Denver Ethics Board votes to investigate complaints against city attorney

Denver's Board of Ethics voted unanimously Wednesday to investigate two ethics complaints against City Attorney Miko Brown — both involving allegations that Brown tried to steer Denver legal business to Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell, the law firm where Brown was a partner for a decade.

The vote is a significant new development, but it does not mean the board has found Brown violated Denver's ethics code. Instead, the board determined the complaints warranted a formal investigation.

Lori Weiser, executive director of the Denver Board of Ethics, told CBS Colorado the board could have dismissed the complaints if it believed they were "frivolous, groundless, or ... filed for the purposes of harassment."

That did not happen.

Weiser said the vote to advance both complaints to a formal investigation was 3-0.

Under Denver's ethics rules, the board can investigate complaints and ultimately make findings about whether the city's Ethics Code was violated. If the subject is an appointed official and the board believes corrective action may be necessary, it can notify the official's appointing authority and recommend appropriate action, including discipline.

Brown and her office did not immediately comment on Wednesday's decision.

Brown has previously denied wrongdoing in both ethics complaints.

The two complaints appear to have been prompted by CBS Colorado investigations into Brown and her former law firm.

The first complaint

The first complaint was filed anonymously by a Denver city employee shortly after a CBS Colorado investigation found Denver had hired Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell to defend the city in two employee lawsuits.

The investigation found WTO lawyers were billing Denver as much as $800 an hour and that the firm had billed the city more than $850,000 in four months, despite an initial one-year contract capped at $470,000.

The anonymous employee's complaint questioned Brown's role in the hiring of WTO and whether she should have recused herself because of her previous relationship with the firm.

The employee said they could not be identified because: "I fear retaliation from City Attorney Miko Brown and Mayor Michael Johnston."

The complaint also questioned who negotiated and approved WTO's hourly rates, staffing, budgets and the large increase in legal spending.

Brown has not specified what role she played in selecting WTO.

Her office has said WTO was selected by a five-person committee based on the firm's past work for Denver, its qualifications and reputation and its fee structure.

Brown has declined to identify the five members of that committee.

Denver City Council member Flor Alvidrez has previously questioned the selection process and the cost of the contract.

"I need answers to understand where the money is coming from and what was the thought process behind selecting this firm and right now I don't have any answers," said Alvidrez.

Brown's spokesperson has said Brown received no benefit from WTO being hired.

The second complaint

The second complaint involves Denver International Airport.

It was filed by an employee of the airport's legal department who also asked to remain anonymous.

The employee wrote: "Miko will punish me."

The complaint accuses Brown of pressuring an insurance broker to steer airport legal work to Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell.

The allegation concerns legal fallout from a May 8 incident at the airport in which Michael Mott, 41, crossed a Denver International Airport perimeter fence and entered the path of a departing Frontier Airlines jet. He was struck and killed. His death was ruled a suicide.

The complaint alleges Brown pressured the airport's insurance company to hire WTO in connection with the incident.

The insurance company ultimately retained WTO as well as another national law firm.

The City Attorney's Office disputes the allegation.

A spokesperson said Brown "did not exert pressure or direct efforts to have WTO hired ... the alleged facts are inaccurate," according to the City Attorney's Office.

The office has also said the insurance company, rather than Denver, was responsible for paying the law firms in that matter.

What happens now?

Weiser said the Ethics Board will continue to review the complaints and information surrounding them until it believes its questions have been answered.

She said Brown has the right to a public hearing on the complaints.

The investigation could ultimately result in a finding that Brown violated the Ethics Code — or a finding that she did not.

The board has previously demonstrated that those are not the only possible outcomes.

Last year, the board cleared Denver International Airport CEO Phil Washington of an ethics violation involving expensive first- and business-class airfare for a conference in Madrid.

But the board sharply criticized Washington over the spending and his handling of the matter.

That case demonstrates that an Ethics Board investigation does not necessarily result in a finding of an ethics violation, but it can result in significant criticism and recommendations for corrective action.

Brown and Washington are both mayoral appointees and members of Mayor Mike Johnston's cabinet.

The two complaints against Brown involve different circumstances, but both center on her dealings with the same law firm where she previously worked for 10 years.

And now, for the first time, the Denver Board of Ethics will formally investigate those allegations.