Two Denver City Council members are lobbying their colleagues to pick them as the next council president, pitting a top supporter of Mayor John Hickenlooper against someone who has recently clashed with the mayor on some crucial issues.
Councilwoman Jeanne Robb and Councilman Rick Garcia both put out calls this past week to other council members seeking support.
Recently, the two took far different stances on the most controversial issue to split the council during their tenure.
A pay-raise flap that surfaced at the end of the year pitted a veto-proof majority of the council against Hickenlooper.
Garcia sided with labor and pushed to increase the base pay of virtually all city employees beyond what the mayor had proposed. Robb disagreed and was one of the most aggressive defenders of the mayor’s stance on the issue. She said the move wasn’t fiscally prudent.
Garcia argued the city employees needed the extra pay because they had fallen behind workers in the private sector.
The mayor and Robb also joined forces to work out a revamped proposal to place the Colorado History Museum in Civic Center, which the Colorado Historical Society board of directors rejected this past week.
In an interview, Garcia indicated he would continue to push a strong legislative agenda, perhaps signaling an end to a time when the mayor has had little trouble in pushing his priorities through the council.
“I want to continue to provide a voice for the legislative branch,” Garcia said. “We have a strong mayoral form of government in our city, and the system has served us well, but the legislative branch needs to continue to set our agenda.”
Garcia said he had sided with the mayor most of the time, but noted he had broken with him over the pay-raise vote and also had helped amend the 2006 budget to hire more police officers than the mayor originally wanted.
“I think we need a voice to continue to make sure we get the resources and projects and the kind of opportunities we are accustomed to in representing our constituents,” Garcia said.
Robb didn’t return telephone messages seeking comment.
The council isn’t scheduled to choose its next leader until July, but already Garcia and Robb are seeking to line up support.
The lobbying for the position is occurring far earlier than usual.
The current president, Michael Hancock, worked closely with the mayor, though Hancock also ended up supporting the pay-raise increase. Hancock also pushed the mayor to revamp his bond proposal to include more input from council members.
The positions of the presidency and pro tempore are largely ceremonial. The council president runs every council meeting and assigns council members to council committees. The pro tempore stands in when the president is unavailable.
If the council chooses Garcia, it would upend past precedent. Usually, the presidency goes to the pro tempore, which currently is Robb.
“I always thought that when we voted for the pro tempore we were voting for the next president,” said Councilwoman Marcia Johnson. “I thought it was a matter of succession.”
That’s not always the case. Former Councilwoman Kathleen MacKenzie did not ascend to the presidency when she was on the council even though she had served in the pro tempore post, Councilman Doug Linkhart recalled.
Linkhart said Garcia talked to him about the presidency and emphasized that “he felt we should have a strong council.”
Christopher N. Osher: 303-954- 1747 or cosher@denverpost.com
