number of defect-related lawsuits developers are faced with.
“I’ve worked with Bob for many years in his capacity as an Aurora City Council Member. I’ve experienced and observed his wide array of abilities in his various roles supporting his community and constituents,” it said. “Bob is an excellent policy maker – thoughtful, inquisitive, willing to meet to discuss issues. Bob is personable, fair and a very strong communicator.”
Roth told the Sentinel in an interview that his line of construction consulting lies outside the realm of homebuilding and there’s no crossover to create conflict of interest.