Concerns raised about Pueblo councilwoman handling mail-in ballots
Should councilwoman and letter carrier Ami Nawrocki be allowed to handle mail-in ballots for her upcoming recall election?
Recall organizers Frank and Becky Cortese don’t think so. They filed a complaint with the U.S. Postal Service on Monday, raising concerns that it’s a conflict of interest for her to deliver ballots in the district she represents, where voters will decide in January whether she should be recalled.
Becky Cortese said Nawrocki should be assigned to work in another area leading up to the recall.
“It’s my expectation of public officials to recuse themselves from any appearance of impropriety and she’s failed to do so up to this point,” Becky Cortese said.
Nawrocki said the Corteses have no standing in any kind of complaint.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Service, David Rupert, said Nawrocki’s mail route will not change because there’s no reason for it.
In a statement, Rupert said, “Our employees are allowed under federal guidelines to hold non-partisan public office. Additionally, all of our employees are sworn to uphold the integrity of the mail. They are allowed to handle any and all election material, which is sealed and prohibited by law from tampering. Postal employees who violate the law face potential job removal, fines and even imprisonment,”
When asked why she’s raising the issue now, Cortese pointed to what triggered the recall in the first place — accusations that Nawrocki violated the Colorado Sunshine Law by discussing public, city issues over email instead of at council meetings.
“Unfortunately, she has shown a pattern of disregarding the law when it comes to the Sunshine Law so I don’t know what other laws she would disregard as well,” Nawrocki said.
Becky and Frank Cortese also allege in their complaint that Nawrocki was “conducting city business on federal post office time as noted on the time stamps of hundreds of emails released to the public this summer.”
Nawrocki said she gets plenty of personal time during the course of her work day.
The Corteses’ complaint was forwarded to the Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General for investigation, according to an email from Natalie Bonanno of the U.S. Postal Service Ethics Counsel.
For her part, Nawrocki called the Corteses self centered, and said she was not available for an on-camera interview.
The recall election will be Jan. 27. Only those who live in District 1 are eligible to vote.
