Seedco saga continues to play out

July 29, 12:26 PMDenver City Hall ExaminerLisa Jones

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From way out here in the cheap seats, it appears that Denver City Council has been hornswoggled, snowed or...some other word that suggests their trusting naivete has been abused.

In 2007, Denver officials waived ethics rules to allow Peter Chapman, a city employee, to take a new job with Seedco Financial Services. Chapman helped to negotiate the city's contract with Seedco; in his new post, he would oversee the contract.

City rules require employees to wait six months before working for a company that does business with the city. But the Denver Board of Ethics concluded that breaking the rules was in the best interest of the city. Presumably, Chapman would do an amazingly excellent job on behalf of Denver, somehow.

In 2008, a city performance review of Seedco reported that the company did not always follow city accounting rules. For example, the report said that loan documentation “appear[s] to be disorganized, with no order of consistency.”

At the time, city council was scheduled to vote on renewing a $2.9 million one-year contract with Seedco Denver.

Seedco had not formally responded to the city's findings of "sloppy accounting, poor recordkeeping and a lack of internal controls," Susan Barnes Gelt noted. She urged city council to postpone renewal until Seedco provided a complete response.

But on the strength of assurances from Chapman, council voted 10-2 in favor of renewal. Council members Charlie Brown and Jeanne Faatz voted against it.

Last month, Chapman left Seedco and Denver for greener pastures working for the city of Richmond, Va.

Considering Seedco's disappointing performance, it looks as if he got out while the getting was good.

Tillie Fong at Rocky Mountain Independent reported on the shoe that dropped yesterday:

How many jobs does $5.3 million create?

Thirty-eight, if it’s through Denver’s business loan program offered by Seedco Financial Services.

“Under the terms of the contract, they’re supposed to create jobs,” said Jeff Romine, chief economist for the Denver Office of Economic Development. “That’s one of the metrics for their performance, and we don’t think we’re getting results.”

The dismaying data came during a briefing that Romine gave Tuesday to the City Council’s Neighborhood, Community and Business Revitalization Committee.

The Seedco contract will be up for renewal again during the chilly months of this year, when pulling the wool over the eyes can be construed as a warm gesture.