Denver's mayoral election is today — here's what the candidates are saying about tech

by Doug Pitorak
April 30, 2015

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With Denver’s 2015 Municipal General Election just days away, we caught up with the three mayoral candidates, as well as Mayor Michael Hancock who is running for re-election, to get their thoughts about the Denver digital tech scene. 

Read on, and be sure to head to the polls on Tuesday!



[ibimage==33563==Original==none==self==ibimage_align-left]Paul Noel Fiorino, nonpartisan

His takeaway of the Denver digital tech scene:

As far as an incubator for startups in the tech and data world, we have several places that are really making strides in that. Galvanize is in the Golden Triangle. They took over an old building and refurbished it, and they house a whole bunch of startup groups and operating groups, and it’s really a unique process in itself.

On the advancement of technology in general:

We have access to see, learn and be a part of something almost instantly, which is pretty phenomenal within this last decade that it’s happened.

How he would help Denver’s digital tech startup scene, if elected:

I’d just be a positive a force to get to conversation. I think that’s all you can do in regards to leadership is keeping the conversation, driving the conversation, making sure we are advancing our opportunities for employment, as far as the startups, as well as educating.

Education is really where it needs to happen. I think there’s a lot of opportunities for our students to be plugged in all across the state, and that still hasn’t happened, but we’re working on it. Denver itself has a really great opportunity to make sure that every student has access.

 

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Marcus Giavanni
, nonpartisan


On what Denver needs out of its mayor:

I believe the new mayor for Denver is going to have to know how to write code. He’s going to have to know how to work with servers. He’s going to have to know the whole entire IT process in order to be able to clean up the other departments administratively. The digital conversation is going to get everybody in Denver back on track to being the next innovation hub. If you have a mayor that doesn't understand digital, then we're all going to live in the day of the caveman.

How he would he help the tech scene, if elected:

The first thing I would do for the tech services is we are going to have to educate our children young. Kids without music or without electronic devices in this day and age are going to lose out to China, to North Korea, to Venezuela. Everybody that picks up a device, we’re going to be their friend, and the ones that don’t, then we’re going to have to teach them in school how to get on the devices.
 

 

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Chairman Seku, nonpartisan  
 

What he has noticed about Denver’s digital tech scene:


There’s been a growth of that happening in the city, and there’s a couple things that it has the possibility of doing, and that is stimulating the economy, creating jobs — livable-wage jobs that people could actually do some things with after they do their work. 

His advice for entrepreneurs:

Folks have got to be very, very careful, because you’re playing with people’s lives. People start planning around these jobs and incomes, and they get overextended by anticipating this job is going to last for a while, and then they get caught up in credit card debt and it's way above their heads and now they're facing foreclosure of their property, or they end up overextending their credit ratings.

These companies have got to begin to take 100 percent responsibility for what they do as they go about risking these grand ideas and new ideas. Plan for the possibility that it doesn’t work and how are you going to deal with the people whose lives have become dependent upon you. That’s going to require planning on the business entrepreneur side, and it’s got to be social planning, where you got to think more about how you’re going to impact these peoples lives, especially in the beginning.

On what he would support as mayor:

The first thing I look at is this: are you locally-based? If you’re locally-based I will use my position as a bully pulpit to cheerlead and have people take an interest in your company by joining in partnership and helping you market this thing.

Any and all of this I’m for, especially if the companies are neighborhood-based and they’re employing people in that neighborhood. And if they’re Colorado companies, they should be given a hand up before all these other companies coming in here who have no vested interest in Colorado whatsoever, other than a place where they can increase their profit margin and then move on down the road.


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Mayor Michael Hancock
, democrat


His view of digital tech in Denver’s economy:

At the first Denver Startup Week, I stated that Denver is positioning itself to become the tech capital of the country, and in partnership with the community, we have made great progress toward achieving that goal. Today, the startup and tech culture in Denver is the foundation of our city’s global economic reach and the key to our future successes. For that progress to continue and for us to reach our goals, it’s important for the city and our partners in the industry to continue to support our innovators, creators and workers by finding solutions to rising housing costs, ensuring our children have access to resources so they can one day enter these industries, and continuing to provide our entrepreneurs with the tools they need to develop their competitive edge.

On what he would do as mayor if re-elected:

We will boldly continue on this path to making Denver a tech capital. My administration has had great success developing collaborative relationships with City Council and business groups to support startups and our thriving technology industry. Over the next four years, we’ll strengthen our relationships with the tech industry by helping identify financing for startups, attracting new businesses to Denver, and we hope we can do more and find new ways to help the tech industry thrive as it evolves. We’re working toward making Denver a more livable city, and the tech industry and startups will benefit as we work to keep Denver’s housing options affordable, delivering on transformational projects such as the Aerotropolis and the National Western Center, and expand the city's transportation options.

Write-in candidates were not contacted for this article.

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