Denver clerk resigns due to voting debacle

Wayne Vaden was appointed to post by Hickenlooper

Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News

Published November 15, 2006 at midnight

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Denver Clerk and Recorder Wayne Vaden, an appointee of Mayor John Hickenlooper, resigned Tuesday, a casualty of a bungled Election Day vote and glacially slow count of absentee ballots.

"Although I am only one of three Denver election commissioners, I accept my fair share of responsibility for the problems experienced in the recent election," Vaden wrote the mayor, offering to resign by Dec. 31, or whenever Hickenlooper appoints a replacement.

Vaden, 42, who serves as chairman of the three-member Denver Election Commission, shoulders much of the blame in his resignation letter for the Election night and vote-counting snafus.

His chief lieutenant for technology, Anthony Rainey, is on investigative administrative leave.

Election workers are still working to finish the Nov. 7 vote count, and a panel begins work today to find out all that went wrong with the election and how to fix it.

Vaden said he feels bad that the election judges weren't given the right tools to conduct a smooth election.

"It was my own decision to resign," Vaden noted.

"I saw the problems, how disappointed the judges were, the lines. I said, 'OK, Wayne, what are you going to do to be a catalyst for change? How can you be a leader and make sure people pay attention to the problem so we're not back at the same place come the next election in the spring?' "

It seems a rare stumble in a life filled with success.

"It's gut-wrenching," said Sandy Adams, one of the two elected members of the Denver Election Commission.

"I loved working with Wayne in spite of the fact that when he was appointed (in July 2003), he knew very little about elections."

Vaden had an eye for problems and a can-do attitude that greatly streamlined the Denver clerk's office, she said.

"There is no longer a five-month backlog for recording liens. He's a very results-oriented person."

Adams said Vaden was ready to leave the office for new challenges but "wanted to go out on a high," with a smoothly run election. "It's disappointing."

Vaden coaches the Montbello High School girls track team and sits on the boards of several foundations dedicated to helping the poor and troubled.

Vaden was an assistant city attorney in Denver, a commissioner of Denver's public safety review panel and an assistant attorney general for Colorado. He also spent time in private practice with Baker & Hostetler's business and litigation groups.

Vaden said he'll go back into private practice, specializing in real estate law.

He was an early supporter of former state Sen. Penfield Tate's run for mayor. But after Tate lost in the primary, Vaden threw his support to Hickenlooper.

"When you're appointed to a post by the mayor, you have a great responsibility to be loyal to him, regardless," said Briggs Gamblin, who was press secretary and later City Council liaison for Mayor Wellington Webb from 1991 to 2001.

"If something on your watch falls apart, it was understood that you said goodbye," even if you weren't the one directly responsible, Gamblin said.

Wayne Vaden

• Born: 1964, Denver

• Athletics: State champion in 100, 200 and hurdles at East High

• Higher education: Bachelor's degree from University of Colorado, law degree from Arizona State University

• Family: Wife and two girls, ages 7 and 11

• Community work: Board member for several foundations, including Shaka Franklin Foundation and East Denver YMCA

scanlon@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-442-8729

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