On Election Day May 7 we will all learn who the leaders are in the City and County of Denver that we “deserve” particularly as pertains to the next mayor. There are no excuses for us this election cycle. Four years ago, Mayor Michael Hancock ran unopposed so we can hardly blame ourselves for re-electing him to a second term.
Eight years ago, our excuse was, sure, he was inexperienced, badly lacking in basic knowledge of important civic issues, but he was an engaging African American councilman with an incredible feel good saga of arising from poverty to prominence. Back then we just didn’t want to look behind the curtain and see developer Pat Hamill and the executive crony capitalists of the hilariously named “Colorado Concern” to see who would really be running the city, with Hancock the mayor in name only.
We now know with absolute certainty that his Honor is a moral and intellectual pigmy. If his rude, foul mouthed son is any example, he is an equally disgraceful father as he is husband. Hancock spends his time going to ribbon-cuttings in between workout sessions and chasing and harassing women here in Denver, and out of town in Atlanta and Washington, D.C. We discovered shortly after his first election that he is a john that cavorts with prostitutes and is shameless in endlessly lying to try to cover it up. We learned last year from a policewoman that he harasses women who work for him and uses taxpayer money to gain their silence.
What Hancock has done to the city in eight short years is in its own way truly amazing. He has destroyed parks and open space throughout the city at the whim of high-density developers. Homeless street people control portions of the 16th Street Mall where the smell of urine and feces permeates the air for outdoor diners. Beautiful boulevards like Speer Boulevard have become concrete canyons with buildings pushed right up to the street. The Cherry Creek Bike Path has become, in part, a heroin needle drop-off point. He championed, along with Councilman Albus “The Buddha” Brooks, to make Denver the heroin capital of the West with so-called “Safe Injection Sites” only to be shot down at the state capitol thanks to a state-wide revolt.
A City Hall awash in tax funds has done nothing for the neighborhoods he and his compliant City Council and Planning Commission are destroying. Not providing adequate parking in new developments has not stopped people from using cars but rather made streets clogged and virtual parking lots at certain times of the day.
The one positive aspect to the homeowners of Denver has been the ever-increasing value of homes and condominiums in the city. But that party appears to be over with price of homes decreasing the last few months as the quagmire that Denver has become is ever more evident to potential home buyers.
There are three great candidates for the office — urban planner Jamie Giellis, former state legislator and lawyer Penfield Tate III and Colorado Latino Forum Lisa Calderón. Each was featured at length last month on Page 3. So why in the world would anyone vote for Mayor Hancock this time? The city’s only daily paper, the sad and ever shrinking Denver Post gave a it a try in its endorsement of Mayor Hancock for a third and final term. It is broadly known that that The Denver Post, (which is no longer located in Denver but housed in its production plant in Adams County) is financially dependent on the City and County of Denver which is bailing it out of its white elephant office building across from City Hall and the State Capitol.
In its endorsement, The Denver Post could not name a single accomplishment of Hancock in his eight years in office. Instead the paper proffered that we all should look forward to future projects such as the revitalization of the National Western Stock Show Complex (which Hancock originally tried to pawn off on Aurora) upgrades for the 16th Street Mall which Hancock has effectively destroyed and bond money for roads and bike lanes etc. How pathetic. The Post notes the many personal failings of Hancock but states “accusations that he is in the back pockets of developers . . . miss the mark.” Yeah, right.
In a bizarre, concluding paragraph, the paper declares that we must re-elect Hancock because “he is the only candidate ready to meet the challenges if this nation faces an economic downturn.” What in the world is the editorial board of this 130-year-old paper talking about? Michael Hancock is utterly inept at everything he has ever done. He could not manage his way out of a paper bag. Maybe The Denver Post is referring to his handlers like developer Pat Hamill but the paper should at least have the guts to say so.
One could sense The Denver Post Editorial Board was ashamed of what it had composed and argued. The Comment Section in the paper on the editorial was devastating with virtually every comment mocking and laughing at the editorial. One of the less vitriolic, but apt comments, was one that stated the Editorial Board should have published the editorial on April Fool’s Day rather than April 12.
On the evening of May 7, we will learn whether we will have assured a third term for Michael Hancock or we will have a runoff between Hancock and one of the challengers. If it is a Hancock third term, we can look in the mirror and realize that Denver’s greatest enemy is ourselves. If it is a runoff, we can all gear up for a battle royale to try to save the city, we love.
- Editorial Board