Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Mayor Mike Johnston

Budget cuts and bots: Denver shortens 311 hours and expands AI usage in city services
kdvr.com, Approved, Local

Budget cuts and bots: Denver shortens 311 hours and expands AI usage in city services

By: Jacob Factor | Fox31 DENVER (KDVR) — Facing major budget shortfalls, Denver is cutting back hours and staff for its call center that assists residents with city services and looking to leverage an artificial intelligence chatbot to pick up the slack. Denver in Mayor Mike Johnston’s proposed 2026 budget is looking to cut more than $1 million from the 311 City Services budget, most of which comes from cutting vacant call center agents positions in the Technology-Services-Department-run office. One employed call center agent was also among the cuts. The city and county’s X page on Monday announced the new hours for the 311 phone line: 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. This is a reduction of two hours each day, as it was previously open until 7 p.m. ...
Who’s funding Vibrant Denver? Big developers, nonprofits and tax-funded arts groups
Denverite, Approved, Local

Who’s funding Vibrant Denver? Big developers, nonprofits and tax-funded arts groups

By Kyle Harris | Denverite One notable booster hasn’t donated yet. A who’s who of Denver cultural giants, developers, construction industry leaders and nonprofits are donating big to Mayor Mike Johnston’s Vibrant Denver bond campaign. Vibrant Denver Bond, the committee raising money for the effort, had brought in more than $1 million as of the end of September.  The opposition to the bond, Citizens for NO New Debt, had raised just over $3,000. The group argues that Denver should avoid incurring debt and hold off on starting new projects until the city can afford to do the work without bonds. Taxpayer-funded cultural groups are among the biggest donors. The five regional taxpayer-funded Tier One Scientific and Cultural Facilities District institutions – the Denve...
Denver Closes Online Parking Ticket Appeal Portal Amid Budget Cuts
kdvr.com, Approved, Local

Denver Closes Online Parking Ticket Appeal Portal Amid Budget Cuts

By  Nicole Fierro | KDVR FOX31 DENVER, Colo. (KDVR) — Denver layoffs are now going to impact your ability to dispute parking tickets with the city online, which went into effect on Thursday. Denver court officials told FOX31 that with the city and county of Denver’s projected budget deficit, the county court had to lay off 10 employees on Aug. 27th. Five employees of those were from the parking magistrates’ office, which was a team of five. In 2024, the Parking Magistrate’s Office processed 66,378 parking appeals and 10 final parking hearings. The spokesperson with Denver court officials also told FOX31, the team worked collaboratively with a variety of city stakeholders, including Right of Way Enforcement, the Parking Violation Bureau, Denver County Vehicle Impound and Passpor...
Denver Mayor Accused Of Raiding Election Funds To Fill Budget Gap
Local, Approved, denvergazette.com

Denver Mayor Accused Of Raiding Election Funds To Fill Budget Gap

By Deborah Grigsby | The Denver Gazette Denver Clerk and Recorder Paul López earlier asked the "Vibrant Denver Bond" committee for $43 million for new storage space to secure the city’s election equipment and historical documents, some dating as far back as the 1800s. What he got from Mayor Mike Johnston was an order to slash $4 million from the department's budget. During a July 28 Denver City Council meeting, District 7 Councilwoman Flor Alvidrez had sought an amendment to include the elections facility proposal in the $950 million bond package, which will go to voters this November. The amendment failed. Lòpez told The Denver Gazette that, in his 18-year career as a Denver elected official, “this is the first time, and the only time, the mayor has actually tried to raid i...
Hundreds to Be Laid Off as Denver’s Progressive Agenda Faces $200M Deficit
Local, Approved, kdvr.com

Hundreds to Be Laid Off as Denver’s Progressive Agenda Faces $200M Deficit

By Heather Willard | KDVR Fox 31 DENVER (KDVR) — Denver city and county employees will see layoff notifications during the week of Aug. 18, according to the mayor’s office, which cited budget woes. “These are not easy days, and these are not easy decisions,” wrote Mayor Mike Johnston to the city and county employees in a letter sent Tuesday. “Every role in this city matters, and every person in those roles has contributed to our city in meaningful ways.” The number of impacted employees was not shared. In May, the Denver Mayor’s Office said that city employees would experience furloughs in the face of a $50 million revenue gap and $200 million deficit. He also noted that the city had seen a 0.3% revenue growth, which is far below the previous 5% growth seen by the city before...
Cap City Tavern Becomes Latest Victim of Denver’s Homelessness and High Costs
Local, Approved, kdvr.com

Cap City Tavern Becomes Latest Victim of Denver’s Homelessness and High Costs

By Hanna Powers | KDVR Fox 31 DENVER (KDVR) — After nearly 20 years in business, a beloved Capitol Hill restaurant and bar is preparing to close its doors for good. Cap City Tavern, located at 13th and Sherman, will pour its final round this Sunday. Owners Dino and Piper McTaggart say the decision comes after years of financial struggles brought on by rising costs, city fees, and declining foot traffic downtown. “This was my lifelong dream,” Piper McTaggart said. “We haven’t taken a salary in a year and a half, and we just got a huge tax bill. The writing was on the wall.” The owners say they feel let down by city leaders, citing ongoing issues with safety, homelessness, and a lack of support for small businesses in the downtown corridor. “There are people defecating and liv...
Denver mayor, staff used encrypted app on migrant crisis; messages auto-deleted, citing Trump-era policy
Approved, CBS Colorado, Local

Denver mayor, staff used encrypted app on migrant crisis; messages auto-deleted, citing Trump-era policy

By Brian Maass | CBS Colorado Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and 14 of his top advisors, appointees and lawyers nicknamed themselves "Strike Force" and communicated about the city's migrant crisis through an end-to end encryption app, CBS News Colorado has learned. The app, Signal, proceeded to automatically delete their initial conversations. A spokesperson for Johnston said the Signal messaging was prompted by President Trump and how his administration "could have significant impacts on how Denver operates." The use of such messaging apps by government officials has been controversial and viewed as a way to avoid public disclosure of government decision making. In Michigan, after state police leaders were found in 2021 to be using Signal on state-issued...
Does Denver’s ‘affordable’ housing goal align with today’s market needs? Experts weigh in
Approved, denvergazette.com, Local

Does Denver’s ‘affordable’ housing goal align with today’s market needs? Experts weigh in

By Noah Festenstein | Denver Gazette As Denver pushes for more "affordable" housing, experts wonder if the city's approach is sustainable and question whether it aligns with today's market needs. Denver Mayor Mike Johnston's goal for 2025 to "preserve" or help in the development of more than 3,000 such units. Denver worked with developers last year to build 1,695 new units, preserve 649 existing ones and create 678 others through rental subsidies “to ensure affordability,” according to Department of Housing Stability (HOST) spokesperson Julia Marvin. “The challenge this year,” Marvin said, “lies in being creative with the funding we have. It’s important that we get creative in our solutions, both for funding and for execution.” READ FULL ARTICLE AT THE DENVER GAZETTE...
Here’s the facts Rep. Gabe Evans used in hearing that Mayor Mike Johnston disputes
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Here’s the facts Rep. Gabe Evans used in hearing that Mayor Mike Johnston disputes

By Brian Porter | Rocky Mountain Voice When confronted Wednesday with crime data by U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Fort Lupton, detailing Denver's trends, Mayor Mike Johnston said the former Arvada police lieutenant was confused. "I think you may have some bad facts, and I'm happy to clarify them for you," said Johnston, one of four large-city mayors questioned by the U.S. House's Oversight and Government Reform Committee. In other words, despite his career in policing, Johnston either believes Evans is lying or can't understand crime data. Evans retorted, "I'm happy to show all of the sources for my facts." https://twitter.com/repgabeevans/status/1897406777114681422 And his office did in an email to the media. Following is a glance at those claims by Evans: A report by...

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