John Hickenlooper, who won the Denver mayor’s office four years ago running as an un-politician, is making the case that he runs the city that way as well.
Hickenlooper, who does not face serious opposition in his bid for re-election, kicked off a series of six town-hall-style meetings Tuesday night. The second meeting is tonight at Christ Community Church, 8085 E. Hampden Ave.
He re-introduced himself as a politician who did not play politics.
“I ran for mayor, really not because I thought I could win, but because I thought that someone who had never been in politics who could build a business … up from scratch, that there would be some benefit,” he said. “I would appoint people who had talent and experience in the agencies that they were going to run, rather than people who helped me get elected.”
Where his predecessor, Mayor Wellington Webb, had bickered with surrounding cities, Hickenlooper said he reached out.
Where other mayors stay away from the political pitfalls of the public school system, Hickenlooper noted he has visited almost every school in Denver’s system.
And where other politicians blackball their foes, Hickenlooper joked that chief of staff Kelly Brough mocked his name in 2003 while running an opponent’s campaign.
Politics or not, the mayor still faced questions Tuesday about the city’s graffiti problem, the troubled election last November and the snow removal policy after this winter’s storms.
He reminded the audience of 60 or so that his office was rebuffed when it tried to help the Denver Election Commission prepare for the November election.
He praised public works manager Bill Vidal and said the department “moved heaven and earth” during the snowstorms. But he noted there was one mistake.
“Bill Vidal said, ‘We are going to get out there and plow the neighborhoods,”‘ Hickenlooper said.
The mayor said he warned against that promise: “I said, ‘Maybe not.”‘
Covering a range of topics, Hickenlooper called a proposed city ordinance to protect healthy trees in front yards “crazy,” noting that homeowners should have options.
Resident Betty Phillips said she was impressed. “He made me feel that he tries to work with everyone,” she said.
Carl Cecchine said he thought the questions were filtered. “It’s a misnomer to say this was a dialogue,” he said. “There were some tough questions that were not asked.” Audience members submitted questions to a moderator, who chose which ones to ask.
Danny Lopez, a public works employee, is Hickenlooper’s only challenger in the May 1 mail-only election.
Staff writer George Merritt can be reached at 303-954-1657 or gmerritt@denverpost.com.
