Blake: Will 41 trip up Polis, too?

Published January 3, 2007 at midnight

Text size

More Opinion Columns & Blogs

Can a dinner honoring the leading proponent of Amendment 41 end up violating Amendment 41?

State Rep. Cory Gardner, an invitee, argues that it can and probably does.

Multimillionaire entrepreneur Jared Polis was the prime mover behind 41, the "ethics in government" amendment approved by voters Nov. 7. Gov. Bill Owens declared it effective New Year's Eve.

Polis, who has also been a member of the state Board of Education the past six years, is being feted by the board at a retirement party Jan. 10. Polis himself is paying for everybody's dinner but guests are urged to make a "minimum donation" of $30 to the Academy of Urban Learning, a charter school in the Denver district that Polis co-founded. The school is designed for students "who failed to thrive in a traditional classroom environment" because of unstable living conditions and personal problems.

A couple of hundred people in the education community are expected to attend, including many members of the House and Senate education committees.

In the invitation, Polis said, "If you cannot afford $30, I would love for you to attend anyway," as some complimentary tickets have been reserved.

Gardner, a Republican from Yuma, fired back with this e-mail: "I believe your offer of free tickets violates Amendment 41."

Amendment 41 prohibits elected state officials and other state and local employees from accepting gifts worth more than $50 in a calendar year. Although the donation of $30 would seem to be under the limit, it has little or nothing to do with what Polis is shelling out for the meals. All the donations are going to the school.

The dinner is being held at Johnson & Wales University in Denver, whose business courses include hotel management and culinary arts. "The dinner will also feature fresh fish from Puerto Rico that were grown using innovative technology that is one of my latest business ventures," said Polis.

If such a meal costs less than $50, it wouldn't be by much - and if anyone brought a guest, the price would certainly exceed the limit.

But Polis' main defense has little to do with the cost. In a reply to Gardner, he argued that the $50 limit doesn't even apply to the event.

"I look forward to legislative clarification that tickets such as these do not raise the same concerns as, say, Broncos' tickets bought by a lobbyist who is trying to influence a sitting officeholder," he told Gardner. "I can see no reason why public employees should not attend the AUL event, particularly when these are people of good conscience who are just trying to do their jobs . . . "

This sort of response drives Gardner and other opponents of 41 nuts since it seems to imply that Polis - who might well run for other public office someday - considers his charities and motives purer than those of other citizens.

"Somehow there's this notion out there that (the amendment) didn't really mean what it said," Gardner maintained, "so I'll interpret it in such a way that my pet project is OK."

Polis might believe his amendment doesn't apply to nonprofits but in fact the language clearly does, Gardner argued.

Katy Atkinson, who led the unsuccessful opposition to Amendment 41, also resents Polis' interpretation. "If a person making the gift means well, then it's OK," she said with a touch of sarcasm. "Clearly a lobbyist is not an upstanding citizen by definition. They don't have any of the rights everybody else has. We know they're subhuman . . . "

She offered this example. "Let's say Xcel Energy has a box at Invesco Field for Broncos games. They could just as easily have a fundraiser for Big Brothers and invite legislators to pay for their tickets or say they'd be willing to comp you if you can't pay for it. It's the same thing.

"Jared's logic is simply bizarre, and pretty arrogant," she added. "The law applies to bad guys but not to me because I'm not a bad guy."

No one has accused Polis of personally profiting from his state job. It pays nothing and he's never taken even the expense money he's been entitled to during his six years.

But if enforcement of Amendment 41 is going to be based on the motives of the providers rather than on the language of the law, it will result in selective enforcement based on the politics of the presumed offender. Will wealthy people who don't need the money be forgiven spending that lesser mortals wouldn't be?

State Sen. Nancy Spence of Centennial, another invitee, hasn't decided whether she'll attend the dinner. It coincides with what would have been the best party of the year: The Colorado Restaurant Association's traditional opening-night dinner for lawmakers. It's been canceled because of Amendment 41 but Spence said, "I haven't fully accepted that yet."

If she does go to the Polis dinner, she'll write a check for $50.

blakep@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5119.

Subscribe to the Rocky Mountain News