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Q&A with Denver City Council District 9 candidate Kwon Atlas

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:16 GMT

Go to: Denver Post Voter Guide • Candidate Q&A home pageKwon AtlasPROFESSIONNonprofit directorEDUCATIONMaster’s degree in Urban Affairs and Policy from San Francisco and graduate from CSUEXPERIENCENonprofit founder, Created the Five Points Atlas, and served in government for Michael Bennett, Mayor Hancock, and James Coleman.WEBSITE • FACEBOOK • TWITTERBriefly describe the single most urgent issue facing the city of Denver and how it should be addressed.Cost of living in Denver: A shortage of affordable housing is a major contributing factor to homelessness. Ensuring that we have access to healthcare, education, jobs that pay livable wages, and the opportunity to own homes. These are things that we must make sure remain obtainable in Denver.What should Denver leaders do to address the city’s lack of affordable housing?We should be creating partnerships and gaining access to funds from the government and private developers to build houses that are actually afforda...

Q&A with Denver City Council District 8 candidate Leslie Twarogowski

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:16 GMT

Go to: Denver Post Voter Guide • Candidate Q&A home pageLeslie TwarogowskiPROFESSIONExecutive Director, Federal Boulevard Business Improvement DistrictEDUCATIONDenver East High School 1991 Bachelor of Arts, Smith College 1995EXPERIENCEI’ve served in my current role supporting small businesses since 2014 as well as:Parks and Rec Advisory Board Chair, Main Streets Committee Chair,Quebec Street Multimodal Improvements committee.WEBSITEBriefly describe the single most urgent issue facing the city of Denver and how it should be addressed.We are going backwards! Safety, housing affordability, pollution and livability in our city have all declined in recent years.What should Denver leaders do to address the city’s lack of affordable housing?Seek out incentives and subsidies for developers to build affordable housing and continue to build housing at all price levels.Do you support redevelopment at the Park Hill golf course property? Why or why not?No. First, it shouldn&...

Q&A with Denver City Council District 8 candidate Brad Revare

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:16 GMT

Go to: Denver Post Voter Guide • Candidate Q&A home pageBrad RevarePROFESSIONEducation and workforce policyEDUCATIONBA, magna cum laude, Economics, CU-Boulder; JD, University of Colorado Law SchoolEXPERIENCEEx. Director, Government Entrepreneurial Leadership Accelerator; helped launch CareerWise Colorado, Denver and Colorado’s youth apprenticeship system; education and workforce policy, Colorado SucceedsWEBSITE • FACEBOOKBriefly describe the single most urgent issue facing the city of Denver and how it should be addressed.The skyrocketing cost of living in Denver for families and seniors is the single most urgent issue facing Denver. We need to address this issue by focusing on lowering the cost of housing, transportation, utility bills, and other essential parts of residents’ budgets so we do not displace more families, and make sure that Denver is open and accessible to our children when they inherit this city.What should Denver leaders do to address the city&...

Q&A with Denver City Council District 8 candidate Shontel Lewis

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:16 GMT

Go to: Denver Post Voter Guide • Candidate Q&A home pageShontel LewisPROFESSIONSmall Business OwneerEDUCATIONBachelors in CommunicationEXPERIENCEElected to RTD Board as Director of District B in 2018Vice President — Colorado Coalition for the HomelessWEBSITE • FACEBOOK • TWITTERBriefly describe the single most urgent issue facing the city of Denver and how it should be addressed.It does other issues a disservice to say they are less urgent, particularly because the issues are interconnected, and housing is the most common issue voters are concerned about. Working families can’t afford to live here, and the city has left too many behind. I believe the city should expand its own stock of affordable housing, building on mixed-income social housing on land it owns. We also need land use reform, encouraging denser housing types, renter protections — the needs are many, and we will need all the tools the city can find.What should Denver leaders do to address the city’...

Q&A with Denver City Council District 10 candidate Shannon Hoffman

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:16 GMT

Go to: Denver Post Voter Guide • Candidate Q&A home pageShannon HoffmanPROFESSIONNonprofit administrationEDUCATIONBachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and Master’s of Education from Vanderbilt UniversityEXPERIENCEShannon Hoffman is a Cap Hill renter and educator who today project-manages an affordable housing development. She’s a seasoned community organizer for racial, housing, and climate justice in Denver.WEBSITE • FACEBOOK • TWITTERBriefly describe the single most urgent issue facing the city of Denver and how it should be addressed.As a renter with deep ties to my neighbors (housed and unhoused), my community and I are living Denver’s housing crisis each day. Social housing is one ambitious model to solve it. With the city, not a private company, as a developer, profits can fund more housing. Rent tiered by income means that those paying more offset lower rent for lower-income tenants. Toronto and Helsinki have successfully implemented social housing....

Q&A with Denver City Council District 9 candidate Candi CdeBaca

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:16 GMT

Go to: Denver Post Voter Guide • Candidate Q&A home pageIncumbentCandi CdeBacaPROFESSIONSocial WorkerEDUCATIONMSWEXPERIENCECandi is the D9 incumbent. She is a social worker, community organizer and policy expert who has worked at all three levels of government creating, analyzing, evaluating, and implementing policy.WEBSITE • FACEBOOK • TWITTERBriefly describe the single most urgent issue facing the city of Denver and how it should be addressed.Housing affordability. Denver needs to mandate more affordable housing from private development or higher linkage fees. There need to be vacancy taxes, luxury sales taxes, flipping taxes and short-term rental fees sourcing a housing fund. First right of refusal for the city would allow the city to increase land stock to begin implementing social housing and Denver needs local control over rent stabilization.What should Denver leaders do to address the city’s lack of affordable housing?Amend the Expanding Housing Affordability p...

Q&A with Denver City Council District 8 candidate Christian Steward

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:16 GMT

Go to: Denver Post Voter Guide • Candidate Q&A home pageChristian StewardPROFESSIONCommunity ConnectorEDUCATIONBachelor’s degree in BiologyEXPERIENCEMy professional and professional life is set through the lens of community advocacy. I am co-chair of Dr. King Jr Marade, I am Community Connector with Department of Transportation and InfrastructureWEBSITE • FACEBOOKBriefly describe the single most urgent issue facing the city of Denver and how it should be addressed.The most urgent issue facing the City of Denver is the cost of housing. There are a few factors to include: Creating and training a workforce for the jobs of the future that pay wages that create generational wealth for those vulnerable to displacement, recruiting and retaining city employees that can streamline city systems and processes, creating opportunities zones that prioritize transportation centers to fast track building contracts and building permits. Work with state legislators to create property t...

Q&A with Denver City Council District 10 candidate Chris Hinds

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:16 GMT

Go to: Denver Post Voter Guide • Candidate Q&A home pageIncumbentChris HindsPROFESSIONCouncilmemberEDUCATIONComputer Science, MBA in FinanceEXPERIENCECurrent Denver City Councilmember for District 10, former software engineer, and disability advocateWEBSITE • FACEBOOK • TWITTERBriefly describe the single most urgent issue facing the city of Denver and how it should be addressed.Denver has a housing crisis. The secret’s out: Denver is an amazing place to live. With all those moving to our city, and with the implosion of our housing construction in 2008, we are far behind in building new homes. Fortunately, we’re working on missing middle density citywide and larger buildings in the city center where it makes sense.What should Denver leaders do to address the city’s lack of affordable housing?America tried building housing projects, and it was a failure. Instead of building additional housing projects, we strive to create an economically diverse community. A...

Q&A with Denver City Council District 11 candidate Stacie Gilmore

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:16 GMT

Go to: Denver Post Voter Guide • Candidate Q&A home pageIncumbentStacie GilmorePROFESSIONCity Councilwoman District 11EDUCATIONBS Zoology / Chemistry; MA Nonprofit ManagementEXPERIENCEI have been honored to serve as Councilwoman since July 2015. Served in leadership roles as Council President 2020-2022; President Pro Tem 2018-2020.WEBSITE • FACEBOOK • TWITTERBriefly describe the single most urgent issue facing the city of Denver and how it should be addressed.In order for our city to thrive people must feel safe and supported. We must through proactive and community-based responses address the violence we are seeing within our city. This can be addressed through a variety of ways that both include law enforcement and alternative responses that are implemented and should be explored to replace uniformed officers in many interactions that they currently have with the public.What should Denver leaders do to address the city’s lack of affordable housing?Denver leaders mus...

Q&A with Denver City Council District 9 candidate Darrell Watson

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:16 GMT

Go to: Denver Post Voter Guide • Candidate Q&A home pageDarrell WatsonPROFESSIONSmall business ownerEDUCATIONBachelor’s of Arts in Communications, University of Colorado at DenverEXPERIENCEChair of Housing Advisory board passed 1st affordable housing mandate policy in the state. Chair of the Park Trust invested 250K in D9.WEBSITE • FACEBOOKBriefly describe the single most urgent issue facing the city of Denver and how it should be addressed.We are facing a housing crisis: housing is too expensive, it’s not located where people want to live, and there isn’t enough of it. One approach I will take is to elevate the housing crisis as a regional issue: first, passing affordable housing mandates in each municipality in Denver Regional Council of Governments; second, working regionally to ensure each municipality meets Prop 123 requirements; and third, coordinating regionally for state and federal dollars to increase access to affordable housing. My collaborative approach wi...