Robin Kniech
Robin Kniech | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| City councillor for Denver, Colorado | |||
| In office 2011 – Present | |||
| Personal details | |||
| Citizenship | United States of America | ||
| Nationality | American | ||
| Occupation | Lawyer | ||
Robin Kniech is an At-large Municipal city councilor for the city of Denver, Colorado.[1] Kniech, who is gay,[2][3][4] in 2011 became the first self-identified member of the LGBT community to be elected to the Denver city council.[5] She was subsequently elected to two additional four-year terms.[6]
In 2019, Kniech introduced a bill to increase the city of Denver’s minimum wage, the first such measure passed by a city in Colorado history.[7] In 2020, Kniech introduced successful ballot measures to increase the Denver sales tax in order to provide additional funding for homelessness programs.[8]
Early Life and Education
Robin Kniech was raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.[6] She has said that her politics were influenced at an early age by her working class upbringing; both her parents worked blue-collar jobs and were members of local Labor unions in the United States.[5] Kniech earned her undergraduate degree from Drake University and her Juris Doctor at the Northeastern University School of Law.[1]
Front Range Economic Strategy Center
After graduating from law school, Kniech moved to Denver to begin a career as a community organizer.[5] She became a research and policy analyst for the Front Range Economic Strategy Center (FRESC),[9] a Colorado-based non-profit organization. She eventually led FRESC as its Program Director.[10]
Denver City Council
On May 3, 2011, Kniech was elected as an at-large city councilor for the city of Denver,[11] becoming the first openly LGBT city councilor in the city's history.[5] She was re-elected in 2015 and again in 2019 to a third and final term due to the city’s Term limits in the United States for city councilors.[6]
Denver International Airport Restaurant Controversy
In August 2015, Kniech was one of several city councilors who raised objections to a planned lease for a new Chick-Fil-A restaurant in Concourse B at Denver International Airport over concerns about the company’s anti-LGBT stance.[12] Kniech expressed concerns that Chick-Fil-A’s profits from the airport restaurant could be “used to fund and fuel discrimination.”[2][4] A few weeks later, in September 2015, Kniech voted to approve the lease on the grounds that she was satisfied Denver and Colorado laws and policies would be sufficient to protect employees of the restaurant from discrimination.[13]
2019 City of Denver Minimum Wage Hike
On November 25, 2019, Kniech introduced a measure to authorize the three-phase rise in the city’s Minimum wage in the United States from $11.10 per hour to $15.87 per hour by 2022 – the first municipal measure to raise the local minimum wage in Colorado’s history. Kniech, along with the rest of the council, voted to approve it by a 11-0 vote.[7]
2020 Ballot Initiatives
In June 2020, Kniech proposed a ballot measure,[14] enacted into law November 2020, [15] to give the city council the authority for the first time to initiate spending of new or excess revenue mid-year or transfer an “unencumbered balance”, which had been at the sole discretion of the Mayor’s office.[14]
In August 2020, Kniech introduced and sponsored a ballot measure to increase the Denver sales tax by 2.5 cents for every $10 made on purchases in order to fund initiatives designed to assist the homeless.[8] Kniech’s bill was passed by the City Council and then approved by voters in November 2020.[16]
Personal Life
Kniech is married and has a son.[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kenney, Andrew (2 May 2018). "Robin Kniech will run for re-election to Denver City Council". Denverite. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Allen, Samantha (28 August 2015). "It's Time For Gays To Forgive Chick-fil-A". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
- ↑ "Denver City Council stalls Chick-fil-A consideration citing its gay marriage stance". Fox News. 21 August 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Denver City Council stalls Chick-fil-A consideration citing its gay marriage stance". Fox News. 21 August 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Prieto, Alyha (5 February 2018). "Councilwoman Robin Kniech Fights for a More Inclusive Denver". Out Front. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Metzger, Hannah (13 June 2021). "Councilwoman Robin Kniech on breaking barriers and leaving an impact". Denver Gazette. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Swanson, Conrad (25 November 2019). "Denver City Council unanimously approves minimum wage hike starting Jan. 1". Denver Post. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Swanson, Conrad (24 August 2020). "Denver to vote on sales tax for services to help people experiencing homelessness". Denver Post. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
- ↑ Osher, Christopher N. (4 January 2006). "Gates project adds wage deal". Denver Post. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
- ↑ Amuthan, Lalita Aloor (13 April 2008). "Meeting today on Edison redevelopment". Central New Jersey Home News.
- ↑ Velasquez, Bertha (4 May 2011). "Municipal election results". La Voz Bilingüe. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
- ↑ "Chick-Fil-A Not Cooking At DIA". CBS4 News Denver. 20 August 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
- ↑ Proctor, Cathy (1 September 2015). "Contract for Chick-fil-A at DIA gets Denver council subcommittee's OK". Denver Business Journal. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Alvarez, Alayna (17 June 2020). "Voters could give Denver City Council more power to make budget decisions". Colorado Politics. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ↑ Kohler, Judith (3 November 2020). "Denver voters appear set to expand powers of City Council". Denver Post. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
- ↑ Swanson, Conrad (4 November 2020). "Denver ballot measure 2A, 2B results: Voters approve taxes for homeless, environment". Denver Post. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
External links
This article "Robin Kniech" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles taken from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be accessed on Wikipedia's Draft Namespace.