June 30, 2011 08:54 PM UTC

IEC Moves Forward with McCasky Investigation

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• by: Colorado Pols

A few months ago, we wrote in this space that Colorado Ethics Watch had filed a complaint with the State’s Independent Ethics Commission alleging that Jefferson County Commissioner Kevin McCasky violated basic ethics rules (and common sense) by voting to give the Jefferson Economics Council extra money while at the same time interviewing for the top job there.

There’s an obvious conflict-of-interest issue in what McCasky did, so we’re not surprised an ethics complaint was filed. This is the Jefferson County Commission, after all. It would’ve been much more surprising if McCasky hadn’t violated some sort of moral or ethical code in his time as an elected official.

Still, we bet that McCasky’s wishing he hadn’t lobbied quite so hard for that extra dough for his new office. From an e-mail we received from Colorado Ethics Watch:

The Colorado Independent Ethics Commission decided on Friday to proceed with an investigation and hearing on the complaint filed by Colorado Ethics Watch against Kevin McCasky, former member of the Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners and current CEO of the Jefferson Economic Council (JEC). Ethics Watch asked the IEC to investigate McCasky for possibly violating state ethics laws when he voted to increase the county government’s contribution to the JEC reportedly in the midst of negotiating his own future employment at the organization.

“We look forward to a full Commission investigation of Mr. McCasky’s hiring by the nonprofit that received a funding increase from the county at a time of scarcity,” said Luis Toro, director of Colorado Ethics Watch.  “We are pleased that the IEC is taking this issue seriously, just as it has taken seriously advisory opinion requests from state officials who were seeking private sector employment.”

We’ve heard from numerous sources that the current County Commission, sans McCasky, isn’t keen on continuing funding of the JEC. That might mean a double whammy for McCasky; he might lose his job while at the same time being investigated by the state’s Ethics Commission. Even if the IEC drops its investigation, this is the kind of thing that could hurt McCasky’s political future…or whatever was left of one.