Go to: Denver Post Voter Guide • Candidate Q&A home page
Briefly describe the single most urgent issue facing the city of Denver and how it should be addressed.
Encampments are our root problem and require our tough love. Encampments are destroying Denver physically, mentally and financially. If you have seen, smelled, or heard an encampment, I am sure you can quickly join me in acknowledging this as a humanitarian crisis. Shelter is the answer, provided by your city on its land and within its surplus buildings. To not shelter Denver’s neediest is inhumane and inexcusable.
What should Denver leaders do to address the city’s lack of affordable housing?
The big picture is demand exceeding supply. A couple smaller fixable issues are the state needs to address the length of time builders are liable for construction defects and our city needs to expedite P&Z, building and fire reviews to lower costs. I also think there is an opportunity with the city balance sheet to assist credit worthy renters into home ownership and equity creation, which is a double win because it frees up a rental unit. I have a plan to broaden access to affordable health insurance, which should improve citizens’ budgets for housing.
Do you support redevelopment at the Park Hill golf course property? Why or why not?
I am pro parks, pro green space, pro transit-oriented development, and pro affordable housing woven into the fabric of all appropriate neighborhoods, and this project seems to offer all of the above, but clearly the devil is always in the details of execution and enforcement, and citizens are rightfully concerned with their city’s ability to uphold this responsibility. If the development delivers and maintains a 100- acre public park in perpetuity, at no cost to the city, that seems like an attractive deal versus the city bearing the expense of repurchasing the land, building the park, and maintaining it. I look forward to being mayor and implementing the voters’ decision.
What should Denver leaders do to revitalize downtown Denver?
As stated above, the root cause is encampments which make our streets dangerous and filthy. These needy citizens must be removed and sheltered.
It is a vivid tale of two cities, upper downtown and lower downtown. Our upper downtown has a high concentration of office space, compounded by the fact that the majority of the tenants are car commuters, whereas lower downtown has a mix of office, residential, retail and entertainment, along with a transit hub.
We need to support redevelopment of upper downtown to have a winning mix of real estate types and uses. Surface parking lots that are poorly maintained and not landscaped, strike me as upper downtown’s smile that is missing a few teeth.
What is Denver’s greatest public safety concern and what should be done about it?
Encampments, encampments, encampments. They must be acknowledged as a humanitarian crisis and sheltered. Anything less is inhumane and inexcusable.
Should neighborhoods help absorb population growth through permissive zoning, or do you favor protections for single-family neighborhoods?
Our Planning and Zoning master plan or overlay was revised to better accommodate growth, and we also have the Comprehensive Plan 2040 and Blueprint Denver, which I believe provide adequate capacity within existing zoning. The R2 neighborhoods you mention, at their discretion, should be able to absorb additional population via accessory dwelling units, while preserving existing building envelopes.
Should the city’s policy of sweeping homeless encampments continue unchanged? Why or why not?
Should our laws be enforced and should we deliver shelter to our neediest? YES!
Are we confronting this crisis in the proper way? NO!
This crisis requires the proper allocation of resources to divide and conquer. Since this population has been measured as chemically dependent, mentally ill and criminal, the appropriate corresponding resources are clinicians, social workers, and police officers respectively. This triage is the remedy to this crisis. We must acknowledge this as a humanitarian crisis and get this population sheltered.
Should Denver change its snow plowing policy? Why or why not.
When I researched this issue, as opposed to pandering to voters and screaming yes, I found a logical circumspect answer from Jim Charlier. See his take on the issue here: https://thisforall.net/TheCharlier/status/1611478171484028928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
It is clearly a tough balance between environmental impact and necessity.
So yes, specific to the “capillaries” of our transportation network and I think leveraging private machinery can alleviate the problem of larger storm cycles or prolonged cold spells.
What’s your vision for Denver in 20 years, and what would you do to help the city get there?
A vibrant internationally recognized mecca, that functions effectively and equally for all of its diverse inhabitants. A safe clean smart oasis that benefited from fresh strong competent leadership’s fiscal optimization which in turn generated social awareness and a greener city.
How better can city officials protect Denver’s environment — air quality, water supply, ground contamination? And should the city take a more active role in transit?
I office in LoDo near one of the largest EPA offices outside of Washington, D.C. and I am baffled as to why these issues, which frequently violate federal standards, are not policed and enforced to make offenders accountable for their actions. Violations are occurring literally under this division of the EPA’s nose. To find the poster child and habitual violator for this issue, look just north to the Suncor refinery.
Yes our city should take a more active role in transit, including ensuring that our sidewalks are available equally and throughout as well as safe transit corridors for all the different two-wheel modes of transport like bicycles. Both of these efforts will make our citizens and planet healthier.
Stay up-to-date with Colorado Politics by signing up for our weekly newsletter, The Spot.
