AURORA SENTINEL

Capitol’s #MeToo scandal will rightly wait for new political leaders

As the dust settles on the 2018 Colorado legislature, and congratulations go round for making a solid attempt to fund roads and fend off the usual crop of fringe civil rights abuses, one sordid episode can’t be so easily brushed aside.

State lawmakers not only seriously mishandled a spate of sexual misconduct cases involving legislators, they punted the problem to the next class of House and Senate members.

That’s probably a good thing.

Given how some political leaders in both houses bungled the controversies, it’s best that legislative leaders with untarnished records create a new policy dealing with elected officials accused of sexual harassment and misconduct.

Much of the unconscionable behavior by lawmakers was brought to the public’s attention this year because of KUNC-FM reporter Bente Birkeland’s investigative stories. Her work featured courageous Capitol staffers, interns and lawmakers who were victims of perpetrators, politics and a broken system. Despite real risks that materialized for some of these victims, they came forward, and they persisted in their complaints.

By the time the 2018 Colorado General Assembly quit for the year, five lawmakers were accused of a wide range of sexual misconduct, ranging from juvenile and banal comments to borderline criminal assault. All of the cases were clear abuses of power.

In the state House, members evicted Democratic state Rep. Steve Lebsock from his post after investigators found credible claims that he was abusive to five women. Democratic House Speaker Crisanta Duran charged into an effort to expel Lebsock and champion the cause of victims of sexual misconduct.

But Duran was part of the problem the next class of legislators needs to solve.

Investigations and news reports revealed that Duran knew about Lebsock’s behavior before the stories became public. She had heard victim state Rep. Faith Winter’s recollection of Lebsock’s intolerable encounters firsthand. But when it came time for Lebsock to assume the role of chairmanship of an important committee, before he was outed, she permitted it. This year, when confronted with her behavior, Duran said she did it because one of her victims was OK with it, so she was, too.

Duran’s claim was ridiculous. Employment and political leaders do not and should never just look the other way because victims ask them to. Given Duran’s role in making it possible for Lebsock to continue abusing victims, she should have no role in mapping out the future for handling complaints.

The problem was far more egregious in the state Senate. There, Republican Senate President Kevin Grantham became complicit in protecting fellow Republicans from rebuke for even worse abuses.

Feigning judicious concern for due process and the accused, Grantham actively impeded lawmakers from taking action against fellow GOP state Sen. Randy Baumgardner. A bevy of shocking accusations against Baumgardner were substantiated by more than one investigation. Grantham deployed delaying tactics and worked to cast doubt on investigations. It was a clear and shamelessly partisan attempt to protect his fellow Republican..

Grantham and Duran are both term limited and won’t be back next year. Now, voters need to carefully weigh how 2018 candidates react to the abhorrent escapades this year.

An independent investigation recommended a far more transparent process, and we agree. And since the temptation by House and Senate leaders to let politics overshadow good sense and judgment is irresistible, they must be removed from hearing complaints and deciding resolutions. Bipartisan standing committees composed of more than just legislators are key to justice.

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COLORADOAN, FORT COLLINS

Fort Collins not reporting sexual harassment data

Fort Collins officials take considerable pride in how they conduct the public’s business, yet they fall short of their typical standards when it comes to tracking and reporting sexual harassment complaints among city employees.

Fort Collins refused to release any information about sexual harassment complaints within its organization to Coloradoan reporters Saja Hindi and Pat Ferrier, who conducted a four-month investigation into the number of complaints filed with local public entities, the results of which were published in the Coloradoan’s May 20 edition.

The investigation and subsequent stories were fueled by public interest in the national #MeToo and #TimesUp movements and growing awareness of a serious workplace issue. The reporters filed Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) requests for information from nine entities related to complaints a five-year period.

Fort Collins officials said they do not maintain records that discuss or reference sexual harassment investigations. They would not divulge how many complaints have been filed or how many were founded.

The Coloradoan was not looking for names or personnel records – just statistics and findings of substantiated claims. Yet city officials cited CORA – the very law that is intended to shine light on the doings of government – for not providing information.

In the absence of a legal requirement passed by the Colorado Legislature – which we believe is needed – public entities should begin tracking the number of filed and substantiated sexual harassment complaints on their own and freely report those numbers to anyone who asks.

They shouldn’t wait for others to take the lead when addressing an issue that matters deeply to their workers and the taxpayers who pay them.