They say these days we just don’t know our neighbors, and except for the nice guy a few doors over and that couple down the hall with the cat, I can’t say I know much about my neighbors, either. So imagine my surprise when fellow “The Boulevard” resident Holly Lowder got a picture of our building into the Rocky! And all because she resigned her post as the top elections official at the SOS office amid a scandal involving housing issues with one of her contractors.
And by “housing issues” I mean that before she moved into the same building I live in, Lowder apparently lived in a house owned by a guy who received almost $200k in contracts from her office. So did she just live there, or did they live there together? For now it remains uncertain, but I’m sure Colorado Ethics Watch, the folks who dug up this dirt on Lowder, will find out very soon. From The Rocky Mountain News:
Colorado Ethics Watch had been pursuing documents from the state regarding Lowder’s ties to John Paulsen.
Paulsen, 59, operates a software company called LEDS, LLC from his home in Castle Rock, records show. LEDS has installed voter databases in more than 30 counties and recently got two contracts worth almost $184,000 with the secretary of state’s office for data work related to the current election season.
Records show that Lowder recently lived at a Cherokee Street home in Denver that is owned by Paulsen.
Chantell Taylor, director of Ethics Watch, called Lowder’s resignation “no coincidence.”
“It is entirely unbelievable that Ms. Lowder just happened to choose to retire — abruptly and without transitioning her successor — just months away from a major election and on the day Ethics Watch’s (open records request) responses are due relating to an investigation of Mr. Paulsen’s relationship with the secretary of state’s office,” she said.
As ColoradoPols points out, this is like the bazillionth scandal to come out of Secretary Mike Coffman’s office. What gives?
I don’t hold out much hope that even should Coffman resign this would somehow impact his race for Congress in the 6th CD. His Democratic opponent, Hank Eng, sounds like a wonderful guy from everything I’ve heard, but George Bush himself could tell people not to vote for the Republican and Coffman would still win.
Colorado Independent’s blogumnist (blogger-columnist) Jeff Bridges has worked in Democratic politics for the last 10 years, serving as communications director for two congressional races in Colorado and two governor’s races in the Deep South. Bridges also worked as a legislative assistant in Washington, D.C., with a focus on military and small business issues.
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