Debra Johnson, a former Denver Clerk and Recorder who chose not to seek re-election (if you read the article, you can guess why), was approved last legislative session as a Commissioner on the State Independent Ethics Commission.
Johnson, who is a democrat, is another example of the hypocrisy we see from Democrats on the issue of harassment. We wrote about it here and here. Sure, Dems will jump all over a conservative on this issue, but when it comes to their own – there seems to be no accountability, or they get a new job!
A little background on the State Ethics Commission, and we’ll just quote their mission here:
The purpose of the IEC is to give advice and guidance on ethics issues arising under Article XXIX of the Colorado Constitution and any other standards of conduct or reporting requirements as provided by law; and to hear complaints, issue findings, and assess penalties and sanctions where appropriate. The Commission has jurisdiction over all State executive and legislative branch elected officials and employees; the Commission also has jurisdiction over local officials and employees
In a nutshell, they handle all ethics complaints about all public employees and elected officials, at all levels of government in Colorado.
So you would think that someone who was severely disciplined as an elected official would NOT be appointed to this commission, correct?
Of course, that’s just too much common sense for government officials, as Debra Johnson was unanimously appointed to the commission by the State House. House Speaker K.C. Becker blamed Republicans of course:
“We made some calls and did some vetting and I spoke to her specifically,” said Democratic House Speaker KC Becker, who nominated Johnson, also a Democrat, after she said Republicans in the House didn’t support her other choices. “She was an independent elected official. She didn’t have a boss. I haven’t heard of any complaints and the research we did didn’t indicate any.”
House Speaker K.C. Becker to CPR, August 5, 2019
When we read this statement, we immediately thought it was nonsense. These types of complaints and actions don’t stay quiet. Liberals run Denver, and in politics, nothing is a secret – gossip reigns supreme. Clearly, this was a favor, and clearly, Democrats don’t care about harassment.
Johnson was BARRED from coming into her office as Clerk and Recorder for months because of the agreement. That just doesn’t happen unless the allegations are bad. If you are THE head of the office, and you aren’t seen for months, people will notice and talk – especially in political circles. Without a Republican in sight in Denver, we understand why the GOP legislators were unaware of her conduct.
If you want to read in detail all of the drama in the clerk’s office, Bente Birkeland wrote a pretty comprehensive article.
Our goal here is to continue pointing out the hypocrisy of the left. So next time your liberal “friend” on social media accuses any conservatives, you have the ammo to call them out.
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“No accountability?” This seems like accountability:
“The agreement states, “Debra will not drink at any work-related events or functions at which Denver City employees are present. Debra will not touch any Denver City employee (other than hand-shaking) and will not make jokes or references to or in the presence of Denver City employees that are in any way sexual at any work-related events or functions.”
“During the June 2016 election, Debra will not visit the Election Offices at 200 W. 14th Avenue unless there is a legal reason why she needs to do so, but instead she will only visit pre-agreed upon voting sites,” the agreement stated. It did allow Johnson, the clerk and recorder, “to be present at locations where election activities and public outreach events take place during that election cycle,” in order to maintain her role as a public face of Denver’s election efforts.
The agreement to steer clear of the elections office remained in effect until Nov. 1, 2016, about 10 days after ballots were starting to be returned in the general election.
Johnson also agreed to attend training on harassment and retaliation, and counseling on boundaries and treatment pertaining to alcohol. “