Two of the heavy-hitters of Colorado politics helped The Denver Forum celebrate its 25th anniversary Friday by delivering a grim economic message tinged with optimism.
Gov. John Hickenlooper and Sen. Michael Bennet both spoke at the celebratory luncheon for The Denver Forum, an organization which strives to bring speakers of national and international renown to Denver.
“This is what allows cities to succeed,” Hickenlooper said of civic engagement. The first-term Governor went on to describe the state’s more than $1 billion budget shortfall, and his “three-legged stool” plan to fix it: responsible balancing, more efficient government, and a “harmonized” mission.
Hickenlooper said Colorado suffers from too many contradictory directives in terms of a constitutional directive to keep taxes low at the same time the state faces a $1.1 billion revenue shortfall.
“It makes it very difficult to do any long-term planning,” Hickenlooper said.
Bennet also painted a sobering economic picture, saying that Colorado now faces a reality in which citizens are now financially worse-off than they were a decade ago.
“We need a theory about job creation,” Bennet said. “We face an incredible set of fiscal challenges in this country.”
Despite what he identified as a bleak present, Bennet tried to put the situation in a positive perspective.
“Parents of ours and grandparents of ours have faced even longer odds than we do,” he told the assembled audience.
“I’ll tell you one thing,” Bennet said. “If the quality of the conversations on the U.S. Senate floor came close to the quality of the conversations at The Denver Forum, we’d all be better off.”
The Forum has presented more than 500 programs since its first event on March 1, 1985.
Denver Forum Founder and President George Mitrovich said his group’s success in landing speakers like former United Nations Ambassador Ken Adelman and best-selling sportswriter and author Rick Reilly is a “significant achievement,” especially since speakers receive no pay.
“These are serious people. Accomplished people,” Mitrovich said.
Mitrovich said The Forum aims to promote civic responsibility and engagement, a mission and a theme both the governor and the senator addressed in their speeches.
Kyle Glazier: 303-954-1638 or kglazier@denverpost.com
