Colorado Springs City Councilwoman Helen Collins says the ethics complaint filed against her is a “witch hunt” intended to affect the outcome of an effort to get her recalled.

Collins, who was elected to the District 4 seat in 2013, is facing an ethics complaint that alleges she participated in a real estate deal with tax-limitation author and felon Douglas Bruce, which helped him avoid payment of a nearly $7,600 court judgment he owes the city.

In a March 16 letter to the Colorado Springs Independent Ethics Commission, Collins asked for more time to decide whether she wants to hire a lawyer to fight the complaint.

The complaint, brought by the Colorado Springs City Attorney’s Office, was filed with the city’s Independent Ethics Commission on Jan. 21. The commission found that the complaint against Collins was within the panel’s jurisdiction and was not frivolous, and therefore should be investigated. Collins was notified about the investigation March 10 and given 15 days to respond. She wants until May 18 to decide.

Collins has not returned multiple phone calls from The Gazette seeking comment. She did, however, share her letter to the commission’s attorney Jane Feldman – a Denver attorney hired by the city.

In addition to asking for more time, Collins levels her own charge of misconduct against Colorado Springs City Attorney Wynetta Massey and said the Independent Ethics Commission violated its own rule when it released a copy of the complaint against her to The Gazette.

“This frame-up is intended solely to affect the recall election,” Collins wrote.

Collins’ letter poses many questions, including whether the lawyer fees are paid in advance and whether the City Council has approved a specific appropriation.

“I read I may have an attorney and the city would pay $10,000 or more for such an attorney,” she wrote. “That is a concession that I have a right to an attorney, so I wish to investigate that option.

“If I refrain from hiring an attorney, will the savings of $10,000 or more offset the false charge that I cost the city $7,600?” she wrote.

The ethics commission is investigating a real estate transaction in which Bruce transferred his ownership of a southwest side condominium to Collins on Dec. 4.

According to the complaint, Bruce filed a civil suit in August 2013 against the city. The suit claimed, among other things, that the council received unlawful perks, and that the city attorney illegally used taxpayer money by appointing outside lawyers without council approval. A year later, Bruce lost his suit. A 4th Judicial District Court judge on Dec. 1 ordered him to pay $7,569.61 to cover city costs related to the trial. Bruce already owed the city about $21,000 stemming from another lawsuit.

On Dec. 5, the city recorded a judgment lien against all real estate owned by Bruce to collect the court-ordered costs. That would require Bruce to use proceeds from the sale of any real estate to pay his debt.

On Dec. 4, the day before the city recorded its lien on Bruce’s property, he transferred ownership of the three-bedroom, 1½-bathroom condo to Collins. The City Attorney’s Office didn’t learn of that deal until Dec. 8. El Paso County land records show Collins received the condo from Bruce “in consideration of the sum of $10 and other good and valuable consideration.”

On Dec. 5, with the condominium in her name, Collins sold the property for $140,000 to a woman whose relationship to Bruce and Collins is unknown. A lien on the property for the $21,000 debt stemming from the first lawsuit was collected when Collins sold the property.

Bruce has appealed the second judgment; he has no deadline to satisfy the debt but must pay interest on the unpaid amount.

The complaint against Collins cited portions of the Ethics Code that require Colorado Springs officials to demonstrate loyalty to the city and avoid activities that conflict with their official duties and responsibilities. It also cited a provision in the code that says any individual who breaches the public trust and does so for private gain should be liable to the city for “double the amount of financial equivalent of any benefits obtained by such actions.”

As a result, the attorney’s office asked in its complaint that any financial penalty levied against Collins should be “double the amount of the judgment that was avoided as a result of her participation in the (Bruce) transaction,” which would be $15,139.22.

Massey has said via email that her office won’t comment on the ethics complaint, but will cooperate with the commission’s investigation.

In her letter to the commission, Collins said Massey “is the complaining party, suing her own client.” Collins said she has publicly criticized Massey for delaying work on her business fee reduction ordinance. Collins also said she voted against setting Massey’s salary at $192,000.

“Her complaint is patent political retaliation and an abuse of process by someone who is the ethically-deficient party here,” Collins wrote.

Massey is out of the office until Wednesday and could not be reached for comment on the Collins letter.

Collins, 59, was part of an unsuccessful slate of at-large City Council candidates led by Bruce during the 2011 municipal election. Bruce wrote the 1992 voter-approved Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.

In December 2011, a jury convicted Bruce on state charges of tax evasion, filing a false return, failing to file a return and attempting to influence a public servant. Bruce was sentenced in February 2012 to serve 180 days in a Denver jail. He served 103 days and was released.

Collins ran for City Council in 2013 and was elected in District 4, which represents the southeast side.

In December, three District 4 residents headed by Deborah Hendrix launched a recall effort against Collins, citing concerns about her opposition to a November ballot measure to fund a regional stormwater initiative and Collins’ relationship with Bruce.

A separate group that assisted in the recall, Colorado Springs Government Watch, also has alleged that Collins is too closely tied to Bruce.

The City Clerk’s Office determined that there were enough valid petition signatures, and the council placed a recall question on the April 7 municipal ballot. The recall also recently survived a protest and public hearing, which challenged the validity of some of the signatures.

Colorado Springs Government Watch spent about $14,000 to hire people to collect signatures in the recall effort. The group also covered the attorney fees of the lawyer representing Hendrix and the petition gatherers in the recall protest hearing. And the group is the only donor of $32,435 to the political committee Citizens for Integrity in City Council District 4, which formed to campaign in favor of the recall. Government Watch, whose executive director is Dede Laugesen – the wife of The Gazette’s Editorial page editor Wayne Laugesen – has not revealed its financial backers.

Collins has raised $8,153 for her campaign to keep her seat.

In her statement to the recall ballot questions, Collins wrote: “Foes have no valid, truthful reason for recalling me – not one.”

Collins wrote in her letter to the commission that the deed to the condo was recorded Dec. 4 and the court order was issued Dec. 5.

“The court order was recorded after I had signed the deed to the buyer. I had no knowledge of that court order until I saw the complaint in late January,” she wrote. “The complaint is void on its face. It is unethical of you to proceed with it so you can cash in personally at taxpayer cost on these political theatrics.”

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Contact Monica Mendoza: 636-0187

Twitter @ Mendo1987

blog, City Hallways

District 4 Councilwoman Helen Collins after the swear-in ceremony for the newest City Council members Tuesday, April 16, 2013, at City Hall. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock)

CHRISTIAN MURDOCK