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March 20, 2010 07:48 PM UTC

Note To Hickenlooper: Don't Throw Stones From Glass City Halls

  • 19 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

Following up on yesterday’s big story, about Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Hickenlooper’s troubling habit of turning on his friends for throwaway political points in front of business groups–as we discussed, there were two main points made by Hickenlooper Thursday before the South Metro Chamber of Commerce worth coming back to. The first was his harsh characterization of the environmental activist community, and his widely-debunked assertions about the effect of Colorado’s new oil and gas drilling rules on the industry: Hickenlooper reportedly made some powerful would-be supporters very unhappy with that, and it remains to be seen how it will hurt him with green interests who would otherwise make large independent expenditures against opponent Scott McInnis.

The other point in Hickenlooper’s remarks appears more likely to result in lasting resentment among Hickenlooper’s Democratic friends in the legislature, for which the consequences for Governor Hickenlooper could be quite serious. Hickenlooper told the SMCC that “raising taxes piecemeal,” in reference to the state legislature’s repeal of a few specific tax exemptions to help close the state’s $2 billion fiscal shortfall, was “crazy”–an out-of-the-blue slam on legislative Democrats after one of the most contentious debates in recent memory, and a violation of Hickenlooper’s pledge to stay out of legislative debates until the session is over.

Now presumably, by characterizing these revenue measures as “crazy,” Hickenlooper is directly implying he wouldn’t do the exact same thing himself, right? Well, the Denver Post reports:

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper said Thursday that it’s “crazy” to raise fees or taxes when government revenues are down, but his 2010 budget raised fees and fines in the city by at least $5.1 million annually.

The increases, which were more modest than others had urged, addressed areas where revenues had remained static for years, Hickenlooper said at the time…

Earlier Thursday, in an appearance on the talk radio show of Mike Rosen, he said he instructed his budget writers to be prudent with increases.

“Our instructions to the budget folks last year were to only raise fees on those places where the cost, you know, hadn’t been raised in years, and they weren’t looking at it as a revenue source,” Hickenlooper said.

The $5.1 million in new fees and fines was one strategy the mayor employed to cover a $160 million budget gap. He also tapped $40 million in reserves.

Wow, that’s definitely going to make all the Democrats Hickenlooper threw under the bus for doing the same thing at the state level feel so much better, isn’t it?

Bottom line: we’re inclined to believe that these comments are Hickenlooper speaking off the cuff, not the result of a deliberate strategy to raise his own stature at the expense of fellow Democrats as some have alleged and we concede remains possible. Like we said yesterday, it’s more likely that Hickenlooper has just not fully grasped the responsibilities inherent in running for the state’s highest office, or his new reality of campaigning as part of a team. What Hickenlooper needs to understand is that what he says has consequences for his downticket teammates–first among them the people who are going to be legislating his agenda beginning next year.

That means casually tossing them under the wheels to get a little more applause from “business community” coffee-klatchers is a really bad idea, and when you’re revealed to be a hypocrite the next day in the newspapers for doing so (see above), don’t expect anybody to defend you.

We’re not saying Hickenlooper is screwed, he has time and ability to pull back from the brink in both of these cases–what we’re saying is it’s going to need to be more than the apology most expect is privately forthcoming. This needs to stop happening, and Hickenlooper needs to start talking like a responsible leader: of the state first, no question, but the people he will count on to govern had better be in there somewhere, or he’s looking at a long four years.

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19 thoughts on “Note To Hickenlooper: Don’t Throw Stones From Glass City Halls”

  1. ….Hickenlooper needs to start talking like a responsible leader: of the state first, no question, but the people he will count on to govern had better be in there somewhere, or he’s looking at a long four years.

    I’d say he’s looking at 0 years and can happily return to sipping suds at Wynkoop.

    1. Truthfully, between now and November is half a year. Ritter is such an empty suit he should let Hick pretend to be Gov in the meantime! That’s all the experience he’s going to get.

      HEY HICK, you can’t win with NO base! Somebody has to like you!! Bahahahaha

  2. Pols, anybody? Do you know? Does he have a full time campaign manager, staff, et al on board? If not, he needs to, pronto. He clearly needs the help.

      1. Diverting money from the private sector to the public sector craters job formation.

        When Hitler attacked the Jews

        I was not a Jew, therefore I was not concerned.

        And when Hitler attacked the Catholics,

        I was not a Catholic, and therefore, I was not concerned.

        And when Hitler attacked the unions and the industrialists, I was not a member of the unions and I was not concerned.

        Then Hitler attacked me and the Protestant church — and there was nobody left to be concerned.

        source: Congressional Record, October 14, 1968, page 31636.

  3. Discretion is the better part of valor, and lately he hasn’t exercised much of either.

    One one Ritter’s shortcomings was that he fell into the governorship (almost by default) with no legislative experience. Ritter ran a DA office where his wishes were of course expected to be carried out down the line. One Democratic legislator told me his lack of knowledge and experience in the legislative process was “a problem”.

    Unfortunately AR is running for the wrong office, he should be running for Gov., a much better fit than Hick.  But chalk that up to the foibles and fates of politics.  

  4. I don’t think Hickenlooper was trying to trash anyone. He was just calling it like he saw it. That’s refreshing.

    I think as he goes along he will get more disciplined, but lets face it, He hasn’t spent his entire career in DC like McInnis has.

  5. Here’s the thing, I initially supported both the software tax and the attempt to get people to pay their use tax. I thought basic fairness required we do this. And I felt bad that my company was getting a free ride.

    But then I hit the issue of actually complying with these new laws. And that taught me the mind-blowing incompetence of the Department of Revenue and their directory Roxy “I do nothing” Huber. Then add to that the kafkaesque complexity of having 89 home rule cities that not only each have to be reported to, but each has their own unique interpretation of what is taxed.

    What I think a lot of us Dems miss is that in many cases it’s not the tax payment, it’s the cost and complexity of determining and reporting it that businesses object to.

    So when Hick speaks about the hardship these taxes bring to business – he’s spot on. And that will resonate. What’s a shame is the the opposition would drop like crazy if the government would administer this simply and efficiently.

    1. then he should make his point more clearly in his remarks. Appearing to shoot randomly from the hip leaves him open for all sorts of flack from the McInnis people later in the campaign, and Hick will be in the uncomfortable and politically unproductive position of saying, “What I meant was ….”

      Hickenlooper and his team need to sit down and come up with a firm message — and stick to it. It’s certainly refreshing to have a candidate who calls them as he sees them, but he still needs to stay on message. Right now, the governor’s race appears to be Hickenlooper’s to lose. He needs to NOT give McInnis an opening.

      2. from the Denver Post

        “Technically I’m wrong, but it seems not very fair or just,” the owner said. “All the differences in tax law between state and all the cities[DENVER], it becomes a burden for someone like me. There’s something wrong when a company is trying to do it right and can’t.”

  6. On “Colorado State of Mind” that ran last night, Hickenlooper told the story of walking over to the Capital the day he took office to talk with then Gov. Bill Owens. Hick said he promised Owens that he would never ambush him or surprise him. If he had a disagreement and was going to speak out, he would let Owens know in advance. Something about needing to work together and create a positive working relationship.

    Apparently Hickenlooper never made that promise to his Democratic Governor.

    I sure wish we had a primary challenge.

      1. But I don’t agree that a primary is bad for the primary winner and for the party. And I want the Democratic candidate to be a real Democrat, not just someone who is not as bad as Scooter.

        1. Talk Andrew into it.

          Hell, he’ll primary anybody.

          By the way, what’s a “real Democrat?”

          Someone who agrees with you?

          There are lots of “real Democrats” out there.  Some of them have brains of their own.

          1. I support lots of Democrats with whom I have disagreements. But I have problems with a Democrat who will play kissy face with a Republican Governor but stab a Dem Governor in the back. Or who thinks, after the most extensive cooperation between differing interests on oil and gas regulations resulting in an agreement that the oil and gas interests supported, that the oil and gas guys somehow were not treated right. Or who just dissed the Dem Gov and Dem legislators who spend weeks of agony to make required budget cuts. I just talked with a Dem State Representative who was pretty pissed about that.

            You are right. There are such Democrats, and they are real. I don’t like it.

            Obviously the prevailing wisdom for Colorado Dems (and here at ColoradoPols) is that choosing a candidate by acclamation, or by inevitability, or simply by assumptions of electability, and avoiding a primary, is the best way to win elections. I don’t think it is always the best way to win elections, and it certainly is not always the best way to get the best office holder (by that I mean it is not always the best way to get the best Dem in the office).

            Sure, Hick is a hell of a lot better than Scotter, and I will be supporting him along with other Dems. But based on the last couple of days, I question how good he will be for the state. He seems to have no inclination to listen to other Dems. I hope that changes. A primary might have focused his attention. Without that, what will? Suggestions? I hope I am pleasantly surprised.

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