OPINION: Just the facts, Mayor Rivera
Mayor Lionel Rivera needs to come clean with the public, or he needs to resign. The U.S. Olympic Committee and Colorado Springs are more important than Rivera's political career.
Mayor Rivera, simply tell the City Council and residents of Colorado Springs all the details about your business relationship with developer Ray Marshall, the contractor who's at the center of a criminal investigation, a lawsuit against the city, and other problems that have jeopardized the community's hope to keep the USOC headquartered in Colorado Springs. You say you've done nothing wrong, it seems likely that's true, so put the facts on the table. Eliminate suspicion and get on with business.
Marshall is chairman of LandCo Equity Partners, which was selected as developer of the USOC's new headquarters. The $53 million USOC deal involved major renovation of a downtown building and a complex financing arrangement with the city in return for an agreement by the USOC to remain in Colorado Springs. The deal has been fraught with controversy this year, and last week the USOC announced it was backing out of the arrangement.
Though USOC officials claim they may remain in Colorado Springs, they are no longer contractually obligated and any new commitment will involve a new deal.
Meanwhile, Rivera has become the subject of an ethics complaint filed by Ron Johnson, president and chief executive officer of Central Bancorp, Inc. Johnson claims Rivera had a conflict of interest when he negotiated the USOC deal with LandCo, because he insists Rivera has managed accounts of an entity belonging to Marshall. Anyone can levy an accusation of any type, so nobody should conclude that Rivera acted in bad faith or committed a breach of ethics. At this point, Johnson's charge is nothing more than words.
Rivera has refused to answer questions, however, saying a lawsuit filed against the city by Marshall prevents him from commenting. LandCo is suing the city for failing to sell $20 million in certificates of participation, which was promised as a creative financing maneuver in which a shadow organization would borrow money without voter approval, buy the top five floors of the proposed USOC headquarters, and lease the space to the USOC for a nominal fee. It's hard to imagine how the city's position in that lawsuit, pertaining to a financing delay, could be compromised by the mayor showing he had no conflict of interest when he negotiated with LandCo. Nobody's asking him to comment about the city's financing maneuver, which is a separate subject from the ethics charge.
The whole arrangement has become an embarrassing mess, and the public deserves full disclosure of all that went into it. Anything short of full disclosure will make it difficult, at best, for citizens and council members to trust and accept a new USOC contract.
It is extremely important that Colorado Springs retain the USOC, an organization that has brought vitality, jobs, pride, and international prestige to our city. That will happen only if city officials manage to restore enough credibility with the USOC that a new deal can be signed and maintained by all parties involved.
Unfortunately, any new deal is threatened by Rivera's refusal to come forward with information about the ethics charge. How can members of the City Council possibly agree to a new USOC deal before they know all of the facts and details that led to the first one? How can they move forward if serious questions remain regarding possible skullduggery between the mayor and a major player in the USOC deal?
Again, The Gazette's editorial board has no reason to believe Rivera did anything wrong. It's likely he did nothing wrong, but the City Council and the public need the facts. All information must be disclosed at this critical moment in which the city's future as home of the USOC is very much on the line. The USOC is too important for city officials to mess around for another moment. All information regarding the past deal, and any future deal, must be open to full public scrutiny. If Mayor Rivera can't agree to that, then he needs to step aside for the sake of the city he loves.
