Editorial: A reasonable upgrade for Denver’s ethics rules

The Denver Post: For too long the public has been in the dark about the value of meals and tickets that lobbyists and others with city business have lavished on Denver officials.

Ethics requirements in this home-rule city are so weak that elected officials are, for the most part, simply to list, once a year, and in some dark file room that’s not accessible by the internet, that they received a gift and who it came from. That said, the rules do have some real value. Officials can’t take money or loans, for example. And they are limited to how many perks like meals and tickets they can accept from a single entity.

After two years of work, the Denver City Council is on the verge of increasing what city officials must report in gift disclosures, how often the disclosures must be filed and requiring that the reports be made available online.

Self-imposed regulation is never easy, and we applaud the efforts of City Council members, particularly Councilman Kevin Flynn, to tackle this needed reform.

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