More than 70 days have passed since Michael Hancock was elected Denver’s mayor, yet there have been no disclosures about who is funding his transition team or how much money has been spent.
Hancock says all of that will be disclosed at the end of the month when the transition goes “in house.”
But months ago Denver’s Board of Ethics advised Hancock’s team to “avoid conflicts of interest by adhering to strict and timely decisions and transparency practices.”
Hancock also has set up a national search for a chief of police, hiring a Washington, D.C., firm for $36,000 that he says will be funded with private money. Those funding sources have yet to be secured and Hancock promises to immediately make them public to avoid any appearance of conflict.
The new mayor still has seven positions in his Cabinet to fill.
“By the end of the month we will wrap up most of the transition activities,” Hancock said. “We’ll fully have everything embodied here. We will be making some more appointments this next week, but the transition will go probably into next year with all of the appointments and the kind of people and leaders that we are looking for.”
Because Hancock’s transition process is not using public money and instead is being paid for through private donations, public disclosure of the finances and expenses is not required under law.
In the case of Gov. John Hickenlooper, donors to his gubernatorial transition and inauguration were made public several days before the new governor was sworn in.
Hancock’s press secretary, Amber Miller, says Hancock has not had the same amount of time that Hickenlooper had between election and swearing in.
Hickenlooper was elected on Nov. 2, 2010, and sworn in on Jan. 11, 2011 — 70 days later.
On June 7, election day in Denver, Hancock’s transition committee reached out to Denver’s ethics board to seek advice on how to proceed regarding the transition process that would use significant private money.
The board’s opinion said that “disclosure of contributions on a regular basis will aid in creating public confidence that the transition process is not funded by anonymous contributions from interests seeking to curry favor with the incoming administration.”
The board’s advisory opinion followed a 2010 opinion by the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission that urged “full and timely disclosure and transparency practices (and) preclude lobbyists and persons and businesses with matters pending before the state from contributions.”
In early July, before Hancock was sworn in, John Huggins quit as director and chief executive of the transition team. Hancock’s campaign at the time said it would wait until after the transition to reveal Huggins’ salary.
A request by The Denver Post after Hancock was sworn in on July 18 for costs and funding sources for his inauguration and party that evening was given the same response.
Recently, the Hancock transition asked the ethics board for advice about getting private funds to pay for a national firm to conduct a search for a new police chief.
Ethics Board director Michael Henry gave his personal opinion, saying it seemed to be a valid public purpose.
“I remember saying that you want to be cautious that some interest group that has a serious interest in who is going to be a police chief, that their donation shouldn’t be used,” he said. “Let’s say the police union or the (American Civil Liberties Union).”
Hancock said a week ago he was conducting a nationwide search for police chief. A private firm, Washington, D.C.-based Police Executive Research Forum, is being hired for $36,000 to conduct the search, according to City Attorney Douglas Friednash.
However, as of Friday, the contract with the national firm had not been signed. And money to pay for the search firm had not yet been secured, Hancock said. He said that once the donors had been obtained, their identities would be publicized.
Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com
