Saturday will take care of itself.
That’s a phrase we used to utter frequently when I worked in the newsroom.
The thought behind the saying was that, as we planned coverage and story play for the upcoming week’s newspapers, we could almost always count on enough news to “break” on Friday that there would be an oversupply of good stories for readers on Saturday.
Last Saturday’s Denver Post was no exception.
There on the front page of the Denver & The West section was the headline “Mayor transition chief quits.” The subhead — “Huggins also led effort to move stock show; officials say his work was done” — hinted at the reason for his quitting just 10 days before Mayor-elect Michael Hancock’s inauguration.
The for-the-record story was that John Huggins’ separate jobs as a contractor with the city to find a new home for the National Western Stock Show and as director and chief executive of the mayor- elect’s transition team had been completed.
Never mind that the stock show relocation plan still has a long way to go.
Forget the fact that, through July 8, the only announced mayoral appointment was chief of staff.
Here’s what usually happens work when your work is done. There’s nothing left to do, so you walk in and tell the boss: “I’m finished. What’s next?” You don’t say: “I quit.”
We may never know the reasons behind Huggins’ decision to leave, but a hint could be found a little deeper in that day’s edition, where on page 5B the headline read: “Hancock panel to eye stock show options.”
Like I said, Saturday takes care of itself.
The panel, the story pointed out, would help Hancock “gather information about the proposed relocation efforts and parse various scenarios and opportunities.”
As one panelist said: “The mayor-elect is being very deliberate in selecting a broad spectrum of individuals who have one thing in common — a love for this city.”
While not yet mayor, Hancock had been briefed regularly on efforts to relocate the stock show as part of a project that also included construction of a Gaylord hotel and convention center. He was asked by current Mayor Bill Vidal to give them his blessing before an application for state tax incentives to help pay for the project were submitted. Hancock did.
Those plans included mention of relocating the stock yards to Aurora.
Whether Hancock knew that is open to question.
What’s not in question is Hancock’s view on relocation now.
In an interview with me Thursday, the mayor-elect said his view is that the stock show “has to remain in Denver land,” adding: “There are a lot of things that can make this work — deeding the land to Denver or annexing it, for example.”
The job of making it work no longer rests with Huggins. Instead, it rests, to a large extent, with Hancock and the the panel convened on the day the Mayor-elect announced Huggins departure.
Speak up
As a footnote to last week’s column, I mentioned an online chat with readers to discuss your views of our editorial and opinion pages.
Thanks to those of you who weighed in, and for those who didn’t, I’m still eager to hear what you think. E-mail me at the address below.
E-mail Curtis Hubbard at chubbard@denverpost.com.
