Interesting phone poll

by: Denver-er

Wed Jan 26, 2011 at 18:41:49 PM MST

So I just got off the phone with a polling company. Lots of questions (poll was over 20 minutes) about extending term limits for the Denver District Attorney from 3 terms to 4 terms.

It sounded like a standard, and not a push poll. I was asked to evaluate several arguments both for, and against, increasing the term limits.

I did not know this was in the works, I guess it is...at least if it polls OK.

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Denver Mayoral Line Updated

We've updated The Denver Line for the 2011 Mayoral Race. Michael Hancock, James Mejia and Chris Romer are all in about the same spot at the top, with Carol Boigon poised to join them once she makes a formal announcement. Doug Linkhart has made his bid formal, but he hasn't done much to generate any real excitement or interest in his candidacy as of yet.

The field is far from set, and with five months to go and no obvious frontrunner, it's a decent bet that the next Mayor of Denver is still well off the radar.

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The First Denver Mayoral Line Is Here!

by: Denver Pols

Wed Oct 13, 2010 at 11:58:00 AM MST

Since every Democrat running for a state legislative seat is Denver is a shoo-in to win in November, we decided to skip ahead to the 2011 Denver City Elections.

We're going to assume that Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper is going to be Colorado's next governor, so we've taken a quick stab at the first "Mayoral Line" for 2011.

The first couple of these Lines are always difficult to gauge, especially since there is only one candidate (James Mejia) who has officially filed to run. Thus the position of a lot of these candidates is theoretical, since several may choose not to run at all. But as of today, here's how we see the potential field shaping up for next spring.

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DA Pay Raise Irks Some Council Members

by: Elliot

Sat Jan 17, 2009 at 16:45:36 PM MST

Earlier this month the Denver City Council narrowly approved a measure that would increase the pay for the District Attorney more than $60,000 over the next three years. The office of Denver DA Mitch Morrissey was the party most involved in lobbying for the raise, and that, along with their arguments, didn't sit well with some council members.

The Denver Post reports:

The issue sharply divided the group, with council president Jeanne Robb and council members Jeanne Faatz and Carla Madison dissenting from the majority...
At one point, Councilwoman Judy Montero seemed ready to vote no, too. She took exception to comments from Steve Siegel, the district attorney's director of special programs.
Siegel told the council the state picks up 80 percent of the minimum salary the state requires municipalities to pay district attorneys.
Under that formula, the city will have to pick up only $5,880 of the salary increase in 2009. Morrissey's salary also would increase by $10,000 in 2010, and by that same amount in 2011 and 2012, but again the city would pay only $2,000 each year for the incremental increases with the state paying the rest...
...Siegel noted that the district attorney in Fort Collins, which is half the size of Denver and has a lower crime rate, is projected to receive close to the same amount as the $207,000 Morissey would be paid in 2012. Other top prosecutors in comparable cities make "substantially more" than Morrissey, he said.

At first glance, it's not a bad argument--the DA gets a raise, the city only pays 1/6 of it, and the state foots the rest of the bill. Plus, shouldn't the Denver DA make more than Ft. Collins DA? This would be perfectly fine if it weren't for a few unfortunate realities.

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