Sometimes a lack of government transparency is simply due to an erroneous email.

Gov. John Hickenlooper’s schedule for the week, distributed to members of the press, included a speech on Wednesday at a meeting of the Colorado Forum, a nonpartisan policy group founded in 1978 that counts state civic leaders across industries among its 65 members.

Hickenlooper was scheduled to deliver remarks about “current public policy issues affecting the state,” according to the email sent to reporters.

Yet reporters who showed up, including one from The Colorado Statesman, were turned away at the door by a Forum member.

Since when is the governor barring the press from publicly announced speeches he’s delivering to civic groups?

Kathy Green, the governor’s spokeswoman, apologized.

“It was a closed event and it shouldn’t have been on the press sheet,” she said. “We apologize for the confusion. It was clearly on us.”

— ramsey@coloradostatesman.com