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The Government of Denver makes up the public sector of the City and County of Denver, Colorado.
Denver is a consolidated city-county with an elected mayor, thirteen-member city council, auditor, and clerk and recorder. Denver city elections are on a non-partisan basis: that is, there are no official party nominees, though officials may belong to a political party. All citywide elected officials have four-year terms, with a maximum of three terms.
Denver has a strong mayor and a weak city council government. The mayor can approve or veto any ordinances or resolutions approved by the council, [1] make sure all contracts with the city are kept and performed, sign all bonds and contracts, is responsible for the city budget, and can appoint people to various city departments, organizations, and commissions. The current mayor is Mike Johnston.
The thirteen-member Denver City Council is responsible for passing and changing all laws, resolutions, and ordinances, usually after a public hearing. Eleven members are elected from constituent districts and two from at-large districts. The Council can override the Mayor's veto with a nine out of thirteen member vote, [1] and the city budget must be approved and can be changed by a simple majority vote of the council. They can also call for misconduct investigations of Denver's departmental officials.
The Denver District Attorney is responsible for the prosecution of state criminal violations in the Second Judicial District, composed entirely of Denver. A district attorney is elected for each of the state's 22 judicial districts in a partisan election.
The Auditor checks all expenditures and may refuse to allow specific ones, usually based on financial reasons. [2]
The Clerk and Recorder functions as the city and county clerk, county recorder, and county public trustee, and manages elections and voter registration including campaign finance requirements. [3] As clerk they are responsible for publication of the charter and municipal code, City Council minutes, agendas, ordinances, and resolutions, the Mayor's executive orders, and compiling rules and regulations enacted by Denver agencies. [3] As public trustee they are responsible for foreclosure and deed release filings, including weekly foreclosure property auctions. [3] [4] As county recorder they are responsible for recording deeds, deeds of trust, quit claim deeds, liens, marriage licenses, and civil union licenses (the Domestic Partnership Registry), and acts as the repository for boundary maps of certain special districts. [3]
The Denver Department of Safety oversees three branches: Denver Police Department, Denver Fire Department, and the Denver Sheriff Department. The current director of public safety is Armando Saldate, who joined the city in 2014 with the Denver Sheriff's Department.
As of 2009, the Denver Police Department had 1500 police officers. [5] The department is headed by Police Chief Ron Thomas, who has served as acting chief of the city's police department since August 2022. [6]
The Police Department began in December 1859, with the election of the first city marshal. The force gained its first African-American police officer in 1880, and its first female police "matron" in 1888. [5]
The city of Denver is protected 24/7, 365 by the paid, full-time firefighters of the city of Denver Fire Department (DFD). The Denver Fire Department currently is organized into 6 Divisions of Operations, each under the Command of a Division Chief: Operations Division; Fire Prevention and Investigation Division; Technical Services Division; Administrative Division; Safety and Training Division; Airport Division. [7]
The DFD currently operates out of 34 Fire Stations (including 4 Airport Stations) in 8 Districts, each under the command of an Assistant Chief, located throughout the city. The Denver Fire Department operates a fire apparatus fleet of 28 Engines, 14 Trucks, 1 Heavy Rescue, 1 Hammer Team (Technical Rescue) Unit, 1 Haz-Mat. Unit, 1 Collapse Unit, 1 Water Rescue Unit, and numerous special, support, and reserve units. The current Chief of Department is Eric Tade. [7]
The Denver Department of Transportation & Infrastructure (DOTI), formerly the Department of Public Works (DPW), manages road maintenance and repair, parking enforcement, trash collection services, and design and construction management of streets, bridges, and public buildings.
The Department of Aviation manages the Denver International Airport.
The Denver County Court is an integrated Colorado County Court and Municipal Court and is not part of the state court system for administrative purposes. Uniquely, the Denver Probate Court and the Denver Juvenile Court have jurisdiction over probate and juvenile matters respectively. Outside Denver, these matters are within the jurisdiction of the Colorado District Courts. The Denver County Court Judicial Nomination Commission recommends candidates to the Mayor of Denver to fill vacancies on the Denver County Court. [8] [9]
Denver courts are located both in the City and County Building, and in the Lindsey-Flanigan Courthouse. [10]
Denver Water is the public utility that provides water to Denver. It is supervised by the five-member Board of Water Commissioners, whose members are appointed by the mayor of Denver to six-year terms. The Board in turn designates a manager who is in charge of day-to-day operations.
The County Assessor is responsible for valuing all property in the county except for exempt property and state assessed properties. [11] Taxpayers may appeal the assigned value to the Assessor and the County Board of Equalization (valuation appeal and abatement). [11] [12]
The Denver Board of Equalization performs the functions of equalization, reduction, abatement, and rebate of general taxes. [12] Of the functions, abatement is usually the responsibility of the Board of County Commissioners. [11] [13] It is composed of the Manager of General Services, Manager of Public Works, Clerk and Recorder, Chief Financial Officer, and President of the City Council. [12] The Colorado Board of Assessment Appeals (BAA) hears appeals filed by real and personal property owners regarding the valuation placed on their property. [11]
In 1935-1937 the state authorized local housing authorities. [14] [15] The Denver Housing Authority was created by the Council in 1938 and its first commissioners were appointed by the Mayor on 2 September 1938.
Pursuant to the Constitution and law of Colorado, Denver is governed by the Charter of Denver. Pursuant to its charter, the Council has promulgated numerous local ordinances which have been codified in the Denver Revised Municipal Code (DRMC).
The City and County of Denver levies an Occupational Privilege Tax (OPT or Head Tax) on employers and employees.
While Denver elections are non-partisan, Democrats have long held a virtual monopoly on Denver politics with all citywide elected officials having Democratic Party affiliation. The office of Denver's Mayor has been occupied by a Democrat since the municipal general election of 1963.
Former Denver mayor John Hickenlooper was a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, [16] an organization formed in 2006 and co-chaired by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston mayor Thomas Menino.
In federal elections, Denverites also tend to vote for Democratic candidates. Denver is represented at the federal level by congresswoman Diana DeGette, a Democrat representing Colorado's 1st congressional district, which includes all of Denver and parts of Arapahoe County.
Denver was founded in 1858 and incorporated in 1861. The city was chosen as the permanent state capital of Colorado by a special election in 1881.
The historic Denver City and County Building was built to house city and county administration before 1920.[ clarification needed ]
In hosting the 1908 Democratic National Convention, Denver gained a spotlight in what was at the time an east coast-dominated national politics. Industrialists now moving west with innovation and big business were witness to Denver's political value, and more importantly, venue. Conquering the west is considered to be no easy challenge politically, and still an important asset. In the later part of the 20th century, winning the west was seen as crucial to a win abroad, making Denver the "center stage" in the political arena.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Denver was one of the epicenters of the Chicano Movement. The boxer-turned-activist Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales formed an organization called the Crusade for Justice, which battled police brutality, fought for bilingual education, and, most notably, hosted the First National Chicano Youth Liberation Conference in March 1969. [17]
Denver hosted the 2008 Democratic National Convention, which coincided with the centennial of the city's 1908 hosting of the convention. The 2008 Libertarian National Convention was also hosted in Denver, which is also the site of the original Libertarian Party Convention, which was held in 1972. [18] It also hosted the G7 summit between June 20 and June 22 in 1997. [19]
On October 31, 2011 it was announced that The University of Denver in Denver was selected as the host of the first of three 2012 presidential debates to be held on October 3, 2012. [20]
The Denver Public Schools (DPS) district is the public school system in Denver. DPS is governed by the elected seven-member Denver Board of Education, with five elected by voters within five districts and two elected at-large. The Board in turn appoints the Superintendent.
The Regional Transportation District (RTD) is the regional authority operating public transit services in eight counties that have delegated transit public services to the multi-county district, of a total of the twelve counties in the Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical Area. RTD is governed by a 15-member Board of Directors, elected to four-year terms within specific constituency districts.
The Denver Health and Hospital Authority (DHHA), which manages the Denver Health Medical Center and other[ which? ] hospitals and services in the region, is governed by a nine-member Board of Directors who are appointed for five years by the Mayor and confirmed by the City Council. [21] [22] [23]
Orchard City is a statutory town in Delta County, Colorado, United States. The population was 3,142 at the 2020 census. There are three post offices serving Orchard City: Austin, Cory, Eckert.
Ohio county government is the structure of official managerial and legal bodies of the counties of Ohio, USA. It is marked by a loose organization and a diffusion of power, the basic framework not having been changed since the nineteenth century. The Ohio Constitution allows counties to set up a charter government as many cities and villages do, but only Summit and Cuyahoga counties have done so. Counties operating under a constitutional government do not possess home rule powers and can do only what has been expressly authorized by the Ohio General Assembly. However, Article X of the Ohio Constitution gives county government benefits similar to those conferred on cities and villages under the home rule amendments of 1912.
The government of the U.S. State of Oklahoma, established by the Oklahoma Constitution, is a republican democracy modeled after the federal government of the United States. The state government has three branches: the executive, legislative, and judicial. Through a system of separation of powers or "checks and balances," each of these branches has some authority to act on its own, some authority to regulate the other two branches, and has some of its own authority, in turn, regulated by the other branches.
The government of Miami-Dade County is defined and authorized under the Constitution of Florida, Florida law, and the Home Rule Charter of Miami-Dade County.
The Government of Indianapolis—officially the Consolidated City of Indianapolis and Marion County—is a strong-mayor form of mayor-council government system. Local government is headquartered downtown at the City-County Building.
The government of Indiana is established and regulated by the Constitution of Indiana. The state-level government consists of three branches: the judicial branch, the legislative branch, and the executive branch. The three branches share power and jointly govern the state of Indiana. County and local governments are also constitutional bodies with limited authority to levy taxes, pass legislation, and create and maintain local public infrastructure.
The government of Jacksonville is organized under the city charter and provides for a "strong" mayor–council system. The most notable feature of the government in Jacksonville, Florida, is that it is consolidated with Duval County, which the jurisdictions agreed to in the 1968 Jacksonville Consolidation.
A clerk is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in many others, the clerk is appointed to their post. In the UK, a town or parish clerk is appointed by the town or parish council members. In almost all cases, the actual title of the clerk reflects the type of municipality they work for; thus, instead of simply being known as the clerk, the position is generally referred to as the town clerk, township clerk, city clerk, village clerk, borough clerk, board secretary, or county clerk. Other titles also exist, such as recorder and corporate officer. The office has existed for centuries, though in some places it is now being merged with other positions.
The government of the City of Los Angeles operates as a charter city under the charter of the City of Los Angeles. The elected government is composed of the Los Angeles City Council with 15 city council districts and the mayor of Los Angeles, which operate under a mayor–council government, as well as several other elective offices. Under the California Constitution, all judicial, school, county, and city offices, including those of chartered cities, are nonpartisan. The current mayor is Karen Bass, the current city attorney is Hydee Feldstein Soto and the current city controller is Kenneth Mejia.
The Government of San Diego County is defined and authorized under the California Constitution, California law, and the Charter of the County of San Diego. Much of the Government of California is in practice the responsibility of county governments such as the Government of San Diego County. The County government provides countywide services such as elections and voter registration, law enforcement, jails, vital records, property records, tax collection, public health, and social services. In addition the County serves as the local government for all unincorporated areas.
The government of Cook County, Illinois, is primarily composed of the Board of Commissioners, other elected officials such as the Sheriff, State's Attorney, Treasurer, Board of Review, Clerk, Assessor, Cook County Circuit Court judges and Circuit Court Clerk, as well as numerous other officers and entities. Cook County is the only home rule county in Illinois. The Cook County Code is the codification of Cook County's local ordinances.
Thomas S. McMurray (1855–1918) was an American politician who served as the mayor of Denver, Colorado from 1895 to 1899. A lawyer by trade, McMurray came to Denver in 1885.
The 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado were held on November 6, 2018, to elect the seven U.S. representatives from the state of Colorado, one from each of the state's seven congressional districts. The Republican and Democratic Party primaries in Colorado were held on June 26, 2018. The elections coincided with the gubernatorial election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate, and various state and local elections.
The 2019 Colorado Springs Elections will be held in 2 segments in 2019. The Tuesday, April 2, 2019 election includes Mayor of Colorado Springs, 3 Colorado Springs City Council at-large positions and 1 Colorado Springs Ballot Issue. The election on Tuesday, November 5, 2019, will include 4 Colorado Springs School District 11 Board of Education seats.
The Cook County, Illinois, general election was held on November 8, 2016.
The Cook County, Illinois, general election was held on November 7, 2002.
The Cook County, Illinois, general election was held on November 3, 1992.
The Cook County, Illinois, general election was held on November 8, 1988.
The Cook County, Illinois, general election was held on November 6, 1984.
The 2023 Denver mayoral election was held on April 4, 2023 to elect the mayor of Denver, Colorado, with a runoff held on June 6. The election was officially nonpartisan and was held concurrently with elections for the Denver City Council, as well as city auditor and city clerk and recorder. Incumbent Democratic mayor Michael Hancock was term-limited and could not seek a fourth term in office. A historic field of seventeen candidates filed to run in the race to succeed Hancock.