As Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper enters the second half of his term this week, he is still grappling with many of the problems that took center stage at his inauguration.
Police shortages, employee morale, homelessness, economic development, panhandling and the need for a new justice center all still simmer – even though the administration has taken steps to address the issues.
Hickenlooper also is facing a third straight year of a multimillion-dollar budget shortfall at a time when 11 of 13 City Council members are similarly in the middle of their first terms.
“The budget this year could be a battleground,” City Councilwoman Rosemary Rod riguez said. “Council members are under a lot of pressure to produce something for their residents.”
Additionally, the mayor is contending with emerging issues, such as the opening of the convention center hotel, the struggling of a cash- strapped library, and the designing and planning of rail lines and hubs for the $4.7 billion FasTracks transit-expansion plan.
After two years of crafting policies, Hickenlooper must turn them into concrete results.
“Hickenlooper’s huge challenge is to maintain momentum at a time when the expectations are so high he must defy political gravity,” political analyst Eric Sondermann said. “He must set an agenda for the next several years and have a vision instead of a to-do list.”
In an interview last week, the mayor hinted that he may unwrap a theme to carry him through the remainder of his term when he gives his State of the City speech Thursday.
“I want to raise Denver to a top tier – a world city,” he said. “We’re trying to build a sustainable community that has a quality of life in terms of cultural vitality and a robust economy and outdoor recreation opportunities.”
But first, Hickenlooper needs to balance the budget. Although the city has not officially tallied the 2006 budget shortfall, estimates have ranged from $17 million to $35 million.
The city has been able to maintain its bond rating, largely because it has stayed on top of filling the gaps, budget chief Margaret Browne said.
“We asked agencies to make midyear reductions, but we will still have more,” she said.
Last year, Hickenlooper tapped $20 million in surplus revenue and reserves and cut $15 million in expenses. The year before, he managed to plug a $70 million budget gap without major layoffs. In both instances, there were few objections by the City Council.
But each year, there are additional costs – such as a new police monitor – and cuts after cuts become harder. This year, with most of the council facing re-election at the same time as Hickenlooper, it sets up a potential political storm.
“City Council has to be out there representing their constituencies and be able to say to them, ‘This is what I’ve done on your behalf,”‘ said council President Elbra Wedgeworth.
In last year’s budget, Hickenlooper managed to set aside $2.5 million to hire police cadets, but the number of new hires is expected to only balance those officers retiring. As a result, the police force remains short of its 1,400 authorized strength, while the city has grown and crimes such as burglary, robbery and auto theft are rising.
Drug dealers and panhandlers are the bane of downtown retail businesses, which have voiced their disappointment with the mayor for not taking a greater role in handling the problem. Some are considering leaving.
Musselman Jewelers has been on 16th Street for 20 years. The business just signed a two-year extension on its lease, even though the building owner wanted a five-year deal.
“We don’t know if we are going to stay,” said Damon Musselman. “Our customers are afraid to walk through all the people panhandling or selling drugs.”
Businesses across the city also have complained about the tedious and time-consuming development review process. Just last week, the administration unveiled a new streamlined system in an effort to fix the problems.
Meanwhile, planning and designing hubs for FasTracks will depend on city officials revising the zoning codes to allow for more construction flexibility, said planning director Peter Park. But that will take at least another year.
Much of the work has to be done with employee morale still low. Administration proposals to cut the city’s top three pay ranges have been resisted, and a move to use performance bonuses based on employee evaluations has not been worked out.
Jo Romero, president of the Colorado Federation of Public Employees, said city employees are concerned that evaluations will be too subjective.
“There isn’t a lot of trust in the new administration,” she said.
Finally, the loss of chief of staff Michael Bennet and possibly his deputy, Sarah Kendall, could cause some bumps for the mayor. Bennet, viewed as the behind-the-scenes closer, had a soft touch. He is now superintendent of Denver Public Schools.
“You have to wonder if the mayor will have the same responsiveness without them,” said City Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz. “If you ran into a problem, they were the go-to people.”
Hickenlooper said he isn’t worried about the upcoming challenges.
“Of what local government can do,” he said, “I think we’ve done most of it, and now we need to see if it works. If it doesn’t work, we need to find out what we should’ve been doing and do it.”
Staff writer Karen Crummy can be reached at 303-820-1594 or kcrummy@denverpost.com.
