Tag: Colorado Independent Ethics Commission
Redacted recordings of Colorado ethics commission closed meetings
Below are the redacted recordings of seven closed-door meetings released by the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission following an open records request by The Colorado...
State’s top ethics panel agrees during secret enclave: We’re no star...
No group empowered to pass judgment wants to think of itself as a "star chamber," least of all the Colorado panel that, until recently,...
Recordings: Ethics panel deliberated, reached decisions in secret meetings
The state's top ethics panel routinely deliberated in private only to emerge with positions ready for adoption in swift, unanimous public votes, audio recordings of the closed-door meetings reveal. The Colorado Independent Ethics Commission also discussed topics in executive session it hadn't described in detail -- or at all, in some cases -- as state law requires.
Anatomy of a decision: Ethics panel reaches agreement in secret meeting
What does it look like when a government body debates and makes decisions in a closed-door executive session? Pretty much the same as it would in public -- which the law requires -- except that only the meeting's participants get to see what went into the decision.
Ethics panel agrees to release recordings of secret meetings
DENVER — Colorado’s top ethics panel agreed Friday to release unedited audio recordings of two secret meetings and plans to turn over redacted recordings of five additional closed-door meetings conducted earlier this year. The announcement came during a hearing in Denver District Court on a lawsuit filed by The Colorado Independent alleging the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission illegally met behind closed doors a dozen times between January and May.
State’s top ethics panel moves toward more open, transparent procedures
Six weeks after an investigation by The Colorado Independent found repeated violations of the Colorado Open Meetings Law by the Independent Ethics Commission, the panel charged with enforcing ethical standards among public officials across the state has taken dramatic steps toward greater transparency and disclosure.
Colorado Independent sues state ethics panel over secret meetings
The Colorado Independent sued the state's Independent Ethics Commission Wednesday night alleging the panel has repeatedly violated the Colorado Open Meetings Law since January by meeting behind closed doors to formulate policy and adopt positions on questions about ethical conduct by public officials.
Ethics commission says it will release complaints it has dismissed this...
A watchdog group will get the chance to read complaints filed this year with the state's top ethics panel alleging wrongdoing or ethical misconduct by public officials. Reversing its policy, the Independent Ethics Commission notified Colorado Ethics Watch on Wednesday it would release "all non-frivolous complaints filed in 2009."
The move is in response to a Colorado Open Records Request from the nonprofit group and in light of a judge's decision last week that said the government ethics panel can't keep other documents from public view.
Watchdog group sues ethics panel to reverse decision that OK’d Turkey...
An ethics watchdog group wants a judge to overturn a ruling by the state's top ethics panel that says it's OK for a Colorado lawmaker to accept a trip to Turkey from a Aurora-based cultural foundation, claiming the ruling violates a gift ban in the state constitution.
Judge rules state ethics panel can’t conceal documents from public view
A judge on Thursday ordered Colorado's top ethics panel to turn over records it went to court to keep secret, including letters from lawmakers and government employees asking for guidance on ethical questions.