An ethics complaint has been filed against Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper for his alleged misuse of a state-owned airplane to fly him, his son and a political supporter to the kickoff of a bicycle race in Durango last August.
Colorado requires that the state airplane only be used for official business — passengers who are just along for the ride (including Hickenlooper’s son and his buddy) must pay for the privilege.
The flight was first reported by Denver’s Fox 31 TV station last month, but before the story aired, Hickenlooper and his friend, Ken Gart, each wrote checks reimbursing the state about $1,300 for the cost of the flight.
But in a complaint filed by Grassroots Radio host Jason Worley, Hickenlooper shouldn’t be allowed off the hook just because he paid the state back. As a precedent, he cited a recent ethics investigation into Secretary of State Scott Gessler, who used his office’s discretionary fund to pay for travel to a Republican lawyers conference in Florida last year.
Although Gessler paid back the funds — to avoid the impression of impropriety while continuing to insist he had done nothing wrong — he was found by the state Independent Ethics Commission (IEC) to have “breached the public trust for private gain”.
“Pursuant to IEC precedent established in Colorado Ethics Watch v. Gessler … a subsequent reimbursement of improperly received or utilized funds cannot spare a liable public official from an IEC penalty,” the complaint states.
Conservative political blog Colorado Peak Politics reported that Gart is a frequent contributor to Hickenlooper, whose family has given about $13,000 in campaign contributions to the governor. Gart owns a chain of sporting goods stores.
Worley’s complaint asks for a penalty that is double “the financial benefit obtained through the public funds and/or property.”
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