On Thursday, a 9Wants to Know investigation revealed Executive Director Ellen Golombek played a key role in giving her 20-year-long friend a $142,000 consultant job.
The consultant's duties have nothing to do with solving the persistent problem of overwhelmed phone lines, which have frustrated thousands of people trying to resolve unemployment insurance questions.
A statement from Gov. John Hickenlooper's office reads:
"We understand the frustration people feel in trying to reach the unemployment office. Our state's unemployment system relies on outdated technology, ever-shrinking budgets and fewer staff. Ellen Golombek and her team, using the resources available, are working hard to help the thousands of Coloradans still out of work. Any suggestion that Ellen has engaged in some sort of conflict of interest or ethical breach isn't true or fair. The facts, when viewed in their full context, simply don't support that."
In April 2011, Liza Eilers was awarded the $142,000 consulting contract by a three-person selection panel. Documents reviewed by 9Wants to Know show Golombek was part of the panel and that Golombek gave her friend high marks for the contract.
Golombek sat down with 9Wants to Know and insisted her friendship with Eilers did not influence her decision.
Golombek also acknowledged she hired Eilers in the past as a consultant when she worked at two labor unions prior to her appointment to the Colorado Department of Labor.
(KUSA-TV © 2012 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)