Colorado lawmaker faces ‘bullying’ claims from past Larimer County post, complaint from fellow legislator

In November a month after Colorado state Rep Hugh McKean died of a heart attack McKean s longtime partner called his replacement for the coming term Ron Weinberg Amy Parks requested Weinberg about claims she had heard about him sexually harassing women at a prominent conservative leadership event earlier that year Parks notified The Denver Post Weinberg denied the claims Parks explained and the two talked about the Loveland-based House seat that Weinberg had been appointed to fulfill as the successor to McKean the late House minority leader Weinberg had beat three candidates for the vacancy committee s appointment earlier that month Parks had nominated one of the other contenders Kristy Hall and she explained that she notified Weinberg in the call that he needed to improve his behavior or he risked losing his next vote According to Parks Weinberg replied that if Hall challenged him again he would kick her in the pussy Taken aback Parks explained him that sounded Trumpy Trump uses his hands Weinberg replied according to Parks I use my feet Parks noted she took the comment not as a physical threat but as a crass warning that he would easily defeat Hall It was part of a pattern of inappropriate comments and behavior that Weinberg exhibited during his time as the chair of the Larimer County Republican Party according to nearly a dozen people who experienced or witnessed interactions with Weinberg Those accounts have come to light a inadequate weeks after three women publicly accused Weinberg of making sexually inappropriate comments at Leadership Undertaking of the Rockies events in and While Weinberg has denied those charges and questioned why they were being raised now The Post identified that administrators both at the leadership initiative and in Larimer County were aware of his alleged behavior before he entered the legislature Weinberg declined to comment when reached by phone He did not respond to questions sent by email Monday morning An email sent to his attorney last week was not returned Several people including former party administrators and participants alleged to The Post that Weinberg frequently berated board members and helpers for minor slights like arriving late or disagreeing with him A Republican colleague in the House Rep Brandi Bradley commented Weinberg has made inappropriate remarks as a legislator She filed a complaint with House Speaker Julie McCluskie on Friday accusing Weinberg of copying a master key to doors in the Capitol In January McCluskie wrote to the House s top Republican that House staff had investigated Weinberg for accessing another lawmaker s office without her permission according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Post Four women who have known or worked with Weinberg in Larimer County Tasha Carr Nancy Rumfelt Kristin Grazier and another woman who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation explained The Post that they d blocked his phone number or knew not to pick up if he called late at night when they suspected he had been drinking and was more likely to yell Several people approached the Larimer County GOP to raise concerns about the lawmaker in summer a minimal months after he d joined the legislature and departed his local party post Grazier who succeeded Weinberg as county party chair revealed It would be fair to say I ve experienced bullying and abusive offensive and disrespectful behavior It was more than once she declared It was a multitude of times and it was to varying degrees After a reporter reached out to Weinberg last week eight people who worked with or volunteered for the party under him then contacted The Post All praised his leadership and mentioned they d never seen him act inappropriately or yell at anyone Several questioned the political motives of those alleging otherwise I ve never seen him ever do anything say anything to a person that was bad noted Kathy Nelson who revealed she met Weinberg in and then volunteered for the party He does have a leadership personality he s not a shrinking violet But as far as anything mean or too forceful or nasty no nothing like that Cyndi Fronapfel who worked for the party under Weinberg announced he would at times raise his voice in excitement or call people out But she stated none of his behavior struck her as inappropriate and she defended him as a motivated and passionate leader Others though described being berated by Weinberg at meetings and on phone calls Former volunteer Kristi Smiley explained Weinberg called her after a meeting at Colorado State University and yelled at her as her husband listened on The gist of the call she mentioned was that she was worthless and could either back Weinberg or leave Carr explained Weinberg yelled at her after she questioned him in a meeting prompting her to get up and leave She provided emails sent to or about Weinberg in and In one she disclosed his texts were inappropriate He replied saying they weren t In another he apologized for an interaction the previous night and for his blunt approach In a third from January Carr wrote a lengthy email to other party executives about Weinberg s bullying abusive and controlling behavior as well as embarrassing or sexually inappropriate remarks She wrote that the board needed to get involved Challenging style of communication More than year later in summer Carr Smiley and at least four other people approached the Larimer County GOP about Weinberg Though most of of the citizens testimony was about his behavior particular also criticized his decision to sign a letter supporting a transgender legislator in Montana who had been barred from that state s House floor after a tense debate about gender-affirming care Weinberg s signature on the letter earned him a reprimand from the Colorado Republican Party The concerns about his behavior prompted the county party s board to adopt a new protocol setting conduct expectations for its members Grazier the board chair at the time revealed It also required them to treat each other with respect and directed them not to use force threat humiliation or other inappropriate means to try to persuade or influence someone according to a copy reviewed by The Post The board briefly debated taking a vote to distance itself from Weinberg but decided against it Grazier noted Hall Weinberg s onetime opponent who was serving on the board then stated the board took a vote of no confidence in him Grazier demurred when requested about that citing the confidentiality of executive session meetings She announced the board s deliberations could be interpreted as a no-confidence discussion though she denied that such a vote took place Weinberg was repeatedly demanded to speak to the board Grazier explained but declined Hall disclosed the board wrote him a letter We communicated to Mr Weinberg that we in no way supported his style of communication and the inappropriate language that was being used with women Hall noted And we expected things to change Republican State Reps Ron Weinberg left Ty Winter center and Scott Bottoms listen to fellow Republican Kenneth DeGraaf during debate over HB - in the House chambers at the Colorado Capitol in Denver on May Photo by Helen H Richardson The Denver Post The new assertions come after three women accused Weinberg earlier this month of sexually harassing them at a conservative organization s events in and Two women Jacqueline Anderson and Heather Booth publicly accused Weinberg of making sexually inappropriate comments to them at Leadership Effort of the Rockies events A third woman published an anonymous comment making a similar accusation All three accounts included accusations from the same Leadership Project event The third woman who spoke to The Post on condition of anonymity announced Weinberg seemed intoxicated and pressured her to steal a flag and leave a hotel bar with him in February The woman repeatedly refused and grew increasingly uncomfortable with Weinberg s persistence she reported until a bystander intervened and walked the woman to her room The bystander a man who also requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation authenticated the woman s account to The Post The woman reported she woke up the next morning totally disgusted and broadcasted the charges to Luzon Kahler the vice president of the Leadership Project of the Rockies class The woman revealed she later spoke with the campaign s president Shari Williams and that she was stated that Weinberg would be banned from future events and that organizers were aware of other concerns raised about him In a brief phone call last week Kahler mentioned she didn t have time to talk and then hung up Williams did not return messages seeking comment Lawmaker disputes false accusations Weinberg has denied those claims of harassment False accusations have been made against me and they are merely not true he mentioned in a social media post earlier this month prior to being contacted for this story These indicates nearly four years old were never mentioned when I ran for office Now the moment I announce my run for Republican leadership they suddenly surface I will not be intimidated by political smear tactics On Facebook he s also shared several letters signed by legislative staffers praising him Sandra Aste the current chair of the Larimer County Republican Party did not return an email seeking comment for this story After the harassment charges were informed publicly this month the party wrote on social media that the accusations were deeply concerning on multiple levels We understand the seriousness of this situation and the impact it may have on the parties involved and our neighborhood the party wrote Related Articles Denver Water s effort to free up land for stadium could hit roadblock in condemnation laws Former Colorado state senator faces felony charge for actions in Senate ethics probe Colorado lawmaker faces sexual harassment accusations that surfaced during GOP leadership race These new Colorado laws take effect Tuesday regulating gun shops sexual assault cases youth detention and more Republican state legislator from Berthoud resigning for new job in Arizona All three of the sexual harassment accusations were sent to Weinberg s House Republican colleagues earlier this month after Weinberg declared that he would pursue a legislative leadership position He later dropped his candidacy for minority whip The harassment statements were forwarded to the House s Workplace Harassment Committee and Minority Leader Rose Pugliese the chamber s top Republican announced on social media that legislative leaders take these assertions seriously In an interview Friday Bradley a Littleton Republican who had also vied for the same leadership position accused Weinberg of making inappropriate comments to her Bradley reported she d previously raised concerns to House leadership about Weinberg s behavior Later Friday she filed an ethics complaint with McCluskie a Democrat who is the House s top official accusing Weinberg of belligerent behavior while under the influence of alcohol She also accused him of copying a master key to unlock doors in the Capitol She provided emails to The Post between Bradley and the Colorado State Patrol which provides guard for the building referencing a January inspection into the matter In her January letter to Pugliese McCluskie wrote that Weinberg had entered another lawmaker s office without that legislator s permission He recounted leadership he did not have his own master key but had taken a key from a senior House staffer McCluskie wrote that if Weinberg had a master key he must turn it over She called the matter very serious warned that Weinberg might face disciplinary action and disclosed it was imperative that Rep Weinberg never does this again Weinberg didn t respond to a separate email about Bradley s statements sent Monday afternoon Earlier Bradley accused leadership of not doing enough in response to her concerns In a comment from earlier this month Pugliese and Rep Ty Winter the assistant minority leader revealed that Bradley s assertions that they hadn t responded to her were patently false They indicated that Bradley needed to file a complaint with the harassment committee and that members are only accountable to each other and their constituents Pugliese declined to comment further Monday pointing to the caucus previous declaration Through a spokesman McCluskie declined to comment on Bradley s complaint Stay up-to-date with Colorado Politics by signing up for our weekly newsletter The Spot