Denver Mayor Mike Johnston announced three new appointees for director roles within his office – leaving nine more prominent mayor’s office positions left to be occupied.

Two months into being Denver’s mayor, Johnston has worked to appoint, or rather re-appoint, members from former Mayor Michael Hancock’s team. Most recently, Johnston re-appointed Denver International Airport CEO Phil Washington, an appointee under Hancock’s leadership.

Johnston’s office previously told The Denver Gazette that Hancock asked his appointees to resign, but the new mayor wanted to keep existing appointees around until at least the end of August to provide a smooth transition.

At the time of Labor Day, Johnston’s office had 15 high profile positions available. That number is now down to nine, according to the city’s website.

Denver mayor’s office has 15 high profile positions up for hire

As of Monday, Johnston announced the appointment of Lakewood Mayor Adam Paul, who will be director of Regional Affairs for the Mayor’s Office, as well as Ben Sanders, who will lead the Office of Social Equity and Innovation (OSEI) as its chief equity officer, and Matt Ball as director of policy for the Mayor’s Office, according to a news release.

“I’m pleased to welcome three individuals with deep expertise and experience in their fields,” Mayor Mike Johnston said in a release. “Ben, Adam and Matt set us on an upward trajectory toward our mission to build a truly vibrant Denver.”

As chief equity officer, Sanders is tasked with enhancing equity in all city operations. His experience with the city started as a Learning and Development specialist, then as director of Race and Social Justice training in OSEI.

As the current mayor of Lakewood, Paul is now in charge of working with sister agencies and neighboring areas to help coordinate initiatives for outside jurisdictions. Nearing the end of his second term, Paul’s time as Lakewood’s mayor ends in November. Paul has also been chair of the Metro Mayors Caucus, which is made up of 39 mayors in the metro area.

The job for Ball is to help oversee forming of policies within the mayor’s office. He is an award-winning attorney and a military veteran. Ball was deployed four times and was nationally recognized for bringing Afghan refugees to the United States.

The Denver City Council must approve all Johnston’s appointments.

Denver’s mayor’s office shows on the city website nine more roles looking for appointment:

• Deputy Chief of Staff, Admin & Communications
• Deputy Communications Director of Digital Media
• Director of Labor Outreach
• Deputy City Attorney
• Executive Director, Community Planning & Development
• Executive Director, Denver Department of Public Health & Environment
• Executive Director, Excise & Licensing
• Executive Director, Parks & Recreation