DENVER — Mayor Mike Johnston is not only fending off attacks from conservatives for his stance on President Donald Trump’s immigration plans, but he’s also facing criticism from progressive groups that believe he has not lived up to his campaign promises.
Three weeks ago, Johnston detailed the progress he says his team made in 2024 to make Denver more vibrant, affordable and safe.
"We delivered the largest reduction in street homelessness in recorded history," Johnston told a roundtable of reporters. “We saw the steepest drop in homicides in a decade.”
Denver
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston gives report card on city's goals from 2024
On Monday, a coalition of progressive groups stopped by the mayor’s office to deliver their own scorecards to him.
“When I watched him give his own press conference, giving himself an A+. He obviously wasn’t taking into account our scorecard,” said Dr. Lisa Calderón with the Latino United Neighbors Association (LUNA).
LUNA, along with Housekeys Action Network Denver (HAND) and the Denver Taskforce to Reimagine Policing and Public Safety, gave Johnston low scores on dozens of issues over the past year.
"What he says is one thing, but they're all deflection to what he's actually deciding to do,” said V Reeves, an organizer with HAND.
Reeves also criticized the mayor's handling of the homelessness crisis and his decision to close immigrant shelters and send some immigrants to other cities.
“He could have not closed down the shelters, and he could have prioritized keeping them in Denver to be productive members of society rather than spending millions to ship them away,” said Reeves.
Calderón, a former mayoral candidate who endorsed Johnston in 2023 after finishing third, said Johnston has not kept his promise to meet regularly with progressive groups like LUNA.
“I endorsed him for mayor, and with my help, that helped to get him the mayor's seat,” said Calderón. “One of those promises was to meet with LUNA quarterly.”
Calderón said the mayor didn’t meet with LUNA at all during the fourth quarter of 2024, which is why the group gave him straight F’s on its latest scorecard.
“If you cannot keep your most basic promises to hold meetings with a progressive coalition that helped to get you elected, why should we trust any of your more complicated, complex and expensive priorities?” Calderón said.
In response, Jordan Fuja, press secretary for the mayor's office, said Johnston "is focused on delivering real results for Denverites" and "[looks] forward to continuing to build a vibrant, affordable, and safe city" in 2025.
“Mayor Johnston is focused on delivering real results for Denverites, including the largest one-year reduction in street homelessness on record, successfully managing the migrant crisis by creating a sustainable program for newcomers in Denver, and creating a balanced budget that delivers world-class services for our residents,” said Fuja. “As 2025 gets underway, we look forward to continuing to build a vibrant, affordable, and safe city for all Denverites.”
Johnston is set to outline his 2025 citywide goals on Tuesday.
The coalition also issued scorecards for the Denver City Council. The council's most progressive members, Shontel Lewis, Serena-Gonzales-Gutierrez and Sarah Parady, received high marks from the coalition.
Dr. Robert L. Davis, the program manager for the Denver Taskforce to Reimagine Policing and Public Safety, said they are calling on the council to provide a more transparent budget process.
"We are also calling on city council to step up and to make the budget process transparent, to engage community on a significant and real basis," said Davis. "So that the voices of the voters and the residents in Denver is actually heard relative to the priorities and not just the people who are well connected, the special interests, the people who have the ear of the mayor, who are his friends."
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