Mike Johnston Pushes Vibrant Denver Bond Despite Local Skepticism

Mayor Mike Johnston began a series of a dozen town halls on Wednesday, March 12, to pitch his Vibrant Denver bond to residents and hear what kind of improvements they would like to see funded by the city if the bond measure passes in November.

The mayor heard a handful of suggestions — and a few praises and gripes — at the first gathering.

"I think people are really excited about it. I call it the 'joy agenda,' because this is all about the things people love to make them joyful," Johnston told Westword. "People love the places that give them joy, whether that's a rec center or park or playground or pedestrian access or safe walks to school."

In February, Johnston first announced his plans for Vibrant Denver, a general obligation bond that he promised would focus on building and upgrading parks, libraries, recreation centers and other public facilities "that would make the city vibrant."

The amount of money the bond raises will depend on the projects that residents suggest during town halls, on surveys and through city subcommittees that will start meeting in May. However, the Finance Department staff had suggested around $800 million worth of investments during a Denver City Council working group earlier that day.

In 2021, Denver voters approved the $260 million RISE Denver bond to fund more than eighty city projects, including two new library branches, reconstructing park pools and maintenance work at places like Buell Theater and the Denver Botanic Gardens. In 2017, voters approved the $937 million Elevate Denver bond to improve critical infrastructure, such as roads and sidewalks, and renovate and upgrade dozens of city facilities.

On March 12, Johnston hosted a town hall at the Commons on Champa to kick off the suggestion process for bond-funded projects. More than sixty residents in attendance pitched ideas including more trees across the city, more small neighborhood parks, extending the 16th Street Mall,and remodeling the Boettcher Concert Hall. Johnston told Westword that the city has been considering plans to fund a mural with a rock climbing wall on it.

The mayor promised on February 12 and again on Wednesday that the Vibrant Denver bond would allow funding projects like these "without raising taxes." He didn't have to look far for intense skepticism of his plan, however.

Jason Bailey, the former owner of the now-closed restaurant Parsley, was almost escorted out of the town hall by police after city staff accused him of planning to grab the microphone to protest Johnston's plan. According to Bailey, his goal was only to tell people "there's no such thing as free money."

"Debt has a cost. The city will owe money to banks, investors who buy the bond, and our taxes will go towards paying that debt," he argued. "Johnston is too smart to be doing this. He isn't Santa Claus. He isn't going to show up with a bag of everything we want, and to be here, believing that and listening to this, is silly. This is going to cost you, me and all the citizens in Denver."

The bond's name comes from a public initiative Johnston launched last year, promising to make the city safer, more affordable, vibrant and better governed. Last year, he campaigned for an Affordable Denver ballot measure with similar town halls; he proposed a half-cent sales tax to raise money to leverage developers into building relatively low-rent housing units, but Denver voters rejected the measure.
LoDo residents Tom and Suzanne, who asked not to share their last names, attended the meeting but said they had no plans to vote in favor of the mayor's plan. Neither voted for Affordable Denver, they said, but both voted in favor of a sales tax increase to fund Denver Health. Top of mind for Suzanne was public safety, as she is afraid of scooters and stabbings downtown. The couple lives a block from where one person was stabbed during a series of attacks in January at the 16th Street Mall.

Suzanne said that public safety has been the only topic she's brought up at the mayor's previous meetings on affordability and safety, and she was at the town hall to bring it up again. For Tom, "the problem is not a lack of money. The problem is a lack of leadership."

Alan Conover has been living near Ball Arena for about twenty years. He calls it "a great place to live. We walk to every place," though "a lot less safely than you used to be able to walk to things, because of scooters." Conover wasn't at the meeting to suggest improvements, he said, but because he wants to see what happens with the Vibrant Denver bond. 

"I wonder if it's one of these things that's going to get in the usual morass of Denver politics, and nothing ever comes of it," Conover said. "My biggest concern is being run over by scooters and bicycles. I'm eighty years old. There's no enforcement whatsoever of the scooters downtown."

Councilman Chris Hinds, who hosted the town hall alongside Johnston as the District 10 representative, had proposed mandatory technology to keep scooters off sidewalks during a council Budget & Policy committee meeting on February 24. The proposal came after council began looking into stricter e-scooter enforcement last August.

Conover said he emembered the Affordable Denver meetings, but added, "I see no visible, tangible outputs from that. It's great to have a bunch of meetings and free doughnuts and stuff, but there's so much work to be done."

If Johnston is looking for public support, his recent visit to Washington, D.C., to defend Denver's handling of the South American migrant crisis won him some goodwill. The audience at the town hall on Wednesday applauded Johnston when it came up.

Conover liked Johnston's appearance, saying the mayor must have "good writers." Suzanne said that Johnston was "well coached."

"I felt good about it. I felt like our goal was to be clear, confident and common sense," Johnston said. "I'm incredibly proud of how Denver responded to this crisis...and I think it's important to clarify we followed every federal law." 

Conover also praised Johnston's effort to house thousands of homeless residents since taking office in 2023. According to Conover, the mayor fixed problems with "people shooting up drugs on the corner" and homelessness around his home. "I do give him credit certainly," he said. "It used to be really bad."

According to Finance Department staff, the city has already collected more than 1,500 online and paper survey responses for how residents would like to see the bond used if it passes. The city will be recruiting residents until May to join subcommittees for funding direction; people can submit an online form to show their interest in joining one of the bond's subcommittees
More Vibrant Denver public meetings will take place through April. The upcoming town hall schedule can be found online.