Denver Mayoral Race - pay to play?
chatnoir
headline:
Denver's Mayoral race is coming down to the wire with 4 potential
candidates still in the mix - Michael Hancock, Doug Linkhart, James
Mejia, and Chris Romer.
This race shines a spotlight on the direction of our political
process.
Does one become elected to higher office through public service or by
means and connections to the wealthy?
In the case of Hancock, Linkhart and Mejia, public service to Denver
was accomplished either by serving on the City Council (Hancock and
Linkhart) or in the administration of the Mayor (Mejia).
Chris Romer took a different path to higher office.
wade norris :: Denver's Mayoral race - pay to play?
In our neighboring state of New Mexico, Bill Richardson started an
ambitious program to expand the New Mexico highway - called Governor
Richardson's Investment Partnership. This plan was funded by some
creative investment plans - now known more widely as Credit Derivative
or 'default' Swaps.
There was an investigation into this swap investment because,
coincidentally,
JP Morgan hired Denver Politico Mike Stratton to secure interests in
New Mexico to the tune of $269,000 - when he was also connected to
Richardson's Political Action Committee.
JPMorgan paid Michael Stratton, president of Denver-based Stratton &
Associates, $269,000 in 2003 and 2004 to help win public finance
business relating to "state, county, and local government and
corporate entities" in New Mexico, according to records filed with the
Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board. Stratton's firm gave $2,000 to
Richardson's first gubernatorial bid in 2002, and Stratton advised the
governor on his 2008 presidential campaign, according to New Mexico
records and the firm's Web site.
But wait, it gets murkier - Richardson actually had to withdraw his
name from the Obama administration's cabinet nomination because of the
investigation by the feds into the too close for comfort relationship
between Richardson's swap funding plan to Democratic 'bundler' David
Rubin and his group - CDR:
On Dec. 15, Bloomberg News reported that the grand jury in Albuquerque
was meeting to review how the company, Beverly Hills, California-based
CDR Financial Products Inc., received almost $1.5 million in fees from
the New Mexico Finance Authority. CDR contributed $100,000 to
Richardson-affiliated groups. New York-based JPMorgan, the second-
largest U.S. bank by assets, helped underwrite the bonds sold by the
authority.
And who was the principle investor who brokered the investment?
Chris Romer.
JPMorgan's lead banker on the deals was Chris Romer, 49, whose father
was governor of Colorado from 1987 until 1999. On Aug. 21, JPMorgan
told regulators about an investigation being conducted by the U.S.
Attorney for New Mexico involving the municipal securities business,
according to Romer's brokerage records with the Financial Industry
Regulatory Authority.
No one has been charged with wrongdoing. Stratton declined to comment
on the investigation, as did Tasha Pelio, a spokeswoman for JPMorgan
in New York. Gilbert Gallegos, a spokesman for the governor, didn't
return calls seeking comment.
On this next point, let me be absolutely clear - I do not believe
Chris Romer did anything illegal.
What I do think is that this illustrates that Chris Romer made
decisions to plot out his political career by aligning himself with
political heavyweights who also happened to be in alliance with Wall
Street Banks like JP Morgan. ... (cont)