Mike Johnston’s first test as Denver mayor will be housing and homelessness

Mike Johnston ran a hard race to become Denver’s new mayor, but now just across the finish line, the real work begins.

For example, how does the new mayor handle the decision to close the public seating in Union Station to anyone who hasn’t made a purchase? Known as “Denver’s living room”, something is being lost when a taxpayer-funded building’s seating area is suddenly closed to the non-paying public, a rule that had been in place but seldom enforced. However, Union Station, where Johnston held his election night victory party, was never intended to serve as a daytime shelter for the unhoused.

Denver has been unfairly vilified post-pandemic for these kinds of problems – the same problems that plague cities like Grand Junction, towns like Gunnison, and suburbs like Aurora. Johnston will have to address expensive housing, growing crime rates, especially among teens, homeless encampments, and empty office space abandoned in favor of work-from-home arrangements.

But if Denver, under the leadership of Mayor-elect Mike Johnston and the new and returning members of the Denver City Council, can tackle these problems, then Colorado will have a blueprint for smaller communities across the state to follow. Johnston ran on the message of specific, implementable plans, a message that clearly resonated with voters who gave him a healthy victory over Kelly Brough on Tuesday night.

Johnston’s most important hires in the coming weeks will be the director of Community Planning and Development and the chief housing officer for the Department of Housing Stability. These two agencies hold the future of Denver in their hands, and both are in need of a shakeup, increased resources, and empowerment to make rules that benefit the people of Denver. City council members must prepare legislation that can guide these two agencies to more success.

Colorado’s homeless and housing crisis must be fought on multiple fronts all at the same time.

Unfortunately, the city’s Department of Housing Stability has been reinvented several times over the years, and some big ideas, like combating gentrification and incentivizing luxury apartments downtown to reduce their rents on vacant units have been short-lived. The new director should prioritize the preservation of existing affordable housing in the city – whether those are older apartments, smaller houses, or newer projects that have affordability easements that must be enforced and defended.

Community Planning and Development can find a way to discourage affordable units from being demolished while encouraging density where it is allowed under current zoning rules, especially on vacant and blighted lots in downtown.

Both agencies need to work hand in hand with the external city corporation Denver Housing Authority to get the agency back in the game of developing more social housing owned and managed by DHA for very low to middle-income Coloradans. For too long, DHA has been sidelined and treaded water without aggressively adding new units.

Johnston’s big dream to build small, cheap, semi-permanent, individual shelters for groups of homeless encampments will fall somewhere in these three agencies. Johnston has his work cut out for him as he identifies parcels of land for the housing, works to find a funding source for the projects, and ultimately puts the projects out to bid to make sure private companies compete to give Denver taxpayers the best bang for their buck and our unhoused neighbors safe, warm and dry tiny houses that offer them both shelter and community.

The long-term solution to the Union Station problem is getting individuals the help they need – housing, mental health treatment, addiction treatment, and job training – so that when they visit Union Station, they too can afford a fancy waffle from one of the vendors. But until then, Johnston should be led by compassion and openness when it comes to our public spaces, and it is up to everyone in this city to support him during the transition by not abandoning our urban core.

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