Colorado senators investigating if Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis broke ethics rules met her defense with skepticism Tuesday as they cited a pervasive fear of retaliation from former aides — but also questioned how to handle complaints against an elected peer.
Jaquez Lewis, a Longmont Democrat, has faced allegations of mistreating her aides, including that she attempted to withhold pay from workers, demoted and promoted aides without reason, had them do work around her house and more. She has denied any wrongdoing and said she’s being used as a “platform” by the aides’ union in its bid for collective bargaining.
But during a morning meeting, some members of the ethics committee also saw in her response a lack of an apology for how aides working under her have felt, along with a rejection of an inquiry she initially supported and vitriol directed at the Political Workers Guild — even as she professes support for better working conditions.
Sen. Dylan Roberts, an Avon Democrat, said Jaquez Lewis’ response “is sending a very concerning message.”
“There is no denying that a multitude of aides feel victimized for a variety of reasons,” Roberts said. “There is no apology for that feeling, even if it is a misunderstanding in the senator’s point of view.”
In a statement to The Denver Post, Jaquez Lewis said the complaint “appears primarily to be a workplace management issue that should have been handled by Human Resources, instead of an unwarranted, public investigation for political purposes.” She underscored that lawmakers on the committee found the issue “unclear, confusing and (containing) a lot of gray areas.”
She also stated in her written response to the committee, and reiterated in the statement to The Post, that she “publicly apologized for any hurt feelings or misunderstandings.”
The ethics committee has until Feb. 20 to determine if there is probable cause to establish an ethics violation. If Jaquez Lewis is found to have violated the Senate ethics policy, she could face a formal reprimand or expulsion. Any consequence would be up to a vote of the entire Senate.
She has already been stripped of committee assignments and lost state funding for aides over the allegations.
Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Denver Democrat chairing the committee, said Jaquez Lewis’ response did not show any change in behavior, or attempt at it, in the year-plus since concerns were raised internally about her behavior. Jaquez Lewis said she had hired an “HR trained professional” — but Gonzales noted that Jaquez Lewis had not identified that person and the nature of their work or specified how Jaquez Lewis had tried to change her behavior as a result.
“When public trust is as stretched as it is in this moment, how we go about holding our own selves to account really matters,” Gonzales said. “… This is a lot of gray, a lot of not clear-cut (or) easy work ahead of us.”
Sen. John Carson, a Highlands Ranch Republican on the committee, also highlighted the murkiness of the of their task.
He didn’t want to judge colleagues based on their management styles or office dynamics, he said, but rather based on specific violations. It’s up to voters — who just reelected Jaquez Lewis — to decide on management styles, he said.
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