Panel to scrutinize Rivera's dealings

An ethics complaint lodged against Colorado Springs Mayor Lionel Rivera earlier this month will be considered Monday by the city's Independent Ethics Commission.

The three-member panel, which is appointed by the City Council, will review the complaint and "determine if further action is needed," said Sue Skiffington-Blumberg, a city spokeswoman, in an e-mail Thursday.

"The meeting is open to the public to observe," she wrote.

The meeting is at 9 a.m. at the City Attorney's Office in the City Administration Building, 30 S. Nevada Ave., Suite 501.

The mayor is welcome to attend the meeting but is not scheduled to do so, Skiffington-Blumberg said. The commission won't hear any testimony, she added.

The complaint going before the panel alleges that Rivera, who works at UBS Financial Services, committed an ethics breach because he is, or was, an investment adviser to the developer selected for a $53 million deal involving the city and the U.S. Olympic Committee last year.

The mayor "has, and continues to, negotiate on behalf of the city" with LandCo Equity Partners and its chairman, Ray Marshall, "with whom a direct conflict of interest exists," according to the complaint, filed May 4 by Ron Johnson, president and chief executive officer of Springs-based Central Bancorp.

Rivera "manages accounts of, and accounts controlled by" LandCo and Marshall and "receives direct or indirect compensation" from that work, the compliant says.

In an interview last week, Johnson said he's seen proof that Rivera and Marshall had business ties before the USOC deal was crafted.

"I have personally seen a statement of an entity that Mr. Marshall had ... with the mayor's name on the top," he said.

"It was a brokerage statement," he said. "Unfortunately, I cannot provide that to you, nor can I tell you where I saw it."

The ethics commission may have better luck.

The panel "may issue subpoenas for the production of documents, or the attendance of witnesses," according to its rules of procedure, which were approved through a City Council resolution signed by Rivera in December 2007.

"Failure to honor a subpoena shall be punishable as provided by law," the rules state.

The mayor has refused to disclose his business relationship with Marshall or even say whether or not one existed.

Rivera said last week that he planned to work with the ethics commission and "give them whatever they request."

The commission members are Stephen Hook, a retired deputy city attorney; Jan Doran, a long-time neighborhood activist and past president of the Council of Neighbors and Organizations; and Mal Wakin, a professor emeritus at the Air Force Academy.

Hook, the chairman, could not be reached. Doran and Wakin declined to comment.

"Really, it would be not only unethical but very unprofessional for any of us to comment before we've actually sat down together and reviewed whatever facts are available," Wakin said.

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