Early worries forecast Election Day problems

Mayor was told of concerns about tech chief last year

Alan Gathright And Lou Kilzer, Rocky Mountain News

Saturday, November 11, 2006

City officials raised concerns about the Denver Election Commission's technology chief more than a year and a half before Tuesday's disastrous election, which has been blamed on technological breakdowns.

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper was told in March 2005 that the man now at the center of Tuesday's voting fiasco was driving other qualified workers from the election agency.

City Council aide Lynn Pressnall said she hand-delivered a letter detailing some of the problems with Anthony Rainey to the mayor because she believed that Rainey was unqualified to head the commission's two-man information technology team and that he was part of management problems that were driving long- term, experienced workers to look for new jobs.

Rainey, who was still working on tallying ballots Friday, declined comment.

The mayor's spokeswoman said Hickenlooper's administration was aware of concerns about Rainey.

"While we haven't been able to locate a copy of this letter in our files, the serious allegations it contains were widely known, and we can only assume were part of the discussions and negotiations related to the departure of the Election Commission's previous executive director," spokeswoman Lindy Eichenbaum Lent said Friday. "By City Charter, we have no authority over the hiring, management or firing of Denver Election Commission employees."

Commission officials acknowledged Friday that Rainey repeatedly rejected help from city tech experts trying to fix equipment problems, even shouting at them to get out of the office when a voter-registration system failed during early voting the week before the election.

The electronic polling book system crashed Tuesday, plunging the election into chaos and forcing thousands of frustrated voters to stand in line for hours as poll workers attempted to verify their registration and check whether they had already voted. Some left without voting.

Denver Clerk and Recorder Wayne Vaden, the mayor's appointee to the commission, said he rushed to the election headquarters five days before the election after hearing the "E-poll book" crashed and left several voters, including former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, waiting in line at an early-voting center.

Vaden said he took two experts from the mayor's technology services agency, Sara Harmer and Ethan Wain, with him to help. But soon after they arrived, Vaden heard Rainey yelling at the tech experts, demanding they leave.

In hindsight, Election Commission Executive Director John Gaydeski acknowledged Friday that Rainey was unwilling to work with tech services.

Gaydeski was hired in May, three months before the primary election.

A top aide to the mayor, Katherine Archuleta, complained this week that commission officials, including Rainey, often resisted help, accusing the city of encroaching on the semi-independent commission's autonomy.

"I was hearing Sara (Harmer). . . walking out saying he doesn't want to talk to me," Vaden recounted. The city clerk said he ordered Rainey: "Yes, the hell you will (work with her), because this is going to be my a-- if everything falls apart."

Vaden said after 15 minutes of "back and forth," he felt he'd gotten assurances that Rainey and the tech specialists would work to solve the problem.

But, in the wake of the election fiasco, Vaden said he's concerned a chance to fix the problem slipped through his fingers because of Rainey's refusal to accept help.

The Election Night meltdown was no surprise to Pressnall who had long forecast problems. She said she grew suspicious of Rainey's qualifications and temperament.

Finally, she wrote to the mayor and later Chief of Staff Cole Finegan, criticizing Rainey and the director of the agency:

"The executive director, Karon Hatchett, recruited a personal friend from her church, Anthony Rainey, for employment in the agency . . . He manages in much the same way as she does . . . This has only compounded and exacerbated the problems. Additional long-term experienced employees are actively seeking other employment."

Rainey was hired in March 2004. Hatchett said Friday that Rainey was picked by an independent board that included a representative from Denver's technical services department and representatives of the commission's staff. Hatchett said Rainey rose to the top of a large pool of applicants.

"I was satisfied he was the best applicant or, obviously, we wouldn't have made an offer to him," Hatchett said.

Concerns about Anthony Rainey:

March 1, 2005: Mayor John Hickenlooper handed a letter that warned that Anthony Rainey, chief of technology for the Denver Election Commission, had "personally threatened employees" and was driving employees to find jobs elsewhere.

Aug. 1, 2005: Same letter that was given to Hickenlooper is re-sent to his chief of staff, Cole Finegan.

June 1, 2006: Allegations about Rainey's qualifications surface on the Internet. John Gaydeski, the election commission's executive director, defends Rainey in a letter to Councilwoman Judy Montero. He said, "Anthony Rainey's background is IT and he is an expert in that field."

Nov. 2: Rainey has outburst while getting advice from a top city technology expert five days before the election.