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Colorado State Treasurer Cary Kennedy
When Colorado State Treasurer Cary Kennedy ran for the position in 2006, she vowed to bring greater transparency and accountability to the office.
She also pledged to be a good steward of the public's money. Nearly three years have passed since Kennedy, 41, defeated former state treasurer Mark Hillman in the 2006 general election.
Kennedy, who announced earlier this year that she would seek reelection, met with the Free Press this week to talk about the Colorado Department of the Treasury.
Kennedy, a Democrat, was in town as part of a listening tour designed to meet with members of the Colorado Public Employees' Retirement Association about legislative proposals.
Kennedy is a member of the PERA Board of Trustees by virtue of the position she holds in state government.
• On the state's $5.6 billion investment pool: “The good news is that we are able to report we just closed out the 2009 fiscal year with positive earnings of 3 percent overall … One hundred and seventy-seven million was generated for the state's budget.”
She added, “Some key points: We didn't hold any equity investments. We weren't in the stock market.”
• On the management of money: “I have a very strong belief that public taxpayer money is not money you put at risk … this is money that at any point in time you could be called upon to pay the state's bills. You don't want to risk losses with it.”
• On the status of unclaimed property: “We hold over $400 million. We had a lot of fun a couple of weeks ago (with) Antiques Road Show … they came and filmed part of their (television) show in my office to publicize and highlight unclaimed property programs for the whole country.
“We have about 9,000 items from safe deposit boxes. We get about 1,000 a year turned over to us … we have evolved with all these amazing family heirlooms … anything you can imagine that people would put in a safe deposit box. Firearms, gold bars. You name it.”
• On transparency and accountability: “Technology gives us this wonderful opportunity to really kind of shine the light on the state's finances.”
She pointed toward the department's Web site at www.colorado.gov/treasury. The Web site gives the public a chance to see where the “tax money goes.”
• On the future prospects for Colorado: “On a long-term basis I think the economists look at Colorado as being very, very well positioned to emerge from the downturn. We have a much more diversified economy than we used too.
“We have a very strong technology center, a very strong financial center. We have large venture capital investments here. We have high per capita earnings relative to the rest of the country. We have sound fiscal policy.”
She also pledged to be a good steward of the public's money. Nearly three years have passed since Kennedy, 41, defeated former state treasurer Mark Hillman in the 2006 general election.
Kennedy, who announced earlier this year that she would seek reelection, met with the Free Press this week to talk about the Colorado Department of the Treasury.
Kennedy, a Democrat, was in town as part of a listening tour designed to meet with members of the Colorado Public Employees' Retirement Association about legislative proposals.
Kennedy is a member of the PERA Board of Trustees by virtue of the position she holds in state government.
• On the state's $5.6 billion investment pool: “The good news is that we are able to report we just closed out the 2009 fiscal year with positive earnings of 3 percent overall … One hundred and seventy-seven million was generated for the state's budget.”
She added, “Some key points: We didn't hold any equity investments. We weren't in the stock market.”
• On the management of money: “I have a very strong belief that public taxpayer money is not money you put at risk … this is money that at any point in time you could be called upon to pay the state's bills. You don't want to risk losses with it.”
• On the status of unclaimed property: “We hold over $400 million. We had a lot of fun a couple of weeks ago (with) Antiques Road Show … they came and filmed part of their (television) show in my office to publicize and highlight unclaimed property programs for the whole country.
“We have about 9,000 items from safe deposit boxes. We get about 1,000 a year turned over to us … we have evolved with all these amazing family heirlooms … anything you can imagine that people would put in a safe deposit box. Firearms, gold bars. You name it.”
• On transparency and accountability: “Technology gives us this wonderful opportunity to really kind of shine the light on the state's finances.”
She pointed toward the department's Web site at www.colorado.gov/treasury. The Web site gives the public a chance to see where the “tax money goes.”
• On the future prospects for Colorado: “On a long-term basis I think the economists look at Colorado as being very, very well positioned to emerge from the downturn. We have a much more diversified economy than we used too.
“We have a very strong technology center, a very strong financial center. We have large venture capital investments here. We have high per capita earnings relative to the rest of the country. We have sound fiscal policy.”
