AURORA | Less than a month after being sworn in, At-Large City Councilwoman Angela Lawson’s electoral win has spurred discussion over state ethics laws.
While Lawson is not accused of doing anything to run afoul of city or state ethics laws, her dual role as a state employee and elected official caused the state’s independent commission on ethics to take a closer look at how to handle which set of rules anyone in that position would abide by.
“This is going to help other people who work as a state employee to run for public service,” said Lawson, who asked the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission for an opinion on the situation. “We shouldn’t stop anyone from wanting to serve.”
During Monday’s meeting of the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission, commissioners sought to outline an advisory opinion for handling Lawson’s unique status and to clarify where the state’s ethics rules on accepting gifts — including Amendment 41, which created the ethics commission — come into play versus the rules set forth by the City of Aurora, a home-rule municipality.
Unlike the state, Aurora does not fall under Amendment 41, which prohibits elected officials or their immediate family members from accepting gifts and restricts former elected officials from working as a paid lobbyist for two years after leaving office. The amendment also established a “gift ban” that prohibits a member of the General Assembly from accepting a gift worth more than $59 from any one person in a given year.
The city instead follows an ordinance that was passed by council members just before Amendment 41 came into place in 2006. While the city has not established a gift ban or limit, it does keep in place standards of conduct regarding gifts for lawmakers that Colorado had in place before Amendment 41 was passed.
Unlike Colorado’s two other largest cities, Denver and Colorado Springs, Aurora does not have an ethics commission or board.
Peg Perl, senior counsel for Colorado Ethics Watch, said it’s concerning that Aurora and potentially other home-rule cities may have dramatically different ethics codes than that of the state.
“It has triggered the bigger question: ‘Can home-rule cities do whatever they want’?” she said.
Aurora City Attorney Mike Hyman said Aurora’s ethics code concerning issues such as allowable gifts that city lawmakers receive is more qualitative than numeric. He said he bristles at the idea that state commissioners are questioning whether Aurora follows any ethics code.
“I don’t think we’re unusual in that regard. If you look at home-rule cities across the state, each one has its own code of ethics,” he said.
Lawson, who was elected in November 2015 and works as program manager for the state’s lobbyist registration program, began working for the Colorado Secretary of State in 2005.
No wonder Aurora City Councilwoman Lawson ran such a spirited campaign. In addition to her pay and benefits as a state worker, her day job, she’s doing quite well in her role on the city council. According to an April 15, 2014 article in the Aurora Sentinel:
“Council decided they would not ask voters in November to increase council pay from around $13,000 a year to $40,000 a year, and the mayor’s pay from $56,000 a year to $80,000 a year. On top of their salary, city council members receive $760 monthly for a car allowance and $225 monthly for tech-related expenses such as cell phones and iPads. In addition, city lawmakers can qualify for life-long pensions, depending on their length of service.”
In addition to her job at the state, her evening duties on the city council amount to a total annual compensation of $13,000 (stipend) + $9,120 (car) + $2,700 (tech) = $24,820.
Pretty good pay and perks for sacrificing a couple evenings a week on official duties.
https://www.aurorasentinel.com/news/city-council-narrowly-approves-raising-pay-meeting-stipends/
Fiddlesticks, Mr. Hardhat! Angela Lawson is highly ethical, hard working, and honest. She ran for City Council because she wants to serve her city and the people. City Council members SHOULD be paid nicely — they work very hard for us, and not just during evenings. Would you be satisfied if only low-wage workers were allowed to run for City Council? My goodness gracious, find something worthwhile to complain about! Or maybe you ran for City Council and lost????
Calm down, Mr. Dox. I agree with you that Ms Lawson is highly ethical and obviously very hard working, and I congratulated her on her success. What’s your problem?
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There is a member of council who will tell you that being on Aurora City Council is not simply an evening job. . it is more full time. Hopefully Ms. Lawson will do what’s right.
i support angela
It is not clear that Aurora’s ethics code is sufficient to get it out of the jurisdiction of the IEC. That is one of the issues the IEC is considering. Other home rule cities, like Denver and Colorado Springs have much more complete codes, and processes for seeking advice and resolving complaints. Aurora has not done any of that.