In January, Denver City Councilman Charlie Brown wrote a column asking several questions that he wanted all candidates for Denver mayor to be able to answer. Here are the candidates’ answers. For the first four questions, candidates were asked to provide 200-word responses. The remaining questions required yes-or-no answers.
QUESTION 1: The weak economy has slowed the growth of sales tax revenue, the city’s largest single revenue source, forcing budget cuts and adjustments. What solutions do you propose to ensure the overall sustainability of basic city services? Would part of your solution be new or higher taxes and fees?
Carol Boigon:
The City’s budget is more than just numbers – it reflects our community values. As Mayor, I have the experience necessary to make the hard decisions to balance our budget while protecting Denver families, kids and seniors.
As co-chair of General Government and Finance Committee, I know every twist and turn of the budget. We can meet half of this year’s shortfall by repeating last year’s steps. We can meet the other half looking line-by-line and making tough decisions on cuts to services that may create inconvenience but do no lasting harm.
But we have to think differently about the City’s budget. My administration will make government more efficient by engaging public employees to streamline departments, following the lead of Denver Health and companies like Anadarko. Called the LEAN process, it has employees reevaluate systems process by process for maximum efficiency. Dr. Patricia Gabow estimates LEAN has saved Denver Health 5-10 percent while improving services. Since Public Safety accounts for more than half the City’s budget, it will be my top priority in putting these practices in place.
New or higher taxes cannot be considered until the public is confident that the City is operating with maximum efficiency.
Michael Hancock:
There will be no honeymoon for the next mayor, who will have only 45 days from inauguration to eliminate a $100 million budget deficit. It will take a leader with courage and candor to make the tough but necessary decisions. As City Council President for two terms, I’m the only candidate who has led our city through two recent recessions, working closely with Mayor Hickenlooper to close $350 million in budget shortfalls. I know what it will take to solve our short-term budget problems and fundamentally re-think city government.
I’ll realign resources, eliminate redundancies and inefficiencies, and streamline services. My Peak Performance initiative will allow us to improve quality and performance by setting high goals and using real-time data to hold city agencies accountable. These efforts will allow us to erase the deficit and fix the structural imbalance by living within existing revenue means. Only then can we begin to discuss the other side of the ledger.
To create a sustainable city you must build sustainable economic development. Through purposeful public investment, I’ll drive private-sector economic activity neighborhood-by-neighborhood and actively pursue public-private partnerships to. Taking a regional approach, I’ll utilize revenue-sharing intergovernmental agreements with neighboring entities to minimize competition.
Doug Linkhart:
The weak economy has slowed the growth of sales tax revenue, the city’s largest single revenue source, forcing budget cuts and adjustments. What solutions do you propose to ensure the overall sustainability of basic city services? Would part of your solution be new or higher taxes and fees?
We cannot cut our way to prosperity, nor can we simply rely on a rising economy to fix our budget. As Mayor I will address the long-term problems holding down revenues and inflating costs by diversifying our revenue base and investing in services that reduce costs.
Denver voters have always supported strategic investment. Now is not the time to shrink from our commitment to invest in our future. By investing in youth and the community we can reduce the ever-rising costs of jails, human services, homelessness, poverty, school dropouts and health problems.
On the day I take office I will ask city employees to identify strategic budget cuts and delays in capital improvements in both 2011 and 2012 that can be made without reducing services. These cuts will make up half of the projected 2012 budget gap. The other half will come from innovative revenue solutions, such as a “Green for Green” trash fee and parking meter capitalization.
Long-term, I will create a Fiscal Stabilization Fund to invest in proven strategies for reducing social problems and their costs and bring long-term stability to our budget. These investments include preschool, youth programs, mental health care, drug treatment and school-based health centers.
Danny F. Lopez
My position is the same as it was when I ran for City Council in 2003 and for Mayor in 2007. In both of those campaigns I asked City Council to repudiate the recent pay raise they had given themselves. City Council has benefited from two $6000.00 raises in the past eight years that we have been in a budget crisis. I do not plan on raising taxes nor do I plan on charging fees for the city services. If we can find the money to build the South Platte Central Campus, if we can find money to remodel the bathrooms at DIA, if we can find money for raises for elected officials and mayoral appointees, we can surely find the money to keep this city running. We need to eliminate unnecessary upper management positions that were created by the last administration. We need to reduce the work force by retirement incentives instead of lay-offs. To increase the sales tax revenue base we need to increase the purchasing power of lower wage earners.
James Mejia:
As Denver faces a $100 million budget deficit in 2011 and 2012, the challenge will be to make government more efficient without reducing city services. As Mayor, I will identify efficiencies in the delivery of services through collaboration among city agencies and outside partners.
In the short term, the City needs to examine the employee/supervisor ratio. When I was Manager of Parks and Recreation, the ratio was 18 to 1. Now it is 8 to one. We must reduce the redundancies in departments and more clearly define duties. I will cut Mayoral appointments by 10%. I will put a hold on any automatic escalators in city contracts.
In the long term, I will work with other jurisdictions in the region to explore opportunities for shared health insurance pooling. I will leverage Denver’s contribution to FasTracks to recuperate cost from neighboring jurisdictions when those citizens are treated at Denver Health. We must reform our pension system. Finally, we must ensure we have not left any federal or state money on the table.
Raising taxes will not be on the table until all efficiencies in city government are examined, redundancies are eliminated and non-tax revenue is maximized.
Jeff Peckman:
Amazing solutions exist for health care, education, criminal justice, public safety, clean energy, and environmental quality, without requiring new taxes and fees. These are proven, affordable solutions that can help solve Denver’s problems better than ever, while saving millions of dollars and creating new and better jobs.
I propose a visionary “Denver Project” to:
A. Remove Denver’s dependence on fossil fuel energy within five years. Government and public facilities should use 100% renewable energy and create it themselves, and buy it from Denver residents and businesses through locally created renewable energy.
B. Integrate more effective and affordable local holistic health care for city employees.
C. Use complimentary currencies, usable only in Denver, that can keep more money and jobs in Denver and reduce the fraudulent waste of Federal taxes.
Many of these solutions have been used for years in other cities and countries, but have been ignored by the same reactive, ‘narrow-vision’ state legislators and city council members now running for mayor of Denver.
Collectively, these solutions can increase quality of life in Denver dramatically, balance the budget, and make Denver a stronger magnet for tourism and businesses. Many of these amazing solutions have become miraculous successes. Read more at www.jeffpeckmanformayor.com.
Chris Romer:
I will not raise city taxes in this tough economic climate – families are still struggling and there are better ways to sustain city services. We must establish a retail sales strategy for Denver to grow city revenues by looking at appropriate, targeted incentives to draw diverse companies in to Denver, especially retailers capable of growing our sales tax base.
Sales tax revenue pays for half of our city’s services like trash, public safety and road maintenance, yet much of the city’s sales tax base is moving outside Denver. We should work to have Denver residents spending their money, and generating sales tax dollars, in Denver. For example, the Target that used to be in Denver at Sheridan and Evans just shut its doors and reopened just up the street in Lakewood, sending good jobs and a strong sales tax base outside of our city.
As mayor, I will work to attract and retain companies to Denver to keep jobs and sales tax revenue here. While our $100 million budget deficit must be closed in the near term with efficiencies and streamlining government, we must have a strategy for sustained city revenues.
Ken Simpson:
Basic city services can be maintained. I would ask for all citizens input on any ideas they may have in helping with the budget crisis. I would also seek the advice of the Office of Management and Budget to see what can be done to increase the growth of sales tax revenue. I would personally contact CEO’s of major corporations and convince them to come to Denver, Colorado. I would also have to look at fees. Most people would rather pay fees than higher taxes. The devil is in the details, so I would need those details and the input of the citizens and employees of the city before making any final decision concerning charging fees or charging higher taxes. My main concern will be attracting companies to Denver, Colorado. We need jobs first and foremost.
Theresa Spahn:
Dr. Phyllis Resnick, the Regional Economist for the Denver Regional Council of Governments and the Lead Economist at DU’s Center for Colorado’s Economic Future, was retained as a consultant by the campaign to help develop innovative solutions for Denver’s budget shortfall and general fund sustainability. With her expertise, we recognize that the structural problems with general fund revenue began before the economic downturn and will continue even after full economic recovery. However, it is my obligation to take a hard look at every department and agency from the ground-up to create significant efficiencies. We must recognize that the budget shortfall has given us a great opportunity to reinvent the way we do business and become a model for a 21st century, sustainable city. I will identify and streamline our core services and consolidate, reduce, or eliminate non-core services. Only after we solve the budget shortfall by creating efficiencies will I begin to address strategies, the last of which will be a tax increase, to fix the structural revenue problem.
Thomas Wolf:
The breadth of our city services is like a TV remote control, originally it was effective for basic needs, but now it has 53 buttons, so its performance and utility have imploded. Engineers call this “feature creep”. As your next mayor I will right-size our government by shrinking it to the essential services that keep our city safe, clean, accessible and competitive. Together we need to re-define essential, set budgets we can afford, deliver, measure performance, mark-to-market when possible, and repeat annually. The past administration has made headway on this approach to a degree, but the unpopular steps of thorough restructuring have yet to be implemented. It is a lot like diet and exercise, tough and upsetting initially, but the resulting fitness is life altering. Higher taxes and fees are the tired unproductive path of career politicians – let’s spend our way out of trouble because fiscal restraint and sound budgeting could jeopardize our careers. As the only active business person and political outsider in this race I know, higher taxes and fees are not the solution. Again the diet analogy is appropriate: for a city government that needs to diet, raising taxes and fees is like putting more food on the plate, clearly the wrong game plan.
QUESTION 2: The city has experienced the largest decline in revenue since the 1930s. Basic city services such as public safety, parks and recreation, public works and environmental health, as well as employee compensation, have been strained by the tight revenue situation. How would you prioritize specific city services in a time when cuts and tradeoffs have to be made? Do you feel any city services, such as garbage collection for private homes, should be changed to a fee system?
Carol Boigon:
My number one priority is economic development to help us GROW the economy to create jobs for Denver families, keep city services strong and maintain Denver’s excellent quality of life. My economic development program will increase the number of companies and jobs in Denver, thereby increasing revenue and ensuring the high quality services Denverites know and deserve. I would dedicate the necessary resources to ensure our economic development program is effective.
My next priority would be to maintain service levels to ensure no lasting harm is done to the health and safety of Denver’s families and unique quality of life. For example, we must fund Denver’s public safety at a level that ensures we are protected from crime and disaster, and we must fund parks to ensure trees that took 100 years to grow don’t die from lack of water.
I think it’s premature to impose a fee on garbage collection for private homes. Denver takes pride in being a clean city and I would be concerned how some neighborhoods would be harmed if private residents had to pay for garbage pickup.
Michael Hancock:
In 2003, when I began my first of two terms on the City Council, many neighborhoods were not receiving equitable city services. Street sweeping was absent, parks and recreation centers were undeveloped and 8 out of 10 of our neighborhood schools were failing. This is simply not acceptable.
For two years, I’ve called for a comprehensive analysis of city government, which is now getting underway by Denver’s Structural Financial Task Force. As mayor, I’ll lead an honest evaluation and fundamental re-thinking of city government — of what services we value the most and how we will pay for them, based on facts and finances, not politics.
I’ll eliminate programs that no longer reflect the needs of Denver residents and businesses and streamline services, offices and functions that are repetitive or wasteful. We will achieve long-term savings by making government more efficient, effective and customer-friendly. To maintain high quality services and amenities for all of our citizens, I will build non-profit stewardship agreements, public-private partnerships and metro districts.
As mentioned in the previous answer, my Peak Performance initiative will make government more efficient and cost-effective. Only after we have cut costs and eliminated inefficiencies can we have a discussion about fees.
Doug Linkhart:
The city has experienced the largest decline in revenue since the 1930s. Basic city services such as public safety, parks and recreation, public works and environmental health, as well as employee compensation, have been strained by the tight revenue situation. How would you prioritize specific city services in a time when cuts and tradeoffs have to be made? Do you feel any city services, such as garbage collection for private homes, should be changed to a fee system?
Many city services have already suffered from budget cuts, some of which are important investments in the future, like libraries and economic development. As Mayor I will restore these services and stop balancing the budget on the backs of city employees.
On the revenue side, I will implement the city’s new Solid Waste Plan through a program called Green for Green, in which all homes will be able to recycle and compost through a trash fee assessed on a sliding scale. Those who recycle and compost or are lower-income will be charged less. With this program Denver will be able to significantly reduce its waste diversion and contribute toward reducing global climate change.
Secondly, I will capitalize our revenue stream from parking meter revenue through a private investment firm. This plan will provide the city a lump-sum payment in return for meter fares for a designated period without giving up any control over meter rates.
Of the funds created by capitalizing our meter revenues, 40% will be used for budget gaps over the next two years, 20% to replace lost revenues from the meters and 40% for the Fiscal Stabilization Fund. Details are on our web site at www.DougLinkhart.net.
Danny F. Lopez
I am against the privatization of any city jobs. I am against the idea of charging citizens for their trash removal or any other services. I do not believe in a two-tier pay system. I do not believe in a sliding pay scale. I don’t believe in furlough days. These polices take money out of circulation in our local economy and generate less revenue for the city when the city workers are not at work. Tell Councilman Brown that it doesn’t really matter if this candidate answers his questions or not. Because the media thugs (Silverman, Caplis, Barnes-Gelt and Singleton) will not give equal coverage to all 10 candidates on the ballot, they only include the top six fundraisers. If they feel the other 4 candidates are insignificant why are they afraid to give us equal coverage. I hope the voters can see that the media is trying to control Democracy. They only want to give the candidates who have money a chance to be heard. Running for Mayor should not be about the biggest fundraiser. Don’t let them sell the office of mayor to the highest bidder. Cast a vote for yourself, cast a vote for the little guy, cast a vote for Danny F. Lopez.
James Mejia:
As former Manager of Parks and Recreation for the City of Denver, I am experienced in growing city services while making budget cuts. While at Parks and Recreation I managed two consecutive budget cycles each with a ten percent reduction. That was a 20% reduction in the department’s budget over the course of two years. At the same time we were successful in growing our parks system by 20%. This was accomplished by working with the dedicated and talented employees in the department who are best suited to identify new efficiencies. My experience tells me that we must engage city employees in finding budget conscious ways to deliver city services efficiently to the residents of Denver.
Denver citizens already pay for trash collection through their taxes. I am in favor of delineating how much those taxes are and open to the conversation of increasing those fees for composting and recycling to all residents including multi unit buildings.
Jeff Peckman:
Amazing solutions already exist for achieving more at less cost in all major areas of city services and employee compensation without requiring more fees. The political motivations and narrow vision of Denver City Council members have blinded them from objectively considering more cost-effective alternatives for fulfilling city government responsibilities. They typically give more weight to their own uninformed opinions than scientific and historical facts, when presented with innovative but proven solutions. Consequently, Denver’s residents and city budget suffer.
Public safety is still the highest priority, and proven solutions can improve safety and reduce crime at negligible expense. Cleaner air can also be achieved easily and affordably, to avoid losing Federal funding, and keep health-conscious residents and businesses in Denver. Improving cost-effectiveness in other areas will leave more funding for parks and recreation without private paid events in parks that deprive residents of free access. Hold private paid events at Denver Public School properties already equipped with stadiums and auditoriums. Schools are not used during weekends and much of the summer anyway.
Sell Cableland and use the money to create a Mayor’s residence and “library of solutions” in the McNichols building (Carnegie Library) to fulfill the intentions of both philanthropists.
Chris Romer:
With families still struggling during the economic downturn, now is not the time to charge fees for city services. We must streamline city government, promote a retail sales strategy to grow revenue and draw solutions from the community and city employees.
City Hall must move at the speed of business and I’m prepared to have the long overdue conversations we need to have about making government more efficient. I’ve asked the Structural Financial Task Force a series of important, initial questions about city functions and look forward to their results. I asked them about efficiencies that can be found between the City Department of Health and Denver Health, the effectiveness of the Manager of Safety management structure, and the historic rationale of Denver Water not make payment in lieu of taxes, like similar public utilities do without raising water rates.
With 25 years of business experience, I know how to streamline government by identifying duplicative functions, while protecting critical services. In these tough times, we have to expect City Hall to do more with less and as mayor, I’ll make sure we do.
Ken Simpson:
I would prioritize specific city services in a time when cuts and tradeoffs have to be made. Safety is the number one priority for me. I would shift some of the police officers from DIA to lower downtown where citizens are being beat up by a bunch of thugs. Some cities are also using volunteer police officers to make up for the shortage of patrols in their perspective cities. We should look into that too; if its working in other cities it should work here too. When a citizen calls 911, it should not take 45 minutes for the police to get there. As far as parks and rec is concerned, we need to have more paid events like the snowboard event in civic center park. We need to solicit private donations for our parks and recreation centers also. I would have to have a cost benefit analysis done to see if it’s cost effective to charge for trash. I don’t think we should charge for trash, but everything will be considered to help save peoples jobs. During the Pena administration the city budget was in worse shape than now. We did not have to charge for trash back then.
Theresa Spahn:
I will work with staff, business leaders, and community stakeholders to identify obsolete policies, merge agencies and pool resources to provide the best quality services to our citizens. We must work to identify core services like street maintenance, our parks and libraries to ensure that these departments are delivering vital services to our citizens. In these tough economic times we will also address personnel costs by rolling up our sleeves and having honest conversations about our vehicle fleets, anticipated raises, and fringe benefits.
As Mayor, I will explore charging residents for trash pickup. We are dealing with the harsh reality of a $100 million gap between the city’s revenue and expenditures. In 2011, the solid waste management budget was $23 million. By implementing a $10 to $15 monthly fee based on the size of trash receptacle a resident uses, we would be $20 million closer to closing the budget gap. Paying a fee based on the size of their receptacle would encourage recycling, as recycling pickup will remain cost-free. At the same time, Denver will have an opportunity to educate neighborhoods about the importance of recycling.
Thomas Wolf:
As your next Mayor, I will use my skills from a career in finance and success as an investor and follow the methodology of the private sector which does not spend/invest money unless it quantifies why it is doing it, what comparable products and services cost, how much is needed, and what results/performance/outcomes are generated from the expenditure, much like a return on investment calculation. In the case of garbage collection, it is obviously an essential need, but the service is also offered by the private sector, so as Mayor it is smart and necessary to compare the prices of the public and private provision of this service. If there is cost savings in the private sector, I would begin to transition the business, but have the city remain as the customer or counter-party to the contract, so that service quality can be enforced. The suggestion of a fee system as an alternative, only makes sense to me if it is an attempt to more equitably assess the cost relative to usage. My suspicion of the suggested fee system is that it is typical governing where the problem is not properly analyzed, so more money is the default solution.
QUESTION 3: Denver’s population has grown in recent years, thanks to developments such as Lowry and Stapleton. But the recession has stalled other projects, such as redevelopment of the former University of Colorado medical center and the old Gates factory. As mayor, what economic development proposals would you support to promote sustainable growth and job development in Denver?
Carol Boigon:
Leading Denver into the modern era requires creative thinking, the ability to bring people together and determination to get things done. In my 25 years of public service, that is exactly how I have gotten results. I led the effort to rebuild a failed mall, revitalize parts of Colfax, and help bring new small businesses into Denver.
As Mayor, I will work with businesses, research firms, and community colleges to turn innovative ideas into middle-income jobs. That means light manufacturing of high tech products, like solar panels or biomedical devices, and building clean energy infrastructure. We can do this – we just need the right plan and partner.
We must attract research companies in the areas of energy, bioscience, medical technology, clean-tech, and high-tech to drive that innovation. The key ingredient here is leveraging our highly educated workforce and proving Denver will welcome business. We must make doing business easier by finding ways to increase capital flow, cut bureaucratic red tape, and ensure a strong, well-trained workforce.
Michael Hancock:
The recession stalled many of these redevelopment plans. I’ll ensure the city does not erect undue barriers for private development and business growth in Denver. I’ll work with businesses and developers to honor approved general improvement plans that currently exist for these locations and strategically target neighborhoods to prioritize public investment and resources to drive private-sector activity and get our economy moving again.
I’ll promote economic development by attracting, growing and retaining jobs and businesses – from innovative startups to large companies and corporate headquarters. I’ll streamline permitting, inspection and approval processes for business while also supporting existing industry clusters to generate jobs that cannot be exported. I’ll increase access to capital for startups and create networks for local businesses to connect with cost-effective office, manufacturing, warehouse and research space.
I’ll make better use of economic development tools to retain and expand large employers like Rose and National Jewish hospitals to protect their investments in the area. For example, we will redevelop the former Health Sciences campus to leverage the City’s existing inventory of available lab sites to attract start-up bio-medical companies and partner with higher education to establish research and development labs in Denver.
Doug Linkhart:
Denver’s population has grown in recent years, thanks to developments such as Lowry and Stapleton. But the recession has stalled other projects, such as redevelopment of the former University of Colorado medical center and the old Gates factory. As mayor, what economic development proposals would you support to promote sustainable growth and job development in Denver?
When it comes to sustainable prosperity, it’s better to grow local than to hope for outsiders to bring jobs here. As a business economist for 14 years and public servant for 18 years, I understand that most jobs come from small business. As Mayor I will make Denver a hotbed of innovation and entrepreneurship, creating long-term economic prosperity.
The City of Littleton has a world-renowned program called economic gardening which the city has used to aid entrepreneurs and small business, doubling the city’s job base in the past 20 years. As Mayor, I will create a Seed Capital Fund for entrepreneurs, start a Gap Financing Fund for small businesses, encourage use of the Denver public library system for small business assistance, and expand work I have done with the Economic Prosperity Task Force to connect residents to jobs.
When the city solicits contracts for projects, I will ensure the work force is recruited from the Denver area. We know by doing business locally, we build up Denver’s economy. When $1 is spent at a local business, it re-circulates 3 times before leaving Denver. By strengthening connections between neighborhood business districts and nearby residents we can help these areas thrive.
Danny F. Lopez
According to City Charter the Mayor sees that all contracts with the City and County are faithfully kept and fully performed. Under the past administration it was found that numerous contracts were begun without being properly reviewed and signed. As Mayor of Denver I will enforce City Charter. I will put a hold on all future contracts, review the necessity of those contracts and get out of any contracts that we can eliminate from the budget. We are not going to spend money just to get in on the budget next year. I will also review all contracts to make sure they go to local companies. No more money going out of state. No more contracts to consulting firms out of the City, State, or to consulting firms affiliated with past administrations. Most of the consulting should be in-house with all the upper management positions and engineers this City has. Why do we need outside consulting firms. Tell Councilman Brown that these economic development proposals he is looking for should have been found and enacted on in the past 8 years during the time he, the present City Council and past administration have been in office. These same problems have been around for the past two elections that I have run for office. I am running on the same platform I ran on 8 years ago.
James Mejia:
At the heart of my economic development vision for Denver are the development of the South Platte River and the completion of Denver’s infill projects. From Overland at our southern border, the former Gates factory site, through Sun Valley and the Elitch site, to River North, the South Platte River has development opportunities with long lasting effects on our economy. Giving the River back to the people of Denver through the creation of parkland, transit orientated development and housing has benefits for the residents along the River beginning in Sun Valley. As the poorest neighborhood in Denver, the development of parkland and housing will create jobs and better the neighborhood for its residents. Development will also provide an enormous economic benefit to the City. In San Antonio, the River Walk generates $50 million to the local economy. We have the same opportunity with the South Platte.
Additionally, Denver’s infill projects, such as Union Station, 8th and Colorado, and the soon to be vacant St. Anthony’s Hospital campus, provide retail and housing opportunities that will benefit the neighborhoods where they are located, create jobs and increase the tax base of the City.
Jeff Peckman:
Energy – I would urge passage of HB 1228 Economic Development through Distributed Generation in the legislature to study a feed-in tariff for Colorado. It would jump start Denver becoming energy self-sufficient within five years using 100% clean renewable energy sources.
Space industries – NASA is seeking a Colorado location for 10,000 new jobs. A spaceport, like the one in New Mexico is also viable for Denver. Over 31,000 Denver voters supported Initiative 300 to create an Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission. Since then, the Vatican, Royal Society of London, Global Competitiveness Forum in Saudi Arabia, and even the Nation of Islam have held major sessions on extraterrestrial life.
Health Care – Thousands of health care jobs that improve health and save money can be created by integrating more holistic, cost-effective, and affordable natural health care for city workers and the general public. The medical marijuana industry created a breakthrough for launching businesses related to the thousands of medicinal plants used in time-tested traditional health care systems.
Hemp industries – Denver can lead the nation in industries developing many of the 50,000 products potentially derived from hemp and start a hemp-based economic engine proposed by visionary Henry Ford in the 1930’s.
Chris Romer:
To promote sustainable growth and job development in Denver, we must change the culture of City Hall so that from the mayor down to the front clerk, everyone is focused on creating jobs.
First, I will cut red tape to promote business growth and jobs by expecting our government to be more responsive to current and potential employers. We need to have a City Hall that works with small businesses, not against them.
Next, we must spur innovation and foster public-private partnerships to attract innovative businesses to our city with 21st century infrastructure, a culture of creativity and a city government that encourages innovation. For the old CU Medical Center and Gates properties, we need to look at using innovative redevelopment districts like Denver Union Station to bring 21st century redevelopment to those areas.
Furthermore, I will actively recruit companies and good jobs to Denver by engaging our city’s business leaders to attract new companies and make Denver more business-friendly, including offering appropriate incentives.
Finally, I will put education and training to work for people and business by connecting our higher education institutions with our local businesses to create effective training and education programs that produce smart, well-trained employees.
Ken Simpson:
I would get all recommendations from the Economic Development office and the Denver Chamber of Commerce personnel for any ideas as how to best redevelop the University of Colorado medical center and the old Gates factory. I would of course put the burden of cost on private corporations to redevelop these areas. That Gates location would be a perfect spot for a big box retailer that the city has been “talking” about bring to Denver for over 10 years. Why is that old Gates factory not redeveloped yet? My first 6 months as mayor will be attracting businesses to come to Denver. Private donations can also help redevelop the University of Colorado medical center.
Theresa Spahn:
As Mayor, I will partner with the Governor, other mayors, the legislature, and the Colorado Office of Economic Development to start a domino effect of corporate headquarter relocation by not only improving the way we market Colorado, but also by reaching out and actively recruiting companies. I will enhance our partnerships with neighboring cities to strengthen economic ties and drive a regional approach to rebuilding our economy by increasing the role of tourism and facilitating the movement of consumer spending through Denver. I will launch my Customer Service Strategic Initiative at the Office of Economic Development that will institute a customer friendly approach to providing services to businesses. I will forge a new philosophy at the Department of Planning, Excise and License, and Office of Economic Development that fosters interdepartmental communication, cooperation and understanding of a new customer friendly mission statement. Lastly, I will also devise a marketing strategy and campaign that keys in on the sustainable/green movement in Denver to promote and grow the market for small businesses, such as restaurants that prepare locally grown and raised foods.
Thomas Wolf:
I view the Mayor’s role as an investor and his primary role is fiduciary of the city’s existing assets. Functionally, the role is to oversee the city like a marketplace, to make sure it is desirable, attractive, safe, clean, accessible, fair and affordable. We have a number of natural attributes where we were dealt a highly competitive hand, i.e. the mountains and our climate, but need to block and tackle on the delivery of basic service provision and infrastructure cost effectively. We have strength in parks and green space as well as cultural attractions and venues. I helped contribute to this last one as a trustee of the MCA|D for six years during which we built and occupied a new museum at 15th and Delgany. The next items on the ED scorecard or what new arrivals are looking for, are education and health care., I have no magic wand for either, but to the extent I can get the city and county’s house in order fiscally, I can collaborate with both of these to improve outcomes. Once we have accomplished this restructuring we will be very attractive relative to other communities, and then the Mayor’s role becomes that of ambassador and tour guide, highlighting Denver’s unique attributes. I have spent my career in this role around the globe, raising growth capital with entrepreneurs, emerging fund managers and Fortune 500 CEO’s. Rest assured, I know how to market Denver.
QUESTION 4: The city has been making improvements to its infrastructure, including parks and streets, paid for with bond money approved by voters before the recession. What future improvements does the city require, and do you foresee the need for any major bond issues during your first term in office?
Carol Boigon:
We must revitalize downtown’s 16th Street Mall if Denver is to continue to attract tourism and major conventions which are so critical to our economy. Through good management practices the City has $30 million in unexpended bonding authority from its most recent bond issue. I will be discussing in the weeks ahead my plan for reallocating this bonding authority to address the 16th Street Mall, an essential improvement. I would like to bring this plan to voters early in my first term.
Previously the generous voters of Denver have approved a mill levy for capital maintenance. Where we have the opportunity, we should also explore potential public-private partnerships. For the time being, we must learn to live within our means. For the longer term, we must grow the economy with my aggressive economic development plan.
Michael Hancock:
The economy will be a deciding factor in determining whether Denver needs a bond issue during my first term. In a healthy economy, bonds can support important construction projects, important but less-sexy infrastructure improvements — and create jobs. The economy was still healthy in 2007 when Denver voters approved the Better Denver Bond Program, which is providing $27 million annually for preventative maintenance and improvements for streets, parks and greenways. Improving public facilities like these is not a luxury it’s a necessity. From a retail business point of view, these types of improvements are even more important in a down economy. From the city’s point of view, these improvements can strengthen our quality of life, increase public safety and help make Denver a more transit-oriented community.
Doug Linkhart:
For the past 28 years the city has invested in buildings and other infrastructure. Now it’s time to make that same type of commitment toward investing in people. As a Councilman At-Large I have worked with Denver’s Road Home and the Crime Prevention and Control Commission to demonstrate that, by investing in people, we can improve lives while saving the government money.
A sustainable economy depends on helping our young people succeed and providing the services adults need to stay healthy and make a living. These measures depend on investments up front–in kids” programs, mental health services, drug treatment, job training, affordable housing, financial education and other cost-saving measures.
In terms of physical infrastructure, I will work with metro-area leaders to complete FasTracks, partner with businesses and nonprofits to invest in energy efficiency and work with City Council to ensure citywide equity in services like parks, recreation centers and libraries.
As for future bond issues, I believe that we should fund small projects on a pay-as-you-go basis rather than borrowing money for 15-20 years. The city could save millions of dollars in interest payments by funding capital improvements with temporary mill levies rather than bond issues.
Danny F. Lopez
No, I do not see the need for any future bond proposals. When I ran for mayor in 2007, I wanted to make sure that the poorer neighborhoods were not forgotten. If we’ve made improvements to parks and streets why do the baseball fields around Denver look so bad and why do the alleys in the poorer neighborhoods look so terrible. I want to invite Councilman Brown and the rest of City Council to walk the alley between Ada Pl. and Kentucky Ave, East of Irving St. I would like to invite them to a ball field near Tejon and Alameda. I would like to see most fields skinned so we have more fields to permit out for use, there are not enough ball fields for all the teams and this could generate revenue. We need to improve the parks and alleys in the poorer neighborhoods and maintain what we already have. Tell Councilman Brown that I tried to answer his questions. However, because I don’t have $100,000. sitting in my campaign fund my answers will not be considered of value for the voters to hear. Certain media personalities believe that you have to have tons of money raised to be a serious candidate. Those thugs are afraid of a candidate like me. They refuse to give all 10 candidates equal time and hide behind the cloak of “They are not one of the top six fundraisers” to participate. Watch them control Democracy.
James Mejia:
If we are going to successfully emerge from the most recent recession, we cannot cut our way to prosperity. In addition to continued infrastructure improvements, my vision for Denver requires even more investment in our future. As Mayor, I will look to the State and Federal governments to become partners in applicable infrastructure projects like road and light rail improvements.
As these plans develop and our clear infrastructure needs and economic benefits are revealed, I am prepared to ask the people of Denver for a voter approved bond initiative.
Jeff Peckman:
I could envision a bond to support building the infrastructure of a local renewable energy production network in Denver to make Denver energy self-sufficient within 5 years. This is possible due to the exponential curve in technology advancement that most people are not aware of. This would allow all energy costs to pour back into Denver’s economy instead of out-of-state energy companies. It would sustain thousands of green construction and manufacturing jobs. It would remove clean energy industries and consumers from being held hostage by Xcel.
This must be done not just to save money for Denver, create jobs, and improve air quality, but to demonstrate how all cities can have more secure and clean energy. This is now more critical than ever in light of political instability in the major oil producing nations and the potential for a catastrophic meltdown at one of Japan’s nuclear plants.
The Manhattan Project to create the atomic bomb started from scratch and within six years created a technology that later brought humanity to the brink of destruction. The Denver Project I’m proposing would aggressively introduce technology to give Denver sustainable, clean, renewable energy sources within five years and higher quality of life immediately.
Chris Romer:
Companies don’t invest in cities that don’t invest in themselves. We must commit to finishing three critical infrastructure investments to attract and retain companies and good jobs in Denver: FasTracks, the DIA South Terminal project and the Denver Union Station redevelopment.
We must finish FasTracks and the DIA South Terminal project to build the 21st century transportation system our city needs to compete in the modern economy.
Public-private partnerships like the redevelopment of Denver Union Station are examples of the types of innovative infrastructure investments that will bring the companies and jobs of the future to Denver.
While we must look to the future in completing these critical investments, we cannot loose sight of renovating important infrastructure like the National Western Stock Show complex, some of DIA’s aging facilities and our parks and roads.
We must have a modern infrastructure system to attract and retain companies and good jobs in Denver. With 25 years of business experience, I’ll make sure that our city moves at the speed of business and Denver is ready to take off in a modern economy.
Ken Simpson:
The city needs to attract jobs to Denver. We also need to have excellent transportation to and from Denver. I’m sure we will have to look at having a major bond initiative of some sort to fix the infrastructure to include the streets and to fund the transportation initiatives that are to be completed in the next few years. Again, I would have to see and know the details to make an intelligent decision concerning any bond initiatives that may or may not be needed.
Theresa Spahn:
Future improvements should focus on creating jobs and investing in the future economic development of Denver. First, the expansion of DIA will help usher in direct international flights and will become the cornerstone for our future economic development. As Mayor, I will lead the effort to develop and expand DIA, meeting the increased demands that will keep us a top competitor with the rest of the country. Next, the timely completion of FasTracks will allow consumer spending to flow from around the metro region into the forthcoming transportation mecca at Union Station. I will partner with the Metro Mayors Caucus to ensure that FasTracks becomes an economic boon for our city. Lastly, in 2009, the 16th Street Mall was the No. 1 tourist attraction in Denver. In addition, tourism supports 50,000 Denver jobs and generates approximately $2.8 Billion in spending each year. Capital improvements and the expansion of retail shopping on the 16th Street Mall will grow our ever-expanding tourism economy and ensure Denver’s position as a top tourist destination. These improvements are an investment in Denver’s economic growth and will help bring sustainable jobs and increased revenue to Denver.
Thomas Wolf:
To reiterate, the focus needs to be on cutting waste and eliminating inefficiencies, not spending. This is tough unpopular work that can not be accomplished by the political insiders that are my opponents in this race (unless you think old dogs learn new tricks) because they do not have the will, political capital to spare, or the skill to affect the restructuring needed. Please know I have no edifice complex, and that I would regard my administration a failure if I spend your money on office space for more city employees or additional jail space. Once the dust settles on my restructuring of your City’s operating expenses, it will be necessary to budget for ongoing capital expenditures. My guess is the less exciting these projects are the more likely they are to be in need of attention, particularly those that are underground and without instant gratification. So I will revisit our long-term projections on infrastructure needs and focus there, as they best position Denver for future growth. It is my understanding that our bonding capacity is fairly tight, so the first term might be premature, though getting some projects underway sooner could potentially pencil due to the benefit of taking advantage of low rates and depressed material and labor costs.
QUESTION 5: Do you support the city’s policy of allowing paid, private events in city parks?
Carol Boigon: Depends on park
Michael Hancock: Yes
Doug Linkhart: No
Danny F. Lopez: No
James Mejia: Yes
Jeff Peckman: No
Chris Romer: Yes
Ken Simpson: Yes
Theresa Spahn: Yes
Thomas Wolf: Yes
QUESTION 6: Do you believe enough appropriate laws and taxes are in place for the sale of medical marijuana?
Carol Boigon: No
Michael Hancock: No
Doug Linkhart: Yes
Danny F. Lopez: Yes
James Mejia: No
Jeff Peckman: Yes
Chris Romer: Yes
Ken Simpson: No
Theresa Spahn: No
Thomas Wolf: No
QUESTION 7: Do you support the current policy of reform and choice being pursued by the DPS administration?
Carol Boigon: Not entirely
Michael Hancock: Yes
Doug Linkhart: No
Danny F. Lopez: No
James Mejia: Yes
Jeff Peckman: No
Chris Romer: Yes
Ken Simpson: No
Theresa Spahn: Yes
Thomas Wolf: Yes
QUESTION 8: Do you think the city has the right to designate property as historic without the owner’s consent?
Carol Boigon: No
Michael Hancock: No
Doug Linkhart: Yes
Danny F. Lopez: No
James Mejia: No
Jeff Peckman: No
Chris Romer: No
Ken Simpson: No
Theresa Spahn: Yes
Thomas Wolf: Yes
QUESTION 9: Mayor John Hickenlooper made homelessness a major initiative of his administration. Do you think the program has worked well?
Carol Boigon: Yes
Michael Hancock: Yes
Doug Linkhart: Yes
Danny F. Lopez: No
James Mejia: Yes
Jeff Peckman: Yes
Chris Romer: Yes
Ken Simpson: Yes
Theresa Spahn: Yes
Thomas Wolf: Yes
QUESTION 10: Should the city sell Cableland, the mayor’s official residence?
Carol Boigon: Yes
Michael Hancock: No
Doug Linkhart: No
Danny F. Lopez: No
James Mejia: No
Jeff Peckman: Yes
Chris Romer: Yes
Ken Simpson: No
Theresa Spahn: Yes
Thomas Wolf: Yes
