DENVER — Mayor Michael Hancock returned to Denver on Tuesday after a trip to Japan paid for with public funds, his third overseas trip in the past six months as he prepares to leave office this summer.
The city said the latest travel coincides with the 10-year anniversary of United's direct flight from Denver International Airport to Tokyo and allowed the mayor to work to secure further foreign investment after globalization efforts were put on hold during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"To suggest this is merely tax-payer funded world travel is misinformed, and diminishes a key aspect of Denver’s economic development strategy which has meant hundreds of millions of dollars in economic impact for the city over the past decade," said spokesperson Michael Strott.
"Working towards that goal doesn’t stop for the Mayor because his time in the Mayor’s Office is coming to a close, and he is committed to doing this work on behalf of the city until the next mayor is sworn into office," he said.
In addition to the mayor, nine city employees and 19 others participated in the delegation to Tokyo. A mayor's office spokesperson said the city will pay for part of the trip out of its general fund, DIA will kick in the rest.
The mayor's two previous trips – to the UK, Ireland, Turkey, Egypt and Ethiopia -- operated under a similar funding scheme. The Africa trip, for example, cost $107,000 – of which city taxpayers paid about $19,000 from the general fund.
The total trip expense included four nights at the Ritz Carlton on the Nile (total $1,099) and business class fares to and from Denver (total $6,500).
Strott said the city does not yet have a cost estimate for the Japan trip. The mayor and another member of the delegation came home early due to personal family matters on Tuesday. The changing and cancellation of reservations adjusted the cost breakdown, he said.
In addition to the mayor, Strott said the following people went on the trip:
City delegation members:
- Alan Salazar, chief of staff
- Evan Dreyer, deputy chief of staff
- Georg Hill, Mayor’s Office director of Scheduling and Advance
- Jen Morris, executive director, Denver Economic Development and Opportunity (DEDO)
- Stephanie Garnica, director of Global Business Development, DEDO
- Laura Jackson, vice president for Air Service Development, DIA
- Penny May, EVP/chief commercial officer, DIA
- Derek Okubo, executive director, Agency for Human Rights & Community Partnerships
- Kerry Tipper, city attorney
Non-city delegation members:
- Flavia Light, VP, International, VISIT DENVER
- J.J. Ament, president & CEO, Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce
- Kate Barton, VP External Relations, Downtown Denver Partnership
- Eric Hiraga, executive vice president, Matrix Design Group
- Tish Maes, president, PradoMaes Inc.
- Kyle Chism, Business Development, Turner Construction
- Jeff Darnell, director, PCL Construction Services, Inc.
- Debbie Brown, president, Colorado Business Roundtable
- George Burciaga, managing partner, US Mayoral Roundtable
- Tim Wolfe, director, Colorado Tourism Office
- Andrea Blankenship, director, International Tourism, Colorado Tourism Office
- Jessica Acosta, board member, Denver Metro Leadership Foundation
- Matthias Frenz, CEO/president, Logplan
- Anthony Albanese, senior vice P=president, CBRE
- Jon Moellenberg, managing director, RBC Capital Markets
- Matt Bell, senior vice president, Kroenke Sports
- Charlie McDaniel, managing director, GSSG Solar (Takayama only)
- Adrian Archambault, director, GSSG Solar (Takayama only)
- Gil Asakawa, chair, Denver/Takayama Sister City Committee (Takayama only)
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