Ritter Party Gets OK

Despite a new ethics initiative, Governor-elect Bill Ritter will be moving ahead with having an inauguration party.Amendment 41, passed by voters in November, limits the money public officials can receive to $50. It had raised questions over whether Ritter could receive significant private funding for the celebration.

Attorney General John Suthers has ruled that since the party is a private function, funding for it can continue as normal.

From the Rocky Mountain News :

On Wednesday, the attorney general’s office said Suthers would not issue any formal interpretations of how the amendment will affect officeholders, but will pass judgment on a case-by-case basis.

“We have decided that we are not going to issue any opinions until such time as specific questions arise that necessitate our involvement,” said Deputy Attorney General Jason Dunn.

The date and location of the party is not known at this time. 

Erin Rosa was born in Spain and raised in Colorado Springs. She is a freelance writer currently living in Denver. Rosa's work has been featured in a variety of news outlets including the Huffington Post, Democracy Now!, and the Rocky Mountain Chronicle, an alternative-weekly in Northern Colorado where she worked as a columnist covering the state legislature. Rosa has received awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for her reporting on lobbying and woman's health issues. She was also tapped with a rare honorable mention award by the Newspaper Guild-CWA's David S. Barr Award in 2008--only the second such honor conferred in its nine-year history--for her investigative series covering the federal government's Supermax prison in the state. Rosa covers the labor community, corrections, immigration and government transparency matters. She can be reached at erosa@www.coloradoindependent.com.