Brouhaha in CO, as tech chief dismissed, background investigated

The Denver election commission has fired its head of technology after the fiasco that was Election Day in Denver. And now one commissioner has boiled over under the brunt of criticism, according to the Rocky Mountain News.

Commissioner Sandy Adams declared that reporters digging into what happened last Tuesday are "looking for dirt. You're not looking for good things. I'm just sick that everyone's picking on Denver when we have 19 other counties that had vote centers and had as long, if not longer, lines."

Denver used a voting center format, instead of the traditional precincts, which meant that every voting place in the city had to use laptops instead of paper printouts to check in voters. Some center didn't have enough laptops and many computers malfunctioned.

"The first time somebody tried a hip replacement, it probably didn't get as good a result as the second time and the 10th time," she said by analogy. "You can't do a dress rehearsal for something like this."

Commission technology chief Anthony Rainey was placed on administrative leave over the weekend, after the tech meltdown severely strained Denver voters' patience.

Several people say Rainey resisted outside help in running or backing up the election system, having a blowup with a Denver technology official just days before the election. Now it seems, he may have lied about his IT background and technical skills.

Several people have questioned Rainey's information technology background. Adams said she herself did some checking 18 to 24 months ago. "He had already been hired and I started thinking, 'What is going on here?' "

She said Rainey told her that he had supervised 200 to 400 people at Denver Health. Her investigation showed that he had been a consultant at the hospital. She would not say if she had determined whether he supervised hundreds of employees while in that position. Rainey's job application for his commission post doesn't mention his stint at Denver Health.

He wrote that he graduated summa cum laude with a 4.0 grade-point average from National American University, earning a bachelor of science degree in management. Under the grade average, he writes "#3 Class."

For past employment, he listed two technology companies that are no longer in existence, as well as Qwest Communications and a company he formed called Covenant Technology.

In part, Covenant helped companies design Web pages, according to two companies listed as clients.

Rainey said he made $100,000 a year working for a company called ITIC of Colorado. Rainey wrote that he had experience in running database software, including SQL, MSSQL, MYSQL and Microsoft Access.