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Three M's carried day for new center

Lou Kilzer, Rocky Mountain News

Published May 5, 2005 at midnight

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The strongest support for the planned $378 million justice center came in Denver's more affluent neighborhoods, according to detailed election results.

Voters on Tuesday approved the project 56 percent to 44 percent.

Large areas of the south central, Cherry Creek, Washington Park, Congress Park, Stapleton and Lowry neighborhoods also gave the center a nod, joined by a scattering of precincts in lower-income central and western areas of the city.

Precinct 530 - where the justice center will be built - was almost evenly split, with 51 voters in favor of the project while 52 voters said no.

The precinct-by-precinct election results obtained Wednesday by the Rocky Mountain News include only Election Day results, and not the 54 percent of the voters who cast early or absentee ballots. Unofficial results don't show where voters who cast those ballots live.

The results from this week's election are far different than a jail vote in 2001, when there was a sharp geographical divide in the city. Then, almost all of the west side of Denver turned thumbs-down to a $300 million jail, and many affluent areas were toss-ups.

What made the difference?

Political observers said it came down to the three M's: money, manpower and the mayor.

Money was significant - the proponents this year amassed nearly $700,000 in cash - but was not alone responsible for the broad and deep sweep, said consultant David Kenney.

Kenney, who handled the grand strategy for the winning side, said old-fashioned shoe leather played an unsung role.

Early on, proponents identified some 20,000 voters who they felt were solidly on their side. They encouraged most of those people to vote early, and those who didn't were selected for an Election Day get-out-the-vote drive.

Voters on the fence were also identified and pressed with pro-justice center pitches.

Workers walked 75 percent of the city, doing grass-roots digging that led to the winning turnout, Kenney said.

Opponents were licking their wounds Wednesday.

Bill Vandenberg, a leader of opposition forces, said voters were inundated with pro-justice center television ads that he could not afford to rebuff.

TV ads cost money, and money for the opponents was in short supply. Vandenberg said his side gathered about $1,500 in cash.

Then there was the mayor.

Basking in a 90 percent-plus approval rating and fresh off the crowing by Time magazine as one of the nation's top mayors, Mayor John Hickenlooper campaigned tirelessly for the justice center.

"The mayor's popularity was clearly a key factor," said City Councilwoman Jeanne Robb, in whose district the justice center will be built.

That was echoed by Councilman Charlie Brown, who cited the "overwhelming popularity of the mayor" as the fundamental cord in the election.

But Robb and others said other factors weighed in. One of the keys, she said, was the backing of a powerful neighborhood association.

In 2001, neighbors of the then-proposed site were strongly opposed. This time, the Golden Triangle Association, made up of many property owners and businesses in the area, backed the justice center.

Although voters who cast ballots Tuesday in the Golden Triangle were evenly split, Robb noted that 62 percent of her council district as a whole backed the project.

What few estimated was the margin of victory.

Robb called it an "outstanding margin" given the historical aversion to spending money on jails.

Councilman Rick Garcia, a strong supporter of the justice center and chairman of the council's safety committee, said, "I expected a narrow victory."

The number of absentee and early voting ballots - numbering some 33,116 of those cast - exceeded the number of those cast on Election Day.

The absentee and early vote closely mirrored the Election Day results. Some 56 percent of those voting early cast ballots in favor of the center.