Author: Alan Salazar

072423-cp-web-oped-salazar-1 Denver’s new mayor, Mike Johnston, is off to an impressive start. He started his first week in office with an impressively short (yes!) inaugural speech that avoided a laundry list of promises in favor of a call to dream greatly, with a reminder that daunting problems can be overcome. He named Jenn Ridder as…

Alan Salazar Six years ago, about the same time I started as the new chief of staff for Denver’s mayor, Michael Hancock, I had no idea there was another man, a bit younger than me, starting a different and more challenging time hundreds of miles away in California. I was walking to a new job…

Alan Salazar As my professional journey takes me out of partisan politics, I have been thinking about how “political theater” can both advance, and retard, good public outcomes. By “political theater” I mean the way political actors (elected or not) use their platforms for public attention. Two different approaches that capture the dilemma of what…

Alan Salazar By the time this column runs, Denver voters will have elected the next mayor of Denver.  That means a new chief of staff, as well. Here is my heartfelt advice to whomever takes on this job: First, congratulations! It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make significant contributions in public service, not just to…

Alan Salazar In Denver last week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken shocked many when he said the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-49 is overdose by the opioid fentanyl. He was in Denver for the Cities Summit of the Americas, a conference that brought together 250 mayors from across the Western Hemisphere…

Alan Salazar In nearly 40 years of working in Colorado politics, I have never seen anything quite like the midterm election of 2022.? It is clearly one for the history books, and not just because of Colorado’s blue tsunami. A national “red wave” allegedly fueled by voter concerns about inflation, crime and immigration not only…