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Denver
Mayoral Candidates Appear on TV forum
by
Judah Ken Freed
Eight
of the 14 candidates for Mayor offer views
on Aaron Harber Show, broadcast on
KBDI-TV12. Harber also offers his take on
the candidates.
.
Eight
of the 14 announced candidates for Denver
mayor joined talk show host Aaron Harber
at the studios of KBDI-TV12 on February 4
for the taping of two hour-long campaign
debates that were mostly lacking in
acrimony.
Questions posed by
Harber covered Denver's economy, United
Airlines financial woes, the drought, the
police department, Denver Public Schools,
and the candidates' first act if elected
mayor.
Harber split the
eight candidates into two programs with
four candidates each.
In the first
program, former Denver City Council member
Susan Casey said she would call together
the 50 to 60 of the best managers in the
city administration and ask for an
inventory of the people in their
departments. "I would make sure that
ethics and excellence were to first goals
in every part of city
government."
Wynkoop Brewing
Company founder John Hickenlooper said
Hickenlooper said one of his first
priorities will be shifting Denver's
neighborhood planning system to better
support small business. He added that
Denver Career Services had recruited many
talented people whom he would asked to
stay on if he was elected
mayor.
Former Colorado
Democratic Party chair Philip Perington
said an early project for him would
creating "land bank inventory" to help
lenders work with families and businesses
buying property, which would help increase
the city tax base.
State Senator
Penfield Tate, III, said his top job would
be uniting business and government for
neighborhood improvement.
In the former
Historioc Denver president Elizabeth
Schlosser said she would spend her first
week listening carefully to city officials
and citizens about what city services they
considered the most important.
Recently resigned
Denver Manger of Safety Ari Zavaras said
he'd have his staff in place before his
first day in office.
Computer Associates
International VP Jeremy Stefanek said his
first act would be to restore school zone
lights to protect children.
Denver Auditor Don
Mares said promptly call the governor
along with regional leaders to discuss the
economic crisis.
Harber asked the
candidates in both programs what they
would do about the poor performance of the
local economy.
A city economic
strategy was not needed in the Nineties'
boom, said Casey, but now Denver needs a
policy to "help small business stay in
business." She called for a change in how
the city deals with small businesses,
removing barriers to success like
affordable housing and improved
transportation for their
employees.
Hickenlooper built
on that theme by urging economic
development around light rail stops
instead of growth being spread out. Noting
a recent loss of 30,000 metro area jobs,
he said, "Denver's mayor has an
opportunity to be a leader by coordinating
regional economic development instead of
today's turf battles among
municipalities."
Perington observed
that 80 percent of businesses in Denver
are small businesses, not the large
employers like Qwest or United. "I'd
create a one-stop-shop for these small
businesses, one office where they can go
to handle zoning and licenses and other
matters, rather than spending their time
running around getting misinformation from
a lot of different offices."
Tate agreed that
city policies dealing with zoning and
taxes need to be redirected to serve small
to medium-sized businesses. His solution
would be a "city state partnership"
focused on making a "social investment in
our neighborhoods."
Casey asked Tate if
he'd commit to getting the state
legislature to create that partnership
before he left the Senate, and Tate said
he would.
Perington asked,
"What good is a great city if people can't
afford to live in it? We need to bring
things down to such nuts and bolts issues.
It's the little things that mean a
lot."
Zavaras said the
major projects in the last two
administrations "have got the ball
rolling," and the next step will be to
attract all sorts of businesses to the
city. He echoed a comment from other
candidates bout making Denver more
"business friendly."
Schlosser vowed that
economic prosperity would be her number
one priority. She would not favor "growth
for growth's sake," but would focus on
small business developments, such as
fast-track business permits. She also
swore to cut the city budget.
Stefanek said his
top three economics priorities would be
jobs, jobs and more jobs. He'd combine the
offices of workforce and economic
development to work hand in glove,
eliminating a layer of government. He also
would work on greater coordination of city
departments."
Mares discussed the
city budget, his currently responsibility,
saying Denver is in better shape than
state government because the city had not
cut taxes like the state and had gained
voter permission to keep it's surplus from
when the economy was stronger.
Harber then asked
about the impact on the city if United
Airlines goes out of business.
Hickenlooper said a
United failure would be a "serious
challenge" to the city, but added that
Denver International Airport (DIA) has two
years of bond debt service in the bank to
cover the city while seeking another
carrier to fill the gap. He further called
DIA "one of the best-run parts of the
city."
Tate said high
passenger and landing fees are keeping
low-cost airlines away from DIA, but noted
that DIA is its own enterprise and so off
the city books. Cautioning against city
government inserting itself in the middle
of United's bankruptcy case, he said the
city still needs to reduce fees to attract
other carriers to DIA.
Casey pick up on
that point. "We don't want to be in the
middle, but the city needs to be able to
turn on a dime to attract the short-haul
carriers." Everyone was worried when
Continental stopped being a major DIA
carrier, she said, but if United goes
under, "Maybe we could call on Continental
to come back."
Perington recalled
the $200 million spent for the failed DIA
baggage system, saying the city would have
done better spending that money on light
rail to the airport, as other major cities
have done.
Hickenlooper said
regional cooperation is need to help keep
the airport flying.
Stefanek said that
whether United fails or not, he'd go talk
to Southwest Airlines and others about
moving into DIA.
Schlosser said
United's "hegemony" at DIA has actually
kept other airlines away from the
airport.
Zavaras agreed the
city should go after other
airlines.
Mares said DIA is
too expensive for the low-budget carriers,
so the airport's $4.1 billion in debt
needs to be spread out to lower landing
and passenger fees, then carriers like Jet
Blue will come in with more than one
flight a day.
Harber wondered how
the candidates would related to Denver
Public Schools.
Casey said she would
work closely with nationally respected DPS
Superintendent Jerome Wartgow on how the
city could best support the public school
system
Perington said he
would make Wartgow part of his
cabinet.
Hickenlooper
promised to meet with Wartgow and other
DPS officials on a monthly basis. "I'd
also go into all the schools in the city
and bring business leaders with me to talk
to faculty and students."
Tate also promised
to meets with Wartgow on a regular basis.
"We would build together an investment in
our children that builds a great
community."
Schlosser urged
greater community involvement in providing
after-school programs. "And we need more
educators willing to go around talking to
parents and community
organizations.
Mares said Denver is
responsible for the Head Start program
that's supposed to get children ready for
school, "and we're not yet fully meeting
that obligation. A perception that Denver
Public Schools is a poor system is a big
reasons businesses do not relocate here,
so we have to get the city and employers
much more involved in DPS."
Stefanek noted that
Denver School of The Arts is a magnet
school that's so successful, in part,
because it requires every parent to
volunteer 20 hours a year to the program.
The school also has a reputation for
safety because a police officer is always
there.
Zavaras said
families won't move into communities where
their children don't feel safe, so the
mayor has to work with the DPS to keep
children in the schools and involve
parents in their education. He added that
the emphasis needs to be preparing
students to learn with a focus on early
childhood education.
Harber then asked
about water and responses to the
drought.
"The mayor needs to
prioritize the city's uses of water," said
Perington. Every neighborhood needs to be
concerned about deep watering of trees,
but pull back on less vital projects.
Denver sells more water than it uses, so
he urged the city to look at where
sacrifices can be made for the sake of
neighboring communities.
Casey asserted that
the drought is a statewide issues. "We
need to change the dynamic between the
city and the rest of the state," she said.
"We have to become better partners, not be
so arrogant, and accept that we're all in
this together. We can't do it all
alone."
Denver needs better
long-term water planning, responded
Perington, and this needs to be done in a
way that reduces the animosity of the
western slope.
Tate called the
drought an opportunity to accept the fact
of our "interdependence" in Colorado. "The
western slope has water that's not
accessible to the front range, and yet
Denver is the capitol for the whole state,
so we need more cooperation."
Hickenlooper
stressed all the regions are interrelated.
Drawing on his studies of hydrology, he
noted that the Colorado is in the midst of
the worst drought in 300 years. "You just
can't plan for that kind of event," he
said. " Denver's water system a national
model, but if this year is like last year,
all bets are off, and it affects all of
us."
In the second
program, all four candidates stressed the
need for greater conservation.
Stefanek said
residents need to be encouraged to take
such simple steps as repairing leaking
faucets
Schlosser said
conservation must be matched by
investments in storage facilities, such at
the west end the Moffat Tunnel.
Zavaras said the
city needs to implement a water fee
structure that rewards lower water
use.
Mares said, "We
needs to totally rethink how we use water
as a precious resource."
Harber turned next
to the Denver Police
Department.
Tate jumped in first
by saying the surveillance and resulting
secret "spy files" were "not appropriate"
in a free democracy. "We expect the police
to preserve our rights and liberties, not
abuse them."
"It's inexplicable
to me," said Hickenlooper, calling the
police files "intolerable." Surveillance
of drug dealers makes sense, he said, but
the police need accountability for who
they watch and how they do it. He added
that there needs to be consequences for
all officers who violate citizen's
rights.
"Rouge police
officers need to be stopped," Perington
said. The police need to collect
intelligence to protect the citizens from
crime, "but they need to follow the rules.
That's why a citizen review board must
have subpoena power."
"The problems go up
and down in the department." said Casey,
but she mainly blamed the abuses on
management, citing both the command
structure and officer recruitment
practices. As mayor, she promised to
implement improved systems, "division by
division."
Tate objected to
blatant racial profiling by Denver police
officers that defies city statues put in
place two years ago, most noticeable in
traffic stops . Saying a report is now
being compiled, he added, "Sue is right.
We need an accountability system in
place."
Harber asked the
second groups of candidates to talk about
the 1999 Mena case, where an officer sent
to the wrong address in a "no knock" drug
raid killed an innocent citizen resisting
the intrusion.
Mares said the
police should not act as the judge and
jury, "and it baffles me beyond belief
that a law enforcement officer could lie
on an affidavit about the incident, = then
receive only a few weeks of administrative
suspension. The issue here is good
management."
Zavaras defended the
officer suspended in the Mena case, which
happened before Zavaras became safety
manager. The officer who gave the wrong
address lacked "proper training," he
said.
Harber pointed to
forensic evidence that recently came to
light about the shooting which suggests
Mena was gunned down without actually
resisting arrest.
Zavaras said such
evidence wasn't available at the time of
the officer's suspension, and he cautioned
against a "rush to judgment." Saying the
suspended officer was being treated "a
little bit unfairly," Zavaras said that if
he was sent into a courtroom to prosecute
a case, because he's not qualified for
that job, it would not be fair to lop off
his head if the prosecution was
unsuccessful.
Mares then
complained about "double dipping" by
officers who perform secondary security
jobs during their scheduled shifts. " I
want that to be totally
banned."
Zavaras said double
dipping was a serious problem, "but I'm
more concerned about public records being
manipulated. As mayor, I would have zero
tolerance for such falsification, and it
would be cause for separation from the
service."
Schlosser raised the
spy files as an issue of public safety.
She has friends in Planned Parenthood
who've felt relieved the police "know who
the kooks are," so they feel safer going
into their clinics.
Zavaras said
intelligence gathering is the job of every
police officer on the street, "but it has
to be done by the manual. When I was chief
of police [under Mayor
Peña], I issued the first
executive order that spelled out the
parameters for that activity."
Stefanek said
putting a policy on paper is not the same
thing as enforcing that policy. He added
that management of the police department
has become too political.
"What about
terrorist threats to the city?" Harber
asked. His concerns for a local attack is
because Denver has the largest
concentration of federal offices outside
of Washington, D.C.
"Denver is not
prepared for a terrorist attack," said
Perington. Recalling civil defense drills
of his youth in Philadelphia, he said the
city needs to undertake readiness training
for all citizens. "No city in America is
on top of this," he said, " and if we were
attacked here, there would be bedlam. The
feds need to provide resources for
us."
Tate also warned
about a lack of logistical planning. He'd
heard a report that morning in the
legislature about the FBI monitoring a
plane flying from Colorado Springs toward
Denver. "We were totally unprepared if
anything had actually
happened."
"We can't wait for
the federal or state government to
prepare," said Casey. "This will be the
job of the new mayor."
Stefanek said
vaccinating city health workers against
smallpox is just the first step, and the
city has a lot more to do to get ready.
Zavaras said Denver
is as prepared for a terrorist attack as
any city in the country, but it's critical
the city receives federal funding for
equipment and training. "I'm talking about
coalition building with the Homeland
Security Department."
"What we need most
is a coalition with Congress, said
Schlosser,
Mares recalled a
city exercise at the old Mile High Stadium
and McNichols before they were demolished,
saying it proved the city is vulnerable.
Yet he praised the city's new reverse-911
system, so the residents can be called in
the case of an emergency, such when two
airplanes collided over northwest Denver
in late January.
Harber asked for
closing comments from all the
candidates.
Casey said she loves
the city, that she will bring experience
and vision to the work. "Vote for me and
great city," she said, "because I can't
wait to lead it."
Tate said he can
imagine building stronger relationships
between business and government to improve
life in all the neighborhoods, and he will
work to fulfill that vision.
Hickenlooper cited
his experience in nonprofit and for-profit
ventures.
Perington said he'd
bring both nonprofit and political
experience to the job.
"We need the best
people to bring in dependable
investments," said Schlosser.
"We have a great
city and we're moving forward," said
Mares, "so we need a great mayor who can
jump in and go forward without
fear."
Said Stefanek, "I
have no political background, but my
business experience is exactly what the
city needs right now."
"I do have the
experience," said Zavaras, "and I can do
the job."
Part One of the
mayoral debate on The Aaron Harber Show
will air on KBDI-TV12 at 9 p.m. on Friday,
February 14, repeated on Sunday, February
16 at 2 p.m. Part Two will air in the same
timeslots on February 21 and 23. The
webcasts of both programs are already
posted at HarberTV.com.
_________________________
Harber
Assesses the Candidates
Talk show host Aaron
Harber shared his candid views of the
performances by the mayoral candidates
appearing in his February 14 and 21
programs on KBDI-TV12.
"I thought the
quality of the discussion was very high,"
he said, and the eight candidates who
responded to my invitation kept hitting on
very solid themes. What surprised me most
was the evenness of the conversation. Each
candidate is different, but there were
more similarities in their views than I'd
expected. The debates overall turned out
to be very harmonious."
He observed that in
the first program, the candidates were
much more outraged about the Denver police
"spy files" than in the second program.
While the presence of recent Manager of
Safety Ari Zavaras might have been a
factor in the second show, he said, "I
think Elizabeth Schlosser took the second
group by surprise with her comment about
the surveillance protecting those in a
liberal group like Planned Parenthood, so
then it was harder to level criticism."
Harber offered brief
assessments of each candidate.
"Susan Casey arrived
extremely well prepared. We've known each
other for 30 years, and I enjoyed that
during the warm-up [before the taping
began], when I asked her to smile, she
stuck out her tongue at me. She's not as
serious all the time as some
think."
"John Hickenlooper
did a very good job articulating his
background, and he comes across very
well.
"Don Mares has done
my show more than any of the other
candidates. He showed that he's paid
attention to the issues, and his love of
the city was plainly sincere. That could
be a big criteria for voters in the May
election.
"Phil Perington
showed that he has a lot of depth and
breadth in local as well as state
politics, so I think he advanced his cause
very well, especially for those who do not
yet know him.
"Elizabeth Schlosser
did a really good job, although she seemed
more active in the first half of the
program. She's very articulate and has a
lot of good ideas. If she were elected,
with her background, she could hit the
ground running."
"Jeremy Stefanek is
the new kid on the block politically,"
Harber said, "but he has a lot of solid
business experience, and he's very
impressive when you listen to him. He's an
example of the idea that someone coming in
from the outside often can see things more
clearly than those of us enmeshed in
politics all the time."
"Penfield Tate, III,
as very impressive. I've know his family
for decades, especially his father. I
thought that he came across as very
solution oriented, especially with his
focus on greater cooperation for the sake
of the city's neighborhoods.
"Ari Zavaras has an
impressive background and he certainly
seemed well-informed about the issues. I
did not agree with his defense of the spy
files or the Mena case, but he was very
aggressive in addressing those issues, so
I'd have to say did a good job under
difficult circumstances."
"In summary, I'd
have to say this was a very impressive
group of people. This is going to be a
good race, and Denver will be very
well-served no matter which one
wins."
Orginally
written for The Colorado
Statesman.
February 2003
(c) 2003 by Judah Ken Freed
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