No, you aren’t forgetful or crazy.
Yes, former Parker Mayor Greg Lopez — elevated this week as the GOP person to take over Congressman Ken Buck’s seat — is the same Lopez convicted of once assaulting his then-pregnant wife, telling everyone that Democrats stole the election from Donald Trump and that every abortion should be illegal, even to save a woman’s life.
And, yes, former Aurora Councilmember Bob Roth — appointed this week to the Aurora Planning Commission — is the same Roth exposed in the Sentinel for trying to curry favor to his personal bank account by hawking the influence of his elected position.
Roth was appointed to the Aurora City Council in 2011 and elected once after that. In June 2018, Roth announced on social media that he was creating his own consulting firm, Roth Collaborative Resources. He has for years dabbled in commercial real estate, business development and all kinds of things that depend on dealing with local governments for permits, perks and subsidies.
His website, rcrinc.org, now defunct, was thick with ethical red flags and blatant violations of the spirit of state ethics laws, if not the law itself.
Here’s a sample of what he told prospective business and industry clients:
Roth said, for a price, he could provide “Legislative assistance.” Because as an elected official, he could “Engage civic executives and elected officials on behalf of clients for development projects.”
That’s solid dog whistle for, “I got the ear of the city’s manager and enough votes on the city council to make it happen for you, for a price.”
Roth said as an elected official “with a vast network in the public and private sector…we can open doors that have not been available previously.”
Read: They won’t even return your calls, but I have them on speed dial.
The Sentinel investigation also revealed Roth was cutting private business deals with potential Gaylord Hotel contractors at the same time, as a city official, he was voting on Gaylord Hotel questions about a project that cost hundreds of millions of dollars, including tax dollars.
Roth never disclosed any of that during any vote, and he certainly never recused himself.
He lost his seat on the city council in 2019 to current Councilmember Alison Coombs. He ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for a state Senate seat in 2020, and as a Republican for an Arapahoe County commissioner seat in 2022.
On data he supplied the city, he’s now a real estate agent for a Denver firm.
Does this sound like a guy you would want making calls on whether businesses or taxpayers have to pay for traffic signals or whether bar owners can get a bye on city regulations meant to protect neighborhoods and homeowners?
It sure did last week to the fellow Republicans on the council dais, who not only jumped at the chance to appoint him to the powerful board, but they refused to even talk to or about the other candidates the city had asked to apply for a long-empty spot on the board.
Further south in Parker, the situation is far more grave in the 4th Congressional District, which wraps around Aurora to the east and south.
Amidst hours of political drama last week in Hugo, Republicans statewide gathered to choose a Republican candidate for the June 25 special election to fill outgoing GOP Ken Buck’s seat until next January.
Buck suddenly got tired of the bedlam in Congress, which says a lot, and stepped down early, creating a vacancy that has to be filled by a special election in June.
Lopez was chosen among nine fellow Republicans asking to be the nominee for the special election.
A gaggle of Republicans, including Western Slope carpetbagging Congressperson Lauren Boebert, will be duking it out in a separate nomination election to run for the seat in November.
Republicans want you to forget or overlook the facts about Lopez, who ran unsuccessfully against Republican Heidi Ganahl for the party nod to run for governor in 2022, among other statewide races.
During that campaign, Lopez scored points among the Texas and Florida wannabes by insisting that all abortions should be illegal, even if needed to save the life of the mother.
That might not sound so harsh from a man who rationalizes a 1993 domestic violence episode with his then-pregnant wife.
The Denver Post, the now-defunct Rocky Mountain News, 9News and others have repeatedly written about the assault, which Lopez admits to but explains away as an episode of young love. He was 29.
He and his wife were arguing when she hit him over the head, according to police reports, published many times. He then pushed her down, kicked her and pulled her by the hair, according to the charging report.
He, and his wife, have since said there was no hair pulling. He regularly points out that they both were ticketed. He was accused of assault. She was accused of harassment.
Lopez calls it a live and learn situation.
That’s essentially how he also referred to his DUI charge in 2003.
It’s less clear how Lopez codifies his run-in with federal prosecutors. Lopez was forced out of his appointed high-level SBA role in 2014. In 2020, he settled a Department of Justice civil case against him for $15,000 after being accused of trying to “exert improper influence over a federal agency on behalf of his friend” according to DOJ records.
Colorado politics have been so rife with the quid pro quo rodeo trampling over taxpayers that voters overwhelming approved Amendment 41 in 2006. The measure sets an ethical bar for elected officials and government employees, strictly limiting graft and explaining what “ethics” are to those unaccustomed to the concept.
Political leaders and insiders who think Roth and Lopez are the best Colorado and Aurora have to offer, ask yourself this: “How would you feel about this person if they didn’t belong to your political party?”
Now, act on that.
And if you answered, “I would still support them.”
Seek help.
Follow @EditorDavePerry on BlueSky, Threads, Mastodon, Twitter and Facebook or reach him at 303-750-7555 or dperry@SentinelColorado.com
Jeez, I’m not too impressed with either of these guys. Is the Colorado GOP that hardup for normal candidates?
Considering these and the September inexplicable appointment of Tim Hernandez to represent the 4th Colorado House seat, it seems that political appointments often go to loud self-serving men.
We look forward to the editorial revisiting the history of alphabet activist Hashim Coates, who fired shots at his prostitute (for murky reasons) but copped a plea to avoid jail and who is now a Democrat candidate for an Arapahoe County commission seat. As well as other Aurora Democrat dregs who may crawl out from their rocks before the next election. And don’t forget the retelling of his opponent, the shoplifting senator Rhonda Fields.