On his way to winning the mayor’s race in Denver, Mike Johnston made big promises as he vowed to tackle Denver’s most pressing issues.  

Political experts say voters who picked the former legislator to succeed outgoing Mayor Michael Hancock will be watching his moves closely – but with a tinge of impatience and great expectations he will deliver quickly.    

“It’s a pragmatic race,” said political consultant Steve Welchert, adding the mayoral contest was about “who can get stuff done.”

“And my friend Alan (Salazar) may not be wrong. There may not be much of a honeymoon here for either one of these people for mayor,” he said at a recent panel discussion before the results of the June 6 runoff election, when Johnston catapulted ahead of opponent Kelly Brough. “If they’re not moving the meter much faster, in a year, there’ll be pitchforks out. People will be coming after them. They will not last long. And that’s the brutal reality of it.”

Welchert added: “You know, you campaign in poetry, govern in prose, right? They’re going to have to govern with their sleeves up and get after it really fast.”

Salazar, who just recently served as Hancock’s chief of staff, said that, in 100 days, people will look around and say, “Wow, have things changed?”

“And I don’t believe things will change dramatically, which is why these candidates have to set an expectation that doesn’t disappoint voters. I think the problems are such that they’re not going to be resolved in 100 days, or even in the first six months of the administration,” he said.

Referring to both Brough and Johnston, Salazar said that the winner knows that “they’re going to have to live with their promises. And at the end of the day, they’ll be judged by how they govern.”

Johnston identified homelessness, affordable housing, and public safety as the city’s top priorities and said he would spend the most on solving those problems. 

Here are Johnston’s most prominent promises, curated from interviews and questionnaires over several months of campaigning.  

End homeless in his first term 

Johnston pledged to end homelessness by the end of his first term. Accomplishing that goal, he said, is contingent on a coordinated attack on overlapping challenges that are fueling homelessness.

“Denver needs a mayor who will make solving homelessness a top priority and align every department of city government to ensure results,” Johnston said. “As mayor, my office will be front and center of the fight against homelessness.”

In a policy proposal his campaign outlined, Johnston laid out four core pillars for his proposed solutions. He said that, in order to solve the homelessness crisis, the city needs to address three overlapping crises – the lack of affordable housing, the absence of available mental health support and an explosion in the severity of addictive drugs.

• Build 10-20 “micro communities” with 1,400 additional housing units. These will include hotel conversions and small clusters of tiny homes.

• Provide centralized “wrap-around” services in every “micro community” to connect residents with mental health and addiction treatment programs, as well as workforce training. Johnston said the new “micro communities” would partner with existing community resources, such as local churches, civic groups and neighborhood associations.

• Keep communities together when moving them to housing. By opening “micro communities” with 40 to 60 units, Johnston said he plans to move entire encampments together.

• Stop eviction and displacement by investing in prevention to reduce the number of residents who become homeless.

The candidate said he would use one-time federal stimulus money to fund the permanent, “supportive” housing. He said Denver is eligible to receive up to $138 million in funding, which, at $25,000 per unit, can support all 1,400 homes without affecting Denver’s budget.

Funding for the “wrap-around” services would come from Denver’s Homelessness Resolution Fund, the money Denver projects to receive from Proposition 123, and $50 million in federal funds that Denver received to construct a campus providing these services, he said. 

A homelessness advisor

Johnston said he will appoint a senior homelessness advisor who will oversee the city’s efforts to combat the crisis. He also vowed to take a “housing-first approach to solving homelessness.”

“We need bold, ambitious action, and we need a mayor who isn’t afraid to take ownership of the problem. We can be the first major city to end homelessness, and as mayor, I will work tirelessly to get it done.”

More frequent snowplows 

Johnston said he would not put up with another winter of snow plow issues, such as the one the city underwent a few months ago, when thick layers of ice and mud stuck around for weeks and became dangerous sheets, particularly along side streets, catching the city by surprise and eliciting frustration from residents, notably advocates of people with disabilities.

“This is a fixable problem and we cannot tolerate another winter like this one,” he said. “As mayor, I will ensure that we expand our snow plowing reach and frequency, particularly on side streets, to make sure streets are clean and we are not plowing snow into bike lanes and sidewalks that increase hazards for Denverites.” 

Revive 16th Street Mall

Johnston vowed to revive downtown, lamenting how the construction project on the 16th Street Mall has “destroyed this main artery, making it hard to get around and visit businesses.”

Johnston said the city can’t afford 16th Street to be under construction for two years.

“As mayor,” he said, “I would accelerate this project. We have to incentivize and support a return to commerce downtown so our local businesses can thrive, and we can have a bustling, vibrant city center.” 

200 more first responders

When asked to outline his public safety spending priorities, Johnston said he would put 200 more first responders on the streets, including mental health professionals, EMTs and community-based police officers “walking the beat in the communities they serve.”

He also promised to give law enforcement “better tools to prevent and investigate crime, like plate readers, halo cameras, and shot spotters.”

A new auto theft unit

Johnston said he would establish an auto theft unit and dedicate 20 officers to tackle the crime – without spending more than what’s already budgeted.

He said the 2023 Denver budget already provides funding for additional police officer positions, but he also noted that Denver spent nearly $15 million annually in overtime pay over the past several years due to staffing shortages.

“I believe that we can address our current safety needs with the current budget using saved overtime expenditures,” he said. 

Recruit officers from their own neighborhoods

Johnston said he would address Denver’s police officer shortage by doing three things: Change the job and make law enforcement “more community-based” so officers have a real relationship with the community they serve and protect; change the training to “focus on de-escalation strategies and prevention;” and, change recruitment strategies by focusing on recruiting officers from the neighborhoods they would be serving and creating a “more diverse” pipeline of recruits.

Let the schools decide their own safety measures

Johnston vowed to allow schools to keep their autonomy, effectively saying he would not use his bully pulpit to cajole Denver Public Schools officials into adopting a policy he prefers or repudiating an approach he rejects.

When asked if he supports returning Denver Police Department officers as school resource officers in Denver Public Schools, Johnston said that decision should be left to “individual schools with input from the principal, teachers, students, and parents.”

He said each school should have the opportunity to decide what is best for them, rather than “a blanket policy.”