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Briefly describe the single most urgent issue facing the city of Denver and how it should be addressed.
Denver has a housing crisis. The secret’s out: Denver is an amazing place to live. With all those moving to our city, and with the implosion of our housing construction in 2008, we are far behind in building new homes. Fortunately, we’re working on missing middle density citywide and larger buildings in the city center where it makes sense.
What should Denver leaders do to address the city’s lack of affordable housing?
America tried building housing projects, and it was a failure. Instead of building additional housing projects, we strive to create an economically diverse community. As of 2022, we now require new developments to install affordable housing in every new apartment and condominium building. We are also changing zoning to allow for missing middle housing. In some neighborhoods, that means allowing accessory dwelling units. In others, that means duplexes or triplexes. And it means larger apartment and condominium buildings downtown.
Do you support redevelopment at the Park Hill golf course property? Why or why not?
Yes. We have a housing crisis, and the plan allows for lots of new homes. In my first term in office, our housing affordability crisis has only exacerbated, making the need for affordable housing even more important. The good news about the development is that it requires at least 25% of homes built be affordable. Furthermore, there will still be ample park space on the scale of Cheesman Park, one of our city’s most amazing parks.
What should Denver leaders do to revitalize downtown Denver?
District 10 is the center of the Rocky Mountain region’s cultural, civic, commercial, and tourism sectors. It is critical that we revitalize downtown for each of these industries. We are already working on significant infrastructure investments downtown, including $160m for the 16th Street Mall renovation. We have also invested in a pilot that provides free rent for locally owned minority and women-owned businesses to open storefronts downtown. Infrastructure upgrades, small business investment, and public safety investment are all needed to ensure the success of our center city.
What is Denver’s greatest public safety concern and what should be done about it?
Police are a necessary and important component of the city’s ability to maintain public health, safety, and welfare. That said, we have focused long enough on locking people up to solve the public safety problem; we should support our police by re-focusing on prevention instead of punishment. Put another way, let’s get the police out of the business of responding to things that don’t need police. This includes raising Denver’s minimum wage, creating and expanding Support Team Assisted Response (STAR), moving thousands from the street into homes using housing surges, and more. This will allow police to focus on protecting victims and other priorities which require their specialized training.
Should neighborhoods help absorb population growth through permissive zoning, or do you favor protections for single-family neighborhoods?
We must all do our part to ensure Denver is prepared for future generations like previous generations have made Denver welcoming for us. Most of District 10 is already multifamily. The center city is a great place to add density, including in our city center by converting empty office space into residential space. 1600 Glenarm is an example of how we can successfully convert space from office to residential. Additional density must be in context with the neighborhood. This means 30+ story buildings make sense downtown and ADUs (and other gentle density options like duplexes) make sense in other neighborhoods.
Should the city’s policy of sweeping homeless encampments continue unchanged? Why or why not?
A city’s core role is public health, safety, and welfare. It isn’t in the public’s best interest for anyone to camp in urine, feces, trash, needles, rats, and other issues on our street. It’s also not OK for this to be around schools like Morey in District 10. After all, we should set up our future leaders for success. Which is why we’re re-tooling our housing options; since I took office, we’re now allowing pets and partners in shelters and are purchasing motels to address all reasons people camp on our streets.
Should Denver change its snow plowing policy? Why or why not.
Believe me, it’s been hard getting around in my wheelchair this winter in Denver, so yes. The snow plowing policy hasn’t changed for decades. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people have moved to our city, and they deserve access to get around. Also, taller buildings in our city center mean there’s less sun shining on streets and melting the snow/ice. We should also revisit our policy on sidewalk/alley abatement as more than a third of households in certain neighborhoods in District 10 don’t own cars at all. We all deserve the ability to get from A to B safely no matter how we choose to get there.
What’s your vision for Denver in 20 years, and what would you do to help the city get there?
We must all do our part to save our habitability on our planet, promote physical health, and preserve community. This means transitioning our city from a car-only city to a pedestrian and cyclist friendly one. Shakespeare writes, “what is a city but the people?” Getting people out of their cars allows us to reconnect with our neighbors and restore the social fabric that makes Denver unique. This means fixing our busted and broken sidewalks and championing transformative projects like the 5280 Trail.
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?
Transportation is the single largest contributor to carbon emissions, and we must do our part to ensure people feel safe getting around our city in alternatives to cars. This means fixing our busted and broken sidewalks. It means ensuring cyclists feel protected, too. Denver voters approved the change from Public Works to the Department of Transportation Infrastructure (DOTI), and I believe that means the people want us to take a more active role in transit and transportation infrastructure.

Briefly describe the single most urgent issue facing the city of Denver and how it should be addressed.
As a renter with deep ties to my neighbors (housed and unhoused), my community and I are living Denver’s housing crisis each day. Social housing is one ambitious model to solve it. With the city, not a private company, as a developer, profits can fund more housing. Rent tiered by income means that those paying more offset lower rent for lower-income tenants. Toronto and Helsinki have successfully implemented social housing. We often hear that Denver lacks 50,000 units, but this refers to homes for folks making under $50,000 a year. More housing for them should be prioritized.
What should Denver leaders do to address the city’s lack of affordable housing?
My top priority is advocating for tenants’ rights. We need a stronger rental registry, a tenants’ bill of rights, rental assistance, access to legal defense for anyone facing eviction, and apartment acquisition funds to give tenant unions and local nonprofits the chance to purchase buildings and stabilize rents. Other ideas are creating community development corporations in each district to give voice to community desires for development, community land trusts, and an audit of the Office of Real Estate to determine how we can leverage city- owned property.
Do you support redevelopment at the Park Hill golf course property? Why or why not?
No, but I don’t support keeping it a golf course, either. Denser housing AND more green space is possible. I want everyone to have the same green space access that I enjoy as a Cap Hill renter a short walk from Cheesman Park, but Denver’s green space is deficient for our population and inequitably distributed. We also need more tree canopy across Denver to improve air quality and slow the growing heat island effect. The city should repurpose PHGC with tax funds that voters approved for new parks and open spaces. We do need more housing, especially for folks making $25,000 to $60,000 a year, but we should build on city-owned parcels near PHGC already zoned for mixed use and lined for utilities.
What should Denver leaders do to revitalize downtown Denver?
Most office workers are going to continue working from home, so repurposing empty offices for housing is one way to revitalize downtown. I also support having commercial community land trusts to regulate the cost of rent for small and local businesses downtown, which would direct tourist and visitor dollars to our community rather than national companies. For Union Station (part of District 10), I’d love to implement a site similar to the Hub of Hope in Philadelphia, which offers unhoused neighbors a safe place to warm up, take a shower, do laundry, and connect with health care and housing resources.
What is Denver’s greatest public safety concern and what should be done about it?
City leaders haven’t adequately addressed our biggest public safety risks: crime and criminalization’s root causes like poverty, systemic injustice, climate change, and untreated mental illness. We should fund ideas developed by the people closest to the pain, e.g. the Support Team Assisted Response Program. The Taskforce to Reimagine Policing & Public Safety’s recommendations are data-driven ways to better public safety.
Should neighborhoods help absorb population growth through permissive zoning, or do you favor protections for single-family neighborhoods?
We must center the most vulnerable people as we develop more of every housing type in every neighborhood. I would consider upzoning all neighborhoods after amending Expanding Housing Affordability to require more deeply affordable units in new developments. We can charge a price per square foot on a fee-in-lieu basis based on what our market here can hold. This would provide more funds for building more affordable units. I’ll advocate for social housing and leveraging city-owned land as well as push for more permanent safe outdoor sites, more community benefits agreements on city-owned property, and budget amendments for more housing dollars.
Should the city’s policy of sweeping homeless encampments continue unchanged? Why or why not?
Housing is a human right. I’m firmly against Denver’s camping ban, and I’ve pledged to my community that I will vote to overturn it. It is inhumane to stop people from protecting themselves from the elements with a tarp, tent, or blanket. Not only are the sweeps cruel, but they are counterproductive and expensive. Violently displacing unhoused people does not address our housing crisis and the dire need to house people. Sweeps cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of dollars to traumatize and move people around, and these funds would be better spent on housing people.
Should Denver change its snow plowing policy? Why or why not.
Current plowing policy does not prioritize safety, especially for transit riders, disabled people, and pedestrians. Snow plows that dump in bike lanes and sidewalks create unsafe conditions, and icy sidewalks make it impossible for disabled folks to get around. The city should remove ice from sidewalks and bus stops just as they do on roads. We need to consider better drainage in key areas. We can also explore creative technologies other cities use in winter, like heated systems for sidewalk materials in busy areas. As we improve sidewalks thanks to last year’s successful ballot measure, we must make these considerations.
What’s your vision for Denver in 20 years, and what would you do to help the city get there?
My community and I dream of a Denver where everyone can thrive on their own terms. We envision a fully operational social housing model where the city is building and buying buildings so that everyone can afford a home. We envision a rapid transit bus on Colfax and more city funding for accessible, sustainable transit so that everyone can get around more easily. We envision accessible mental health services and substance use treatment, including safe injection sites with wrap-around services in city-owned buildings. As a council member, just as I have in my role as a community member, I will advocate and organize with my neighbors for legislation and budget amendments to bring our vision to life.
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?
My environmental approach is rooted in the climate justice movement and my ancestors’ experiences. I’m the granddaughter of a coal miner who died of black lung disease. The coal company where my grandfather worked didn’t offer any compensation to my family after his death. As with many complex issues, we can take a multi-pronged approach on climate challenges: protecting and expanding green space; funding accessible, sustainable transit options that are free to everyone; saving water with incentives for replacing grass with native plants and xeriscaping; and replacing turf on city-owned property with native plants and xeriscapes, too.

Briefly describe the single most urgent issue facing the city of Denver and how it should be addressed.
Denver’s lack of imagination, coordination, and courage regarding homelessness is its greatest failure and most urgent issue. Denver’s homelessness numbers have risen, despite hundreds of millions of dollars allocated in recent years. For the past three years, I have worked on mitigation practices in these camps directly, and I am running to bring better accountability for a housing-first approach that includes data-driven wrap around mental health and addiction services, case management, and community reintegration efforts to address the conditions that lead to and keep people homeless. This must also be paired with coordinated enforcement of our urban camping ban that moves people closer to stability, rather than further away.
What should Denver leaders do to address the city’s lack of affordable housing?
I am running to bring stronger partnerships between the city and developers interested in building affordable housing, providing a collaborative and varied approach to increasing housing stock. We must partner with the Denver Housing Authority and look to creative use of under-utilized city-owned property to champion inclusive development that preserves and grows the character of our neighborhoods, while welcoming a new generation of homeowners. I will work with our planning and zoning office to expedite affordable housing projects, providing below market rate rental options. As councilman, I will address Denver’s “missing middle” by creating a pathway for middle-income renters to become homeowners through down payment assistance programs and social housing projects.
Do you support redevelopment at the Park Hill golf course property? Why or why not?
This April, voters will decide whether they want to preserve a privately-owned defunct golf course a mile from one of the city’s flagship public courses. I hope they give North Park Hill the fourth largest park in the city and a generation of families sustainable housing opportunities, including fully subsidized housing to market rate options. This development proposal is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to infuse a historically underserved neighborhood with resources to generate economic opportunity, arts and culture centers, and a grocery store in a food desert. The legally binding Developer Agreement and Community Benefits Agreement can only be altered with a vote of council. I will work to honor and optimize the voter’s decision.
What should Denver leaders do to revitalize downtown Denver?
The first step to addressing this problem is recognizing it as a remarkable opportunity. As a city councilman, I want to lead a renaissance downtown. I imagine a mixed-use, mixed-income downtown core that transforms empty office buildings into residential living space and where city workers are provided child care on the sixteenth street mall. Downtown’s empty storefronts can become incubators for the next generation of diverse local entrepreneurs while service providers coordinate comprehensive efforts to address our homelessness crisis. In addition, I will work with DOTI and RTD to improve multimodal transit to bring workers and residents to the city’s heart for community, arts, and opportunity.
What is Denver’s greatest public safety concern and what should be done about it?
Youth violence has been a significant contributor to our public safety concerns recently. As a DPS educator for 7 years, I know our young people’s social & emotional challenges. Our city has abdicated its responsibility to Denver kids at the schoolhouse door, resulting in an explosion of dangerous behavior. I will work to improve after-school programming, & social and emotional literacy, by partnering with businesses & vocational programs that help provide community support to our kids, ensuring they obtain a ladder of opportunity. Our public safety teams need support in order to recruit, retain, & promote high-quality civil servants our neighborhoods can trust, by focusing on engagement, accountability, & transparency to make our safety system a national model for reform & improvement.
Should neighborhoods help absorb population growth through permissive zoning, or do you favor protections for single-family neighborhoods?
District 10 is an excellent example of a district with diverse housing, mixed-income, and mixed-use. It is what many love about our district. Our strength is in our diversity. Let’s build on that charm. As a councilman, I will support gentle density increases in single-family neighborhoods like additional dwelling units, increasing housing volume with little impact on the surrounding area and allowing for reasonable autonomy to homeowners to improve their properties. In addition, we must increase family-oriented housing stock, most specifically in our downtown core, with existing and developing multi-modal transportation.
Should the city’s policy of sweeping homeless encampments continue unchanged? Why or why not?
I will work to improve the efficacy of our enforcement of the urban camping ban. Currently, sweeps do little but move the unhoused from one street to another. As someone who has worked in encampments for the past three years, I know there is no collaborative effort during sweeps to collect data, identify barriers, or coordinate resources. I will facilitate more robust relationships between DPD and resource providers to treat sweeps as opportunities to move people toward stability. With better coordination of reintegration efforts, veterans services, housing providers, mental health, and addiction recovery, I will ensure our efforts to provide comprehensive support are well-resourced and that police are empowered to enforce laws that keep us all safe, housed and unhoused alike.
Should Denver change its snow plowing policy? Why or why not.
All of Denver’s policies require evaluation over time. Our climate is changing, and we need to adapt our strategies to combat the predictable nature of unpredictable weather events that can disrupt multi-modal transit and create longer-term infrastructure problems. As a city councilman, I will look to other cities for inspiration in their methods of coordinating timely responses to weather. Over the initial months of my term, I will meet with leaders of DOTI to better understand our current plans and their professional understanding of how to improve ahead of next winter.
What’s your vision for Denver in 20 years, and what would you do to help the city get there?
I’d like to see a city that responds to its challenges with a more unified, cooperative, and courageous effort, where strong partnerships between the departments of the city, the needs of its constituents, and the resources and vision championed by its businesses and nonprofits who unify around a shared vision of sustainability, inclusivity, and opportunity. I will work to bring this vision to fruition so that middle-income workers can become homeowners in holistic neighborhoods where elected leaders work together to balance an inspired approach to thoughtfully growing and improving the experience of our residents and visitors. And in 20 years, I hope to look back on a city that championed a compassionate and pragmatic approach to solving its homelessness crisis.
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?
As city councilman for District 10, my objective will be to work to improve the ways an individual can move around the city without driving their car. That means linking Bus Rabid Transit with Shared Street initiatives that prioritize the safety of pedestrians and alternative modes of travel. It means finishing the 5280 trail, connecting Denver’s central neighborhoods with a protected bike path. I will work with anyone interested in improving our city’s environmental quality of life, increasing Denver’s tree canopy, and lowering its relative temperature. Big problems require an immense coalition to solve, which means the city council should do more to build them, especially on issues of transportation that provide for and link compounding issues impacting the city.

Briefly describe the single most urgent issue facing the city of Denver and how it should be addressed.
I’m running with one major priority – to solve Denver’s unhoused crisis, because it intersects with so many challenges that affect the economic and social health of our beloved city. Scaling evidence-based programs in behavioral and mental health, like STAR, while fast-tracking short- and long-term housing options, including SOS and public housing, will move unhoused neighbors along the path to independent or supportive housing. Great programs are already hard at work, but they are siloed. Let’s unite the coalition of stakeholders addressing all facets of homelessness to set shared goals and work smarter together, with 100% transparency and accountability. I will champion a fully integrated, coordinated, and data-driven system of care across Denver to make homelessness rare and brief.
What should Denver leaders do to address the city’s lack of affordable housing?
Transformational change for unhoused neighbors and those experiencing housing instability will require us to leverage every policy, incentive, and innovation available to increase affordable housing options. We’re 50,000 units behind to meet the need. I support reforming our complex zoning code and streamlining the permit and review process to expedite project completion and reduce overall production costs. Offering a fast track lane for affordable housing and adaptive reuse permits. Tying tax credits and other incentives to priority needs. Using city owned land to build low-income and workforce housing with public/private and nonprofit partnerships. In the interim, increasing housing vouchers and considering higher occupancy limits can immediately help close the gap.
Do you support redevelopment at the Park Hill golf course property? Why or why not?
We all love green space and value the many health and well being benefits of nature. At the same time, Denver is facing a housing crisis. At 155 acres, the PHGC redevelopment plan includes retail, 2,500 affordable and market rate housing units, and nearly 100 acres of refurbished parkland for the public. We can do both – create a sustainable neighborhood and retain open greenways. We can create the city’s 4th largest park and long-term, affordable housing near a vital RTD hub that reduces car use and related emissions, while alleviating some of the price pressure from our housing crisis. We can hear the wishes of community members, who know years of marginalization, and their clear desire to support reinvestment in their community. We must find middle ground and some peace as neighbors.
What should Denver leaders do to revitalize downtown Denver?
As office buildings lose tenants, businesses that rely on weekday traffic are struggling or shuttered. We’re losing tax revenue that supports our city’s services. First, I would prioritize the area with access to human services and housing for a sustainable reduction in encampments. I’d fast track buildings that can be converted to housing. Let’s be future-focused! Retain main arteries for cars and close side streets to create fun, enticing experiences for locals and visitors, preferably as greenspace with rotating art installations, child-friendly blocks with activities, food truck and vendor markets, an extension of the beer trail. Enhance 5280 trail plans for more accessible spaces that bring neighbors downtown. Use tax incentives and grants for local businesses to expand downtown.
What is Denver’s greatest public safety concern and what should be done about it?
We need to invest more in our social services and mental health services. Not only can they deter criminal activity from starting, but we can foster a healthier community. I am a huge proponent of Mental Health Diversion Programs, like the one in Boulder, and would like to see it in Denver. I support scaling the Support Team Assisted Response Team, co-responder units, and the latest park ranger co-responder program, in cases of mental health, substance use and wellness checks for individuals who don’t pose violent threats to the public’s safety. I believe we need to readjust the scope of how we use the time and resources of our law enforcement, and lean into behavioral health specialists who can intervene during non-emergency calls.
Should neighborhoods help absorb population growth through permissive zoning, or do you favor protections for single-family neighborhoods?
Candidate’s answer was not responsive to the question.
Should the city’s policy of sweeping homeless encampments continue unchanged? Why or why not?
I oppose the criminalization of people experiencing homelessness who have no meaningful alternative to sleeping on our streets. Sweeps are an ineffective use of taxpayer funds and make the path to recovery even more difficult for people. We need to use evidence-based practices and human-centered design principles, such as prioritizing encampments for abatement by level of risk to surrounding areas and residents. Dispatching cross-functional teams to offer sustained supportive services, identifying temporary shelter or safe outdoor spaces, and providing transportation to it. By rallying our political will and uniting all stakeholders around proven strategies, we can successfully address the homelessness crisis in Denver.
Should Denver change its snow plowing policy? Why or why not.
This winter, we’ve seen how bad it can get when we don’t have enough resources allocated to snow plowing our streets and sidewalks. Not only is it inconvenient and dangerous to drivers, it obstructs the safe use of sidewalks and bike lanes and has an outsize impact on individuals using wheelchairs, walkers, etc. We all know stories of someone who was hurt because our streets weren’t properly plowed. We should prepare for Denver winters with resources, tools, and people to get our city up and running as soon as possible after a snowfall, and prevent injuries.
What’s your vision for Denver in 20 years, and what would you do to help the city get there?
As District 10 City Councilwoman, I want Denver to be a place where we are all proud to live, work, and play. I will work diligently to implement effective solutions to our homelessness crisis, by elevating the issue via a standalone City Council committee on homelessness. I will work to ensure there is enough affordable and market rate housing for people who want to stay or move to Denver. All the while, keeping in mind that we need to build the future-focused infrastructure to sustain our growth and a healthy planet. This includes energy sustainability, water management, and waste reduction. Finally, I am going to council to be your voice and ally. I will keep you informed and remain receptive to the neighborhood concerns to ensure the city keeps moving forward.
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?
In addition to promoting an increase in housing density and transit-oriented development, we need to push for net-zero and LEED certified buildings. As we rehabilitate old buildings I will champion infill developments that rely on renewable energy. My focus is solving Denver’s homelessness crisis, not just for the moment but for generations to come. This means, creating sustainable measures to ensure we are creating affordable housing with long term energy efficiency in mind. I am committed to creating a solution that solves the issues we are facing today and putting in place sustainable practices that ensure a stronger, greener future for all Denverites.

Candidates are ordered alphabetically by last name.

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