May 22, 2026: Backlash after Polis' commutation of Peters; Holiday weather; Denver mayor on homelessness,

Summary

Colorado Matters — May 22, 2026

Episode Theme:
A week of political controversy and policy reflections in Colorado: Governor Polis’ commutation for Tina Peters sparks backlash, Denver’s mayor weighs historic progress and new challenges on homelessness, and weather updates shape summer outlook—and fire risk.

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1. Backlash After Polis’ Commutation of Tina Peters

[00:58–10:18]
Key Discussion Points:

• Unprecedented Censure: Governor Polis’ decision to commute former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters' sentence in half has been met with near-unanimous censure by Colorado’s Democratic Party.
  • Quote: “I've never seen this happen in Colorado. And the vote...was nearly 90%.”
    —Benta Berkeland, [01:48]
• Censure Details & Political Context:
  • Democrats cannot remove Polis from the party but formally condemned his commutation as a “dangerous and disappointing precedent.”
  • Party notes the years spent building electoral trust, especially in the context of national attacks on democracy.
  • Impact: Polis is barred from speaking at party events or representing the party at official functions.
  • Quote: “As an individual, he could show up, but we would not acknowledge him as...an honored guest or allow him to speak.”
    —Stephanie Beale, DNC, [04:07]
• Broader Tensions with Polis:
  • Party divisions preceded this event (worker union bill veto, disagreements with progressives).
  • Colorado Democratic State Central Committee: Polis' move expected to undermine future elections, especially in rural, GOP-dominated counties.
  • Quote: “I cannot tolerate a governor who treats a law breaking county clerk and recorder in this way.”
    —Andrew Brandt, poll worker, [04:47]
• Polis' Rationale:
  • Polis defends his action as rooted in constitutional rights and freedom of speech, stating, “sometimes the right thing isn’t the popular thing...I just thought the sentence violated her free speech.”
    —Polis, via Benta Berkeland, [05:36]
• Federal Compensation Questions:
  • Prospects discussed for Peters to access a federal “persecution fund”—unclear if eligible, since conviction was at state level.

Legal Update & Tina Peters’ Attorney Intervew:

• Attorney Peter Tickton describes the release logistics (“not a typical situation”) and planned appeals to higher courts.
  • Quote: “First, we have to appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court before we go to the U.S. Supreme Court, but for sure we’re taking that up.”
    —Peter Tickton, [07:13], [08:29]
• Peters' statement: Admits mistakes in misleading the Secretary of State; expresses regret for her method, if not her intent.
  • Quote: “She regrets the fact that she didn’t find a better way of doing it where she didn’t need to have deceit.”
    —Peter Tickton, [09:32]
• Peters intends to stay active in “election integrity” efforts post-release.

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2. Weather Recap & Holiday Outlook with Meteorologist Lisa Hidalgo

[11:01–19:16]

Recent Moisture & Drought Conditions:

• Recent rains and snow were welcome, but not enough to change the drought/snowpack deficit.
  • Quote: “This is a solid three days of...good moisture. Over an inch, in some cases...but...snowpack numbers, the worst that we’ve seen in potentially over 40 years.”
    —Lisa Hidalgo, [11:07–11:44]
• Drought conditions remain severe; recent storms couldn’t eliminate significant deficits.
  • Quote: “There’s some still extreme and exceptional spots out west.”
    —Hidalgo, [11:59]

Fire Risk & Weather Patterns:

• Year-round fire season is the new normal in Colorado; current green growth could dry and burn quickly if summer moisture doesn't materialize.
  • Quote: “Everything is good in the sense that it grows and then we get some green areas, but then a lot of that can dry out and burn up.”
    —Hidalgo, [13:36]
• Evacuation planning reflects rising wildfire dangers even in plains communities, drawing lessons from events like the Marshall Fire.

Memorable Moments:

• Discussion on what “red flag warning” truly means and the need for public vigilance.
  • “It’s the ‘boy who cries wolf’ scenario...but...if it does start (a fire), it could rapidly spread.”
    —Hidalgo, [16:07]
• Summer outlook: Warming, drier Memorial Day weekend, high likelihood of an El Niño developing (possible wetter winter ahead).

Personal Note ([17:41–18:16]):

• Lisa Hidalgo shares how she manages climate-related anxiety: “I moisturize and I hydrate...But also try to read some fun books...Mahjong helps!”
  —Lisa Hidalgo

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3. Student Commencement: Resilience and Hope

[19:44–23:27]
Highlight from Red Rocks Community College’s student government president, Victoria Maldonado:

• Emotional and honest reflection on balancing advocacy, personal and academic challenges.
• Quote: “Despite all of my accomplishments and accolades, I was drowning and thriving at the same time...Our resilience is sacred...our ability to choose hope despite it all is something we should be so proud of.”
  —Victoria Maldonado, [19:44–23:27]

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4. Denver Mayor Mike Johnston on Homelessness, Public Safety, and City Policy

[24:07–48:09]

Homelessness: Counting Progress and Defining Challenges

[24:07–33:41]

• Historic Progress:

  • “Over the last three years, we’ve now reduced street homelessness by 64%. That is the largest reduction of any city in American history.”
    —Mayor Mike Johnston, [24:29]
  • Most experiencing homelessness (92%) are now in shelters; focus shifts to hardest-to-serve, unsheltered population (about 500 people).
  • Emphasis on permanent housing placements: “More than 7,700 have now moved into permanent housing. So they're no longer in one of our hotels or tiny home villages. They're in their own permanent unit.”
    —Johnston, [26:04]
  • Downward trend in chronic homelessness and returns to homelessness.
  • New programs address addiction and mental health, e.g., “Rock to Recovery,” recovery court.

• Evictions:

  • Slight decreases seen in 2026; city has quadrupled its own funding for eviction prevention as federal aid dwindles.
  • Focused assistance for those at greatest risk of homelessness.
  • Quote: “It's more cost effective to keep them in their unit and pay a month of rent than to have them end up homeless.”
    —Johnston, [29:34]

• Youth Homelessness:

  • Largest segment: under 17 years old.
  • Family homelessness mainly “sheltered”; immediate interventions available.
  • Foster youth identified as especially vulnerable; quick interventions show better resilience among younger constituents.

Policing, Crime Trends, and Civil Rights

[34:30–38:50]

• Police Reform:
  • City acknowledges past civil rights violations during George Floyd protests (under previous administration).
  • Aggressive changes: Bans on certain crowd-control measures and shift toward facilitating, not confrontational, protest management.
  • “We don't shoot pepper balls at people anymore...we celebrate and reward officers that effectively deescalate.”
    —Johnston, [34:46]
  • Crime trends: Last year marked a historic low in homicides; April 2026 saw a spike but policing strategies recalibrated.
• Community Safety:
  • “Violence interrupters” deployed after shootings to prevent retaliatory violence.
  • Targeted social media monitoring to pre-empt public threats.

Assault Weapons Ban Challenge

[38:50–40:51]

• Federal challenge to Denver’s longstanding assault weapons ban.
  • City prepares to defend it, differentiating from “common use” handguns.
  • “Those [high capacity magazines] are meant to commit mass murder. They do not serve any purpose...We think there is no acceptable common use for an assault weapon.”
    —Johnston, [40:10]

Data Centers, Growth, and Sustainability

[40:58–42:40]

• Data center moratorium supported temporarily; long-term ban not favored.
• Emphasis on closed-loop water systems and sustainable electricity.

Polis' Clemency Decision & DNC Implications

[42:40–43:57]

• Mayor Johnston disagrees with Polis’ decision to commute Peters’ sentence but believes the DNC will still judge Denver on its event merits.
• Quote: “I disagreed with the decision...it's about people's trust in fair elections.”
  —Johnston, [43:57]

Transit Construction and Small Businesses

[44:33–47:35]

• Progress on Colfax bus rapid transit; efforts to accelerate construction and minimize business impact.
• Lessons learned may influence future transit projects on Federal Blvd or Colorado Blvd.

Political Endorsement

[47:35–48:09]

• Johnston endorsed Michael Bennett early in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, citing a long working relationship.

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Notable Quotes: Quick Reference

• “I've never seen this happen in Colorado. And the vote...was nearly 90%.”
  —Benta Berkeland on Polis’ censure, [01:48]
• “Over the last three years, we’ve now reduced street homelessness by 64%. That is the largest reduction of any city in American history.”
  —Mayor Mike Johnston, [24:29]
• “Everything is good in the sense that it grows and then we get some green areas, but then a lot of that can dry out and burn up.”
  —Lisa Hidalgo, [13:36]
• “Our resilience is sacred. Our ability to choose hope despite it all is something we should all be so proud of.”
  —Victoria Maldonado, [23:17]
• “We don't shoot pepper balls at people anymore...we celebrate and reward officers that effectively deescalate.”
  —Johnston, [34:46]

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Episode Highlights by Timestamp

• 00:58–10:18: Tina Peters case backlash & interview with attorney
• 11:01–19:16: Weather & fire season outlook, personal reflections from Lisa Hidalgo
• 19:44–23:27: Red Rocks Community College graduation speech (Victoria Maldonado)
• 24:07–48:09: Mayor Mike Johnston on homelessness, policing, gun laws, data centers, transit, election politics

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Tone & Takeaway

This episode spoke candidly about government accountability, the complexity of homelessness solutions, the realities of climate change, and the power of resilience—offering both sobering reality checks and notes of optimism rooted in Colorado’s community action and progress.

Transcript

[Ryan Warner]

More twists than a pretzel factory. The week that was in the Tina Peters case. And what's ahead?

[Peter Tickton]

First, we have to appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court before we go to the US Supreme Court, but for sure we're taking that up.

[Ryan Warner]

Then one on one with Denver's mayor, we pour over results from the latest homelessness count.

[Mike Johnston]

We're both incredibly proud of the historic progress we've made. And I think the road ahead will be harder than the road we've traveled the last three years just because these are our most acute cases.

[Ryan Warner]

Plus the recent rain and snow helped, but only a little.

[Lisa Hidalgo]

Everything is good in the sense that it grows and then we get some green areas, but then a lot of that can dry out and burn up. What we're going to be really watching out for is the moisture that comes here in the next few months, obviously, as we get closer to monsoon season. Does that help us?

[Ryan Warner]

It's Colorado Matters from CPR News. I'm Ryan Warner. Big time backlash after Governor Jared Polis cut former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters sentence in half. She'll be out the week after next. Polis is out at least of party functions after Democrats rebuked him. No appearances or speeches at state Dem events for a while. CPR's public affairs reporter Benta Berkeland is tracking the developments, which seem to come fast and furious.

[Benta Berkeland]

I Benta hi, Ryan. Yes, they have indeed.

[Ryan Warner]

Tina Peters will be free June 1st. This week the Democratic Party in Colorado formally censured the governor over this decision. I gather this is rare. I can't think of something like it in my 20 years. How big a deal is it?

[Benta Berkeland]

Yeah, I mean, yeah, it's pretty unprecedented. I've never seen this happen in Colorado. And the vote from the Democratic State Central committee was nearly 90%. So yeah, I think it's a big deal. I mean, we're talking the top Democratic elected official in state government. Polis did have the authority to do this as governor. Democrats can't legally kick him out of the party, but they did pass a resolution condemning what he did, saying polis commutation is a dangerous and disappointing precedent to set. The party said Colorado has spent years building trust in elections, proving they're secure at a time when democracy and voting rights are under attack across the nation. And the party said weakening accountability for someone convicted of undermining that trust is a mistake. Here's Democratic Party member Pam Espinosa, and she said polis decision could undermine future

[Lisa Hidalgo]

elections, particularly in rural counties where we have bright red mega county clerks who now will see this as free reign to play with the ballots, including my own, who says that Tina Peters is a trusted and valuable mentor to her.

[Ryan Warner]

She has elsewhere been called, including by the county clerks association, a low information clerk. What does it mean for Paulus politically? And does the censure have any effect on how he does his job as governor?

[Benta Berkeland]

It is more symbolic. He's term limited. He leaves office in January. It's hard to see what political future he's going to have with Democrats at the moment. And interestingly, there's been a lot of speculation if US Senator Michael Bennett wins the Democratic primary, we don't know that he will, but if he becomes governor, he would appoint someone to replace him. Bennett has been very mom on who he would pick, but he did say in an interview that he would not appoint Polis. It would be disqualifying this Peters commutation,

[Ryan Warner]

not that Polis was vying for a Senate seat.

[Lisa Hidalgo]

Right.

[Benta Berkeland]

You know, I could also see fewer Democrats asking for the governor's help on the campaign trail. And even though Polis isn't banned from state party events, as you ment, he wouldn't be allowed to speak at these events or officially represent the state party at these functions. Here's DNC member Stephanie Beale discussing that

[Lisa Hidalgo]

as an individual, he could show up, but we would not acknowledge him as like an honored guest or allow him to speak as like, oh, the governor's here, we're gonna give him time to speak.

[Ryan Warner]

Gosh, it's, it's a tense relationship right now between the most powerful elected Democrat and his party.

[Benta Berkeland]

And as one attendee pointed out, this isn't the only time Polis has butted heads with the party. He doesn't even attend these events that frequently. Andrew Brandt is another party member who voted for this censure. He's an election poll worker and he said the commutation would make that job even harder.

[Mike Johnston]

I cannot tolerate a governor who treats a law breaking county clerk and recorder in this way.

[Benta Berkeland]

And Brandt said he was upset with the governor over things like vetoing the Democratic bill to make it easier for workers to form unions. Polis has also been at odds with some progressive members of the party about how much information the state should share with ice. For Brandt, the Peters decision was the last straw. Polis has long said that he didn't bow to any outside pressure here. It was based on the facts. And after this censure came down, his office texted me and said sometimes the right thing isn't the population thing with everybody. And I did get a chance to talk to him about his thinking the day he commuted her sentence. And he said fundamentally he just thought the sentence violated her free speech, constitutional rights.

[Mike Johnston]

I think she's gonna say nutty things.

[Ryan Warner]

I think she's, you know, gonna believe

[Mike Johnston]

in different things that are demonstrably false. But that's not a crime in our country.

[Ryan Warner]

There was another development with Tina Peters this week. Vice President J.D. vance was asked if he thinks she should get federal money for this SA money that would come from a controversial fund the administration's trying to set up for people who feel they were persecuted previously by the government. I should note, on Thursday, Senate Republicans delayed a vote on a $72 billion immigration enforcement bill, partly as pushback over that fund.

[Benta Berkeland]

I actually talked to Peters attorney and asked him about this fund and he said it was too soon to say whether Peters would qualify because this fund is for people who feel they've been unfairly targeted, the federal government. Peters was convicted in state court. She didn't face federal charges. Trump pardoned her symbolically at the federal level. And there are a lot of details about this fund that aren't clear who is eligible, how people apply, how the money's doled out, and then even if

[Ryan Warner]

this fund is legal, no doubt January 6th on the mind there. But as June 1st approaches, that is Tina Peters release date. Benta, I know you'll be watching closely and we'll probably have you back on. Thanks.

[Benta Berkeland]

Thanks, Ryan.

[Ryan Warner]

Benta Berkeland covers public affairs for us. And as you just heard, she did speak with Tina Peters attorney Peter Tickton. She asked about the logistics of Peter's imminent release.

[Peter Tickton]

You know, it's not going to be exactly like you may normally expect where there's a prisoner release because there's still things to be done even after Tina comes out of prison, because there's a parole process that has to take place. So, you know, I don't think she's going to be coming right out the front door, you know, and coming into the, the arms of her loving lawyers. And we are her loving lawyers, believe me, we really respect this lady greatly. I don't know yet what the procedure is going to be. I just know it's not going to be a typical situation where somebody just is released and they're free.

[Benta Berkeland]

What are the next legal steps? As you know, the Colorado Court of Appeals upheld her 2024 conviction, but ruled that she should be re sentenced and said that the trial court judge issued her sentence improperly. You know, factored in her protected speech That's a moot point. Because of this commutation from Governor Polis, she will be released, but he commuted her sentence. So she's still a felon. Her crimes aren't wiped away. Could you still, or are you planning to appeal that to the U.S. supreme Court?

[Peter Tickton]

Yes, first we have to appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court before we go to the U.S. supreme Court. But for sure we're taking that up. I mean, look, the President Trump put his faith in me and trusted me when I asked for a pardon and gave me the pardon I asked for. I'm not about to not do everything in my power to make sure that that pardon actually has effect. And so that has to go to the. All the way up to the Supreme Court, if they'll hear it.

[Benta Berkeland]

When Tina Peters got word of the commutation, she put out a statement. She thanked Governor Polis, and she did say she made mistakes for those she's sorry. And then she said, quote, five years ago, I misled the Secretary of State when allowing a person to gain access to county voting equipment. That was wrong. Does she feel sorry for what she did? It sounds like it in that statement, although I've never heard her verbally say she's sorry. She's always said she felt she had the right to do what she did. How would you interpret that?

[Peter Tickton]

Well, she regrets the fact that she didn't find a better way of doing it where she didn't need to have deceit. Okay. You know, this is an honest woman. You know, she doesn't like being deceitful.

[Benta Berkeland]

When Peter says she wants to pursue election integrity legally, what does that mean? Is that appealing her case or is that something else?

[Peter Tickton]

Well, we are appealing her case, as I said, because, you know, we want to exonerate her and also because we need to look at what kind of precedent this causes. So, you know. No, I think what she's basically saying is that, you know, one way or the other, she's learned a lot about how these things work, and she wants to be part of what's coming next because there is a lot coming next.

[Ryan Warner]

That is Peter Tickton, attorney for former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters. He spoke with CPR public affairs reporter Benta Berkland. Peters will indeed walk free. Monday, June 1st. Our coverage [e-mail] back in a moment to gauge the rain and snow we've gotten and to look ahead weather wise. This is Colorado Matters from CPR News. This is Colorado Matters from CPR News. I'm Ryan Warner. It's the unofficial start of summer Memorial Day weekend, another month before the actual solstice. Ahead of the long weekend, let's check back in with Chief meteorologist at Denver 7, Lisa Hidalgo. Hi, Lisa.

[Lisa Hidalgo]

Hi.

[Ryan Warner]

Let's begin with all the recent moisture. What has it done for us?

[Lisa Hidalgo]

It's been good. Don't get me wrong. It hasn't changed many of our numbers or our drought conditions, but it's been nice that people have been able to turn off their sprinklers. That helps. Right. The big picture, it's going to green things up nicely. So, I mean, any amount of rain we can get, and, you know, we're not talking just one afternoon of it. This is a solid three days of some gray weather and some good moisture. Over an inch, in some cases.

[Ryan Warner]

Over an inch. All right, so let's speak specifically. You said it's not moving numbers dramatically. I'd had high hopes for snowpack because trail Bell Ridge Road may not be open for a while. There was so much snow in Rocky Mountain National Park.

[Lisa Hidalgo]

Yeah, it doesn't do much to change that. I mean, you look at some of the recent numbers and we're still talking about snowpack numbers, the worst that we've seen in potentially over 40 years. So it helps in certain spots, but it's not going to change those overall numbers.

[Ryan Warner]

And the drought. Have you looked at the drought monitor?

[Lisa Hidalgo]

Drought monitor comes out every Thursday. Data is taken every Tuesday. So we were kind of hoping after that last snow that we had it was going to really help, especially, I mean, in the mountains, we had, what, over two feet in some cases? I'm not seeing a huge change. When you look week to week at that drought monitor map, it just hasn't changed much. There's some still extreme and exceptional spots out west.

[Ryan Warner]

That's just because the deficit we came into these storms with was so profound.

[Lisa Hidalgo]

Exactly. I mean, you know, we were looking at our snowpack peaking more than a month earlier than it typically does. So we were already looking at rough numbers. And we knew that we were watching these storms coming in through the winter, knowing that we weren't making up those numbers. So we kind of knew we were going to be in the spot.

[Ryan Warner]

I'm so out of it in terms of the calendar because, you know, it got warm so early. Then we had those spring storms, the rain we've been seeing, and there's been some of it on the Front Range. There's been a little of it in Grand Junction as well. Is that typical? I don't know what typical is anymore.

[Lisa Hidalgo]

You're Right. It used to be that we had a fire season in Colorado. Now we don't. Now it's year round and as we get into typically May, June, July are our wettest months, we get to some of the monsoon storms that start to pop up here, especially as we get in to late June and early July. So yeah, we typically do get some pretty good systems with this now where we're getting the official measurement. You know, a lot of the numbers that I'll tell you are out at dia, but some neighborhoods could get more, some will get a little bit less. But yeah, this is pretty typical to start to see some heavier showers.

[Ryan Warner]

Do you think this moves the needle at all on fire risk?

[Lisa Hidalgo]

Unfortunately no. Everything is good in the sense that it grows and then we get some green areas, but then a lot of that can dry out and burn up. What we're going to be really watching out for is the moisture that comes here in the next few months. Obviously as we get closer to monsoon season, does that ramp up? Does that help us? But at this point, no. I mean we're still looking at potentially more fires than we would typically get in an average year which is estimated between about 6 and 7,000.

[Ryan Warner]

Yeah, there was a preview of fire season and it's indeed expected to be above average. Let's take a break from the long term view here and just talk about the weather going into Memorial Day weekend and perhaps in the few days when shudder we go back to work. How is it looking in the short term?

[Lisa Hidalgo]

Don't already talk about going back to work before the break has even started. It is going to warm up and dry out this weekend. Temperatures will get back to our seasonal norms. We're typically in the low 70s here as we get into the end of May. We've been well below normal all week long, but we'll be back in the 70s Saturday. Closer to 80 on Sunday looks good on Monday 80s again and the Boulder Boulder is early Monday morning. Last year was a pretty rainy and chilly Boulder Boulder. This one's going to be a little bit warmer. Chance for some afternoon storms. But a lot of the moisture that we were going to pick up within this five to seven days we already saw earlier in the week sweat bans

[Ryan Warner]

for the Boulder Boulder, exactly.

[Lisa Hidalgo]

Yes.

[Ryan Warner]

I want to go back to the idea of fire risk for our colleagues at Denverite report that Denver is drafting a mass evacuation plan that for the first time includes wildfires. I think of the Marshall Fire in Boulder county that demonstrated to us that plains communities are also at risk and no doubt that is fueling some of Denver's interest in an evacuation plan around wildfires. Were there lessons for you from the Marshall fire?

[Lisa Hidalgo]

I think just that. Don't discount your location. You know, I think when we talk about wildfires, we put that information out on the news. It's generally large fires burning in the mountains. Right. That's usually what our viewers will see. But you look back and the biggest wildfires that we've had here in Colorado have been within the last decade. So we've seen conditions dry out and these fires get bigger and wild and in places that we wouldn't typically see them. So I think that is. Was the biggest thing for me. The takeaway was that there are tips that we can give to our viewers to keep those along the Front Range safe.

[Ryan Warner]

What was an example of something you brought to the audience?

[Lisa Hidalgo]

Well, I think when we bring up red flag warning, you know, day after day after day, people, it's the kind of that boy who cries wolf scenario that does it just go in and out and people don't recognize what that means. What it means is on those days, a fire doesn't have to start, but if it does start, it could rapidly spread. So we have to bring it out to the viewers that every little bit of. I can't tell you how many people I see either throw a cigarette out the window or something just as simple as even like a candle on your patio. Things that we all just have to be more aware of.

[Ryan Warner]

Now, the tropical Pacific.

[Lisa Hidalgo]

We should.

[Ryan Warner]

Let's go to the tropical Pacific.

[Lisa Hidalgo]

Oh, let's do it.

[Ryan Warner]

It's in a neutral state. So I want to go back to a question that we have discussed. It seems often in the last few months who is coming to dinner, La Nina or El Nino? And why does it matter?

[Lisa Hidalgo]

It matters. I mean, we need some moisture. And we've been talking about potentially, yeah. Coming out of this neutral phase to an El Nino. At this point, it looks like nap. Climatologically speaking, 82% chance of an El Nino starting to take over here late May through July.

[Ryan Warner]

So more likely than not, that El Nino, the, The. The boy child is coming.

[Lisa Hidalgo]

Exactly. And then more like even more likely than not, December through February, about a 96% chance, which is really good because that's going to then fuel more snow, bigger, stronger storms this coming winter. So hopefully we have the exact opposite of what we just had that is

[Ryan Warner]

more in our favor than not. Moisture is on the way.

[Lisa Hidalgo]

Yes.

[Ryan Warner]

Okay.

[Lisa Hidalgo]

The short answer is yes.

[Ryan Warner]

You're supposed to talk it's the radio. Lisa, I have a self care question before we go. Because you're confronted every day with the realities of climate change. You're also a parent, right? So you have to think about what your children are facing. How do you take care of yourself without putting your head in the sand? Is it just mahjong, folks? She's kind of a crazy mahjong player.

[Lisa Hidalgo]

I really am. I was gonna say, well, I moisturize and I hydrate. First of all. No, but you're right, it's hard cause I read a lot both on the side of climate change and you know how that impacts my daily job. But I also try to read some fun books on the side. I read a lot. In fact, we have a Denver 7 Book Club. We meet the third Wednesday of every month at either the Tattered Cover there at Colfax or Aspen Grove.

[Ryan Warner]

Wait, I have a book club called Turn the Page. Do we have competing book clubs?

[Lisa Hidalgo]

I think we might. What is your most recent book?

[Ryan Warner]

We are reading Dizzy, A woman's account of waking up with extreme dizziness and the medical mystery that unfolds over years as she tries to solve it.

[Lisa Hidalgo]

We just read the names. Florence Knapp wrote this book. It is all about what are the implications of what you name your children. And it goes through this woman's life and the three different names that she chose and how that changed the whole family trajectory. It was fascinating. Okay, so reading, Reading or you're right, Mahjong. I have been playing a lot of mahjong.

[Ryan Warner]

I appreciate your time and I hope you have a good three day weekend. Lisa Hidalgo.

[Lisa Hidalgo]

Again, we're not gonna talk about going back to work yet. Let's enjoy the weekend first. Thank you. You too.

[Ryan Warner]

Avid reader, mahjong player and Chief Meteorologist at Denver7, Lisa Hidalgo, we chat each month about weather and climate in Colorado. Now more than ever, I crave the optimism of commencement speeches at Red Rocks Community College. The student government president spoke. She earned a psychology degree and here are some highlights.

[Victoria Maldonado]

My name is Victoria Maldonado. My pronouns are she, her. I am a proud Brown, queer, Latina woman with indigenous roots to Boriquen. And I am honored to be standing in front of you accepting the outstanding Graduate award. I really struggled writing this speech. Since finishing my last day of classes, I have not had time to fully integrate and process everything I have learned while being a student here. What I do know is that hard work, dedication, a passion for social justice, and the loving support of my community made all of this possible for the past year I have served as your president at Red Rocks Community College. With my peers we fought for equity, justice, accountability and accessibility. Difficult conversations were had and much of what I learned about leadership came from my peers, my advisors and from being in rooms where decisions are being made. What I learned is that advocacy work comes with a cost. It requires bravery, it means taking risks and if you're as sensitive as I am, extreme self doubt. And I'm grateful for the people who never let me give up on myself. I want to talk about the cost of doing good work in the world. I sacrificed a lot to be here today. Outside of school, I am a business partner, a wife, a daughter, a friend and someone who struggles deeply with our mental health. Despite all of my accomplishments and accolades, I was drowning and thriving at the same time and there are things I wish I could have done more of. I wish I called my mom more. I would have loved to play more video games with my nephew on the weekends and sometimes after being on campus for 10, 11, 12 hours at a time, I wish I had more capacity to have in depth conversations with my husband and instead of wanting to just disassociate and binge watch TV shows. As students living in this world right now, every decision we make asks so much from us. Every time we open our phones, it is like a gut punch of tragedy in between our competing priorities, our families, health care, financial burdens and invisible battles most of us know nothing about. We are watching the world fall apart a little bit each day. And yet here we all are, graduating, persisting and pursuing lives that could be better than the ones we started this educational journey with. And that means something. Our resilience is sacred. Our ability to choose hope despite it all is something we should all be so proud of. So was it all worth it? The doubt, the fear, the anxiety, the trouble sleeping and all of the other obstacles that come with trying to do good work. Yes, our ability to look down the barrel of adversity at the levels that we are facing them and despite all odds, still overcome, achieve, accomplish and dream is astounding. And that is absolutely worth celebrating.

[Ryan Warner]

33 year old Victoria Maldonado of Wheat Ridge addressing her fellow graduates at Red Rocks Community College. And thank you for acknowledging self doubt, Victoria. Colorado Matters continues in the next half hour to get a sense of the city from Denver's mayor. I'm Ryan Warner. You're with CPR News and krcc. You're back with Colorado Matters from CPR News and krcc. I'm Ryan Warner. What do you say we jump right in. I sat down this week with Denver's Mayor Mike Johnston in his office, a wide ranging discussion from data centers to Democratic politics to homelessness. Hi, Mayor.

[Mike Johnston]

Hello.

[Ryan Warner]

On a night in January, there was a metro wide count of folks experiencing homelessness. They've just released the results of this annual endeavor. 6,400 people in Denver county, the vast majority, 92% were in a shelter. The rest were not. Where's the progress in this and where is the potential?

[Mike Johnston]

Yeah, we feel great about the progress. The headline is over the last three years, we've now reduced street homelessness by 64%. That is the largest reduction of any city in American history.

[Ryan Warner]

And that term street homelessness means folks who were not in a shelter of a nation.

[Mike Johnston]

Correct. So I'm glad you asked, Ryan, because there's a distinction. It's one, those are people who are literally living on the streets. So this is when you thought of the large encampments we had in the city three years ago or someone that's sleeping on a, by a riverbank or in a parking lot. What the system called sheltered homelessness would be if you were either staying in a shelter like Catholic Charities or one of the all in shelters that we run, those count as sheltered homelessness. The hotels, the motels, hotels, the tiny home villages. And then once you move into a permanent apartment of your own, you're no longer homeless at all. And so what we've said is we really started with our focus on street homelessness, where people are the most at risk and where it has the biggest impact on the community. And we've really targeted that as our first priority is to get folks off the street and indoors. And that's when we've dropped 64%. Our next step was always to say, great, once you get them indoors into one of these locations, then we want to get them mental health support, want to get them addiction support, want to get them a job and then get them moved into permanent housing. And we're also now for the first time in the last nine years seeing a drop in homelessness in all categories.

[Ryan Warner]

I mean, I'm glad you brought up the permanent housing because there could be a scenario where yes, you have folks sheltered, but essentially you have just created holding pens and folks can't move on. So just talk a little bit more about that next step.

[Mike Johnston]

Yep. And that's one of the data points we're also very proud of. We've moved almost 9,000 people off the streets and into shelter, but more than 7,700 have now moved into permanent housing. So they're no longer in one of our hotels or tiny home villages. They're in their own permanent unit. And so that's the end goal. I'd say the more work we have to do, we still have about 518 people on the street. That's not okay. We want to focus on those people. And what we know is many of those folks are some of the hardest to serve individuals. They are the folks with the most acute mental health needs.

[Ryan Warner]

Needs.

[Mike Johnston]

The most acute addiction needs. And so I say at once, we're both incredibly proud of the historic progress we've made. And I think the road ahead will be harder than the road we've traveled the last three years just because these are our most acute cases.

[Ryan Warner]

I just want to reiterate that the point in time count found the vast majority, 92% of folks experiencing homelessness were in a shelter. You're talking about this tricky last eight. And you maintain that a city can end unsheltered homelessness. But I'm also thinking about the administration in Washington, which is not a big fan of your approach, the housing first approach. So you don't exactly have a partner in the federal government in getting at that tricky 8%.

[Mike Johnston]

Correct. We're facing real headwinds right now. Less federal funding, less federal support, a tougher economy, a population of folks that have a lot of needs, fewer what we would call available vouchers or housing exits. So those are all challenges for us. But what we know is working is moving folks from the street into these transitional housing sites or shelters where they get services, then moving them up into permanent housing and getting them stabilized and successful there. And that's where we're really focusing our energy and now.

[Ryan Warner]

So you're recommitting to that?

[Mike Johnston]

Recommitting to that. We also have launched a program called Rock to Recovery, which is focused directly on people that have addiction and mental health needs. The court system here has launched a recovery court we're really excited about, which will have people that are getting involved in the criminal justice system, but their major needs are mental health or addiction, where they can be supervised, supported to get services.

[Ryan Warner]

And what are the reasons they're in that court in the first place? Is this a little soft on crime?

[Mike Johnston]

No, this is actually a way that we identify people that come in with drug related charges. So if you are using or selling drugs as your primary charge, they route you automatically for consideration. They do a screen to see if you're someone that is eligible for services and Then the individual can choose if they want to go to traditional court or to this recovery court route. But what we find is they have far better services and support. And even if you find someone that gets sentenced for a crime, if you get sentenced to 30 or 60 days for drug distribution, we have inside our county jails treatment based pods where you could get either mental health or addiction support. We can help connect you to a job on the outside, to housing options. And so we've tried to really make it easier for folks to get their lives back together, whether they're in court supervision, whether they're even in a county jail, to make sure they don't return to the street. I'll tell you, one of the things we're most excited about today, Ryan, is we've also seen huge success in preventing folks from entering homelessness. That's down about 30%, but evictions are still crazy high. Well, let's come back to that in a second. The other one is we also, you mentioned you don't want someone to be stuck in a hotel and then return to the streets. And so we've also seen a 30% drop in chronic homeless folks returning to homelessness. So that means the upstream prevention is working and then the downstream placement into housing is working.

[Ryan Warner]

Do you want to talk evictions?

[Mike Johnston]

Yes.

[Ryan Warner]

They're still stubborn, even post pandemic.

[Mike Johnston]

You know, they have been very stubborn the last couple years. We're actually seeing slight decreases in 2026 so far, which we're encouraged by. That's showing that our programs that we have around rental assistance and others that prevent people from getting evicted are having an impact. We've actually narrowed the focus of that program. We provided rental assistance if someone couldn't pay their rent because often it's more cost effective to keep them in their unit and pay a month of rent than to have them end up homeless and spend six months trying to get through services to get back to housing.

[Ryan Warner]

Buying them a little time, Buying them a little time.

[Mike Johnston]

But we've really narrowed it to focus on people that are at risk of ending up homeless. So there are some folks who might get evicted for other reasons. Maybe it's behavior related, maybe it's you just lost a job, but you do have a safety net like a parent you can live with. So in focusing on those most at risk families and most at risk individuals, we've been more successful in keeping them out of homelessness. That's been working.

[Ryan Warner]

Are there funds, more funds to commit to eviction prevention or is that belt as Tight as it gets.

[Mike Johnston]

This has been a tough budget investment for us. We originally had about 20 million that included federal and local funds. We only had about 3 million that was from the city. We've dramatically increased the city's 3 million to closer to 12 or 13 million. So it's like a 400% increase for us.

[Ryan Warner]

But the federal commitment has dwindled.

[Mike Johnston]

Federal commitment has dwindled significantly. So we've backfilled. But we know the economy is still struggling. War in Iran is not helping. All across the country you're seeing cities and states struggle with tax returns. And so we are preparing to be very conservative on our budget, as we were last year. And we weren't wrong.

[Ryan Warner]

When you look at the age breakdowns in the point in time homeless count, something remarkable and frankly depressing emerges. The largest segment is folks 17 or younger. Nearly 1400 people experiencing some form of homelessness in Denver county are teenagers or younger. What's your understanding of what's going on there?

[Mike Johnston]

Yeah, and again, the numbers are very concerning. We do know, particularly for kids under age 17, when families struggle and they can't pay the rent or they can't find a job and they have no place to go, they have to take their kids with them. And often what we'll see is most of those families are what we would call sheltered homelessness, which means they might be staying in a shelter, they might be staying with friends and double bunking in someone's living room. They might be in worst case, living in a car. We have very, very few four year olds that are ever sleeping outside on a street in Denver. As soon as we see that happening, we find them, connect them to short term services. But we do know that families are struggling. If you can't pay the rent, you got to find someplace to go and you end up in hard places.

[Ryan Warner]

What's your understanding of maybe older kiddos who are on their own in homelessness? Is that a significant portion of this?

[Mike Johnston]

It is. You know, I worked in the foster care system for a while and in the juvenile, you know, in the youth protective services industry. And we know young people, particularly kids in foster care, are at extreme risk for homelessness when they leave the system. Oftentimes when kids age out of that system, it's very hard to find transition services. So that's been a pipeline into homelessness. We're trying to slow down and even stop. The great thing about young people is you can find someone who's homeless when they're 17 and get them back to housing when they're 17 and a half. They don't have the long term exposure to the trauma that comes from being homeless. The creates so much more hardship in their life. They are more resilient as kids are in many way and faster if we can get them housed immediately. So we're really focusing on quick intervention from the street back into housing and in places like Urban Peak, that's really working.

[Ryan Warner]

Did you expect as much of your job as mayor of Denver would be the social safety net?

[Mike Johnston]

I think I did sign up for that part of it When I ran for May. It was in large part because we saw how profound of a need there was around homelessness and how much that entangles with mental health needs and addiction needs. I had been a school principal before but also worked in social services, worked with kids that had struggled with addiction or mental health. And so that's not new to me. And so I do know that that's a very difficult yarn to unwind. But I am amazed. You know, we have an incredible group of city employees who do this every day all day long and support folks in their hardest days. It's quite inspiring to see the progress they're making.

[Ryan Warner]

We'll return to the Denver City county building shortly with Mayor Mike Johnston. Coming up, police conduct and data centers. This is Colorado Matters from CPR News. It's Colorado Matters from CPR News. I'm Ryan Warner. Denver's mayor Mike Johnston is our guest in this part of the program. Let's get to policing and violent crime. A note that our conversation was recorded Wednesday and since then, two people have been shot and killed in the city. According to dpd, Denver has settled tens of millions of dollars in police excessive force and civil liberties cases. In court documents, the city acknowledged its officers violated people's civil rights during the George Floyd protests. Mayor, is this pattern going to continue?

[Mike Johnston]

No, this pattern has stopped under our administration and we're very proud of that. In fact, all of these cases we're looking at from George Floyd were obviously previous mayoral administration, previous police chief. And I think what matters was we learned the lessons from what happened then and we've made dramatic changes to how we police in the city.

[Ryan Warner]

Name one.

[Mike Johnston]

We don't shoot pepper balls at people anymore. That was part of the injuries you saw in these cases were from pepperball. There are certain types. There's a 40 millimeter around that was used. It's sort of like a small bean bag that we used to shoot at people in those protests. We don't do them anymore. Give you a more impressive Example you can look at, we've had a protest probably every week of the last two or three years. We've hardly had any arrests over the last three years. It's very, very rare. We had maybe a couple of events where we've had to do that. And one of the reasons why is we see ourselves as partners to people that want to peacefully protest. So in the old days, people want to have a protest. You would come up and put a skirmish line of officers in front of the protest and say, you can't walk down Broadway. We're closing Broadway. We now organize with those folks in advance. We create expectations and then we allow the protesters to decide where they choose to walk and then our officers follow to keep them safe. So we're not going to pick a power struggle. Whether you go down Broadway or Lincoln. If you decide you're going to take 8,000 people down Broadway, we will make Broadway safe for pedestrians. That's completely changed the nature of the relationship. We have officers who had a lot of de escalation training. We celebrate and reward officers that effectively de escalate. Chief Thomas has dramatically changed the culture of the police department. And you see that both in the fact that public trust in our officers is at an all time high, at the same time that homicides are at historic reductions and historic lows. And so we're both seeing crime go down, property crime, auto theft, violent crime, and trust go up. That shows that we've changed these practices and these new practices are working.

[Ryan Warner]

After last year's drop in gun violence, it does seem that trends shifted again in April. Do you want to comment on that?

[Mike Johnston]

We had one hard month in April and we had a string of murders that were tragic, that were worse. Working hard on. We have not had one since then. We've put back in place additional patrols, additional interventions. We have prevention happening through our Office of Neighborhood Safety. We're intervening with families that were victims so they don't retaliate against those that might have been involved. That was our worst month in the last three years. But overall we are still seeing the city is at dramatic historical lows in terms of violent crime. And we'll keep that going. Keep in mind, we were at about, I think, 94 homicides in 2022. We were at 37 last year. So last year was an all time low. And so generally all cities, when they hit that low, they rebound. It's just sort of natural human behavior. We're still about on par with where we were last year, give or take a couple of homicides at this time in the year. So even if we can stay close to last year's all time low, we would like to make that the new normal in the city. Not that it was an outlier, but that we are consistently one of the safest big cities in the country. And that's because we've gotten better and better at how to intervene and how to prevent and how to respond when you have shootings like these.

[Ryan Warner]

I'm fascinated by the one intervention you mentioned. So a family loses a loved one to a shooting and then the police department intervenes and tries to talk them off the ledge of wanting retribution, Is that what you're saying?

[Mike Johnston]

Absolutely. We call these folks violence interrupters. And what they are is they're not officers. They're generally people that work out of our office of neighborhood safety. Because yeah, if you have an 18 year old son who got shot at a party, there's someone that shot that 18 year old and his dad and cousin and uncle are all very mad about that and they want to find that person that could potentially go and try to get retribution. And so one of the most important things we do is to try to stop the chain of violence that comes from a single violent act. That's a lot of what we do on intervention. We do the same on prevention. We're watching social media post, we're watching what people are saying on the streets. If we know there are threats coming from one kid to another or one adult to another, one group to another,

[Ryan Warner]

you know, intervention is one word, surveillance is another. Do you have concerns that some communities are being over surveilled or over surveillance?

[Mike Johnston]

No, I don't at all. When we talk about social media, these are places where people do make public threats. You know, they post themselves with a gun and say, I'm planning to come for X and Y person or Z location, that's a credible threat. As much as someone calling in a bomb threat to a school is, or someone calling into our office with information, we respond to them. We never overreact until we have confirmation. But that is one of the major ways in which violence happens in cities these days. And you have to be savvy to try to prevent it.

[Ryan Warner]

On the subject of guns, the federal government is demanding that Denver repeal its assault weapons ban. The argument is that it undermines the second Amendment. Where do things stand with that case? Case?

[Mike Johnston]

Yeah, we're filing a brief in that case. We think this argument is preposterous. First of all, we've had this ordinance for 37 years in Denver ordinances like that have been challenged in 10 different federal courts across the country. And our side has prevailed in every single one. It's very clear that this one ever

[Ryan Warner]

gone to the Supreme Court. I gather not.

[Mike Johnston]

This one went to the court in Colorado. It hasn't gone up to the U.S. supreme Court.

[Ryan Warner]

But I mean, the issue at large, though. Yeah, because you said there are tests.

[Mike Johnston]

So the assault weapon ban is not gone to the Supreme Court before. There is a relevant case called the Heller case, which was about a handgun ban in Washington, D.C. and some Second Amendment advocates will say that shows that you can't do this because the Supreme Court did overturn that. But handgun is an entire body of firearm that is in common use. That's the term that the Supreme Court uses. The great majority of folks who carry guns carry handguns. Whether you do it because you're a domestic violence survivor and you have a concealed carry permit, or you do it because it's part of your job, or you do it for, you know, home defense. Those are all acceptable uses for different forms of handguns.

[Ryan Warner]

But you're saying the ban in Denver is on a different sort of weapon.

[Mike Johnston]

Yes, this ban is on assault weapons, which are, you know, in our case,

[Ryan Warner]

the term is loaded also. Well, sorry for the terrible point.

[Mike Johnston]

No, but in Colorado, we've specified this. What we specified both at the state legislature and here is the. What the major criteria we're referring to is the high capacity magazines, the 30 round magazines we saw at Columbine, the hundred round magazines that folks walked into the Aurora theater shooting with. The magazine is what holds the bullets. That means you have 100 bullets you can shoot immediately without stopping. Those are meant to commit mass murder. They do not serve any purpose for you to go hunting deer with or for you to shoot skeet with, or even to defend your home with. And so we think there is no acceptable common use for an assault weapon. That means it should be protected by the Second Amendment. We don't debate whether or not you can own a bazooka or an RPG or an M1 tank. Those are not acceptable uses within the Second Amendment. Neither should assault weapons be.

[Ryan Warner]

I feel like I'm getting Cliff's notes of the brief that the city is.

[Mike Johnston]

That is, that is putting together our brief of our brief.

[Ryan Warner]

Okay, A brief, brief. Hey, on the subject of the council, there are several members calling for an outright ban on data centers, not just the year moratorium in place while you all figure out zoning. Can you imagine a blanket moratorium? A blanket ban, that is, I Don't

[Mike Johnston]

think a permanent ban would make sense for the city. We have data centers operating in downtown right now that people walk by every day and don't know are there. There is a way to do this right, to make sure it doesn't strain our electricity supply, that it doesn't overuse the water that we need to preserve in a drought, that it doesn't drive up people, samples, rates, that we put them in the right neighborhoods in the right context. Those are all things we have to figure out. That's why I supported the moratorium, is we need time to make sure we do this the right way that matches our values.

[Ryan Warner]

How do you make them less thirsty? When you say that there's a way to do this right, I mean they need water, so what do you mean?

[Mike Johnston]

No, they're what are called closed loop systems which recycle the water from within one loop. So you can be able to bring water in, cool it, use essentially a geothermal system. You bring water in, it cools those facilities, you run the water back out, the water gets chilled again, then it comes back and recools the facility. So there are closed loop systems that dramatically reduce the amount of water that's used. There are a lot of people in the AI space who've publicly committed to saying any new data center should either pay for or build enough new energy to supply whatever that energy is needed for the data center. So there are models around the country and around the world where folks are saying we want to do both. We want to have responsibility, responsible data centers, but only if they don't strain our energy and our water systems. So we want to talk to community members, hear from residents, talk to small businesses and partners and see what they think the right path forward is.

[Ryan Warner]

We sit here in your office. If I look out that window, I see another building, the state Capitol, where there's an office that belongs to one Jared Polis, the governor. He has made a rather controversial clemency decision around former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters. The reason I bring this up is because I want your take on something. Denver wants to host the 2028 Democratic National Convention. That's your party?

[Mike Johnston]

Yes.

[Ryan Warner]

Do you think Governor Polis clemency decision makes Denver less attractive as a host city for the dnc?

[Mike Johnston]

I don't think so. I think they're going to evaluate Denver based on the merits of what kind of convention can we host. Do we have a great arena, do we have great hotel rooms, great transit? And what has the city done to show that you can deliver results on issues people care about. You know, with the largest reduction in homelessness of any city, largest reduction in violent crime, real reinvestments in downtown success, on making rent more affordable in the city. Those are things that not just Democrats around the country care about, but all Americans care about. And we think we're a real example of success.

[Ryan Warner]

But wouldn't it be a good way to punish Colorado to not have the convention here? Democrats are pretty upset.

[Mike Johnston]

I choose to believe that they wouldn't make decisions on that metric. I think we have a great story to tell about what Denver's done, and we still are very confident of our ability to tell it. Are you upset I disagreed with the decision. I told the governor that. I said it publicly. And for me, I think it is about people's trust in fair elections. This is about the individuals who work every day to prove that elections are fair and reliable and trustworthy. And in a time when you have the president making wild accusations about all the elections that have been stolen or rigged or falsified, we pride ourselves intensely on being able to show every single election is fair. And I think if you break that public trust, you're fair to be held accountable.

[Ryan Warner]

The husband and wife duo, Jill and Frank Locantore. She leads the Denver Streets Partnership. He's head of the Colfax Business Improvement District. They together penned a westward Op ed and they write, anytime the topic of Colfax bus rapid transit comes up, inevitably someone laments the devastating impact on local businesses. While construction impacts are a fair concern. They write, misinformation on this topic abounds and is causing real harm. Mayor, what's your bead on the progress of dedicated bus lanes, you know, which may spread or in other eyes, metastasize?

[Mike Johnston]

I mean, we are pushing hard to get Colfax done quickly because we do want more and more foot traffic, car traffic and bus traffic to get our businesses supported.

[Ryan Warner]

Is it something you can actually effectuate speeding up with?

[Mike Johnston]

Yeah, we have already. We're actually on path now for the entire project up through Colorado Boulevard to be done by the end the of of this year. So kind of Colorado by Christmas. Colorado Boulevard hopefully will be done by Christmas is our goal. That helps.

[Ryan Warner]

Do you feel like Santa?

[Mike Johnston]

I would love to have that happen. I've been bartending Colorado by Hanukkah. Okay, that's actually even better. That's a little earlier, though. That's a slight.

[Ryan Warner]

I heard my time for calendar this year.

[Mike Johnston]

So we think that's making progress. We do know it's had an impact on businesses. I've talked to businesses there who've been struggling because people just stay on away from Colfax during the construction. It was the same thing that happened on 16th Street. We also know after the construction, we think it will be much, much better. More people on foot, more people on bike, more people on bus. More people that will be able to come and enjoy Colfax. So.

[Ryan Warner]

And where does you land on, you know, brt? Elsewhere, Federal or Colorado?

[Mike Johnston]

Yeah, I think I want to make sure we really hear from all the residents on these corridors to know that they're deeply supportive before we go forward because it does have an impact. I think there are some lessons we're going to learn from Colfax. I would be surprised if we ever did a center running bus rapid transit again. That's what's caused the massive impact on construction cost. Timing, digging up streets. You can have a bus rapid transit that is just a bus with a dedicated lane that runs along the side of the street and has signal timing. Signal timing allows us to change the timing of the lights so it's always green when the bus comes. You can have buses that come every five or 10 minutes. That brings the reliability people want the most. Those are the biggest promises of bus rapid transit is reliability, easy loading and continuous movement with the assistance of signal timing. You can do that without having to dig up the middle of the street the way we did on Colfax. But you know, these are, as some people know, Colfax and Colorado Federal. These are all technically state highways, even though they're in the city and county of Denver. So they are run and overseen by the state. So these are technically state led projects. We're obviously a partner because we gotta give them the permits to do it. So we'll certainly have a voice in it. The state's leading conversations about those places. I just want to really make sure that the businesses know exactly what the design is, the residents know exactly what the design is and they really want it. And that we can really minimize construction impact as much as possible.

[Ryan Warner]

Okay, before we go very quickly, you are not endorsing in the gubernatorial primary for the Democrats.

[Mike Johnston]

I did endorse very early on when the race first began. I'm friends with both of them. I've worked with Michael Bennett for almost 20 years in the education world. When I was back when I was a principal.

[Ryan Warner]

Okay, I feel stupid. I missed this. You're endorsing Michael Bennett.

[Mike Johnston]

I did endorse Michael when he first got in and I've worked with both candidates think they're both good human beings. I think they both be great governors. But I've endorsed Michael because I've had a long history of seeing him take on hard things and deliver big results.

[Ryan Warner]

I think you have a preference for Michaels.

[Mike Johnston]

That's just the names are simpler.

[Ryan Warner]

Yeah. Mayor, thank you so much.

[Mike Johnston]

Thanks for having me.

[Benta Berkeland]

Me?

[Ryan Warner]

Mike Johnston is Denver's mayor. We spoke in his office Wednesday. And that is colorado matters for now. Thanks for spending time with us. And thanks to this team.

[Mike Johnston]

Tyler bender, carl bielek, anthony cotton, pete kramer, andrea dukakis, zan huckpechone, matt herz, tom hess, michael hughes, pedro lumbragno, shane

[Victoria Maldonado]

rumsey, haley sanchez, chandra.

[Mike Johnston]

Thomas whitfield.

[Ryan Warner]

And I'm ryan warner. Kyle harris produced our mayoral conversation. You're with cpr news and kr. Sam.