HomeMy WebLinkAbout770054.tiff RESOLUTION
RE: ACCEPTANCE OF COUNTY COUNCIL REPORT ON "CONFLICT OF
INTEREST" QUESTION CONCERNING COMMISSIONER VICTOR
JACOBUCCI.
WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners of Weld County,
Colorado, has received a report dated January 31, 1977 from
the Weld County Council concerning a conflict of interest question
of Commissioner Jacobucci, and
WHEREAS , the Board of County Commissioners desires to accept
said report and make the same a part of the official records of
the Board of County Commissioners of Weld County, Colorado.
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the report received from the
Weld County Council dated January 31, 1977 concerning the conflict
of interest question regarding Commissicner Victor Jacobucci, be,
and the same is hereby received and made a part of the official
records of the Board of County Commissioners of Weld County,
Colorado.
The above and foregoing Resolution was, on motion duly made
and seconded, adopted by the following vote on the 7th day of
February, A.D. , 1977.
The above and foregoing Resolution was read into the record
and signed on the 9th day of February, A.D. , 1977.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
WEhp COUNTY, COLORADO
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ATTEST:
Weld County Clerk and Recorder
and Clerk to the Beard
Deputy County 'Clerk
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County Attorney
770054
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/ 3 CO FLICT OF INTEREST UESTION OF JACOBUCCI
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Information sources contained herein are from material supplied by the
District Attorney's office, Mr. Jacobucci's written statement to the Council,
minutes of commissioners, summary judgement of Home Rule, and personal
knowledge and memory of statements and other information given.
Weld County has in past years obtained fill dirt from land owners in
Weld County. Although, to our knowledge, this fill dirt has never been paid
for with actual dollars and that in every instance the land owner has
received a form of compensation. To accept the definition of the word
"donation" as a free contribution and the definition of the word "gift" as
something given without compensation indicates that fill dirt has never been
a donation or a gift to Weld County from land owners. In every case known to
us, fill dirt has been arranged for on the basis that the county would receive
the dirt by performing a service for the land owner by either removal of a
hill or knoll, enlargement or digging of a pond, or removal of blow sand from
the land owner's property. Often the work performed by the county to obtain
this fill dirt would cost the land owner many thousands of dollars if it
were performed by a contractor plus another additional cost of disposal or
spreading of the dirt removed from the hill, pond or fence row, Not
only does the land owner realize an immediate savings and benefit, he also
receives improvements to his property which at times greatly increases the
value of his property. We have never heard of a land owner making an outright
gift or donation of fill dirt whereby the land owner received little or no
benefit.
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Page 2 - Conflict of Ii rest Question
Although agreements between Weld County and private land owners for fill
dirt are verbal, they are probably legal binding contracts to the effect that
the County could probably be sued and held liable for not properly fulfilling
their part of the agreement or for damage done to the land owner's property.
We also believe that this method of obtaining fill dirt is understood and
accepted by the land owners and that they understand and accept the fact that
the county cannot become involved in removal of all the blow sand, digging
all the ponds, or removing all the knolls that the land owners in Weld County
desire, do, and pay for each year. They fully realize that this benefit only
applies to those who have land close to an area where the county needs fill
dirt:
Therefore: In regard to fill dirt obtained by the county from Mr.
Jacobucci 's land, it is our opinion and conclusion that the actual cost to the
county for obtaining and spreading this fill dirt on road Number 2 does not
reflect the value received by Mr. Jacobucci nor would it reflect the actual
cost to Mr. Jacobucci had he chosen to hire a private firm to do this work. It
is further our conclusion and opinion that this fill dirt was not a gift or
donation, but that it was a verbal agreement that the county would receive
the dirt in exchange for removal of a fence, the blow sand in and around the
fence, enlargement of a lake, and removal of dirt around the lake.
January 1, 1976 the Weld County Home Rule Charter became effective. The
Charter created five departments with divisions allowed in each department and
further designated that each commissioner would be responsible as a coordinator
Page 3 - Conflict of Ir rest Question
for one department. The commissioners did establish these five departments
and also designated a commissioner as coordinator of each of these departments
and further designated an alternate commissioner for each of the five depart-
ments. This is recorded in the January 5, 1976 Board minutes. It is our
understanding that Mr. Jacobucci was the coordinator for the department of
communications services and also the alternate for the Department of Engineering
Services. Commissioner Roy Moser was designated the Coordinator of the Depart-
ment of Engineering Services. Road and Bridges is listed as a division of
the Department of Engineering. Generally speaking the commissioners minutes
of proceedings during 1976 indicated that these departments were accepted and
that' the commissioners reported to the board as coordinators for these
respective departments.
We do not recall ever reading in any of the board minutes during 1976 that
Road and Bridge had been removed as a division of Engineering Services or that
any of the commissioners had been designated as supervisors, bosses or "what have
you" over specific road districts which coincided with commissioner districts.
We do recall that at a work session of the commissioners attended by the County
Council there was a discussion regarding Road and Bridge and that the three
district commissioners indicated that they were directly responsible for roads
and bridges in their respective districts and did indicate their intentions to
continue to personally oversee these districts regardless of the protests of the
commissioners at large and the protests of the County Council. Although no
formal action was ever taken by the board to allow these three commissioners
to act as supervisors or bosses in their respective districts, it is our belief
that they did act in this capacity during 1976. Although Civil Action No.
28085 relative to the validity of some provisions of the Home Rule Charter may
Page 4 - Conflict of I, rest Question
have been a valid reason for not following the intent of the Charter in regard
to the operation of road and bridge, the summary judgement signed by Judge
Berhman July 20, 1976, Part III states: "The Home Rule Charter for Weld
County establishes a valid and lawful frame of government for Weld County,etc."
It would seem that this summary judgement should have removed any doubt
existing in the minds of any of the commissioners in regard to the validity
of the charter and that positive action by all should have been taken to
abide by the provisions of the Home Rule Charter. Yet, indications were
that the road and bridge division continued to be bossed as three separate
road districts until January of 1977. Mr. Jacobucci as commissioner from
district two apparently continued to participate in the decision process as
the person in charge of road and bridge in district number two. Material
furnished to the council by the district attorney and also Mr. Jacobucci's
statement to the council indicates that he was personally involved not only
in determining the building of Weld County road number two but also in the
effort to locate fill dirt and the decision as to where to obtain the fill
dirt.
Report on Vic Jacobucci Investigation, October 14, 1976, from the Office
of the District Attorney: "On October 8, 1976, I talked to Frank Smith,
county engineer, about the work on Jacobucci 's farm. He told me that
earlier Vic had talked to him about getting the road paved by his house,
but he didn't want to cause a fuss about it, so Frank said that he would
recommend the construction after consulting with Adams County, who adjoins
part of this road. Adams County recommended the paving and that they would
pay for their part if Weld would do it. Adams sent a letter requesting
Frank to recommend building the road and Frank wrote and said they would
split the cost on building such a road."
"Frank and Don Morgan talked about how to get the dirt and Don said that
he would look for the dirt. Don found some dirt ten or twelve miles away
and also found some from a neighbor. Vic told Frank that he was going to
do some work on his reservoir and if the county would do it for him, he
would give them the dirt. All parties knew that there was going to be a
fence that had to be taken out."
Page 5 - Conflict of Ir rest Question
"Morgan also indicated that he was aware that the new holding
pond was anticipated to be used by Jacobucci in conjunction with a
sprinkling system on his farm. Morgan indicated that they would get
an accounting number for this project, but the work on Jacobucci 's
farm would be done under a "miscellaneous number" and not a regular
road number. Frequently, they do get regular numbers for work on
people's property."
Victor Jacobucci 's Statement to Weld County Council, January 19, 1977:
"In July, 1976, our County Engineer, Frank Smith, showed me a letter
from Mr. Ron Meyer, Deputy Director of Public Works of Adams County,
which stated he wished to upgrade and oil Road #2."
"The area involved was in Adams County, running firm Lochbuie west for
two-and-a-quarter miles -- to the spot where asphalt already existed on
Road #2. The letter asked Weld County to finish its own remaining four
miles of unimproved road from Quebec Street to 1-25. Doing this would
result in an overall improvement by eliminating much of the traffic
then traveling through downtown Brighton. It would provide a convenient
and comfortable alternate route. (Downtown Brighton traffic eventually
ends up on Road #2 when it reaches I-25. ) The letter pointed out that
• if Weld County completed its four miles, then traffic could travel
east-west in a straight line on a completely asphalt road between I-76
and I-25. Because Road #2 is also Baseline Road out of Boulder and
provides access to the mountains, the decision was made to proceed with
the upgrading of the road."
Conclusion and opinion: The decision to rebuild and pave a road past, or
to a commissioner's home when the commissioner has the authority to make such
a decision or have any voice in such a decision would in our opinion be a
conflict of interest. Such decisions should receive full review by the board
and the commissioner whose home is involved should abstain from such review
and final decision process. It is our opinion that the board did adopt on
January 5, 1976 the five departments designated by the Charter and that they
did appoint the coordinators of these departments; therefore, it is our
further opinion that Mr. Jacobucci's rights, powers, authorities in relation
to road and bridges in Weld County were only that of an alternate to Mr. Roy
Moser, who was coordinator of the Engineering Department and the division
of road and bridge and the subsequent powers, duties authority prescribed by
the Charter, board and statutes.
' Page 6 - Conflict of I, rest Question
Summary: It is also our opinion that he should have asked a ruling from
the Council (Charter Section 16-9) and also asked for a complete review by
the Board.
It is our belief and opinion that: 1) Mr. Jacobucci 's actions were
possibly in violation of State Statute 18-8-404 (a) and (c) -
"First degree official misconduct. (1) A public servant commits
first degree official misconduct if, with intent to obtain a benefit
for himself or maliciously to cause harm to another, he knowingly:
(a) Commits an act relating to his office but constituting an
unauthorized exercise of his official function; or...
(c) Violates any statute or lawfully adopted rule or regulation
relating to his office."
and State Statute 18-8-308 -
"Failing to disclose a conflict of interest. (1) A public servant
commits failing to disclose a conflict of interest if he exercises any
substantial discretionary function in connection with a government
contract, purchase, payment, or other pecuniary transaction without
having given seventy-two hours actual advance written notice to the
attorney general, or to the governing body of the government which
employs the public servant, of the existence of a known potential
conflicting interest of the public servant in the transaction with
reference to which he is about to act in his official capacity.
(2) A "potential conflicting interest" exists when the public
servant is a director, president, general manager, or similar executive
officer or owns or controls directly or indirectly a substantial interest
in any nongovernmental entity participating in the transaction.
(3) Failing to disclose a conflict of interest is a class 2 mis-
demeanor."
2) Mr. Jacobucci represented the county in an agreement to perform certain
services and also represented himself as a land owner to exchange fill dirt
for these services. 3) Mr. Jacobucci had a personal interest not only as
a land owner doing business with Weld County but also as a land owner who
desired a better road past his land and that this personal interest was such
that it did interfere with the unbiased discharge of his duty to the public
and the best interest of the county. Therefore, it is our opinion that a
conflict of interest did exist and that Mr. Jacobucci should immediately
page 7 - Conflict of Ir :est Question
resign as coordinator of the Engineering Department and should neither
serve as coordinator or alternate coordinator of the department of
Engineering Service or division of Road and Bridge for the remainder of
his term.
•Page 8 - Conflict of Ir rest Question
RECOMMENDATIONS TO BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Mr. Jacobucci be immediately replaced as coordinator of the Engineering
Department and that he shall not serve either as coordinator or alternate
coordinator, for the remainder of his term, of the Engineering Department
or division of Road and Bridge.
Full implementation of the centralized administration of Road and
Bridge now.
Adopt policy concerning all major road construction whereby it shall
be approved by the board and whereby the general public shall be notified
and have opportunity to speak regarding all major road construction.
Adopt policy concerning obtaining fill dirt, gravel or rock from
private land owners and open hearings with the land owners in the area of
the construction site so all who wish may have the opportunity to donate
said fill dirt, etc. Develop a simple, written contract which explains
the work or dollars to be exchanged for said fill dirt, gravel or rock.
Adopt policy of keeping a record of manpower and machine time used
and material obtained in these types of transactions.
CONCLUSION
In investigations performed by the District Attorney's office, infor-
mation gathered by the Council, the Weld County Audit report, and the general
concern of many of our citizens indicates a need for a more complete review
of Road and Bridge and the Intergovernmental Agency of Weld County.
L 1�
Ol I I(1 OF I3OAIiU OF COON I Y COMMISSIONERS
PHONE- 13031 356-4000 EXT. 200
P.O. BOX 758
OGREELEY, COLORADO 80631
•
COLORADO
February 9 , 1977
Weld County Council
Nancy Clark, President
401 North 15th Avenue
Greeley, Colorado 80631
Dear Mrs. Clark and Council Members :
The Board of County Commissioners has received a copy of your
opinion in the "Conflict of Interest" question regarding
Commissioner Jacobucci, and by Resolution passed on the 7th
day of February, 1977 has authorized the acceptance of your
report and recommendations as part of the official records of
the Board of County Commissioners of Weld County, Colorado.
The Board of County Commissioners will review this opinion,
conduct an independent investigation of this matter and take
whatever action the Board deems proper after a determination
of the facts and the law applicable in this matter can be
determined. Commissioner Jacobucci will not participate in
any way in our deliberations concerning this particular matter.
The Board of County Commissioners also acknowledges receipt of
a copy of your opinion in the Ed and Lydia Dunbar "Conflict
of Interest" question concerning the foster child now living
with Mr. and Mrs . Dunbar, and by Resolution passed on the 7th
day of February, 1977, has authorized the acceptance of your
report and recommendations as part of the official records of
the Board of County Commissioners of Weld County, Colorado.
In this case, the Board of County Commissioners will also
review your opinion, conduct an independent investigation of
this matter and take whatever action the Board deems proper
after a determination of the facts and the law applicable to
this particular matter can be determined. Commissioner Dunbar
will not participate in any way in our deliberations concerning
this particular matter.
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Weld County Council
February 9 , 1977
Page 2
The Board of County Commissioners will, of course, notify the
County Council as soon as we have completed our investigation
and review in both of these matters , and will further advise
the County Council of any action which may be taken by the
Board concerning these "conflict of interest" questions.
Sincerely,
une K. Steinmark
Chairperson, Weld County
Board of County Commissioners
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