To me, the most surprising thing here is that one of the people on Wetmore's staff is his acknowledged significant other. Wetmore must have special permission from the university to be supervising an employee who is also his girlfriend, as it would not seem to be allowable under CU's policy (or that of most universities).
Here's what the CU policy says, "A related policy addressing amorous relationships requires that 'direct evaluative authority not be exercised in cases where amorous relationships exist or existed within the last seven years.'" (full policy at
https://www.cu.edu/policies/policies/HR_COI-Amorous.html
)
The Running Times article, and subsequent letter to the editor, plus the discussion here, are all ample illustration of why universities try to avoid these kinds of situations - just the appearance of a conflict of interest is enough to cause problems.