Wanda L. James, a member of the CU Board of Regents who could face censure, will now be the subject of an independent review for possible conflict of interest.
On Tuesday, the chair of the CU Board of Regents sent an email to CPR News saying she’d asked for a review that would last several weeks and start as soon as possible, stating: “It is the role of our legal counsel to identify the appropriate firm/person to handle this.”
The move prompted James, 60, who was reached by phone Wednesday morning, to ask very loudly, “What did I do?” She called the review the continuation of a smear campaign against her, one she sees as pointless. It came to her attention that the regents knew the budget cuts she’s suggested for the campaign as a consequence of offensive imagery – that they considered to be in her self-interest – were denied by the state’s budget office earlier this week.
Background
Leaders of the regents felt there could be a possible conflict of interest after James, who is also a dispensary owner, made comments in the media and on her social media earlier this year, suggesting a tax-payer-funded anti-marijuana research campaign be suspended because its promotional materials included images of dark-skinned people James found offensive.
She said to two media outlets that she had spoken to Gov. Jared Polis about getting the funding pulled. Regents say that led to calls from members of the community, who were concerned that James’ public statements could show a conflict of interest since James also owns a dispensary.
Those concerns led regent Chair Callie Rennison and Vice Chair Ken Montera to reach out by phone to Jeremy Hueth, who was CU’s chief lawyer at the time, for guidance on the next steps.
Hueth responded with an 11-page memo in which he quotes from the regents’ conflict of interest policy: “A regent serves the public trust and exercises their powers and duties in the interest of the public, the university, and the board. A regent’s independent judgment in the discharge of board responsibilities must not be impaired as a result of conflicts between interests of the university and the regent’s own financial interest or personal interest …” The letter stated that censure was a possible outcome.
The promotional campaign funded was called The Tea on THC. It included roughly sketched cartoon-like images of a dark-skinned person, intended to point out the potential harms of using high-potency marijuana as the cartoon-like figure aged over time.
Regents were concerned that James was speaking out from a place of self-interest, supposing that if the research findings and promotional campaign about the harms of high-potency THC could make people less likely to purchase marijuana, which is among the products sold at her dispensary, Simply Pure, in Denver.
James had a different view: because the illustrations that went with the campaign were of a dark-skinned child progressing in age, James felt the campaign was offensive and anti-Black; in interviews earlier this month she told CPR News that they were not acceptable because only dark-skinned, and not white, people were linked to laziness, delays in cognitive development and lower grades associated with marijuana use implied by the visuals.
The images from the campaign were pulled within days after James complained. The campaign itself is ongoing until June, according to a University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus spokesperson.
The reason the issue has gained legs is connected to the substance of the comments she was quoted as having made in two publications: The Green Market Report, and Westword. In them, she made remarks in which she suggested that funding for the campaign, which was several million dollars and set to end in FY 2025-2026, should be pulled and diverted toward social equity programs.
In conversations with CPR News, she said earlier this month that the remarks would have no impact on budget-making decisions and that she had no capacity to influence such outcomes.
In a memo to the Joint Budget Committee, Colorado Budget Director Mark Ferrandino, recommended cuts to the funding.
But, James said that she’s received information this week that shows the budget cuts to the program suggested by Polis were rejected, making the concerns the regents raised even more of a moot point.
She shared a screenshot of a memo from Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at the University of Colorado Chad Marturano that stated: “The governor recommended a $2.0 million cut for Regulating Marijuana Concentrates (HB 21-1317) which is administered out of the School of Public Health at CU Anschutz related to administering a public awareness campaign and studying the impact of high potency THC. The JBC voted to deny the Governor’s recommendation which means the $2 million stays in the budget for now.”
Regent vice-chair Montero shared the email with other regents the next day, per James’ screenshot, but that did not stop them from requesting an independent review. Rennison sent a statement to CPR News on Tuesday announcing the review.
The opening paragraph stated: “As the Chair and Vice Chair of the Board of Regents, we have requested an independent review of Regent Wanda James' recent efforts to eliminate certain state funding for the Colorado School of Public Health.”
The statement also says: “The review will be performed by a third party in the coming weeks and a report summarizing the findings will be made public at the conclusion of the review. Our expectation is that a full, fair and impartial review will resolve outstanding factual and legal questions.”
James, reached by cell phone Wednesday morning, was clearly upset, stating she’d just learned of this development. “I have to say that I have done nothing wrong, and there’s not one judge and not one attorney who has said that I’ve done anything wrong, not one. This is nothing more than a smear campaign,” said James in a heated tone, declining a recorded audio interview. “This is a continuation of a smear campaign. They’re telling the world they’re investigating me. What are they investigating? What did I do?”
The review of the regents requested may or may not be complete before the next regents’ meeting – to be held at CU Denver on April 10 and 11.
