Let’s talk about honor among thieves.
That was quick. There is none.
Now, let’s talk about what a Colorado House of Representatives ethics committee should have discussed in a hearing Wednesday afternoon.
Did ex-House Minority Leader Joe Stengel make “an honest mistake” when he collected nearly $600 in government per diem while on vacation in Hawaii? Was it “an honest mistake” to take nearly $200 in government pay for the time he spent taking the bar exam? Was it “an honest mistake” to charge a fellow representative with an ethics breach for speaking in favor of Referendums C and D at a state committee hearing when Stengel himself collected government per diem on days he appeared for the opposition?
“An honest mistake.” That’s how Rep. Lynn Hefley described Stengel’s actions. A majority of ethics committee members decided – probably correctly – that the state’s mushy ethics laws can’t support charging Stengel with a violation. So the committee will write Stengel a “shame on you” letter and let the issue die.
This also kills the matter of honor.
It was already on life support. No ethics committee member challenged Hefley’s assertion that Stengel’s behavior, while stupid, was not dishonorable. Chairman Paul Weissmann came as close as anyone when Hefley asked him, “You’ll never make an honest mistake?”
“I don’t see myself making this honest mistake,” Weissmann replied.
Maybe it was the public forum that led to the reticence. The ethics charges against Stengel could have been resolved more easily behind closed doors, Hefley suggested. When you’re in front of the press, you have to be “gracious,” she said. “We have to dance.”
When holding an elected official accountable for letting taxpayers help pay for his vacation, most of us prefer the directness of the tango, not the lateral shuffle of the two-step.
Billing taxpayers for 20-some-grand worth of out-of-session work is unprecedented. Weissmann said this year’s legislative budget assumes 105 days of out-of- session per diem for each of the General Assembly’s leaders. Stengel sucked up twice that much, including his vacation. Once caught, he defended himself, saying the legislature couldn’t prove that he had not done any legislative work on the days for which he collected per diem.
Nanny nanny boo boo.
The former minority leader didn’t hang around to talk to reporters after the ethics committee let him off. Stengel even told a reporter, “Get out of my face.”
He acted like someone else inflicted his wounds. Like – to quote Hefley – Stengel made “restitution” by paying back the tax dollars he collected while vacationing in Hawaii and taking the bar exam. Like – quoting Hefley once again – Stengel “has done everything but bow before us and say, ‘I made a stupid mistake.”‘
This is not about stupidity. It has never been about stupidity. The question the ethics committee should have addressed a lot more vocally is whether Stengel would have resigned his leadership post or paid back anything or admitted any poor judgment if his excesses had not first been made public in the press.
Honor is why General Assembly leaders don’t have to turn in receipts or keep time logs in order to collect per diem. Honor is why no other legislative leader has done what Stengel did.
Sure, legislative leaders can legally collect $99 a day in out-of-session pay for making a single phone call or looking at a single law. Yes, that likely will change because of Stengel’s actions. Of course, minimum standards of work and record-keeping probably will be imposed. Doubtless, out-of-session per diem billings will decrease. Still, the nut of this problem remains until leaders discuss it unabashedly for all of us to hear.
Weissmann finally got to the point, but only after the hearing ended and only after being pressed. “You cannot mandate honor,” he admitted.
Given Joe Stengel’s behavior, the ethical concerns about him involve trust, not money. And the most burning question is also the most cynical:
Did he honestly think he could get away with this?
Jim Spencer’s column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached at 303-820-1771 or jspencer@denverpost.com.
