A state Senate ethics committee has concluded that Democratic Sen. Faith Winter violated ethics rules for coming intoxicated to a public meeting in Northglenn in April.
Winter has previously apologized for her conduct at the event, a contentious community gathering over the permitting of transitional housing for sex offenders, and went into addiction treatment shortly afterward.
However on a 4-to-1 vote Monday, the committee concluded she failed to uphold the integrity and conduct expected of a senator. Winter currently serves as the Assistant Senate Majority leader, making her one of the chamber’s top Democrats.
“The evidence that we received indicated that this was part of a larger pattern, that it was not the first instance,” said Republican Sen. Bob Gardner.
The committee was voting on an ethics complaint the city of Northglenn filed alleging Winter’s behavior violated the rules of legislative conduct. The city council said Winter failed to “uphold her office with integrity.”
Gardner had earlier questioned whether there was probable cause for an ethics violation, and defended Winter’s responses during the meeting. But on Monday, he said that, based on the totality of the circumstances and evidence from the local officials showing it was part of a larger pattern of behavior, “Senator Winter failed to uphold the integrity and conduct expected of a senator.”
The committee did not recommend a reprimand, censure or expulsion, which would require a vote of the full Senate, but instead asked Senate President Steve Fenberg to send a letter of admonishment to Winter and to encourage her to continue her course of rehabilitation.
Winter will also be invited to speak about her conduct to the full Senate when the legislature reconvenes next January and warned that any further issues could result in additional action, without the need for another ethics committee hearing.
Winter is currently in the middle of her second and final Senate term. She previously served in the House.
“This isn’t about the policy. This isn’t about her legislation. It’s about the conduct at that meeting,” said Democratic Senator Julie Gonzales of Denver, the committee’s chair.
Sen. Winter attended Monday’s committee hearing, sitting in the front row as the members issued their decision. Afterward, she told CPR News she respected the work they did.
“My intent has always been to take responsibility, to apologize, to make amends. And the committee has agreed with those actions and asked me to continue those actions,” she said. Winter added that it’s part of her recovery process to get the help she needs for this disease.
Democratic Sen. James Coleman was the lone no vote on the committee. In a previous hearing, he said neither the information in the complaint nor his own experiences with Winter suggested that she had failed to do her job as a lawmaker. He also said she showed integrity by publicly apologizing and taking accountability for her actions, including by stepping down as the chair of the Transportation Committee.
Like many of the committee members, he said the process had been difficult.
“We have to take an acknowledgment (of) the indirect yet repeated traumatization that we've all experienced through this process, none more than the Senator,” he said at the hearing ahead of Monday’s vote.
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