2023 Voter Toolkit

Feb 16, 2023

A bicyclist rides on a crosswalk underneath a traffic light, with the Denver capitol building in the background on a clear day.

It’s our full-time job at DSP to keep tabs on what’s happening with our local government, but it doesn’t have to be yours. We want to make sure that voters like you have access to reliable non-partisan resources that will help you make informed decisions and feel less overwhelmed when it’s time to cast your ballot.

Read on for:

You won’t find any candidate endorsements below because of our status as a 501(c)(3) organization—and because we’ll be working with the new mayor and council members, no matter who gets elected! But, we hope this information gives you the resources you need to cast your vote as a knowledgeable Denverite this spring.

 

 

Critical information

 

Even if you don’t read any further, here are the need-to-knows for participating in the 2023 Denver Municipal Runoff Election.

Dates

  • May 15: ballots mailed
  • June 6: Runoff Election Day

The City of Denver: April 2023 General Election results
Denver Elections Division: Register to vote
Denver Elections Division: How and where to vote

 

 

Mayoral candidate questionnaire

 

In January, we sent all candidates for Mayor and City Council a questionnaire. Below are the responses from the remaining mayoral candidates. Please note, as a nonpartisan organization, we will not be making endorsements based on these responses.

Question: What are your top priorities related to transportation as a candidate? How do you expect to address them if elected?

Kelly Brough

Simply put, my transportation priority will be supporting Denverites to move more efficiently, safely, and cleanly. To do so, I will:

  • Prioritize investment in first mile and last mile connections to make it easier for people to choose transit.
  • Engage with and align the transportation policy priorities of the City of Denver with RTD, DRCOG, Metro Mayors Caucus, CDOT and other partners to ensure Denver is leading and maximizing regional efforts to strengthen our shared transportation infrastructure.
  • Maximize federal funding available through the Infrastructure and Jobs Act and distribute that funding with an equity lens to ensure our communities that have been historically underserved and overburdened by pollution are benefitting most from this new funding.
  • Decarbonize our city fleet and partner with RTD and DPS to do the same.
  • Build high density housing along major transportation corridors and at transit stations to ensure affordable, efficient housing is available and that residents living there have easy access to efficient, quality transit options.

Mike Johnston

I want Denver to be a City where you don’t have to have a car to get around. To get there, we must prioritize transit-oriented development so that new units are built along transportation corridors, and we must also ensure that our bus and light rail systems are regular, reliable, and affordable. In addition, we must expand the City’s network of bike lanes to make cycling a viable commuting option for more people. These measures will make Denver more environmentally friendly, and they will make a more vibrant City as well.

Question: Since Denver leaders made a commitment in 2017 to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious bodily injuries by 2030 (an initiative known as Vision Zero), over 460 people have been killed in preventable traffic crashes on Denver’s streets and fatalities have increased every year except 2020—when traffic volumes were significantly reduced during the pandemic. Meanwhile, other cities in the U.S. and across the world have succeeded in substantially reducing traffic fatalities. What actions do you think the City should take to help ensure that we reverse the current trend and actually make meaningful progress toward the goal of zero traffic fatalities here in Denver?

Kelly Brough

Vision Zero is the right goal, poorly executed. The effort needs a strategic reset – a pause to evaluate the barriers to our success and contrast that with successes of other communities. After a thorough and honest assessment of efforts to date, we will restart with fresh approaches. In the meantime, there is some low-hanging fruit that Denver should pursue to improve safety: increasing use of red-light cameras, lowering speed limits, and increasing enforcement of traffic laws, through either police or non-police enforcement options. I am also open to exploring where additional traffic calming measures may make sense. Finally, one of the most critical things a mayor does is to appoint a cabinet. I will appoint an experienced, strategic, collaborative leader for the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure that is committed to cyclist and pedestrian safety.

Mike Johnston

Vision Zero has worked in cities across the country when those cities truly committed to their plans to reduce traffic deaths. Denver can’t simply give lip service to Vision Zero and expect to achieve its goals—reducing traffic deaths requires real changes to our transportation infrastructure. As Mayor, I will expand the use of traffic-calming measures like roundabouts, vertical deflections, horizontal shifts, road narrowings, raised crosswalks, and separated bus and bike lanes. I will implement these traffic-calming measures on a risk-level basis, identifying streets that are in highest need of adaptation for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers. And I will provide transportation alternatives to Denver citizens, including more efficient and more reliable public transit, adequate and safe bike lanes, and walkable sidewalks that improve the safety of our City’s pedestrians.

Question: Recently, Denver has made limited investments in infrastructure to make bus service more reliable, such as dedicated bus lanes, traffic signals that prioritize buses, and enhanced bus stops. The build out of this infrastructure has been slow, however, and the City has not proactively partnered with RTD to increase service frequency along these routes. What role do you think Denver should play in ensuring that Denverites have access to enough frequent, reliable public transit service to make transit a practical option for daily trips and reduce our dependence on driving? What role do you think Denver should play within the region when it comes to the future of public transit?

Kelly Brough

Even before the pandemic, we saw a softening in public transit use in Denver and elsewhere due to disruptive new transportation options – ride share services, car & bike share, scooters, etc. The pandemic exacerbated transit rider declines as people’s commuting patterns changed and public health concerns made them less comfortable using crowded busses and trains. We need to be honest and build realistic, actionable plans for the future of transit. My core values of creativity & innovation and collaboration will be important here. My approach will include:

  • Engaging neighborhood groups to help us better understand and address the barriers to transit use
  • Working regionally with RTD leadership, DRCOG, Metro Mayors and CDOT to align interests and tackle transportation challenges regionally and with focus on innovation
  • Ensuring we have an accountable leader and strong team at DOTI

Mike Johnston

 Partnering with RTD is imperative if we wish to make public transportation more desirable for the people of Denver. As Mayor, I will establish a true partnership with RTD in order to improve system reliability and frequency, which can increase ridership and revenue as a result. As outlined in my Climate and Transportation Plan, I will work with businesses downtown to increase participation in the EcoPass program, which has declined in recent years. In exchange, I’ll ask RTD to increase service and reduce fares on certain routes—a win-win proposition for both parties.

Question: The City of Denver has spent a lot of time developing plans related to transportation and growth, for example Blueprint Denver, Denver Moves Everyone, Denver Moves Transit, Denver Moves Bicycles, Denver Moves Pedestrians & Trails, and the Denver Vision Zero Action Plan. Yet implementation of these plans has been slow, leading to frustration among some community members who feel that the City has repeatedly asked for community input but failed to act on that input. How would your administration build off of these previous planning efforts and work to accelerate implementation?

Kelly Brough

Before speaking to my administration’s plans to accelerate implementation of transportation and growth plans, let me first address the comment about community engagement: In my administration, when we engage community, it will be meaningful engagement. Planning input alone is insufficient. We will establish effective mechanisms for on-going dialogue between community and the city, so that we can determine together how to best prioritize projects and distribute limited resources. My team will be honest and direct with community about what is practical and feasible so we can build the trust needed to have honest, transparent, and constructive working relationships.

With regard to how I will approach these projects: Being mayor is an executive job and I have executive experience, in both the public and private sectors. I have executed project plans and managed budgets to deliver effectively deliver large and complex programs and policies. I believe strongly in and have extensive experience creating and managing accountable teams. Maximizing new resources available through the federal Infrastructure and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, coupled with effective use of financing tools to stretch every dollar as far as possible will be central to my approach.

Mike Johnston

 The biggest problem the City faces with regard to transportation infrastructure is one of execution, not planning. Despite the fact that plans like Denver Moves already reflect robust community input, Denver frequently strays from executing them as written because there is no City leadership on the issue. As Mayor, I will commit to executing the City’s plans—and expanding upon them when needed—to ensure that our City follows through on the ambitious promises it’s made. And I will use pilot programs and demonstration projects to cut down on the total time the City spends planning, enabling the City to solicit community input in a much more rapid manner.

Question: The Denver Streets Partnership sponsored the Denver Deserves Sidewalks ballot measure, which passed in November 2022 with 56% of voter support. If elected, how will you ensure that this new sidewalk program is successfully implemented in a timely manner?

Kelly Brough

As someone who commutes on her bike or often takes transit, I’m committed to protecting the safety of Denver’s pedestrians and cyclists, and I applaud the goal of ensuring safe, accessible sidewalks throughout the city. However, as someone who has extensive experience managing the implementation of major projects, I know that this is going to be extremely difficult. I’m worried about the on-going global supply chain issues we’re experiencing and concerned about our ability to secure the building materials needed to build out miles and miles of sidewalk. Additionally, I worry about finding the workforce necessary to do the job. The successful ballot question addressed the financial resources needed to build our sidewalks, but that is only half the solution. I am committed to working with Denver Streets Partnership and other stakeholders to problem solving together, but I am concerned that this is going to be a real challenge.

Mike Johnston

The people of Denver have spoken: the City needs a more reliable network of sidewalks. As Mayor, I will honor that decision, focusing first on high-priority areas in which foot traffic is high but protection for pedestrians is low. I will also set firm goals for the program and, if necessary, use the Multimodal Transportation and Mitigation Options Fund to ensure that Denver Deserves Sidewalks is implemented in a timely manner.

Question: Parking issues inevitably come up in any discussion about modifying our streets to better accommodate people walking, biking, and accessing transit, and can often be a stumbling block that prevents much-needed street safety projects from moving forward. What changes, if any, would you make to how the City manages parking to ensure we are using our limited street space in the best way possible to achieve our community’s goals for providing healthy, safe, and affordable transportation options for everyone?

Kelly Brough

The truth is that Denver has very limited land. On each and every land use question we’ll have to ask ourselves: what is the highest and best use of every piece of land we have? And how do we maximize the value in the most efficient way possible. With regard to parking, I believe this is a place where a one-size-fits-all policy really does not work. My administration will take a neighborhood-byneighborhood approach with safety being a key consideration of all our decisions.

Mike Johnston

 Nearly 60% of all car trips are less than six miles. By improving people’s alternatives for transportation, we can decrease demand for parking throughout the city, as well as decrease costs associated with driving for the people of Denver. As Mayor, I will focus on providing areas that have large amounts of street parking with alternative forms of transportation, including increased public transit frequency and reliability, city bikes, increased bike parking, and improved walkability of neighborhoods. I will also work to remove parking mandates for new developments, which has been shown to increase the supply of housing.

Question: While funding over time for biking, walking, transit, and Vision Zero has generally increased over the last five years, including the recently established Transportation and Mobility Fund, the City is still well short of what’s needed to build and maintain safe, accessible infrastructure citywide. How would you expand funding for these needs?

Kelly Brough

Federal funding approved in 2022 through the Infrastructure and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to modernize our infrastructure, including multi-modal transportation infrastructure. I will maximize this opportunity for Denver’s benefit, ensuring we prioritize money in the budget for local match requirements. Beyond that, I look forward to running a robust, values-driven annual budget process to ensure we’re investing to meet all of Denver’s needs.

Mike Johnston

In the short term, I will take advantage of one-time federal funding to augment the City’s current transportation budget. In the long term, I am open to committing additional money from the City’s general fund to achieve our transportation goals.

City Council candidate questionnaire

 

In January, we sent all candidates for Mayor and City Council a questionnaire. Below are the responses from the remaining City Council candidates. Please note, as a nonpartisan organization, we will not be making endorsements based on these responses.

The candidates listed without a link did not respond to our questionnaire. We will continue to update this list if we receive additional responses.

City Council District 7

Flor Alvidrez

City Council District 8

Shontel Lewis
Brad Revare

City Council District 9

Candi CdeBaca
Darrell Watson

City Council District 10

Chris Hinds
Shannon Hoffman

 

 

Policy platform

 

In September 2022, alongside our Steering Committee, we released our 2023 Municipal Election Policy Platform to all candidates. Think of our policy platform as the platform that DSP would run on if our organization was running for mayor (insert joke about everyone running for mayor). Running for office is a big undertaking and every candidate can’t be an expert in every issue area, so this platform is meant to help candidates understand the issues we work on and offers suggestions of policies that candidates can adopt into their own platforms.

 

 

Sample questions for forums

 

Over the next several weeks, there will be a number of candidate forums and debates (see below for a calendar of nonpartisan events we’ve compiled). In general, these events are great opportunities to learn more about where candidates stand on issues you care about. Some of these events will have opportunities for attendees (like you!) to ask questions directly to candidates. So, in addition to the questions we asked in our candidate questionnaire, we’ve put together a few questions below that you could consider asking candidates yourself at these events—feel free to consider them a starting place and add your own spin!

  • I’m concerned about the increasing number of traffic fatalities in Denver. What’s your plan to make Denver’s streets safer for everyone and eliminate traffic fatalities?
  • Transportation is the top contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in Colorado and it’s clear we need to switch a significant number of trips from driving to other sustainable modes like public transit, biking, and walking. What will you do to support that shift?
  • There was a protected bike lane planned for my neighborhood that was taken off the table to maintain on-street parking. This is happening in neighborhoods across the city. Are you willing to stand up for street design changes that improve safety but remove parking?
  • How will you ensure the implementation of Denver Deserves Sidewalks is successful?
  • My child goes to a school that’s less than a mile away from our home, but they have to cross [insert wide, busy street] to get there and it doesn’t feel safe. How will you expand the Safe Routes to School program to ensure that students across Denver can access their school safely by bike or on foot?

 

Events

 

This calendar of nonpartisan candidate forums and events will be updated on a regular basis. The Denver Streets Partnership is not hosting these events unless explicitly stated. Please visit the links and reach out to the corresponding host organizations for the most accurate, up-to-date information.

If you are hosting a nonpartisan forum or event and would like it to be added to this calendar, please email molly@denverstreetspartnership.org.

 

 

Additional resources

 

From our partners

 

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