Denver Mayor Mike Johnston announced Friday that the city’s current sheriff and fire chief will continue in those positions, finalizing his intention to retain all of his predecessor’s public safety leaders.
Nearly five months after being sworn into office, he renominated Sheriff Elias Diggins and Fire Chief Desmond Fulton, subject to City Council approval. Those nominations follow last month’s announcement that Johnston plans to keep Armando Saldate III as executive director of public safety and Ron Thomas as police chief.
If all four picks are approved, it will leave the public safety leadership chosen by former Mayor Michael Hancock intact.
“These are leaders who have grown up in this community, have served this community, and share our vision for bringing public safety to every neighborhood in Denver,” Johnston said about Diggins and Fulton in a news release. “I look forward to working with them shoulder to shoulder to deliver a safer Denver.”
His decision to retain all four safety leaders has drawn criticism from some community advocates who had pressed for change, including Lisa Calderón, a former mayoral candidate who endorsed Johnston in the June runoff.
Diggins has been a member of the city’s sheriff’s department since 1994. He had a stint as the city’s interim sheriff in 2014 and 2015, and Hancock later chose him to succeed former Sheriff Patrick Firman on a permanent basis in 2020. The news release lauded him as an “advocate for the mental health community” who created a management-level position to focus on the issue in the department.
Hancock nominated Fulton to lead the Denver Fire Department just months after nominating Diggins. Like Diggins, Fulton is a veteran of his agency, with more than 25 years of experience with DFD.
Johnston’s cabinet still has some key openings, including permanent leaders for three major departments: Public Health and Environment, Community Planning and Development, and Transportation and Infrastructure.
Last week the mayor’s office announced Johnston had chosen Jaime Rife, most recently the director of the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative, to lead the city’s Department of Housing Stability. That department is tasked with overseeing homelessness response and the mayor’s approach to affordable housing.
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