Colorado Springs ethics commission dismisses complaint against mayoral candidate Wayne Williams
May 2—The Colorado Springs Independent Ethics Commission has dismissed an ethics complaint against mayoral candidate Wayne Williams related to the City Council's January approval of a controversial water rule.
Deputy City Attorney Tracy Lessig notified El Paso County Commissioner Longinos Gonzalez in an April 5 email the commission dismissed the complaint he filed with the city in late March because "the alleged violation, even if true, would not constitute a violation of the City Code of Ethics; the complaining party failed to follow the commission's Rules of Procedure for filing a complaint" and because "the complaining party failed to file the complaint confidentially as required by the commission's Rules of Procedure," citing city code.
"I am very pleased that the Independent Ethics Commission reviewed the matter and determined that there was no possible violation," Williams said Tuesday. "The process works and I was glad to be exonerated."
Gonzalez, who was one of 12 candidates running in the city's April 4 regular election to become the next mayor, including Williams, filed the complaint on March 23.
He raised concerns Williams had been aware, before the water rule was first proposed to the Colorado Springs Utilities board Oct. 19, that Norwood Development Group, the most powerful developer in town, had floated the idea of asking voters to adopt a more restrictive water rule. At the time, Williams was a Colorado Springs councilman and chaired the Utilities Board of Directors.
In January when the City Council — which is also the Utilities board — voted to approve the rule requiring Colorado Springs Utilities to have 128% of the water needed to serve existing city demand and the projected demand from new properties, Williams voted in favor of it.
Gonzalez previously told The Gazette he believed Williams purposefully withheld information from residents in October about Norwood's plans to attempt a voter-approved charter change, allegedly violating city ethics by creating the appearance of impropriety.
When he filed the complaint in March, Gonzalez requested the city's Independent Ethics Commission investigate whether Williams was aware of Norwood's plan to go to voters and, if so, why Williams did not disclose that information publicly on Oct. 19.
In March, Williams denied claims of impropriety to The Gazette and said no ethics violations occurred.
Before formally filing his complaint Gonzalez first presented his concerns March 22 in front of the Utilities board rather than confidentially filing his objection with the city as required by the ethics commission's Rules of Procedure and laid out in city code — one of the reasons the commission chose to dismiss the complaint.
"The decision by the commission is an insult to residents of Colorado Springs, in that a valid and credible ethics complaint was not investigated," Gonzalez said in an email Tuesday afternoon. "I believe the newly-seated City Council should request these rules be revised to ensure all credible complaint submissions are always fully investigated."
Four new members were elected to the nine-person City Council on April 4.
Williams left his post on the council and is running for mayor. He faces opponent Yemi Mobolade in a May 16 runoff election because none of the candidates in the race earned more than 50% of the vote last month. Mobolade and Williams earned the most and second-most votes in the regular election, respectively, earning them spots in the runoff.
