DNC Fuel Scandal in Denver

If this had been done by Republicans for the RNC the outrage would be all over all three networks plus the cables. Keith Olberman would be popping a blood vessel. This is getting no coverage other than locally.
The following is from a friend of mine Chuck Green. Chuck retired as editor of the Denver Post several years ago, but still has his finger on the button when something fishy is going on in our state.
Fuel scandal needs advocate for prosecution

It is no laughing matter any longer. It has turned criminal, and it might go all the way to the mayor’s office.

The Rocky Mountain News reported Tuesday that the gasoline tanks of 61 vehicles being used by the planning committee of the Democratic National Convention have been filled with tax-free gas at city fuel stations.

Many of the vehicles were “loaned” - not leased or rented - from the City of Denver fleet.

The News estimated the value of the services might reach $450,000 or more. Unauthorized pumping of city fuel is a crime.

As one city employee said last week, “If I had done this, I’d be in jail.” Someone in the chain of command, which ultimately ends at Mayor John Hickenlooper’s office, must have authorized the fueling policy, and that person ought to be prosecuted.

There needs to be a thorough probe of the matter.

It is not satisfactory for the mayor to merely pledge that restitution be made. This isn’t so simple a crime.

The mayor himself promised Denver and Colorado taxpayers that no public money would be used to subsidize the Democrat convention, which begins one month from today. That pledge now has been broken - at least in the case of the gasoline scandal.

Either a City Council member - the most likely being Council member Charlie Brown, recently re-registered as an “independent” voter - or City Auditor Dennis Gallagher needs to move boldly. No one else would be trusted, certainly no one in the mayor’s office or on the DNC committees.

The probe should begin with an interview with every employee of the fuel station office. The opening question should be, “Who specifically authorized you to pump gasoline into the DNC vehicles?” Anyone who refuses to answer, or who says no one authorized it, should be suspended immediately.

The same question should be asked of everyone up the line in the Department of Public Works, with the same penalty. When the vise tightens on the last bureaucrat standing, whether it is Mayor Hickenlooper or DNC local committee chair Kathy Archuleta, he or she should be prosecuted as a potential felon.

The deal was made without a contract, which a spokesman for Gallaher already has said was improper.

The arrangement covered passenger cars, vans and at least one bus. The bus, according to records searched by The News, was filled up with fuel valued at more than $6,000 over the three-month period the policy was in effect.

Because it involves an avoidance of state fuel taxes paid by all motorists, Colorado Attorney General John Suthers already has determined that the practice probably was illegal. If the city itself doesn’t launch a credible investigation by the end of this week, Suthers should aggressively pursue the matter - even if it requires the power of a grand jury.

The leaders of the local and national DNC convention committees already have made fools of themselves several times over. The most embarrassing example was the local committee’s development of a catering policy that called for color-coordinated menus for all event meals, which provided material for all the national late-night TV comedians.

Under the glare of ridiculing publicity - involving The Wall Street Journal and New York Times - the food-police policy has been substantially relaxed.

Local merchants have complained that they have been cut out of convention business, violating pledges made to them by the mayor’s office and convention officials. Nothing has been done to help accommodate them.

Citizens were promised that the impact of the convention on businesses and commuters would be minimized; since then, traffic-flow problems have increased, primarily on the night of Barack Obama’s acceptance speech which has been moved from the primary convention site at the Pepsi Center to the larger Invesco Field - requiring the closure of Interstate 25.