Best Political Appointment -- City

With appointment after appointment, Mayor John Hickenlooper has brought a stellar lineup of talent to the city -- and a stellar lineup on the cheap, since he'd vowed to cut the mayor's budget by 25 percent. But even in this embarrassment of riches, Roxane White, the city's new manager of human services, stands out. With the current budget crunch, all jobs are tough -- but hers could be the toughest, since social services have taken a huge hit on both a federal and statewide level, even as the number of those in need rises daily. But White's up to the task. As director of Urban Peak, a nonprofit serving homeless youth, for eight years, she proved herself both a tireless fighter for the underclass and a creative administrator who figured out how to do more with less. Or, in some cases, nothing at all. With White in charge, human services suddenly became a lot more human.