Pat Meyers

Pat Meyers
Basic facts
Role:	Former chief of staff
Location:	Denver, Colo.
Affiliation:	Democrat
Education:	•University of Colorado Denver •University of California Hastings School of Law
Prior Experience
Chief of staff, John Hickenlooper gubernatorial administration, 2017-2018

Patrick "Pat" Meyers is an attorney and businessman based in Denver, Colorado. He served as chief of staff to Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) from 2017 to 2018.

Career

Education and early career

From 1978 to 1984, Meyers served in the United States Navy as a member of the submarine service. He earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado Denver and went on to earn a J.D. from the University of California Hastings School of Law in 1990.

Following law school, Meyers clerked for Justice William Erickson of the Colorado Supreme Court. He later joined the Denver law firm of Moye Giles as an attorney and founded the general counsel's office for Quiznos, a Denver-based fast-food restaurant chain. He became an owner of Quiznos in 1997 and went on to work as a partner, managing director, and chief legal officer for Consumer Capital Partners (CCP). He later became an owner of Smashburger, a Denver-based burger restaurant chain and a venture of CCP.

John Hickenlooper chief of staff

In November 2017, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper (D) announced that Meyers would succeed Doug Friednash as his chief of staff beginning in December 2017. Friednash left the administration to rejoin the law firm of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck.

"We have so much still to do in the next 408 days," said Hickenlooper in a press release. "Pat will bring a broad variety of experience to that work. I can’t wait to get started."

Chief of staff

See also: Gubernatorial chiefs of staff

In 2017, Ballotpedia identified Pat Meyers as a gubernatorial chief of staff. A chief of staff is the lead staff member of an administration and is responsible for implementing the governor's agenda.

The role is both a managerial and advisory position, although specific duties vary by administration. The chief of staff typically has the following responsibilities, according to the National Governors Association (NGA):

• Control access to the governor and manage the governor's calendar;
• Monitor the flow of information to the governor on policy issues;
• Oversee gubernatorial Cabinet and staff; and
• Manage and communicate the governor's policy agenda to the state legislature and the public.

In terms of policymaking, the NGA notes that a chief of staff is responsible for bringing policy and communications together: "The chief is responsible for overseeing the development of the governor’s policy agenda. The policy director or advisor is typically responsible for shaping the general concepts and specific details of the agenda with input from the communications director, policy staff and cabinet members. The chief often must take charge and bring the pieces together coherently."

See also

• John Hickenlooper
• Doug Friednash
• Denver, Colorado