Groff calls Senate to order

Former Mayor Webb, wife talk of passing torch to new generation

Chris Barge and Alan Gathright

Published January 10, 2008 at 12:30 a.m.

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Photo by Chris Schneider / The Rocky

New Senate President Peter Groff shakes hands with his father, former state Sen. Regis Groff, as the legislature starts its 2008 session at the state Capitol in Denver on Wednesday. Groff is the first black president of the Senate.

Photo by Barry Gutierrez / The Rocky

Kendall Rice, wife of Joe Rice, D-Littleton, stands with their children, Dalton, left, Alexandria, and Harrison, in front of the desk of their father, who is serving in Iraq, during the opening session of the Colorado House on Wednesday.

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Regis Groff gazed out across the Senate chamber Wednesday and took in a sight he thought he'd never see.

Black men, women and children filled nearly every row in the balcony and the entire east bench on the Senate floor. Democratic lawmakers outnumbered Republicans. And his son, Sen. Peter Groff, stood behind the podium, gavel in hand.

"The thought of ever having a Democratic majority never occurred to me," Regis Groff said. "And to have a black as Senate president - and to have that person be my son - is something I could not have imagined."

With one swift strike, Groff gaveled the Senate to order as the legislature convened for a 120-day session. The 44-year-old from Denver was immediately elected its first black president.

He replaced Joan Fitz-Gerald, who was the first woman to hold the job but resigned to run for Congress.

"I understand that it is not just my hand that takes the gavel today," Groff said in his opening speech. "I understand that it is the hands of my relatives who toiled under the overseer's whip on the red clay of Georgia that take this gavel today on the red carpet of the Colorado Senate."

He challenged his colleagues to "climb above the forest of partisan politics and to ascend above the timberline, to the summit, to a place from which we can see the long view and the pathway to a greater Colorado."

He honed in on the Democratic agenda of tackling health care, education and economic development this session.

Groff then announced the creation of a Senate Select Committee to look at ways to reform the state Constitution, "the tallest mountain in our legislative range."

"A constitution should be a thoughtful list of principles and obligations of citizens and government," he said. "However, Colorado's has become a laundry list of detached and contradictory provisions offered by special interest groups who wanted to add their special twists to the Constitution."

In his own remarks, Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany, R-Colorado Springs, urged the Senate not to "take a wrecking ball" to the current health care system.

He also pushed for securing a steady funding source for transportation, as well as for GOP bills on education, immigration and the environment.

He asked Democrats to stop trying to "reinvent the wheel" every time they tackled a problem that was really just a flat tire needing a patch.

"Otherwise, you'll get mired down in blue-ribbon panels, epic debates, starry-eyed schemes and back-breaking and tax-and- fee hikes. And in the end, you still won't solve the problem anyway."

But McElhany strayed from his prepared remarks to applaud the progress of the civil rights movement, as symbolized by Groff's new post. He then recognized Groff's father, who drew a standing ovation.

Regis Groff served in the Senate from 1974 to 1994 and sponsored a bill to make Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday a holiday in Colorado.

Also on hand were former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb and first lady Wilma Webb. The Webbs also served in the legislature.

Wilma Webb was the House sponsor of the MLK legislation and still recalls the yearly battles over the bill until it finally passed.

She and her husband talked about the passing of the torch to a new generation.

"We knew Peter when he was a young boy, so this is just wonderful," Wilma Webb said. "It shows what we worked on did matter."

They said it

"I thought it was wonderful. It sounded the right note of hope. I thought it was nice the way he honored his father."

* Former. Sen Penfield Tate, D-Denver, whose resignation in 2003 led to Groff's appointment to the Senate

"I thought it was just great. Peter is a very eloquent and he's always very gracious. When he delivers a speech to the Senate it's always very measured, very clear and very respectful. I like that about him."

* Sen. Moe Keller, D-Wheat Ridge

"Sen. Groff is one of the most eloquent lawmakers, but today he was outlining an agenda not soaring to the heights. I'm excited about his ideas to reform education. He's probably meeting some opposition from his own caucus there. Other than it was a fairly measured look at the issues we'll be tackling."

* Sen. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield

"I thought it was really nice. I thought it was a collaborative, bipartisan effort."

* Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial

"I was encouraged by his commitment to education and his focus on students and the outcomes, not on the system that provides it. But I am somewhat skeptical of the rhetoric that supports state-sponsored health insurance to cover all children."

* Sen. Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs

"I thought Peter was being respectful of the office of the president. It's not like going to church and having a preacher with fire and brimstone. He was trying to reflect the seriousness and decorum of the Senate. I thought it was a very good speech. I liked especially when talking about throwing off the shackles of convention and caution and act as Rev. Martin Luther King said 'with the fierce urgency of now.' "

* Sen. Sue Windels, D-Arvada

Staff writer Lynn Bartels contributed to this report.

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