Long-time Colorado State Fair champion Sen. Abel Tapia has spent eight years in the Capitol corralling money for the fiscally faltering enterprise while his engineering firm received nearly half a million dollars in fair contracts, records show.
As the Pueblo Democrat rose to power atop an influential budgeting committee, so too rose the fortunes of his district’s fair and the price tags on the contracts he received.
A Denver Post investigation has found that Tapia seven times sponsored or voted for bills that directed millions of dollars to the financially struggling fair, including one vote to secure funds for a project that directly benefited him.
Fair officials said Abel Engineering received contracts because the firm was best suited for the jobs.
Tapia, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, could not be reached for comment.
According to the Associated Press, he has asked legislative leaders to convene an ethics committee to look into allegations he had a conflict of interest.
His actions do not appear to be illegal, though critics say the contracts reveal both a conflict of interest and a weakness in state rules limiting how elected officials do business with the state.
Colorado is one of 22 states that puts little to no restrictions on lawmakers snagging government contracts, according to a survey by the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Senate rules require Colorado lawmakers to publicly declare conflicts of interest, but don’t bar them from voting or sponsoring legislation.
Tapes of several committee and floor sessions reveal no occasion when Tapia stated his stake in the State Fair, even while he was under contract.
Contract boost follows appropriation
The 2006 revamp of a fairgrounds carnival lot shows how Tapia’s firm directly benefited from legislation he helped pass, but the lawmaker more frequently pushed bills with a general benefit for the enterprise, records show.
A paved lot needed 400 new water and electrical hook-ups if fair officials wanted to compete for camper rallies and other events.
Tapia’s engineering firm in October 2006 received the $124,800 contract from fair officials to design and oversee lot’s facelift.
Tapia – head of the powerful appropriations committee – then secured an additional $1.1 million for project. Five months later his firm received another $50,000 for its work on the lot, records reveal.
The practice may be legal, but isn’t ethical, according to Bob Stern, president of the Los Angeles-based Center for Governmental Studies.
His non-profit studies ethics in state government.
“There’s clearly something wrong with this You don’t see this very frequently at all,” Stern said. “Colorado is a part-time legislature. You have to have outside income, and that creates more potential for conflicts of interest.”
Ten states pay lawmakers the equivalent of a full-time salary, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Awards lacked competition
Abel Engineering’s status as a disadvantaged minority-owned business, its participation in a state pool of go-to contractors and its Pueblo address stacked up in its favor when it came to fair contracts.
The company was a natural choice, said fair Manager Chris Wiseman, who lauded Abel Engineering for its experience with the state’s lengthy contracting process and its ability to complete projects on deadline.
“We have horse shows, the annual street rods,” Wiseman said. “We really need the construction jobs done around those events. A local company seems to be much more willing to show up and do the job.”
None of the fair’s engineering contracts are awarded through competitive bids.
Instead, facility managers either select an engineer from a state-managed pool for smaller projects or choose a contractor through interviews. The process follows state procurement rules.
In the Pueblo region, there are more than two dozen firms similar to Tapia’s from which fair and other state agency officials can choose. The companies sign up through the state to handle contracts worth $50,000 or less.
Tapia’s firm received eight contracts from the State Fair in an eight-year stretch. They totaled $481,000.
The contracts began small – $45,000 to cover a horse arena – and reached as high as $174,800 total for the carnival lot as time progressed.
The state fair awarded six other firms a total of seven contracts in the same timeframe, officials say.
Tapia also received an additional $ 30,230 in no-bid contracts during the same time period from other state entities including Colorado State University at Pueblo, the Department of Corrections and the Department of Military Affairs, according to information from the Department of Personnel.
Jessica Fender: 303-954-1244 or jfender@denverpost.com.
