Mayor Michael Hancock will give his first State of the City speech today after merely a month in office.
Hancock likely won’t be unveiling new initiatives, as former Mayor John Hickenlooper did when he introduced Greenprint Denver.
Instead, Hancock is expected to stick to the script that got him elected, pushing ideas for economic development and discussing his focus on making government more customer friendly.
Hancock likely will point out milestones he’s reached so far in his 100-day plan, acknowledging important appointments he’s made and recounting his efforts to reach out to the business community.
“What you are going to hear me talk about are some of the priorities we have played out during the 100 days, reorganizing the office of economic development and taking a look at some of the things we have discovered since we have arrived,” Hancock said Tuesday.
Hancock said he will cite his visions for building an “aerotropolis” in northeast Denver and his desire to implement the “Peak Performance” plan that is intended to set clear goals for each city agency.
Already, Hancock has met with at least 100 business owners to talk about economic issues facing the city.
He began a tour of various city departments with Monday’s visit to the Department of Excise and Licensing.
He is conducing a national search for a police chief and, on Friday, will begin installing suggestion boxes in police substations to get opinions on the kind of chief officers want.
Nevertheless, Hancock clearly has much work left to do.
He has nearly half of his 15-member Cabinet yet to fill, a police chief to find, a 2012 budget to submit and a long-term structural financial problem to solve.
Next month, Hancock will deliver a budget to the City Council that still needs a $25 million reduction.
City departments already have cut about $75 million with savings, including closing unfilled positions, raising fees at recreation centers and even moving some City Council offices into the City and County Building.
Hancock said he expects the rest of the cuts won’t make headlines and will be more about streamlining services.
A structural financial task force of business and community members has been meeting throughout the year, wrestling with how to fix a growing imbalance between city revenues and expenditures.
The group in October is expected to release a final report with specific recommendations of how to best fix the growing gap.
“There will be some tough choices there,” said Ed Scholz, deputy chief financial officer.
Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com
