Colorado’s ethics commission Thursday officially told a Logan County official whose personal and public interests collided that “County Commissioners should avoid a conflict of interest when they have a financial, personal or private interest in a matter.”
The Colorado Independent Ethics Commission, however, said it wasn’t its job to judge past business dealings of Logan County Commissioner Jim Edwards, whose Sterling electronics store has increased its sales to the county — in some cases as the only bidder or despite not being the lowest bidder.
Edwards said earlier this month that he would not seek a second term in November, citing business and personal reasons.
The panel’s letter noted that state laws instruct every public official to “avoid engaging in financial business with the entity he represents,” and, at at the very least, refrain from voting and lobbying for those contracts or purchases.
Edwards asked for the commission’s advice after The Denver Post reported in November that he had spearheaded the drive for an elaborate outdoor security system around the county building in Sterling and set the bid specifications.
His company, New Age Electronics, then submitted the only bid for $14,773.
Records also showed New Age Electronics’ share of county business had jumped from 21 percent in the two years before his election to 51 percent in his first two years as a commissioner, including several large purchases in which Edwards was the only bidder or not the lowest bidder.
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174, jbunch@denverpost.com
