Ethics panel member a Rivera ally

One of three members of the Colorado Springs Independent Ethics Commission, which is reviewing a complaint against Mayor Lionel Rivera, is a political ally of the mayor's.

Jan Doran acknowledged Wednesday that she actively campaigned for the mayor's unsuccessful bid for Congress in 2006, then again in 2007, when he was re-elected mayor. Doran said she served on his re-election campaign committee.

Doran did not contribute money to either campaign, according to a review of Rivera's campaign statements.

Doran said her ties to the mayor are a matter of public record and that she also disclosed them to City Attorney Patricia Kelly, who told her she didn't have to recuse herself.

"I disclosed to the city attorney what my position was with the mayor's campaign, both his congressional and his last mayoral campaign, and I asked her opinion, and she said it did not compromise my position," she said.

But a watchdog group said Doran should recuse herself from considering the complaint.

"I'm sort of stunned," said Chantell Taylor, director of Colorado Ethics Watch.

"Disclosure just simply isn't enough," she said.

Taylor said Doran's campaign work for Rivera raises questions of bias.

"The commissioner has served on Rivera's campaign committee? As recently as 2007? I definitely think that has the appearance of bias," she said.

Doran, however, said she was selected to serve on the City Council-appointed commission because she can render an unbiased opinion.

"People work on people's campaigns all the time," she said. "That does not mean that, if there is any question about ethical behavior, that the person cannot be objective and perfectly honest about whatever the findings are."

When asked about the appearance of bias, Doran said the question was unfair.

"Well, you know, there's a lot appearances," she said. "The Gazette makes constant appearances of being biased in one way or another."

Taylor said Doran, who is the immediate past president of the Council of Neighbors and Organizations, should be commended for disclosing her previous campaign work for the mayor, but it raises the appearance of a conflict.

"I think the appropriate thing would be for her to withdraw," Taylor said.

"Especially when you're dealing with issues of ethics, it is imperative that the process be as clean as possible," she said.

The other commission members are Chairman Stephen Hook, a retired deputy city attorney, and Mal Wakin, emeritus professor of philosophy at the Air Force Academy.

Like Doran, neither Hook nor Wakin have contributed to Rivera's mayoral or congressional campaigns, according to campaign statements.

The commission is reviewing a complaint alleging that Rivera, who works as vice president of investments for UBS Financial Services, has or had a business relationship with LandCo Equity Partners and its chairman, Ray Marshall, who was chosen over three others for a now defunct $53 million deal with the U.S. Olympic Committee last year.

The commission, which requested more information about the complaint last month, will meet again to review it June 11.

-

Call the writer at 476-1623.

Gazette writer Perry Swanson contributed to this report.