There’s the type of corruption that is sinister and intentional — hidden efforts to illegally funnel taxpayer dollars away from public purposes for private gain. Then there is the corruption that’s done right-out-in-the open, sometimes with honest intentions to fulfill a public need, but that nonetheless violates the trust placed in elected officials.
President Donald Trump and Denver City Councilmember Candi CdeBaca are both guilty of attempting to get away with the latter this month, only to wisely back down in the face of valid public criticism.
Trump and his administration may have honestly believed that holding the international Group of Seven summit at a resort owned by the Trump Organization would be in taxpayers’ best interests. But regardless of the intent, the action would have steered millions of taxpayer dollars to his own company.
CdeBaca should get some credit for asking approval from the city’s ethics board before hiring her partner to fill a position on her staff. Too often elected officials do what they like and then ask for forgiveness after the public fallout. But, just like the president, there should be no exceptions to rules designed to prevent elected officials from directing taxpayer dollars into their own pockets. Denver’s ethics code clearly discourages nepotism and while the board could have granted a waiver, it would have been a terrible decision.
CdeBaca’s partner, Kerrie Joy Landell, would have been one of three employees paid for by the small budget afforded to each member of city council. Those positions should go to some of the thousands of qualified people in this town who are unrelated to councilmembers.
City council members make $94,236 (an increase over last fiscal year that was approved in February), which is a healthy amount intended to allow elected officials to treat the position as a full-time job. It’s also enough to discourage the abuse of office, including directing additional taxpayer dollars to family members.
We encourage Landell to find other work where she can be compensated for her talents and for CdeBaca to conduct a search for the now highly publicized open position on her staff.
Unfortunately neither Trump nor CdeBaca seem to understand what all the fuss is about.
“I announced that I would be willing to do it at NO PROFIT or, if legally permissible, at ZERO COST to the USA. But, as usual, the Hostile Media & their Democrat Partners went CRAZY!” Trump tweeted after agreeing not to host the G-7 at the Trump National Doral in Miami.
CdeBaca told The Denver Post’s Alex Burness that the problem with nepotism is that “if you hire someone you’re related to, they’ll be treated differently from other people.” We think that’s a fundamental misunderstanding of the problem of elected officials giving jobs to family.
“We’ve been accountable and transparent every step of the way, but if it’s too difficult for people to understand, we won’t pursue it,” she said.
CdeBaca and Trump should take another long hard look at the corruption they are trying to sell their constituents. We’re not buying it.
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