Ethics panel has 'wide discretion'

The Colorado Springs Independent Ethics Commission has "wide discretion" in how it conducts its investigations, allowing it to shut the public out of a future interview with Mayor Lionel Rivera about his financial ties to a developer, a city spokesman said.

Last week, Mal Wakin, one of two commissioners investigating a conflict-of-interest complaint against the mayor, requested a private meeting with Rivera to delve into his business relationship with Ray Marshall, chairman of LandCo Equity Partners.

Wakin requested the one-on-one with Rivera after John Cook, an attorney for Marshall, disclosed during a commission meeting that Rivera, who works as a vice president of investments at UBS Financial Services, had handled at least three accounts tied to Marshall until October 2007.

In September 2007, the city had issued a "request for information" for proposals on an economic-development project that turned out to be the now-defunct $53 million deal to keep the U.S. Olympic Committee headquartered in Colorado Springs.

LandCo, a local real-estate and development firm, was chosen over three others as the developer for the project, which included new downtown offices for the USOC.
City officials, including Rivera, insist the USOC selected LandCo.

But in a recent interview, the USOC's former chief executive officer, Jim Scherr, said it was the city's decision.

Rivera, who will neither confirm nor deny his business ties to Marshall, citing client confidentiality, maintains he didn't have a conflict of interest by negotiating on the city's behalf.

Now it's up to the ethics commission to render an opinion.

Although the two commission meetings to review the complaint against Rivera have been open to the public, it appears that its investigation will be more secretive.

"Ultimately, the commission is working to provide City Council with its findings and/or recommendations that will be confidential ... for elected officials," city spokesman John Leavitt said in an e-mail late Tuesday after conferring with City Attorney Patricia Kelly.

"City Council will ultimately decide how to proceed from there, if at all," he said.

The commission "is given wide discretion" in how it conducts its investigations, Leavitt said.

Its rules of procedure, adopted by the City Council in 2007, give it that discretion. The commission "shall determine the procedure to be used in the investigation of the complaint," the rules state.

Even the commission's recommendation to the council "containing findings of fact and conclusions of law" has to be confidential, the rules state.

During the commission's meeting last week, Chairman Stephen Hook appeared to struggle with Wakin's request for a private interview with Rivera.

"There is a very strong interest in this from the community, and I think we need to make sure that we do this as openly and in as public a manner as possible," Hook said.

Hook said he wanted to make the "results" of the interview with the mayor public.
Wakin, who has taught ethics for half a century and has served on ethics committees for hospitals and the USOC, said he is supportive of openness.

But he said he's been conscious of someone's right to privacy when he's worked on other ethics committees.

"In every case, I've been awfully sensitive to the privacy of the individual being investigated, especially when no conclusions have yet been reached," he said.

Wakin also said he would be willing to be as open with the public as possible, "once we've gotten the facts down and know what they are and are able to draw some conclusions."

The meeting between the mayor and Wakin still hasn't been scheduled. Last week, Rivera told The Gazette that he is "more than willing" to cooperate with the investigation.

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