Historical Archive — Councilman Rick Garcia — Denver District 1
Biography

About Rick Garcia

Councilman Rick Garcia was elected to the Denver City Council in June 2003 in one of the city's most competitive district races. He represents Denver's historic northwest neighborhoods and commercial districts. He made economic revitalization, access to new transit projects, and business development his policy priorities.

Councilman Garcia was recognized in 2006 by the Hispanic Contractors of Colorado and the Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce as Government/Community Advocate of the Year.

Career & Public Service

RTD Board Commissioner

Previous to serving on the Denver City Council, Rick Garcia was an elected RTD Board Commissioner and is credited for bringing necessary stability and credibility to the RTD board which led to the voter's successful passage of the FasTracks initiative — a transformative regional transit expansion.

Denver Enterprise Center — Founder

1985

Councilman Garcia founded the Denver Enterprise Center, a small business incubator that helped launch local businesses in Denver's underserved communities.

State Director of Small Business Development

Served in the Office of Governor Roy Romer. Started his business development career with the E.W. Hahn Company of San Diego, CA — one of the country's largest real estate shopping center developers. While in Pueblo, worked for the Pueblo Economic Development Corporation.

Board Leadership

Former Board Chair of the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority. Vice Chair of the NEWSED Community Development Corporation. Founding Community Advisor to the University of Colorado's Latino/a Research and Policy Center.

DRCOG Chair

Board member and chair of the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG). Served as Chairman of the Metro Vision Issues Committee and a voting member of the Regional Transportation Committee.

Council Committees

Chaired the Neighborhood Community and Business Revitalization Committee (appointed by Council President Hancock, 2006). Co-chaired the Foreclosure Task Force. Past chairman of General Government and Public Safety. Member of Economic Development, FasTracks, and Blueprint Denver committees. Sponsored legislation creating the Crime Prevention & Control Commission.

Education & Personal

Graduate

Master of Public Administration

Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government

Undergraduate

Bachelor of Business Administration

Columbia College

Family

Married to Loretta P. Martinez, Esq., originally of Pueblo, Colorado. Three daughters.