Incoming Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce chief and outgoing mayoral chief of staff Kelly Brough was showered with gifts Wednesday night during a hearty party thrown by city colleagues at the Denver Athletic Club.
“I want to point out that no tax dollars were used on this gift,” Mayor John Hickenlooper said as he handed her a green street sign from Public Works that read: “Kelly’s Way.”
Newly retired Fire Chief Nick Nuanes said he’s faced brutal car accidents, fires and countless other atrocities in the line of duty, “but one of the toughest things I’ve done as a firefighter is to face Kelly Brough.” The Fire Department gifted Brough with a framed ax.
Mayor Hick compared Brough’s job in his administration to the Wizard of Oz.
“There’s someone behind the scenes, like the wizard,” he said. “There’s a level of selflessness to being the chief of staff. Sometimes, the city and the mayor come first.”
In his proclamation declaring Sept. 30, 2009, Kelly Brough Day, the mayor started every sentence with, “Whereas, Kelly G. Brough, 45,” mocking her recent comment that she was sick of seeing her age printed in every newspaper story about her.
The last gift was a tiara because Brough once told the mayor, “Given a nice cape and tiara, I could save the world.”
Her reign as chief of staff for “six years, two months and nine days” came to an end Wednesday, with her new job at the chamber that began Thursday when she and a team of area business types took off for the annual Leadership Exchange trip to Minneapolis.
Cane pain.
PR pro Leanna Clark, senior vice president/corporate communications for IMA Financial Group and executive director of the IMA Foundation, is walking on borrowed time, of sorts.
Clark, 43, is sporting a cane borrowed from former City Councilwoman Susan Barnes-Gelt.
“I had hip surgery, and I’m not supposed to bend more than 90 degrees,” Clark said during the going-away party Wednesday for Brough. “Three weeks ago, I was in a walker.”
The A-list.
Also seen at the city’s soiree for Brough: Spokesmodel Rich Grant of Visit Denver; new chief of staff Roxane White; Red Rocks rocker Erik Dyce; former Hickenlooper chief of staff Cole Finegan; former City Councilman Ed Thom as; City Councilwoman Carla Madison; city Auditor Dennis Gallagher; Wells Fargo’s Pat Cortez and husband Manual Martinez; real-estate broker Juanita Chacon; and Downtown Denver Partnership honcho Tami Door.
Offline.
The Rocky Mountain Independent, an online news venture started by former employees of the Rocky Mountain News, will cease to produce new content Monday, according to a posting on , a competitor. The posting cites the economy as the reason for shutting down.
The seen.
Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros and his “camp” dined at Root Down on Wednesday. I’m told they plan to return to Denver to revisit Root Down this month.
Eavesdropping.
A man to a woman at Elway’s Cherry Creek:
“You’re like Visa — you’re everywhere.”
Penny Parker’s column appears Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Listen to her on the Caplis and Silverman radio show between 4 and 5 p.m. Fridays on KHOW-630 AM. Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail pparker@ .
