A weekly dive into the pages of Colorado Politics’ predecessor, The Colorado Statesman, which started in 1898:

Thirty Years Ago: A week after Denver Mayor Federico Peña’s announcement that he wouldn’t run for another term, Denver City Auditor Wellington Webb said he needed to ask his wife’s advice before deciding whether to throw his hat in the ring.

“Wilma was attending a meeting of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators in the Virgin Islands,” Webb said. “I made an emergency call. She knew I would never make an emergency call like that unless it was something important, so when she got on the phone, she asked, ‘Is it my mother or my children?’”

When Wellington told Wilma that it was in fact the mayor, she said, “You just never know what will happen when I leave town!”

“If” he decided to run, Webb would be more limited in the money he could raise.

In his last months as mayor, Federico Peña introduced new campaign finance laws to the Denver City Council that would severely reduce city election contributions and spending.

The campaign reforms were designed to put candidates for mayor, city council, auditor and election commissioner on an “even playing field,” Peña said.

“For the last four years I’ve been deeply troubled by the amount of money municipal candidates are having to spend,” Peña said.

In the 1987 mayoral election, Peña spent $1.7 million and his opponent Don Bain spent $1.2 million.

“There has been an erosion of public confidence because of the perception that big money is having an undue influence on campaigns,” Peña told The Colorado Statesman.

With the input of seven lawyers, Peña’s proposal would limit campaign spending on the mayoral race, city auditor, city council, at-large city council and election commissioner. Individual contributions would be limited to $2,000.

Peña said he hoped to see the reforms passed by the city council and in place before the May 21 city elections.

In speaking to The Statesman, council members expressed their concern over what they saw as fundamental problems in the proposal. Other members also questioned Peña’s timing —wondering why he waited until a week after he announced that he wouldn’t seek a third term to propose his reforms.

“I think his timing is very interesting now that he doesn’t have to deal with it,” said Councilwoman Cathy Reynolds.

Ten Years Ago: Twenty-one members of the Republican Study Committee of Colorado (RSCC), an ad-hoc group of state house conservatives, said they were looking at the alleged costs of illegal immigration as a way to balance Colorado’s budget.

RSCC members traveled to Arizona in August to experience how the state was dealing with illegal immigration and to meet with Sen. Russell Pearce — the primary sponsor of Arizona’s controversial immigration law, SB-1070.

House Minority Leaders Sal Pace, D-Pueblo, said that while he was open to cost-effective proposals for immigration reform, “foisting a one-size-fits all law onto our unique state isn’t the thoughtful answer Coloradans deserve,” he told reporters.

Pace also called Arizona’s bill “constitutionally questionable.” The “extremists” of the RSCC were “politicizing immigration for political gain while Democrats are focused on finding ways of getting Coloradans back to work,” he added.

Senate Majority Caucus Chair Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, said the passage of SB-1070 in Arizona resulted in economically devastating consequences to the state’s tourism industry and convention business.

“If people want to have a conversation about immigration, that’s ok, but that is the model of what not to do,” she stated. “It’s improbable that we in the Senate would want to advance anything that goes the wrong way.”

Rachael Wright is the author of the Captain Savva Mystery series, with degrees in Political Science and History from Colorado Mesa University, and is a contributing writer to Colorado Politics and the Colorado Springs Gazette.