Mayor Michael Hancock is seeking guidance from Denver’s Board of Ethics on plans to pay for his family’s trip to watch the Broncos play in the Super Bowl.
After facing an ethical dust-up two years ago over the issue, Hancock will rely on city funds to pay for his airfare, lodging and meals as well as costs for two staffers and two security officers. His wife, Mary Louise Lee, and daughter, Janae purchased airfare using the family’s money and will stay in the mayor’s hotel room, a spokeswoman said.
The Broncos provided tickets for the mayor’s group to attend Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers in Santa Clara, Calif.
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The arrangements contrast with two years ago, when current and former city contractors indirectly paid for the mayor, his mother and two staffers to watch the Broncos’ previous championship appearance.
The ethics board later dinged Hancock for that setup, in which the Metro Denver Sports Commission footed more than $40,000 in costs. It drew on donations from Comcast, the engineering firm CH2M and law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck.
The ethics board said Hancock didn’t violate ethics rules. But in its members’ view, the appearance the trip’s funding created was bad enough that they have looked at ways to tighten the city Code of Ethics.
The board will meet at 2 p.m. Friday to consider City Attorney Scott Martinez’s request for an advisory opinion. If past statements by board members are an indication, they probably will endorse the plan.
Hancock plans to travel to the Bay Area on Friday.
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Gov. John Hickenlooper also plans to attend the Super Bowl. A spokeswoman says he will fly in and out Sunday and will pay his own expenses, with his son, Teddy, possibly joining him. Hickenlooper also paid his own way two years ago.
Amber Miller, Hancock’s communications director, argued the use of city money was appropriate because the trip is in line with the mayor’s duties. She and special aide Barry Burch will accompany him.
“Going to the Super Bowl presents any city, like Denver, with a unique opportunity to promote the city and to increase tourism,” she wrote in an e-mail. “As such, the mayor and a team of support staff will be traveling to San Francisco.”
The total costs have not been determined, Miller said.