***EXCLUSIVE*** == MUST CREDIT COMPLETECOLORADO.comAugust 25th, 2008 WHERE DID MAYOR HICKENLOOPER GET STATISTICS HE CITED IN JULY PRESS CONFERENCE? CompleteColorado.com has obtained an internal document produced by the City of Denver that shows a projected $3 million dollar profit for the Denver vehicle impound lot in calendar year 2009, the first full year of operation under the new "impound" ordinance recently passed by voters. The document stands in sharp contrast to the views of Mayor Hickenlooper at a July 30th press conference in which the Mayor is quoted in a Denver Post article saying that the initiative would "[cost] us a ton of personnel and funding." The article also states that the Mayor said the initiative was an unfunded mandate that would cost the city more than one million dollars annually. Whether or not the document obtatined by CompleteColorado.com is the same document the Mayor was referencing in his remarks to the press could not be determined by the Mayor's office. However, many numbers specifically cited by Mayor Hickenlooper, closely, if not perfectly, match many of the numbers and assumptions in the spreadsheet. The spreadsheed, titled "VIF Analysis," was obtained from the office of a Denver city councilmember.  For example, the Post article says, "Hickenlooper added that the city also would have to spend about $1.2 million to purchase extra land to expand its impound lot and buy a new heavy fork lift." Those one-time capital outlays are figured into the 2009 projections in the spreadsheet, and yet the impound lot was still given a forecast for a large profit. The Post article also noted that the Mayor accurately cited that the city already impounds nearly 20-thousand vehicles annually, and best estimates by the city suggest that the additional vehicles impounded (in 2009) because of the ordinance would be close to 30-thousand. Once again, the document works under those exact same figures and assumptions. "His Honor deceived the Denver electorate by declaring half-truths prior to the vote. Certainly the expenses would rise, but with a ten fold increase in revenue, this is a win-win proposition," said Stan Weekes, director of Colorado's largest immigration activist organization. The Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform will press for local ordinance changes around the state as well as uniform policy at the Legislature's next session. When contacted for comment, Sue Cobb with the Mayor's communications office said, "The main issue the Mayor addressed in his public comments on the initiative is the fact that the amendment is constitutionally questionable and would burden safety personnel with requirements that are already covered by existing law." City Attorney David Broadwell told CompleteColorado.com that he expected some kind of legal challenge to the new law. Broadwell also noted that new financial projections for the impound initiative are being finalized by the city, but those numbers will be heavily affected by how his office interprets the law, and subsequently determines how enforecement should proceed based on the wording of the initiative. "Thousands of people in the metro area will see lower insurance costs, reduce their risk of being victimized by hit-and-run or drunk drivers, and not be subjected to the two tiered legal judgment currently imposed by the processes known as sanctuary," Weekes said. "The people of Denver should expect their elected leadership to be honest with them when it comes to emotional public safety issues." Weekes went on to say that "the people have spoken, but will the current officials hear the message?"
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