Federico Peña served as mayor of Denver from 1983 to 1991, and later as a cabinet secretary under President Bill Clinton. He was Denver’s first Hispanic mayor , leading major projects such as Denver International Airport and helping bring the Colorado Rockies baseball franchise to the city, before serving as U.S. Secretary of Transportation (1993–1997) and U.S. Secretary of Energy (1997–1998).
He has remained involved in civic issues, particularly education.
Mr. Peña this week authored a provocative, to say the least, article in Westword advocating for merging Denver Public Schools, which he calls a “failing institution,” into Denver city government. He came on the podcast to explain his reasons, and how this might be made a reality down the road.
