John Hickenlooper in The Opposite of Woe
On Corporations:
AdWatch: I'm no politician; I make beer & build restaurants
The first of our 30-second ads aired on March 18, 2003. Just as the ad hit the air, a snowstorm hit Denver. A lot of people were snowed in. A lot of people watched a lot of television. In other words, a lot of people saw our first ad.Did I mention
that the ads themselves were rather unusual? We called the first one "Suit."
The opening shot is of me in a clothing store in a western shirt trying on a cowboy hat; then I enter and exit a dressing room a number of times, trying on different
clothes, different suits. All the while a voiceover. My voice. "Everybody says I need better clothes. They want me to look more mayoral. The fact is, I'm not a professional politician." I continue to narrate, pointing out that I was a laid-off geologist
and after that I spent 15 years "making beer, building restaurants, and creating jobs in Denver. For me, economic development isn't a campaign slogan. It's what I do."
"And right now, we have to find a way to get the job done for less money."
Source: 2003 Ad-Watch in "The Opposite of Woe," p.228-9
May 24, 2016
On Health Care:
2012: Make healthcare both affordable and accessible
In the [state-of-the-state] speech, we eased into one of the more challenging items or us to get through the legislature. The previous year, we had created the Colorado Health Insurance Marketplace; now, with Congress utterly gridlocked in a feud over
ObamaCare, we needed funding for it. The legislators had an idea this was coming, and I conveyed as much when I said that making Colorado the best place for entrepreneurship also meant we must have "health care that is both affordable and accessible."
Source: 2012 State of the State, in "The Opposite of Woe," p.283
May 24, 2016
On Civil Rights:
2012: It's time to pass civil unions
Next up [in my state-of-the-state speech] was our major policy agenda item for that session.I said: "We believe we should legislate what happens inside a church or place of worship, but government should treat all people equally."
I
said: "It's time to pass civil unions."
Most everyone on the floor of the chamber rose from their seats and applauded. Each legislator who stood and clapped was an exclamation point on the statement. Many republicans remained notably seated and stoic.
Source: 2012 State of the State, in "The Opposite of Woe," p.284
May 24, 2016
On Gun Control:
Make mental health part of discussion on mass killings
After the massacre in Aurora, I appeared on NBC's Meet the Press I said: "I think that [gun control] debate's going to happen. It has already started. But you look at this person, again, almost a creature,
if he couldn't have gotten access to guns, what kind of bomb he would have manufactured? We're at a time, an information age, where there's access to all kinds of information...
I think he was almost a terrorist that wanted to take away not just from the people here, but from the country, our ability to enjoy life, to go to a movie theater.
Which for most of us is a refuge where we can get away from the pressures of life. It's a human issue. How are we not able to identify someone like this who is so deeply, deeply disturbed?"
Source: Meet the Press 2012-2013 in "The Opposite of Woe," p.300
May 24, 2016
On Principles & Values:
Suffers from mild case of prosopagnosia, or "face blindness"
I have always had a devil of a time recognizing faces, even movie stars or celebrities. This is not as rare as you might think, and in the extreme, it is a cognitive disorder called "prosopagnosia." More commonly it's known as "face blindness."
I'm not at the extreme end, but it's presented challenges throughout my life. Try being in the social worlds I have been in and having a hard time recognizing people you should recognize. Makes for some awkward situations.
Source: The Opposite of Woe, by John Hickenlooper, p.110
May 24, 2016
On Drugs:
1989: Arrested for drunk driving; did community service
In 1989, something not so great happened. On my way home from an employee's birthday party, I was arrested for drinking and driving. I didn't fight the charge of "driving while impaired." I did what I did and it was stupid and dangerous.
I could have killed myself, or worse, someone else. I did my community service, but also changed the way the Wynkoop did business. We became the first restaurant in Colorado to offer a designated-driver program.
Source: The Opposite of Woe, by John Hickenlooper, p.183
May 24, 2016
On Welfare & Poverty:
Denver's Road Home: wraparound services for homeless
[In 2005] the U.S. Interagency on Homelessness would control all of the different federal sources of funding being used against homelessness, whether from HUD or the Veterans Administration or Health and Human Services or wherever , and for the
first time integrate them and award funding to cities based on results-based outcomes. What a concept! We were one of the first cities to commit to a ten year plan to end homelessness. We called it "Denver's Road Home."
Source: The Opposite of Woe, by John Hickenlooper, p.258
May 24, 2016
On Welfare & Poverty:
Involve businesses and faith org's to address homelessness
[In 2005 we initiated a program on homelessness that] we called "Denver's Road Home." We aligned the self-interests of restaurant, hotel, and other downtown retail operators, long frustrated by panhandlers hurting their businesses, alongside faith-
based and social welfare organizations. Part of this alignment of self-interests was possible because [we] made sure there were clear goals, and metrics to track our success. Sadly, the city had too often treated the indigent like criminals; our
homeless citizens were arrested and imprisoned. That is incredibly expensive and solves nothing. The only way to come close to meaningful and enduring remedies was to provide our city's homeless not only with shelter, but also with wraparound services
such as medical attention, counseling, and, where necessary, medications for addiction, and always job training. These individuals were almost always emotionally fragile, and desperately needed the structure and social support of a consistent workplace.
Source: The Opposite of Woe, by John Hickenlooper, p.258-9
May 24, 2016
On Energy & Oil:
Drank fracking fluid to partner industry & environmentalists
In 2011, I met with Dave Lesar, CEO for Halliburton. Lesar recently drank an experimental prototype of a new fracking fluid to demonstrate how safe it was. Lesar said he had a jar of the stuff with him, said it was called CleanStim. Lesar explained it
was made of all-natural FDA-approved ingredients, and, yes, safe enough to drink.I unscrewed the lid and took a swig. The room fell silent. I turned to Lesar and said, "Well it doesn't taste very good."
Lesar quipped back, "I said it was safe to
drink. I didn't say it was Gatorade." When word that I imbibed a bit of fracking fluid found its way into the media, it was portrayed as if I drank the oil and gas industry's Kool-Aid; that this old oil and gas geologist was a patsy for the industry.
Truth was, I was attempting to facilitate a partnership--to foster trust and cooperation--between industry and the environmental community--in hope that we might agree to the toughest fracking fluid disclosure rules in the country.
Source: The Opposite of Woe, by John Hickenlooper, p.275-6
May 24, 2016
On Gun Control:
Universal background checks for all gun sales
[After A 2012 mass shooting] I noted that our history of addressing difficult problems together made it possible to discuss gun violence and mental health. Not one or the other. Both. Then we got to it.
"Let me prime the pump:
Why not have universal background checks for all gun sales? . Surely, Second Amendment advocates and gun control supporters can find common ground in support of this proposition:
Let's examine our laws and make the changes needed to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people.
"It's not enough to prevent dangerous people from getting weapons.
We have to do a better job of identifying and helping people who are a threat to themselves and others. That is why we are requesting your support for a comprehensive overhaul of our state's mental health system."
Source: The Opposite of Woe, by John Hickenlooper, p.304-5
May 24, 2016
On Drugs:
First state to regulate legal sale of marijuana
[With the 2013 legislative session] We became the first state in the nation to pass laws to regulate the legal sale of marijuana. Every other regulated industry has benefited from years of trial and error, and could look to other states or even other
countries for models of what has worked and what has not. That was not an option here. The General Assembly agreed to a 15 percent excise tax to an initial 10 percent sales tax for recreational marijuana.
For the sake of public safety, we set a legal limit of active THC, the psychoactive chemical in marijuana, that drivers can have in their blood so that juries have a benchmark to judge whether someone was too high to drive.
The Colorado Department of Revenue created an innovative seed-to-sale tracking system. The rules were written. Recreational sales of marijuana would begin on January 1, 2014.
Source: The Opposite of Woe, by John Hickenlooper, p.317
May 24, 2016
On Immigration:
In-state tuition & driver's license for undocumented people
[As governor in 2012] we passed two laws addressing undocumented residents. One law enabled students without legal immigration status in our state who have graduated from Colorado high schools to attend our
state colleges and universities at the in-state tuition rate. The more educated our state's residents are, the more each and every one of us has a chance to fulfill his or her potential, the better off our state is.
Another law enabled undocumented people to get their driver's licenses. If undocumented residents are driving, and they are, let's at least do what we can to ensure they are properly trained and have insurance.
Because no tax dollars can go to supporting programs for undocumented residents, we made this a user-fee-supported service.
Source: The Opposite of Woe, by John Hickenlooper, p.319
May 24, 2016
On Crime:
Changed mind on death penalty, to oppose it as governor
One of the bills that did NOT make it out of that legislative session was an attempt to abolish the death penalty in Colorado. My senior staff helped keep that bill from passing. Make no mistake, I wanted to see the death penalty abolished.
I am against the death penalty. Well, first I was for it. But now I am against it. Some of my detractors have criticized me for saying what I wrote right there.
My views on capital punishment changed as that third legislative session was drawing to a close, when I had to decide whether or not I was going to allow the state to carry out a mass murderer's death sentence. [He decided on an
Executive Order to not use the death penalty during his gubernatorial term]. My reasons for not wanting that bill to abolish the death penalty to pass were tied to my thinking about what I would do with that order.
Source: The Opposite of Woe, by John Hickenlooper, p.320-1
May 24, 2016
On Budget & Economy:
q/20/2
Colorado Blueprint: promote private-sector growth
While the public sector is not a job creator, it does have an obligation to help promote private-sector growth. That had been our priority since day one. We designed a Colorado Blueprint that focused on six core objectives: build a
In 2010, when it came to job growth, this state was ranked fortieth in the nation. Now, four years later, in that same ranking, Colorado was ranked fourth-best job growth state. Over and over again
I would say, "We went from fortieth to fourth."Since January 2010, we had added 170,000 jobs.
Source: The Opposite of Woe, by John Hickenlooper, p.338-9
May 24, 2016
Page last updated: Aug 10, 2019