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Hancock, Romer make final push for votes

Hancock, Romer make final push for votes

Denver will make the decision June 7 whether to elect a state senator with a background in business or a Denver City Council President with awareness for public service. The race tightens as the last two standing mayoral candidates, Chris Romer and Michael Hancock make their final pleas to voters.

 

Michael Hancock

In the race to become the highest-ranking officer in Denver’s municipal government, Hancock and Romer are working diligently to create contrast between one another, where voters often see more of the same.

 

Colorado, among many other mountain states, is struggling with higher unemployment rates due to the loss of tourism, drilling and construction jobs. In the fight to regain our economic standing Coloradans look to state officials and city leaders to take on the burden and turn it all around.

 

Mayoral candidate Chris Romer spoke about his plan to combat the economic crisis. “We must recruit and retain good jobs in Denver by expecting more from City Hall to cut red tape and make our city more business friendly.” He believes that by partnering with local business leaders he can “actively recruit new companies and good jobs to Denver and streamline city permits and regulations (in order) to be more friendly to business.”

 

Chris Romer

Candidate Michael Hancock believes in Denver’s regional strength and relationships to ease economic hardships and create jobs.

 

“Denver’s regional strength lies in its cooperative relationships between economic development organizations, public-private partnerships and collaboration between Denver and its suburbs,” Hancock said. “I will continue to make sure we maximize these relationships.”

 

Hancock’s firm belief in small businesses lends his fervor to “take a leading role in enabling small and startup businesses to acquire venture capital funding, angel investments and traditional lines of credit.” Hancock’s Initiative, Peak Performance, will attempt to make tax, permitting and fee systems more efficient.

 

In facing the additional $100 million deficit for 2012, Hancock and Romer spoke about how they would close the deficit that has been caused, in part, by structural imbalances and the revenues unable to keep up with growing demand.

 

Hancock proposes to reduce the “top-heavy” hierarchy in the Public Safety system, moving police from behind desks to street patrol and will work to eliminate redundancies and out-of-date programs no longer serving the Denver community. In order to make these budget cuts, Hancock admitted that there are some programs that cannot be cut.

 

“I will work diligently to spare [programs] that serve our youth and most vulnerable citizens, such as libraries, recreation centers and Denver’s Road Home Program.”

 

Romer also feels strongly about protecting city services for vulnerable residents. His ideas on budget cuts are based on his 25 years of business experience.

 

He noted that it would be pertinent that the mayor streamline city government and balance the budget while keeping these services available. He also declared that this is not an easy fix. “I’ve asked the mayor’s deficit task force tough questions and this leads to the long overdue conversations we need to have about doing more with less at City Hall.”

 

With a 53 percent high school graduation rate in Denver, the candidates acknowledge education as a crucial factor in Denver’s future.

 

Hancock said that it is pertinent that the Mayor aligns city departments, schools and stakeholders to ensure Denver’s resources are being used as effectively and efficiently to serve the children of the community.

 

“I will begin by appointing a Manager of Children’s Affairs who will be charged with breaking down silos and convening city department heads to tackle issues related to our children.” Hancock also plans to partner with the Auraria Higher Education Center to include efforts that will better connect the campus while engaging the campus officials in making the key decisions about our community’s future.

 

“Denver’s future depends on our children receiving the best care and education from the crib to college. My education plan tackles every stage of our children’s education and ensures Denver helps people grow to be the best citizens possible,” Hancock reinforced.

 

Romer admitted that Denver can no longer tolerate such a low graduation rate and vows to work diligently on education reform in order to achieve what he called a “world-class school system.”

 

“I will use my experience in business and education to raise expectations for all students, teachers and schools.” Romer discussed fervently his goals which focus on early literacy, the improvement of after-school educational services and recruiting – and training – the best principals and teachers for Denver’s schools.

 

Romer reiterated his hopes and promises to “be a ceaseless advocate for more funding for our entire education system and ensures all parts of it link together to work for our students.”

 

Mail in ballots for the mayoral election are due June 7.

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