The Mile High United Way has disassociated itself from Jared Polis’ Thanksgiving trip to Iraq and insists its executive vice president used vacation days for the week he spent in the Middle East with the Democratic congressional candidate.
“It’s inconceivable to me that we would knowingly walk into a situation where we were seen as participating in a candidate’s trip,” Paul Franke, chairman of the United Way’s board of trustees, said Thursday. “It was not a United Way-sponsored trip.”
A campaign news release sent the day before Polis left for Iraq said he would travel “as a supporter of the United Way’s efforts to assist in the development of Iraqi nonprofit and humanitarian organizations.”
Polis campaign manager Wanda James said Thursday that the United Way did not “in any way organize or pay for the trip.” Polis, a multimillionaire Internet entrepreneur, went as a “potential donor to see the projects in the region for himself,” she said.
The trip sparked a firestorm of criticism from his opponents, who called it a campaign stunt in disguise.
Polis, who is vying against two fellow Democrats to replace U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, paid for the trip for himself and United Way executive vice president Rich Audsley.
The Boulder Democrat has not said how much the trip cost, only that his attorney will sort out what he needs to disclose publicly on his next campaign finance report.
“I regret that this has been politicized,” Audsley said. “That wasn’t my intention.”
Audsley said he took the trip on his personal time because helping Middle Eastern nonprofits has been a “personal passion” for years. Polis contacted him and set up the trip, he said.
The two spent Thanksgiving week in Amman, Jordan, and Iraq, visiting nonprofit relief organizations and local government leaders.
At a town-hall meeting Wednesday night, Polis said he went to Iraq “with the United Way Denver chapter” to work on “building ties between Iraqis” and relief agencies.
United Way board member Ric Padilla said the board recently received a “clarification document” from Mile High United Way “that the trip was indeed a personal one and not sanctioned” by the organization. Another board member, Xcel Energy executive Roy Palmer, said through a spokesman that Audsley “did this as a private citizen on vacation time.”
One of Polis’ opponents, former state Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, bashed him for being secretive about the trip’s logistics.
“I think it’s time that he honestly tell the people of the 2nd Congressional District the truth about the trip to Iraq,” campaign manager Mary Alice Mandarich said.
The Polis campaign accused Fitz-Gerald of being desperate.
“This is another example of the cynical, aggressive, negative politics that turns so many people off,” James said.
A spokesman for the third candidate in the race, Boulder environmentalist Will Shafroth, declined comment.
Jennifer Brown: 303-954-1593 or jenbrown@denverpost.com
