We’ll say this for Secretary of State Scott Gessler: He knows how to start a job with a bang.
In just over three weeks, Gessler certainly has elevated the profile of the traditionally low-profile office. Fortunately, it appears at least two of the issues that have been subject to scads of speculation and news stories have been resolved and won’t be a distraction for the newcomer.
First, we’re not surprised that Gessler basically was forced into abandoning his idea to moonlight for his old law firm on weekends.
For the idea to have worked, it demanded transparency.
Coloradans needed to be able to judge for themselves whether the secretary was putting himself in a position where he had a conflict of interest or even the potential for a conflict. In order for that to happen, the names of potential clients had to be made public. And no firm would want to look as if they’re putting the secretary of state on retainer — even if that’s not the intention.
We also had concerns about Gessler having financial ties to a law firm whose clients may have a vested interest in decisions made by the secretary of state, which deals with a wide range of matters, including election rules, business reporting, lobbyist registration and even bingo licensing.
Gessler said this week he’s not giving up entirely on the idea of part- time work, and is considering teaching classes, which other elected officials have done and avoided potential conflicts of interest.
Yet he also said he wouldn’t completely rule out the possibility of moonlighting for another firm.
“I just don’t know,” Gessler said. “If I need to reveal names of clients, it’s very, very difficult and problematic, regardless of who it’s with.”
We agree, which is why he needs to just shelve that idea for good.
Gessler also made headlines last week for saying he wanted to keep $3.5 million from his budget that his predecessor had agreed to kick back to the state’s general fund to help balance the shortfall.
We agreed with his logic that user fees collected by his office ought to be spent on things that relate to their collection. Business fees should go for business purposes, for example.
However, we had hoped some type of compromise could be reached, given the state’s difficult financial position. At the very least, we figured, Gessler could fork over some of the money to help the greater good while retaining enough to get his plans off the ground for voter registration database maintenance and a program for business identity theft protection.
State Sen. Kent Lambert, a Republican member of the Joint Budget Committee, seemed to have the same idea. He brokered a compromise that allowed the JBC to sweep $2 million from Gessler’s office into the general fund while allowing him to keep $1.5 million for his initiatives.
It’s an appropriate resolution, which now allows Gessler to continue on with his plans for the next four years.
