Lobbyist Musical Chairs

What do you do when the Governor steals your lobbyist?

Well, maybe steal isn’t the right word. But when lobbyist Todd Saliman was picked to head the Office of State Planning and Budget by Governor Bill Ritter, his clients had to find other people to represent them in the legislature.

Saliman, a former state lawmaker, lobbied for number of public entities with his business, Todd Saliman & Associates. Clients ranged from the University of Colorado (CU) to the entire city of Denver. What Some Clients Are Doing

According to a CU announcement, Saliman will be succeeded by Tanya Kelly-Bowry, another lobbyist who recently started her own firm, TKB Consulting. Along with that, Bowry will continue to be the lead lobbyist on budget issues at the capitol for CU.

Sarah Moss, a spokeswoman for the Mayor’s office, also confirmed that the City of Denver will also be going with TKB Consulting, giving Bowry another key pickup.

Denver Public Schools hasn’t chosen anyone to replace Saliman just yet, according to Alexandra Garza, a Communications Director. Instead, a decision will probably be made among a handful of candidates next week.

Erin Rosa was born in Spain and raised in Colorado Springs. She is a freelance writer currently living in Denver. Rosa's work has been featured in a variety of news outlets including the Huffington Post, Democracy Now!, and the Rocky Mountain Chronicle, an alternative-weekly in Northern Colorado where she worked as a columnist covering the state legislature. Rosa has received awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for her reporting on lobbying and woman's health issues. She was also tapped with a rare honorable mention award by the Newspaper Guild-CWA's David S. Barr Award in 2008--only the second such honor conferred in its nine-year history--for her investigative series covering the federal government's Supermax prison in the state. Rosa covers the labor community, corrections, immigration and government transparency matters. She can be reached at erosa@www.coloradoindependent.com.