It was a crowded stage tonight at MSU Denver,
13 of the 17 candidates running to
be Denver's next mayor on stage.
And tonight we heard them share
their thoughts on homelessness,
crime and Denver's cost of living.
9 News hosted this debate,
along with the Fair Elections Fund and Claro.
And Kyle Clark was one of
tonight's debate moderators,
keeping 13 people on task
through two hours of discussion.
That was fun.
I I thought it was really interesting,
Kim, because you had a really
respectful discussion, but one in
which people disagreed very strongly.
I could understand,
as somebody might think that, well,
all the people run for Denver mayor
probably all think the same things,
about the same things.
They absolutely do not.
They sharply disagree over what type
of change in course the city needs,
and many of them think that the plan
suggested by others would make things worse.
It's impossible to boil it all
down to just a couple of minutes.
You really owe it to yourself
to watch the two hour.
Rate if you're a Denver voter,
but here's a little something from
each one of the 13 campaign candidates
about what matters most to them.
It doesn't matter who you love,
your income, your race,
your age, your national origin.
We all belong in this city.
Denver is better because
of our differences.
That's who I am.
That's what I've fought for.
Denver is broken and needs a mayor that's
going to be able to go into office
and correct a lot of insufficiencies,
correct the administration,
correct everything so that Denver could
become a town that it used to be.
Beautiful, beautiful town
encampments are illegal.
Encampments make our city unsafe
and filthy and that has to change.
That's the business side of it.
The human side is we have to
acknowledge that this is a
full blown humanitarian crisis.
But today's Denver also requires the
mayor who has executive and relevant
experience to run the city, and I do.
I've been the CEO of the Denver Metro
Chamber of Commerce with over 3000 members.
I was John Hickenlooper's chief of
staff when he was mayor of Denver.
I've run the HR department for the city.
I know the City team and I love.
I am the only candidate that is
saying we do need to shift our
conversation from just affordable
housing to more public social housing.
Poverty is the precursor for our
second biggest issue in this city,
which is youth and gang violence.
I'm in this race right now because I'm
not convinced that our neighborhoods
are living up to their full potential.
And as your neighborhood mayor,
I plan to make the tough choices
on the issues that are affecting
our neighborhoods the most.
Homelessness, safety and affordability.
No one should be homeless.
In Denver, we have a moral obligation
to make sure we can get people
off the streets and into housing.
And we know that we can end the
practice of people having to sleep
in public places and yards and
parks and on your front doorsteps.
And right now, I'm feeling frustrated.
Like many of you at home,
I'm frustrated because it doesn't feel like
Denver's living up to its full potential.
We need to build a safer,
more affordable and greener Denver,
and we're just not getting the job done.
I am the Colorado State
director for Green Latinos and
Environmental Justice Organization.
That has taken on the biggest polluters
and worked to lower their bills
at home while cleaning up the air.
I'm ready to keep fighting,
just like I've been fighting for the
last 25 years to build my vision,
which is a city where every Denver right,
regardless of the neighborhood they're in,
whether it's a single West side like
me or a place with more advantage
to achieve their version of success.
And from a very large Irish Catholic
family of nine and steel town,
blue collar family made my way to Duke
University on a wrestling scholarship.
And landed in a in a place of
great wealth and privilege and
that that sort of gave me a class
consciousness that has never left me.
I've worked on large and small
projects from housing affordability to
addressing the needs of our unhoused
population as the executive director
of our Homeless Commission and I'm
committed to addressing these issues.
I have the experience in having
served the city for many years.
Even back in the day I was able to afford
A2 bedroom apartment on a food stamps.
And public support. I
would like students today,
educators and our critical workers
to have that same opportunity.
There were some pretty telling moments
later on in the debate whether it was a
number of candidates of color telling
Chris Hansen that his new campaign ad
featuring people of color committing
crimes needed to come down off the air.
Whether it was state Representative
Leslie Harrod talking about the fact
that she voted for a felony for a
fentanyl recrystalization bill that
she doesn't actually believe in.
Or whether it was Kelly Bruff,
the former head of the Chamber of Commerce,
saying she couldn't think of
a single instance.
Where there's something that business
wants that she doesn't think would
be good for the citizens of Denver,
a lot to get through in two hours
would highly encourage folks who
are interested Denver voters to
check out the full debate streaming
on 9 News Plus on 9news.com or on
the 9 news YouTube channel.
Kim,
very helpful if you're if
you're a citizen of Denver,
take the time. Thanks, Kyle.