Denver Mayor Michael Hancock vowed on Monday to build a more equitable city after he was sworn in to his third and final term in office.

Under a blazing mid-morning sun, Hancock was sworn in along with the 13 City Council members, including five new members.

Hancock began his inaugural speech with a line of poetry from the late Colorado Poet Laureate Thomas Hornsby Ferril, who wrote in his poem “Elegant Dust,” “You didn’t know you came to make a city, nobody knows when a city is going to happen.“

Hancock echoed that line of poetry in his speech, describing the kind of city he hopes to make in his last four years as Denver’s 45th mayor.

“We came today to make a city where our success today means fortifying an economy for tomorrow, an economy that is built on equity, opportunity, and social benefit for every resident, every worker, and every family,” he said. 

On the day after threatened immigration raids that did not materialize in Denver, Hancock criticized what he described as “the ugly politics of division.”

“We will stand together as one Denver to shield our residents from being the targets of any radical and hate-filled agenda,” he said.

His speech, which takes the place of this year’s State of the City address, did not unveil any specific new programs.

Instead, Hancock promised to deal with issues such as homelessness, affordable housing, criminal justice reform and climate change.

He also vowed to make Denver’s growth as a city work for its residents.

“Growth must not only be smart, it must be growth with equity and growth with justice,” he said.

“Our history is one of our most valuable assets, and it is irreplaceable,” he added. “There is no equity if development does not embrace that asset and provide a community benefit.”

Throughout the speech, a protester with Occupy Denver walked up and down Banncock Street, shouting during the ceremony.

Another Occupy Denver organizer, Ana Cornelius, said she and two other women were removed from the seating area after they begin booing Hancock during his speech.

Cornelius said nothing happened to them when they cheered during the swearing in ceremonies of Councilwoman Candi CdeBaca and City Clerk and Recorder Paul Lopez.

But when they stood up and booed the mayor, they were removed, she said.

Cornelius said they were booing to protest the city’s urban camping ban, which prohibits homeless people from sleeping on public property. Hancock supported the ban during his re-election campaign.

Denver Police spokesman Sonny Jackson said one woman was arrested after she allegedly tried to enter a restricted area on the City Hall Plaza.

Meanwhile, small group of people protesting a recent culling of geese in the city park stood in silent protest in Civic Center Park, across the street from City Hall, holding signs like one that read “Peace for Denver Geese.”

The challenges ahead

Hancock will preside over a city that has experienced phenomenal growth and a booming economy during his first two terms – one that is also grappling with homelessness, traffic congestion, gentrification and a lack of affordable housing.

Denver is a much different city than it was eight years ago when Hancock first became mayor.

The population has grown by 100,000 in the last eight years, and businesses have invested $5.7 billion in downtown projects in the last five years.

But one does not have to look far to see homeless people living on the street. Rents have skyrocketed. And residents in and out of the city complain about traffic jams and a lack of parking.

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Hancock easily defeated urban planner and political novice Jamie Giellis in the June 4th runoff by 12.7 percentage points.

But as he begins his next four years as mayor, it’s clear that many of the issues raised during that intense and heated campaign still reverberate around the city.

For her part, Giellis vowed, in an op-ed published Sunday on the Westword website, she will strive to hold Hancock accountable and continued her critique of his administration. 

Calderón, who finished third in the general election, was sharply critical of the Hancock administration during her campaign.

Besides Hancock and the council members, Monday’s ceremony also will include the swearing in new City Clerk and Recorder Paul D. Lopez and City Auditor Timothy M. O’Brien.

Inauguration festivities concluded Monday night with a free concert at the Denver Botanic Gardens at featuring Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, The Hot Lunch Band, Raquel Garcia and Bo Richardson/DJ Blaque Gurl.