Wake-Up Call: Chamber plot

On Friday, Kelly Brough, Mayor John Hickenlooper's chief of staff, was named the next head of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce -- the winner in a horse race with Tom Clark, the chamber's eco-devo head. On Saturday, I ran into Brough at a concert in Civic Center and asked...

By Patricia Calhoun

August 12, 2009

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On Friday, Kelly Brough, Mayor John Hickenlooper's chief of staff, was named the next head of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce -- the winner in a horse race with Tom Clark, the chamber's eco-devo head. On Saturday, I ran into Brough at a concert in Civic Center and asked when she'd be leaving her office across the grass at City Hall and heading to the Chamber in LoDo.

In mid-September, she said. But first, she promised the mayor that she'd get the budget through, and since the budget involves coming up with a solution to a $120 million shortfall that could involve concessions on the police contract, she's got her work cut out for her. After that, wrangling a 3,000-member organization should be a snap.

Denver's proposed budget is due at Denver City Council on September 15.

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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