An Arapahoe County ethics panel ruled that no county commissioner put political pressure on snowplow crews during the December blizzards, according to a report released Tuesday.
Commissioner Rod Bockenfeld asked the local committee to investigate, citing evidence he has not made public.
He said Tuesday that his concern over ethics was “unfounded, but the potential was there.”
“The issue was never about if commissioners should be taking snow-removal requests from their constituents,” Bockenfeld said. “It was about how county commissioners should handle these types of requests during a declared state and local emergency.”
The one-page report stated that Bockenfeld’s complaint “is not an ethical issue, but one of policy and procedure” and recommended the Board of County Commissioners establish a communications plan for emergencies.
The five-member ethics committee is made up of private citizens appointed by the County Commission to one-year terms. The current advisory board is made up of citizen volunteers Gale Drexler, Peter Kirchhof, William Tanis, Jerry Valdes and Carl Williams.
“I think the report speaks for itself,” Kirchhof said Tuesday.
Arapahoe County does not have a county administrator. In other counties, the person in that job acts as a conduit between elected officials and work supervisors.
“It’s good to get this behind us, and I’m glad the committee found no ethical violations of any sort,” commission chairman Frank Weddig said.
Staff writer Joey Bunch can be reached at 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com.
