Former Colorado Democratic Party chair’s consultant deal violated state ethics law, commission finds

Rick Palacio, the former chair of the Colorado Democratic Party, violated the state’s ethics law when he became a consultant for Gov. Jared Polis in late 2020 because he had too recently served as the governor’s chief of staff, the state’s Independent Ethics Commission ruled.

The commission did not levy any financial penalties against Palacio, who led Colorado Democrats from 2011 to 2017. That is because commissioners determined he had not “violated the public trust,” according to a report issued by the commission last week.

A complaint was filed against Palacio in 2021 by Defend Colorado, a conservative group, alleging he’d violated ethics rules the year before when he was hired as a consultant for Polis’ office immediately after serving as the governor’s interim chief of staff.

Palacio served as interim chief in late 2020, while the governor’s permanent chief of staff was on maternity leave. After then-chief Lisa Kaufmann returned to work in November 2020, Palacio remained on staff for the rest of the month.

He was then given a contract as a consultant beginning Dec. 1, 2020, to continue working on pandemic-related issues.

Colorado’s ethics law requires recently separated state employees to wait six months before they can be contracted by a state agency to work on anything they had previously been directly involved with, as Palacio was with pandemic efforts.

Still, the commission found that Palacio did not need to face any penalties because he had not violated the public trust. Commissioners found that he did not violate a state law barring state employees from using official acts to enrich themselves.

According to the report, Defend Colorado agreed that “Mr. Palacio’s consulting contract did not create a conflict of interest or a potential for unfair advantage in Mr. Palacio’s favor.”

In an emailed statement Friday, Palacio said the state was “confronted with a once-in-a-century pandemic” during his work with Polis’ office.

When “my state needed help, I was honored to step up and serve,” he wrote. “In moments of crisis, I have always believed it is our duty to contribute however we can, and I would hope that anyone else would do the same if called upon by their governor or president.”

In a statement, Polis spokesman Eric Maruyama said the governor’s office was “deeply grateful for (Palacio’s) exceptional contributions” and said the office was pleased that the ethics commission found that “Palacio’s actions never compromised the public trust or caused harm to the state.”

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