Mayor Announces Two New Additions To The City Team
Mayor Hickenlooper announced the addition of Diane Barrett and Carrie Besnette to the city team. In her appointed role as a Special Assistant to the Mayor, Barrett’s duties will focus on transit and development-related issues, including FasTracks implementation, Denver Union Station, and ongoing improvements to development review and permitting processes. Besnette will be a part-time "loaned executive" from the Daniels Fund for one year, helping the Mayor implement his vision of expanded college access opportunities for Denver students.
Barrett was a partner at the Denver-based law firm of Holme Roberts & Owen LLP since 1994, where she specialized in public finance as a member of the firm’s real estate development, land use, and finance practice group. She presently serves as the co-chair of the City of Denver’s Zoning Code Task Force and as a board member of the Iliff School of Theology. She has served on several Denver Public Schools finance committees, the University of Denver College of Law Alumni Council, and the board of trustees for the Legal Aid Foundation of Colorado, the Friends of the Denver Public Library, the American Cancer Society, and Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains. Barrett received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Kentucky, her J.D. from the University of Denver College of Law, and her master’s in librarianship from the University of Denver.
Besnette, a vice president with the Daniels Fund since 2000, was the chief architect of the Daniels College Prep and Scholarship Program. Besnette currently serves as board president for the National Scholarship Providers Association (NSPA), a membership organization of scholarship providers across the United States and Canada, and as board chair for the Denver Metro Chamber Foundation. During this one-year loaned executive assignment, Besnette will split her time with the Metro Denver Sports Commission, on whose board she serves, where she will work on the Commission’s international event-related efforts.
Mayor Announces New Appointment To Denver Water Board
Mayor Hickenlooper announced his appointment of Harris D. Sherman to the Denver Water Board in December. Established in 1918, Denver Water is Colorado’s oldest and largest water utility.
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Its board is responsible for ensuring a continuous supply of water to the City and County of Denver and the nearly 50% of Denver Water customers who live in the surrounding suburbs, all of which involves issues of water collection, storage, quality control, distribution, conservation, and pricing.
Currently a senior partner in the Denver office of Arnold & Porter LLP with a practice focused on natural resources, environmental and water law, Sherman joined Arnold & Porter in 1980 and served as managing partner from 1980 to 2000. Colorado’s representative to the Western States Water Council since 1975, Sherman has also served as chairman of the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission and the Colorado State University Water Resources Research Institute Advisory Committee. In 1992, Sherman received the Thorne Ecological Institute Environmental Award, and in 1994 he received an honorary doctorate from Colorado College.
Sherman is a lifetime Colorado resident and has held leadership positions with a number of local and national organizations. He received his bachelor’s degree in history from Colorado College and his law degree from Columbia Law School in New York. Sherman will fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Bill Roberts.
Mayor Appoints Tina Poe Obermeier Interim Director Of Denver Office Of Cultural Affairs
On the heels of Denise Montgomery’s resignation, Mayor Hickenlooper has named long-time arts community leader Tina Poe Obermeier interim director of the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs. The Mayor’s Office is currently determining the process for identifying a permanent successor, which will likely involve a national search. The mission of the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs is to advance the arts and culture in the City and County of Denver.
Obermeier’s long history of leadership in the Denver community includes six years as the executive director of the Colorado Business Committee for Arts (CBCA) from 1994 to 2000 and four years as the director of the Oz Architecture Art Gallery from 2000 to 2004. Obermeier received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Montana with a major in English and her master’s degree in Organizational Development from American University.
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