2003 Denver Mayoral Transition
Update: 9News is reporting on some more of Mayor-elect Hickenlooper's appointments. From the article, " Lawyer Alvin J. LaCabe Jr. will be the city's new Manager of Public Safety. He was previously serving as Colorado's Assistant U.S. Attorney. Larry Trujillo will be the city's new Fire Chief. He has been an assistant fire chief for the past 16 months and a Denver firefighter for 21 years. Hickenlooper said that Gerry Whitman will continue to serve as Police Chief, while a transition committee reviews the department. Cheryl Cohen-Vader will remain as the city's Manager of Revenue, a position she has held since 1996. She will also serve as deputy mayor. And Margaret Browne will continue on as the city's Finance Director."
Here's some news about the Mayor-elect re-organizing the divisions responsible for economic development, into a cabinet level organization, from today's Denver Post ["July 20, 2003, "Hickenlooper to revamp city economic team"]. From the article, "The new office will house more than 200 employees scattered in separate departments: economic development and international trade, workforce development, contract compliance and housing and neighborhood development. The goal is to push faster to complete more than 20 major publicly assisted projects to boost the city's economy, which are worth an estimated $5.3 billion. That tab includes unfinished parts of the T-REX road and rail project, the proposed Union Station redevelopment, the convention center hotel. The whole group would create about 40,000 construction jobs, Huggins (John Huggins, Transition committe director) said. Huggins compared that package of projects to Denver International Airport in its potential to lift the economic fortunes of the city." Good idea.
Mayor-elect Hickenlooper starts work officially tomorrow. He and the the transition team(s) have been hard at work already of course. Here's an article from the the Denver Post [July 20, 2003, "No city hall honeymoon"] detailing some of the negatives, including of course, the budget shortfall, he will be dealing with after tomorrow. The Post quotes the Mayor-elect as saying, ""Everyone says I'm naive, it's going to be impossible and you don't know what it's like. I still remain optimistic that I can convince city workers to help me. I'm not going to be able to do it (alone). But I think the city workers can help me make that transition to a city government that views small businesses as their partners." On that note I can assure the Mayor-elect that many city workers are lining up to help him. Some are jumping on the bandwagon for selfish reasons, of course, they expect him to dole out preference in the same way it has always been at City hall. Most, however, want to see the City succeed and increase services to the public.
Jim Spencer compares Mayor Webb and Mayor-elect Hickenlooper in today's column from the Denver Post [July 20, 2003, "New mayor and old offer sharp contrast"]. From the column, "Wellington Webb walked around Denver in old tennis shoes while getting elected mayor. Since then, he's ridden mostly in sedans the size of river barges. John Hickenlooper puttered on a motor scooter while persuading voters to let him succeed Webb. We'll see how imperially he travels once he takes office Monday." Fred Brown weighs in a bit on the change in administration in today's Post [July 20, 2003, "Get ready for the new show"]. He talks about access to the mayor vs. acquiescence to those with access. Sharon Sherman sounds off on reporters and being Mayor while giving advice to John Hickenlooper in today's Post [July 20, 2003, "Ex-reporter: Welcome to the spotlight"]. Leave it to Ken Hamblin to advise the Mayor-elect that reaching out to former opponents, environmentalists, in addition to business interests and others, is a bad idea. In his column in today's Post [July 20, 2003, "Watch your back, Hick"]. He continues to use the moniker "Hick" in reference to Mr. Hickenlooper. If you still want to read the drivel from "Ham" here's the link.
Here's a bunch of advice to Mayor-elect Hickenlooper from former mayor Federico Pena published in today's Denver Post [July 20, 2003, "Pena: Here's advice I would have liked"]. Pena writes, "I generally hesitate to advise any newly elected executive, and John Hickenlooper certainly doesn't need advice from me. But The Post's invitation to share some 'lessons learned,' lessons that might be helpful to any new mayor in any city, caused me to reflect on things I wish someone had shared with me when I took office." The Post is also inviting readers to submit their own advice to the new Mayor, in 200 words or less, that'll be published on July 27th.
7:15:22 AM 
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