To Mike:

I hope a first-name basis is OK, and that we can put off the honorifics until you take office.

First off, congratulations on a decisive victory. You have been at this a while. When you first ran for governor in 2018 with a bit more hair, I somehow doubt that you envisioned getting ready five years later to take the oath as Denver’s mayor.

It has indeed been a slog. I flash back to the very fun lunch Tracy and I had with you and Courtney and your kids along with both grandmothers at some Mexican restaurant in Granby back in 2019 as you were on the Senate campaign trail.

You have long sought the chance to serve and lead in high ranks. Now that opportunity is yours as is that burden. As a friend, though sometimes a critical friend, allow me to offer ten pieces of advice as you prepare to take the reins of a troubled city.

1. Governing is far more difficult than campaigning. You are a natural at the political game and have an unquestioned knack for it. That has finally paid off. But governing, especially in times of challenge, is a wholly different task.

In considering the transition over the coming weeks, keep in mind that it is not just about picking a cabinet and administrative team. As importantly, it is a personal walk over the bridge from inspiring candidate to sober chief executive.

2. Part of the art of governing is the ability to say no to your friends. Dealing with political adversaries is part and parcel of the process. Turning down or reining in friends and allies is a far trickier proposition. This is doubly true in the mayor’s office with plenty of jobs and perks to dole out.

3. There is a time and place for dreaming big dreams and painting an ambitious picture of what Denver can be. You did this eloquently and persuasively throughout the campaign and even in your speech on election night.

But there is also a need to address the reality and lived experience of many Denverites which is far less cheery at the moment. Way too many fellow citizens are feeling anxious, unsafe and insecure. Crime, from auto theft to porch piracy to physical violence, is all too pervasive.

Whole parts of the city seem inhospitable. Homeless encampments have become an omnipresent part of the landscape. Multitudes live on the economic margins or have fallen through the safety net. Office buildings are half empty. A trip through our once proud airport is unwelcoming to both the nerves and the eye.

Voters resonated with your well-stated vision and aspirations. But they also expect very concrete fixes, and soon.

4. Talk less, listen more. Enough said.

5. There is a growing disconnect between the crime reduction goals of many who identify as political progressives and the policies they too often push on drug enforcement, sentencing, and police recruiting and staffing.

That dissonance will soon land in your lap. Serving as mayor is a front-line job. This is not about esoteric debates in some august legislative chamber. It is your lot to bring clarity to this fundamental conflict. And to call it out when necessary.

6. I have a small inkling of how integral in your development was your founding role at the Mapleton Expeditionary School of the Arts. Bringing my then-young kids to a graduation ceremony was a formative experience on their end.

Please don’t forget where you started as a fearless advocate for quality teaching, school choice and educational opportunity for those who most need it. While DPS will not be directly under your thumb, it is a mess crying out for adult supervision. As you are soon to be the city’s undisputed leader and chief advocate, use everything in your expansive tool kit to force DPS to up its game or yield to those who will do so.

7. Stick around a while.

It is plainly evident that the mayor’s office is not your highest goal or political terminus. That is all well and good. Denver does not need you for 12 years. (In fact, why don’t you lead a charter change to eliminate third terms?) But the city needs more than a short-timer.

2026 will be a year of political upheaval in Colorado with Gov. Polis term-limited and other high offices potentially open as well. But that is simply too soon to make your move. A 2026 campaign would mean starting in 2025 and spending the next two years processing issues through a nakedly political lens.

Late in the campaign, you pledged in a Channel 7 debate that you would complete at least one term as mayor through the summer of 2027. It’s a promise Denverites need you to keep.

8. Don’t wear your ambition quite so much on your sleeve. It’s more on the above point. Initiative is great. But maybe dial it back a few degrees. Make clear that your driving passion is Denver, not your own upward mobility.

9. Continue making it a family affair. I admired how you and Courtney dialed your children into your previous campaigns. Those kids, now older and with more of their own lives, absolutely deserve their privacy. And, surely, an outing to this or that Denver neighborhood is not quite as compelling as a weekend in Grand County. Still, keep your dad cap on and know there is no higher priority.

10. At the start of the campaign, I weighed in that what Denver most needed was a leader to restore the city’s mojo. The voters have handed you that formidable assignment and invested their considerable hopes in your talents. The task is going to take plenty of cheerleading, but also some tough decisions and hard truths that may not always please your base.

Finally, while your election night speech only mentioned the Nuggets, Avs and Broncos, maybe you can fix the Rockies in your spare time.

Good luck, my friend. Enjoy the ride.

Eric Sondermann is a Colorado-based independent political commentator. He writes regularly for Colorado Politics and the Gazette newspapers. Reach him at?EWS@EricSondermann.com; follow him at @EricSondermann