Mayor

 

Kelly Brough

1. Cities like Chicago and NYC operate their public school system under Mayoral control? Is that something you believe Denver should consider? What do you believe to be the role of a mayor in schools and education?

A great city needs a great education system. The Mayor of Denver and Denver Public School leadership have a shared interested in ensuring the success of the school district and its students.  That said, given the size of the operation that the Mayor is responsible for and the myriad of challenges facing the City right now, I don’t believe it is reasonable to expect the Mayor can. manage the core responsibilities of running the City AND take on the challenges of Denver Public. Schools. Instead, my focus would be on partnering with and supporting DPS Executive Leadership and its Board to restore a focus on student success, particularly eliminating achievement gaps between students of color and their white counter parts. As mayor, I would support DPS’ success by:
• Focusing on the November 2023 school board election to ensure we’re getting a strong, engaged school board that is squarely focused on improving student achievement and addressing achievement gaps.
• Developing partnerships that enable the school district to spend their limited funding on classroom investments. For example, when I worked for Mayor Hickenlooper, the City started picking up trash and waste for the school district to eliminate that expense and allow the district to reinvest those dollars into the classroom.
• Developing a program where City hires DPS students into apprenticeships or paid internships to make earning and learning part of their high school experience and giving them exposure to public sector career opportunities.
• Exploring how the City of Denver's public safety resources, including Denver Police, could bebetter deployed in and around schools. Recognizing that each community’s relationship with law enforcement varies, I believe it is critical that this decision be made at the school building (not district) level, but the city and DPS should be partnering to make a full range of security resources available to principals.
• Aligning and investing in programs and services that support student success outside of the classroom through our Denver Public Library, our Parks and Recreation Department and our Office of Children’s Affairs, which funds several before and after school and summer programs in neighborhoods across the city.

2. Denver had more traffic fatalities in each of the past two years than since at least 2013. Last year, 82 people were killed on roadways. In 2021, the total was 84. Describe your vision for the future of transportation and how it would address safety and quality-of-life issues.

Road safety – particularly safety for pedestrians and cyclists – will be a top priority for my administration. Denver is an outlier in terms of our negative trends on safety. We must do better. I endorse the goal of Vision Zero, but we need a strategic reset on our approach. My administration will lead an evaluation of our current strategies and tactics, comparing and contrasting Denver’s efforts to more successful ones in other cities and then relaunch the initiative. In the meantime, there are some strategies we can and should pursue, included better enforcement of our traffic laws using technology, police, and non-police enforcement strategies.

3. The City of Denver has recently started investing tens of millions of dollars on climate action, sustainability, and resiliency. How would your administration approach these efforts, as compared with how the city is spending these funds currently?

I fully endorse and embrace Denver’s science-based greenhouse gas emission reduction goals. While I view them as ambitious, I believe that with leadership and cross-sector collaboration, they are achievable. As Mayor, will do everything in my power to reach them. I believe that the City’s climate action plans are sound and with federal funding available through the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure and Jobs Act, we have a solid path forward to make meaningful impact. I will bring an equity lens to my climate agenda to ensure that those communities historically impacted by climate change are positioned to benefit most from new investments. My specific priorities on climate action will include:

• Promoting housing density, particularly along major transportation corridors and at transit sites, and supporting the conversion of under-utilized and vacant office space to housing.
• Aggressively building clean energy infrastructure on city-owned properties. This could include installing solar arrays and / or electric vehicle charging stations at city-owned locations across Denver including libraries, recreation centers, fire and police stations.
• Supporting the education, training, and re-skilling necessary to ensure Denver residents, particularly people of color, are prepared and well positioned to capitalize on good-paying clean energy and green economy sector jobs. For example, I could envision building a partnership between the City, Xcel, Denver Public Schools and our local higher education institutions to educate and train the electricians and electrical engineers we need to meet future demand.
• Ensuring we are using our dedicated funding stream for Parks and Recreation to equitably expand access to parks and open spaces and investing in the tree canopy to ensure all parts of Denver are shaded.
• Fostering partnerships, particularly with RTD, DPS and DRCOG, to increase efficiency and reduce emissions from our publicly owned fleets and promote regional action on air and water quality.

4. In June, Denver City Council approved the Expanding Housing Affordability Plan.  What is the most significant amendment you would make to that policy? What are the pillars of your plan to address housing costs?

All people who work in Denver should be able to afford to call Denver home. But for too many Denverites, housing costs are a significant burden, and for many more, costs are so high that they can’t afford to stay in the neighborhoods they raised their kids. We need housing solutions that benefit people across the income spectrum, particularly for hard working people who earn too much to qualify for most public assistance programs but struggle to make ends meet with the high cost of living in Denver today. My plans to ensure more housing – for rent and for sale, market-rate and subsidized - include:

• Building more housing, particularly on underutilized, publicly owned land.

• Rethinking and revitalizing downtown and surrounding neighborhoods by incenting and supporting the transition of commercial space to residential.
• Increasing density on major transportation corridors and at transit stations and working with homeowners to facilitate options that enable them to maximize value of their property.
• Fundamentally restructuring how development is reviewed and regulated in Denver.

5. Another prominent issue that Denver faces is rising homelessness. What policies would you advocate for to address this issue? Can you specifically speak to your view on unsanctioned encampments for people experiencing homelessness?

Living on the streets is neither safe nor humane – for people experiencing homelessness or the broader community. I will eliminate unsanctioned encampments in my first year in office and
end the ineffective and costly policy of moving people down the block or across the street without providing sustainable solutions. I’ll do this by maximizing the use of existing shelter
beds and available housing and temporarily expanding sanctioned, supported camping so people get the help they need while we work to build more long-term, indoor solutions.
Additionally, I will:

• Take a Regional, Data-driven Approach: Work with regional governments to establish a coordinated strategy and strengthen our data system to ensure it is complete, timely,
and sophisticated.
• Invest in Prevention: Support those at risk of homelessness by ensuring access to job supports, child care, health care and other stabilizing services.
• Evolve Sheltering & Build Housing: Evolve our shelters to ensure we have safe beds to serve the diverse unhoused population. Build the housing needed to best support people exiting homelessness.

1.  Cities like Chicago and NYC operate their public school system under Mayoral control? Is that something you believe Denver should consider? What do you believe
to be the role of a mayor in schools and education?

As a graduate of Denver Public Schools, and a 4th generation Denverite, I recognize the critical role that strong public neighborhood schools and unionized teachers play in communities. It is not the job of the mayor to commandeer DPS with its own publicly elected school board.  Instead, I would be a collaborator to better educate and train our future workforce, and ensure that teachers and families have the support they need to thrive in Denver.  As mayor, I will work to make sure the mayor’s office and city departments develop partnership programs with DPS, providing resources and supporting positive initiatives. I will expand the work of the Office of Children's Affairs to include parents and teachers, increase the availability of affordable housing, and center economic opportunities with steady living wages across all policy areas.  Additionally, I would partner with DPS to create a safer environment for kids to learn. As mayor, I would work to improve the strained relationship between DPS Security and principals to explore alternative forms of discipline that prevent the school to prison pipeline. I would also expand resources for gun violence prevention, and improved education on drug-use prevention, treatment, and harm-reduction.  Public schools are pivotal hubs of community services, extending far beyond simply offering an education, but often playing a vital role in the health and wellbeing of the surrounding communities. For example I would work with DPS to support and expand before/after school child care that supports working families, business community internships, and support the return of trade school education within each high school that create pathways to success for Denver’s youth, and support the increase of nonprofit wrap-around services that help students and their families connect to critical support services.  Particularly in communities of color that historically are denied access to public and private resources, public schools can fill that gap. With sufficient investment in public schools, schools can help alleviate long-standing inequities, and help alleviate poverty, community safety issues, public health challenges, and environmental justice in surrounding communities.

2. Denver had more traffic fatalities in each of the past two years than since at least 2013. Last year, 82 people were killed on roadways. In 2021, the total was 84.  Describe your vision for the future of transportation and how it would address safety and quality-of-life issues.

We have seen traffic fatalities increasing as drivers have become accustomed to the empty streets during COVID and have not readjusted their driving habits to meet today's volume. As an avid bike rider and walker, I do not feel safe riding in my city and would love to see my bike as an alternative mode of transportation. I want to look at widening protected bike lanes, ensuring bike routes are connected to avoid forcing cyclists into dangerous situations, and explore what we have seen done in many European cities to replace their gray space with green space and shaded bikeways. As stated above, I want to move away from a sprawl development mindset and create a more densely populated living space that would require less car dependency. We can absolutely change how we move forward with proven solutions that will help us all rise.

As mayor, I will implement my SMART vision for city planning and transportation:
Smart growth is key to comprehensive land-use planning for environmentally sustainable, compact, walkable, and multimodal urban centers with mixed-use development offering a range of affordable housing options. This plan includes focusing on mobility by implementing initiatives to shift the culture from being car-dependent to reducing energy consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions. Use data to inform decision-making and measure benchmarks to reach the goal of zero traffic fatalities as envisioned by the Denver Streets Partnership Vision Zero five-year plan. I will increase funding to create equity across neighborhoods where the majority of deaths occur in “high-injury networks" or "communities of concern," which disproportionately impact people of color and working-class people. I will build infrastructure for alternative forms of transportation to make walking and cycling safer. Paired with this, I will give a particular focus to trees and open space.

3. The City of Denver has recently started investing tens of millions of dollars on climate action, sustainability, and resiliency. How would your administration approach these efforts, as compared with how the city is spending these funds currently?

Addressing climate change is at the heart of the other pressing issues Denver faces - only when we address greenhouse gas emissions can we make Denver livable for all. By embedding climate action into solutions for affordable housing, community safety, and homelessness, among other areas, I will ensure climate action is not an afterthought, but a focus for how we reimagine Denver.  To reduce Dever’s GHG emissions it is essential to embed climate mitigation efforts into all areas of city policy. Viewing environmental action as an issue area of its own will overlook critical opportunities to embed climate action into solutions for affordable development, community safety, and homelessness, among other issue areas. By utilizing a systems approach to advance climate action, we will ensure sustainability and emissions reductions are considered throughout policy areas.  Some of the largest immediate opportunities for Denver to reduce its emissions are tied to its reliance on fossil fuels and vehicle transport, as well as the preservation and expansion of greenspace. As an avid proponent of improved multi-modal transportation, together with community safety, I will work to make Denver safer and easier for walking, biking, and taking public transport. For example, I will establish safer, and connected bike paths to allow for easier bike commuting in the city, and support pedestrian access, and establishing permanent pedestrian streets.  I am also a leading proponent of protecting and expanding greenspace within Denver. Denver has roughly three-quarters of the recommended acreage of parks per capita, and protecting and expanding greenspace not only improves the quality of life but provides support for greenhouse gas emissions.  Greater trees and shading help mitigate climate impacts like extreme heat, and provide carbon storage.  Additionally, improvements to multimodal transportation and preservation of green space will create a virtuous cycle by reducing Denver’s long-standing air pollution problem, and allowing Denverites to feel healthier and safer being outdoors. My approach centers on addressing the environmental justice crises disproportionately impacting Black and Brown communities, while also ensuring environmental mediation does not lead to gentrification of those neighborhoods that displace these impacted communities.  As Mayor, I will also leverage the Climate Action Fund - the city’s fund for mitigating climate change- to maximize the benefits of public funding for near-term and long-term climate mitigation. To do this, I will ensure that the funded projects are mutually reinforcing, and developed out of a systems approach that recognizes the interconnected nature of climate action with solutions on housing, community safety, and homelessness.

4. In June, Denver City Council approved the Expanding Housing Affordability Plan. What is the most significant amendment you would make to that policy? What are the pillars of your plan to address housing costs?

We are in a housing crisis and we need publicly-funded social housing and more accessibility. As mayor, I would prioritize social housing where no one pays more than 30% of their income to ensure the cost of housing remains low, accessible and permanently affordable. The Calderón long-term plan to address affordability, housing, and homelessness will focus on creating publicly- financed and publicly-owned social housing managed by the city. We will do this not just through building new housing on city property, but retrofitting unused office space and other buildings into apartments, a recommendation that housing justice advocates have-long called for. We will also work with Denver public schools to convert underutilized classroom buildings that can be converted into smaller neighborhood schools or community resource centers with vertical housing.  The city will build and maintain these housing spaces kept off of the speculative housing market so we can maintain a consistent attainable rent regardless of the market value of the space.  I will also introduce dense, affordable, and social housing, and prioritize development on underutilized spaces such as brown and grey space. I would also support renters by developing a tenants’ bill of rights, and create community land trusts that prioritize the needs of residents before corporations.  Additionally, my approach to governing includes a deep dedication to including community members in planning processes, such as by implementing participant-public-private partnerships so that community concerns related to affordability are included from the outset.  We can also create more affordable housing by legalizing accessory dwelling units, which let homeowners build rental units on unused space and avoid displacement. We can also mandate. new developments offer housing for low- and moderate-income families that are truly affordable by using a threshold of 30% of individual income. By including a lower income threshold we can expand truly affordable housing that is accessible to a broader population of low-income Denverites.  And if we simultaneously improve the permitting process to expedite the building process, we can develop new affordable housing to meet the urgent housing needs with less delay.

5. Another prominent issue that Denver faces is rising homelessness. What policies would you advocate for to address this issue? Can you specifically speak to your view on unsanctioned encampments for people experiencing homelessness?

Sweeps and “crackdowns” destabilize people further and disconnect individuals from services, their support networks, and the pathway to permanent housing. I vehemently support housing-first solutions, that recognize that unhoused people require a variety of different interim solutions while they await permanent housing, including the option to remain in tents, utilize shelters, and join Safe Outdoor Spaces.  Instead, we will activate crisis response workers, including after hours, to support people on the streets in crisis with coordinated resources. This approach is a shift from downtown business lobbyists making safety policies to public health experts, service providers, and unhoused people themselves working in tandem with expanded STAR, 311, mental health, and other appropriate resources. We will reinvest cost savings by reducing arrests, incarceration, judicial resources, emergency room visits, and other more costly responses.  We will also establish sanitation stations - Unhoused people deserve the basic human dignity of places to relieve and wash themselves, and dispose of trash. In addition to helping people to care for themselves, this will reduce the interactions between unhoused people and law enforcement, and will also benefit tourists and residents who are also in need of accessing public restrooms and trash receptacles.

 

Leslie Herrod

 

1. Cities like Chicago and NYC operate their public school system under Mayoral control? Is that something you believe Denver should consider? What do you believe to be the role of a mayor in schools and education?

A strong and vibrant city requires strong and vibrant schools. In Leslie’s administration, we will focus on facilitating, and being part of, a dialogue and relationship that includes DPS, the mayor’s office, community leaders, teachers, parents, and students. Denver can do better at putting students first and the mayor’s office can help lead the conversation. Leslie has a proven track record of bringing diverse stakeholders to the table to get real results on complex issues, and she will bring that same focus to helping to ensure that our city’s schools are focused on what’s best for our city’s children.

2. Denver had more traffic fatalities in each of the past two years than since at least 2013. Last year, 82 people were killed on roadways. In 2021, the total was 84.  Describe your vision for the future of transportation and how it would address safety and quality-of-life issues.

Great transportation options are the lifeblood of great cities, and Denver can do better. From today’s traffic jams, sketchy intersections and lack of safe bike lanes, it's clear that getting around our city is hard and the amount of cars creating traffic only adds to our pollution and climate problems.  Leslie isn’t afraid of tough challenges, and will take a comprehensive approach to revamping our city’s transportation system so people can move around easily and safely. A safe, balanced,and accessible transportation system also means a stronger economy and cleaner air.  Everyone wins when our city is connected.  

3. The City of Denver has recently started investing tens of millions of dollars on climate action, sustainability, and resiliency. How would your administration approach these efforts, as compared with how the city is spending these funds currently?

Denverites want clean, healthy air. We love seeing our iconic mountains glistening above the city. We love the four-season climate that draws us outdoors throughout the year. But in recent years, that’s not what Denverites have been getting. Instead, the “brown cloud” has returned.  The simple act of breathing is unhealthy for too many, too often. And the dirty air that they see comes from the same polluting sources as the climate-changing greenhouse gases that they can’t see. Greenhouse gases may be invisible and odorless, but Denverites can and do see the climate harms they cause – excessive summertime heat, nearby forest fires, increasing drought and periodic extreme weather events such as flooding.

Air pollution is a regional problem; climate change is an international problem. Denver can’t solve them by itself. But Denver can establish a track record of leadership in both areas and use that leadership to build alliances with other communities near and far to produce solutions at the necessary scale.  In Leslie’s administration, we will strive to ensure Denver is a top-performing climate city in the nation, and meets its science-based targets of 65% carbon pollution reductions by 2030 and 100% by 2040.

4. In June, Denver City Council approved the Expanding Housing Affordability Plan.  What is the most significant amendment you would make to that policy? What are the pillars of your plan to address housing costs?

Safe, healthy, accessible, affordable housing is a human right. Yet a stable home has become a luxury many in Denver cannot afford. We need a bold, creative leader who will prioritize the needs of Denverites. Leslie will fight for resources to create truly affordable housing and end chronic homelessness, zoning reforms to prioritize fair housing and affordable homes for families, protections to stabilize tenants, and ways to expand permanent affordability, such as community land trusts.  Housing affordability impacts everyone, and costs are quite simply out of control in Denver right now. We need a multi-pronged approach to this crisis that ensures current renters and homeowners can afford to live here, while also ensuring that our unhoused neighbors have
access to both housing and supports to help get them back on track.

5. Another prominent issue that Denver faces is rising homelessness. What policies would you advocate for to address this issue? Can you specifically speak to your view on unsanctioned encampments for people experiencing homelessness?

Denver is ready to find real and sustainable solutions to housing instability and homelessness. It is time to rethink how we address living space for our unhoused neighbors, because the current situation is not working for anyone. We know that helping people get back on their feet requires stable housing by getting people inside to safe places--ones where they feel comfortable and secure. But addressing homelessness is about more than individual buildings. It’s about supporting our community as we confront difficult historical realities, forge new narratives and histories, and collectively heal.  Homelessness is not an “us versus them” issue. Homelessness is an “all of us” issue. And we get there by changing the way we talk about our unhoused neighbors. We begin by seeing people experiencing homelessness as people. As sisters, brothers, parents, artists, workers, and members of our community. We know that Denverites are compassionate, empathetic, and caring.  In addition to increasing opportunities to bring people indoors, we will expand street outreach, addiction treatment, and harm reduction strategies to ensure that people facing a crisis are aware of these new solutions. Bold action is required to change the trajectory of the city and we can develop solutions that are both safe AND compassionate. Leslie is committed to employing evidence-based solutions that work, and ending policies that don't work so that everyone can safely come indoors and get on the path to stability in permanent housing.

 

Trinidad Rodriguez

1.  Cities like Chicago and NYC operate their public school system under Mayoral control? Is that something you believe Denver should consider? What do you believe to be the role of a mayor in schools and education?

Yes, I do believe Denver should consider a similar mayoral control approach as I’ve made clear throughout this race. My vision for Denver is one where both our city and school district wrap our arms around our young people and ensure that they get all they need to thrive in their education and young lives. Specifically, we can support our low income and BIPOC students in the unique needs that when left unmet can hold them back. Further, we should all hear our youth and their clear call for safety and act decisively. To achieve this, I am exploring a formal structural organizational relationship between the city and county of Denver and Denver Public Schools. Some of these ideas will require legislative changes, but this will start to tackle these pressing challenges and drive better academic and developmental outcomes for our youth. I will be sharing more comprehensive information about my plan in the coming days.

2.  Denver had more traffic fatalities in each of the past two years than since at least 2013. Last year, 82 people were killed on roadways. In 2021, the total was 84. Describe your vision for the future of transportation and how it would address safety and quality-of-life issues.

 

As mayor, I will reduce traffic speeds, which we know increase the severity of injuries and probability of fatality for all involved in crashes, by cutting and enhancing enforcement of, speed limits while innovating and expanding the use of traffic calming measures and protective designs (such as protective bike lanes, signal timing among others) throughout the city. Using technology more broadly, such as speeding cameras, and restoring our police officer ranks while growing the use of civilian police teams will drive better and more equitable enforcement citywide. Acting upon citizen provided data such as hazard maps and becoming accountable in communicating on our plans to deliver solutions is a must—and our city can do that. Building an equitable mobility network that gives all Denverites safe, sustainable, efficient and healthful ways to move about the city is my vision for transportation for Denver. As mayor, my priorities will be to accelerate the implementation of our existing citywide and regional plans and infrastructure to create complete mobility networks. My team will accomplish this through innovative infrastructure design and building; lowering, and enhancing enforcement of speed limits to meaningfully reduce and eliminate mobility related injuries and deaths and determine how Denver can be a leader in unlocking promising new technologies that can advance these goals, such as self-driving people movers among others. Creating and harnessing incentives in efficiency, sustainability and health will lead to a more even distribution of mode shares by our citizens.

 

3.  The City of Denver has recently started investing tens of millions of dollars on climate action, sustainability, and resiliency. How would your administration approach these efforts, as compared with how the city is spending these funds currently?

 

Denver’s Climate Action plan is worthy of continued support. As mayor, I commit to continuing the plan’s funding priorities as long as they remain viable. A Climate Action task force undertook a thoughtful planning process incorporating broad input led by a dedicated, capable group. Using my financial know-how, one possibility I have discussed is whether there is an opportunity to capitalize the revenue stream to accelerate these investments and their impacts.

 

4.  In June, Denver City Council approved the Expanding Housing Affordability Plan. What is the most significant amendment you would make to that policy? What are the pillars of your plan to address housing costs?

 

I have significant concerns about the implications for our housing supply throughout the continuum that the Expanding Af ordability Plan will have. With that said, our city council passed and the mayor signed the ordinance. We should work to evaluate impacts of the plan more closely. One of the initial impacts has already occurred which was the flooding of the permitting desk to avoid the new af ordability requirements. These bottlenecks are common with new policy proposals of this kind. The key principles of my af ordability plan are to increase and accelerate the supply of “missing middle” type and income restricted housing through the issuance of a bond, like the one I helped lead Denver Housing Authority through in 2021. Having worked on the Blueprint Due by March 17 Denver Task Force I’ve gained significant insight into the land use strategy to accommodate growth that respects our classic neighborhoods with l0w-medium and medium density in high frequency transit corridors and at the edges of single-family neighborhoods.

 

5.  Another prominent issue that Denver faces is rising homelessness. What policies would you advocate for to address this issue? Can you specifically speak to your view on unsanctioned encampments for people experiencing homelessness?

 

One of my first acts as Mayor will be to institute an emergency response to manage the unhoused crisis in Denver with specific disruptive and transformational proposals to address the crisis. Under my emergency, the city will identify a location and build a temporary field treatment center employing many of the similar strategies the City developed to prepare for a catastrophic COVID surge. Under such a scenario, teams will be deployed with qualified mental health clinicians to admit persons who are of danger to themselves and/or others either voluntarily or involuntarily. I believe working with Denver’s Legislative delegation to adopt laws that enable involuntary holds to be used in Colorado to support the completion of the standard of care for mental and substance addiction disorders is necessary to meet a high ethical burden that I will demand for every stage of his plan’s implementation. I also will work to enforce the urban camping ban because it is a matter of public health and safety to those in the unauthorized encampments and those around them.

1.  In June, Denver City Council approved the Expanding Housing affordability plan. What is the most significant amendment you would make to that policy?

I think it might improve the policy to create a provision that stipulates tenants in affordable units can't be required to pay more than 30% of their income on rents, even if city AMI rises. However, there is a limit on how much the city can squeeze developers before they choose to seek opportunities elsewhere. This is why in the long run, the city should be looking to develop more housing itself, and provide for those whom the private market is not able or interested in serving.

2.  Denver had more traffic fatalities in each of the past two years than since at least 2013. Last year, 82 people were killed on roadways. In 2021, the total was 84. Describe your vision for the future of transportation and how it would address safety and quality-of-life issues. 

Denver must recommit to its stated Vision Zero goals. We are moving in the wrong direction, and in many ways, it's because we've prioritized cars over people. We need to flip this priority, and start building out the infrastructure that will reduce traffic deaths and expand our multi-modal options. Traffic calming, protected bike lanes, slower speed limits --- we need a comprehensive approach to turn this trajectory around.

3.  What’s your vision for how your office would communicate with residents?  

I'm a firm believer in co-governance principles --- these go beyond simply listening to constituents but actively engaging them on their vision of community and governance. I would expand opportunities for participatory budgeting, increase accessibility for Council and public comment, expand digital engagement particularly for young persons, and assessing the needs of our city employees and residents to better inform engagement strategies. 

4.  The City of Denver recently made significant efforts to address climate change and resilience. What changes do you think the city should make, if any, to the work they are doing?

When it comes to climate, there is no moving too far or too fast. Denver's climate office is doing solid work, but our successes need to be scaled up. As one example, the e-bike rebate program is proving so successful that the rebates are snapped up in a matter of minutes. Influx of new bikes is good, but that puts pressure on the city to build safe infrastructure to use them. Similar for electrifying buildings --- we can speed our pace with new IRA dollars and possible state grant opportunities. Denver also needs more environmental justice programs, particularly for people living in heavy pollution zones.

5.  The City of Denver has been assisting hundreds of asylum seekers and other immigrants who recently arrived in Denver. What do you believe to be our city’s responsibility to asylum seekers and other immigrants? What steps would you like to see the City take?

Denver absolutely should be a sanctuary for immigrants seeking asylum or simply a new life. Denver's lack of readily available housing makes it practically difficult to provide that support, and we should be considering these possible influxes of new persons while the city is focused on building up our housing stock. Additionally, providing access to jobs and/or workforce development programs, reliable and affordable transit and transportation options, access to health care including access to mental health supports. 

I hear from District 8 voters all the time that we need more affordable housing all over the City. The Expanding Housing Affordability ordinance is less than a year old and I look forward to, as stakeholders adjust to the new rules and requirements, as well as lower interest rates in the near future, more developments that include mandatory affordable for sale or rental units in them. If there was one amendment I would make - it would be to further incentivize mixed use, mixed income developments that help connect the dots for residents with community serving uses on the first floor like grocery stores, fresh food markets, daycares, community mental health services, and job placement/training services. These kinds of developments, as seen with Freshlo, Rose on Colfax and Vina Apartments, should be incentivized and get expedited review in the permitting process. 

Traffic violence is unfortunately very familiar to Central Park, District 8 and Denver. As someone who rides a bicycle as a primary means of transportation, I know firsthand how dangerous our streets can be as a bicyclist, pedestrian, and dad who takes his kids to school. My vision for Denver's future of transportation is one where our infrastructure connects us safely to where we need to go and to communities and neighborhoods nearby. It's one where you don't need to worry when your child or spouse goes out for a bike ride. In particular:

• Denver needs to re-commit to Vision Zero and provide more funding to enable DOTI to make permanent improvements to our most dangerous corridors for not only people driving, but people who walk, bike, and take the bus. 
• I will advocate for Denver City Council and the new mayor's administration to conduct official city business by walking, biking, rolling, or taking transit instead of a car for an entire week to help everyone see the challenges of our unsafe infrastructure.
• We need to put in speed bumps and diverters to curb illegal speeding in our neighborhoods for people looking to "cut through" to major streets.
• We need to make it easier and provide more funding to make the streets surrounding our neighborhood schools safer for kids and parents who walk, bike, and take the bus to school. More crosswalks, speed bumps, and shared streets.

3.  What’s your vision for how your office would communicate with residents?  

I've heard from all over District 8 that communication is important. When elected, I will do three things around communication with residents: 

• Form a community cabinet with representation from all over the district to help inform our work and improve 2-way communication.
• Volunteer at a different nonprofit in the district regularly and invite the district to volunteer along with us.
• Hold regular coffee meetings in the different neighborhoods in the district 
• Push for resources for the City Council to have access to more robust translation services so we can reach more people in District 8.

4.  The City of Denver recently made significant efforts to address climate change and resilience. What changes do you think the city should make, if any, to the work they are doing?

Many District 8 residents are both concerned about climate change and excited about some of the recent efforts Denver has implemented to help both individuals and businesses become more green. The 2A Ballot Initiative, passed in 2020, provides $40M/year to implement initiatives like rebates for purchasing ebikes, heat pumps, and solar panels, with 50% of the funds reserved for communities most harmed by climate impacts.

I believe Denver should allocate a greater proportion of the funds for communities most harmed by climate impacts. The rebates, for example, do not cover the entire cost of a heat pump due to recent inflationary pressures on both the equipment and labor needed to install inside someone's home. Denver's rebates should be covering as much of the cost as possible.

I was proud to see Denver step up and assist asylum seekers in December and still today and was even more proud to see neighbors in District 8 step up and help donate coats and warm clothing at various clothing drives. I believe Denver should continue to be a welcoming place for asylum seekers, provide temporary shelter and services, and ensure they get connected to their final destinations, wherever those may be. The main step I would like to see is Denver identify or build more flexible spaces close to essential services that could be used for asylum seekers or emergency shelter situations in the future.