Joe Stengel has always come across as a protector of the taxpayer, and the House Republican leader was very much in character when he came to The Post in January and sketched out his agenda for 2006. Stengel said he was committed to stopping majority Democrats from busting the state budget with new programs funded by passage of Referendum C.
Stengel is a pugnacious sort, well-suited to the watchdog role. Imagine our surprise to learn it was Stengel himself who was raiding the budget – charging taxpayers for 240 days of extra work, including every weekend of the year, vacation days in Hawaii and the days he was taking the bar exam.
Earlier this week, Stengel agreed to repay the state $891. It seemed a grudging decision, and yesterday Stengel bowed to the inevitable, resigning his position as House minority leader. Unfortunately, his recent statements show he doesn’t get it. He fashions himself the victim of election-year politics, ignoring that he is a victim of his own misjudgment and greed.
The Littleton legislator said he resigned because the issue has become a distraction and to defend himself in the upcoming ethics investigation into his per diem billings.
He failed again to take responsibility. Joe Stengel, defender of the taxpayer, became Joe Stengel, defender of Joe Stengel.
In fact, Stengel had to resign his post because he had lost the moral authority to lead his party, because he had dishonored the statehouse honor system, and because he was no longer a plausible guardian of fiscal discipline. As GOP leader, Stengel’s constituents were the 30-member Republican caucus and his fate was sealed when he lost the credibility to act as their agent in policy battles – and on the campaign trail.
The rules for paying lawmakers per diems are fairly ambiguous. Stengel may not have violated the law by billing taxpayers for every day of the year except holidays, but he made a mockery of an otherwise workable honor system. Lawmakers would be wise to clarify matters by requiring a certain number of hours in order to claim a per diem, and, as other states do, require written vouchers describing work activities.
Statehouse leaders can receive $99 a day for work outside the regular session. Stengel’s tab included 52 days from 2004 that were paid in 2005 and came to $27,621 – on top of his regular $30,000 House salary.
Meanwhile, another ethics investigation got underway Thursday, this time involving Sen. Deanna Hanna, D-Lakewood, who demand for $1,400 in campaign “reparations” from a local Realtor group, and then, as if that weren’t bad enough, combined it with a barely concealed threat. Her action has no place in the Colorado legislature, and while she has apologized, the senator should be doing some serious soul-searching as to whether to continue in office.
