BOULDER — A long-time Democrat operative has landed a sweetheart gig at the University of Colorado (CU) after losing his job because of the change of administration in Washington D.C.
He’s not the first Democrat insider to make a soft-landing at Colorado’s flagship university system.
Andrew Mayock became the vice chancellor for sustainability as of March 10, for a whopping $360,000 per year. According to a CU media release, the position is “newly created.”
Mayock, is the former chief sustainability officer under President Joe Biden. He led Biden’s agenda on sustainability efforts.
Biden was not his first role under U.S. presidents, having also served in both the Obama and Clinton administrations.
Under Obama he served as Deputy Director for Management and Associate Director for General Government Programs at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
Under Clinton he worked at the White House and the U.S. Treasury Department. He also served on the steering committee of the Climate 21 Project.
It is the second time in two years that a newly created position at CU has been filled by an outgoing Democrat loyalist. The two positions combined amount for more than $750,000 a year in salary and benefits.
In 2022, amidst the highest tuition increase in the previous four years, CU hired then Congresman Ed Perlmutter’s long-time chief of staff after Perlmutter announced his retirement.
Her salary started at $325,000 a year, more than $400,000 a year including benefits.
According to Colorado Politics, Danielle Radovich Piper joined the CU Staff on Jan. 3, 2023 with some controversy, as Piper was the only candidate brought to the CU Board of Regents for approval, despite sources indicating that “a prominent woman of color was also among the candidates, which could have bolstered the university’s diversity profile within its administration.”
At the time of Piper’s hiring, she was the fourth highest paid employee in the CU system.
As senior vice president for external relations and strategy, Piper coordinates and advances external efforts for system administration in communications, marketing, government relations, fundraising operations, and outreach and engagement.
According to a source close to the CU system, yet another Democrat operative was also hired at the end of February to fill the position of Denver Metro Regional Program Manager. Nigel Daniels is the former special assistant to U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet. He also served as both special aide and eventually senior advisor to former Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock.
The details of Daniels’ position are currently unknown. Complete Colorado will update this story when information is made available by CU.
