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Colo. candidate accused of peddling influence
By Mark P. Couch Denver Post staff writer
Published on Thursday, Aug 02, 2007
DENVER: A liberal activist group this week accused Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer of selling his vote on the Colorado State Board of Education to David Brennan, founder of the Akron-based White Hat Management charter school company.
ProgressNowAction contends that Schaffer rewarded Brennan, a campaign con-tributor, with a vote in favor of White Hat Management.
''I think Schaffer is selling his vote to the highest donor,'' said Michael Huttner, executive director of ProgressNowAction.
Schaffer rejected the claim, and Republicans launched a counterattack on his presumptive Democratic opponent, Rep. Mark Udall, for taking union money and voting for a bill that would help union organizers. The election is in November 2008.
''The fact of the matter is the poor and underserved children who are dropouts or have been rejected by Denver Public Schools are far from the highest donors to my campaign,'' Schaffer said.
Donation after vote
According to Schaffer's campaign finance report, Brennan contributed $2,300 on June 18. He has donated a total of $3,675.
That June contribution came about a month after Schaffer cast the deciding vote that ProgressNowAction claims will benefit Brennan's company.
In May, the State Board of Education voted 4-3 to order the Denver school board to reconsider a vote to terminate the charter for the Life Skills Center, a high school program for dropouts.
Life Skills pays White Hat Management, a for-profit company, to provide staff, curriculum and a facility for teaching, said Bob Tenenbaum, a company spokesman. Tenenbaum did not know how much White Hat was paid to manage the Life Skills Center.
Contacted Wednesday by the Beacon Journal, Brennan said, ''I've known Bob Schaffer for years. There's no connection between the two events identified in the story.''
White Hat operates 37 Life Skills centers in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Michigan and Ohio with about 11,000 students. That includes three schools in Akron and one in Canton. The company also operates 13 Hope Academies, which are traditional charter schools in Ohio, and statewide online charter schools enrolling 3,400 in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Colorado.
In February, the Denver school board voted to end the charter held by Life Skills because of low attendance and other issues.
Last month, the board gave the Life Skills Center a year to improve.
Schaffer said there is no connection between his vote to support the charter school and Brennan's contribution.
''I campaigned for office as an advocate for parental empowerment and student choice,'' Schaffer said. ''Whether I'm on the State Board of Education or in the U.S. Senate, I am going to actively encourage anybody who agrees with me to contribute to my campaigns.''
No quid pro quo?
Massie Ritsch, spokesman for the Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, discounted the impact of Brennan's donation partly because he had previously supported Schaffer's political campaigns and partly because the State Board of Education has limited power in this case. The board can only recommend reconsideration; it cannot overturn the local school board's vote.
''Any time you have a contribution that comes so close to a decision that is favorable for the donor, it is a reasonable question to ask,'' Ritsch said. ''But that does not mean there was a quid pro quo.''
Republicans quickly turned Huttner's attack into a broadside against Udall. Dick Wadhams, chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, said Udall should return union contributions because he voted earlier this year to eliminate secret workplace ballots for setting up unions.
Mike Melanson, campaign manager for Udall, said the campaign didn't support Huttner's tactics.
Denver Post staff writer Mark P. Couch can be reached at 303-954-1794 or mcouch@denverpost.com.
Beacon Journal staff writer Stephanie Warsmith contributed to this report.
Published by permission from the Denver Post: www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_6503218
DENVER: A liberal activist group this week accused Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer of selling his vote on the Colorado State Board of Education to David Brennan, founder of the Akron-based White Hat Management charter school company.
Get the full article here.
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