Making Denver Safer
We all deserve to feel safe in our neighborhoods and streets. As the father of two biracial boys, Chris worries about their safety and the safety of all families across Denver. We need real, achievable plans to tackle our public safety issues.
The safety of all Denverites is Chris’ number one priority, and that includes our unhoused population. It is not appropriate for families and vulnerable communities to be living in dangerous conditions on our streets, creating a health and a safety crisis for those in tents as well as housed residents in the surrounding communities.
Chris understands that there needs to be a culture shift in how we approach public safety so that both employees and the people they serve are treated with appreciation and respect. As Mayor, Chris will make the systems-level investments needed to ensure that our public safety officers are well-trained, well-resourced and highly accountable. He will ensure that public safety officers are supported by trained personnel who can respond appropriately to other kinds of emergencies.
As Mayor, Chris will increase the resources invested in the Support Team Assisted Response (STAR) program, which deploys Emergency Response Teams that include Emergency Medical Technicians and behavioral health clinicians to engage individuals experiencing distress related to mental health issues, poverty, homelessness, and substance abuse. STAR responds to low-risk calls where individuals are not in imminent risk, enabling safety officers to focus on theft, drug sales and violent crimes.
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More trained and accountable police officers
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More STAR staff to see to non-violent mental health emergencies
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No more unsanctioned camping
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No more public health crisis caused by unsafe conditions in camps
Solving Denver’s Homelessness Crisis
It is clear that Denver’s current approach to addressing homelessness isn’t working. Denver is already spending $254 million in 2023 to address this issue and it is clearly not getting results. We need new leadership with fresh energy to ensure that those who are unhoused are supported to get off the streets and stay off the streets.
To tackle this crisis,Chris plans to scale up and create programs that work and stop investing money in programs that don’t. Denver plans to spend $254 million in 2023 to address this issue, focusing largely on the same strategies that have enabled only incremental progress over the last three years. Just as Chris has done in the state legislature, he plans to use evidence-based solutions to solve problems. As Mayor, Chris will conduct an audit to help guide the city’s spending priorities.
The first step is to get the unhoused into housing, systematically and efficiently since this is the best way to provide them access to services that will reduce their risk of going back out onto the streets. There are many examples of communities who have successful housing-first approaches, like San Antonio.
The city then needs to work with nonprofit organizations to provide services in an easily accessible and coordinated way. Denver has amazing organizations already doing great work to support the unhoused, and the most effective and efficient use of resources is to collaborate with them to enable them to scale up sustainably.
Chris’ 3-pronged approach:
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Reevaluate: Chris will do a full audit of the city’s homelessness programs to determine which programs are working and deserve additional funding, and which programs fall short. We can then reallocate existing resources in ways we know will deliver results.
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Reimagine: Chris knows we need an end goal in mind with our homelessness programs. To that end, he has studied cities that have been successful in reducing homelessness and will deploy similar strategies in Denver. He also supports the use of Safe Outdoor Spaces (SOS), which provide sanitation, social services, and security to unhoused folks who are resistant to shelters. We’ve already seen early success with the SOS approach in Denver.
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Reinforce: Denver needs to prioritize public safety, public health, and public spaces and Chris, as the next Mayor, will do exactly that. The city will help the unhoused locate alternative shelter options so we can ensure our sidewalks, public spaces and streets can be utilized by all of Denver.
Any long-term strategy to alleviate homelessness requires investments in housing options that are accessible to those with lower incomes. This is tied directly to the third priority of making Denver more affordable.
Click here to read Chris Hansen's plan to address homelessness.
A Greener Denver
Chris Hansen is the only candidate in the race with the proven experience and leadership to make Denver the Cleanest and Greenest City in America. We need to take on pollution at every level to help eliminate the brown cloud, contribute to the fight against climate change and ensure that Denver residents have access to safe air, water and open spaces. This is especially important for our communities of color who currently endure the disproportionate impacts of heavy industry, highway transportation, and the pollution-caused diseases associated with those activities like asthma and cancer.
As Mayor, Chris will use his systems engineering background to transition Denver to a 100% clean energy city and invest in modern and efficient buildings to combat climate change and create good paying jobs. Denver needs to electrify residential and commercial heating systems, cooling systems and its fleet of vehicles, changes that will help to reduce emissions and improve air quality. Chris will also invest in electric buses, a rapid transit system and a connected network of bike lanes to make it easier for people to get out of their cars.
A Greener Denver will be sustainable, equitable, healthy and create jobs. It really is a win win!
Chris Hansen is the Proven Environmental Champion running for Mayor. As a systems engineer with over twenty years experience in environmental and energy policy–in both the public and private sectors–Chris is a problem solver who has delivered results. Representing Denver in the State Senate, Chris is currently sponsoring the biggest pollution reduction bill in the state’s history.
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Adding more EV Infrastructure
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Electrifying Heating and Cooling Systems
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Electrifying City Fleets
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Green Economy Jobs
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Transportation Emissions Reduction
Making Denver More Affordable
Denver needs to be a place for everybody to live a high-quality life. As Mayor, Chris will build more housing, invest in transportation, and create well-paying jobs. He’ll also negotiate directly with Xcel to protect consumers from excessive gas and utility price increases. Chris Hansen’s focus on incorporating high-density housing that is tied into reliable transit including an electrified bus fleet and bike lanes will provide a more equitable, efficient, environmentally friendly, community-based Denver, and create a city that works.
Every Denverite’s day-to-day experience is inextricably dependent on where they live and how they get to where they’re going. Denver housing has historically been shaped by siloed zoning policies and developed without taking advantage of the benefits of developing housing and transportation simultaneously. As a result, there is dispersed development and insufficient transit options between housing, shops, workplaces and recreational spaces so sitting in car traffic has become the default transportation experience.
A systemic solution is needed to realize the benefits of combined housing and multi-modal transit, including:
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An interconnected and easily traversable city
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An increased number of high-density accessible housing units
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A reduced dependence on cars
Better City Services
Chris is the only candidate who has worked in both large private businesses and has served the people as an elected official. He knows that Denver needs to take a more customer-oriented approach to providing services and solving problems. When it snows, we need to plow the roads and sidewalks so people can get around town. We need to ensure our trash and recycling are picked up regularly and without hassle. When people call city offices they need to have their problems addressed quickly. The city permitting office needs to do their job quickly and efficiently so projects aren’t tied up for years.
Championing Workers’ Rights
Chris was raised in a union household and has seen firsthand the difference unions can make, not just for the workers themselves, but also for their families, their communities, and the local economy. During his time in the state legislature, Chris has consistently supported collective bargaining rights, strong wages, and fair working conditions, and has successfully fought to add prevailing wage requirements to a wide variety of publicly funded projects. Believing that every worker deserves a union, Chris helped pass legislation extending collective bargaining rights to state and county workers, and proudly supported the unionization of his own staff and the rest of the state’s legislative aides.
Skilled union labor is central to Chris’s plans for the city. Denver will keep growing, whether or not we plan for it, and Chris understands that intentional, forward-looking development is the only way out of the city’s housing and transportation crises. As Mayor, Chris will encourage smart, responsible growth in a way that not only meets the needs of the growing population, but also brings thousands of skilled, union jobs to the city – adding to the housing supply, investing in our infrastructure and lifting local wages simultaneously
Helping Seniors Stay in Denver
Chris Hansen knows that cities need to cater to all generations and that supporting families in all stages of life creates strong communities. In the State Legislature, Chris extended the Senior Homestead Act to renters, which allowed for more seniors to more affordably stay in their homes in Denver as property values soared. As Mayor, Chris will ensure that seniors have access to services and can continue to live a high quality life. This includes improved city services like road and sidewalk plowing and better public transportation options.
Revitalizing Downtown
With enhancing public safety as my top priority, I know we can revitalize downtown. We will focus on growing the downtown economy, using placemaking strategies that make downtown more inviting, expanding housing opportunities, and capitalizing on downtown's cultural, civic, and entertainment assets to further support the vibrant environment needed for a thriving city center. We know that increasing population density downtown brings safety benefits because the presence of people deters criminals, so I am excited to see the impact of the Elitch Gardens redevelopment, among other projects that are currently underway. Denver has made great investments from Union Station to RiNo, and now we need to focus on connecting them thoughtfully. My systems engineering background combined with my extensive legislative experience will enable me to deliver this vision of a connected, green, thriving, dynamic city.
Gun Violence Prevention
As a state legislator for seven years, Chris has continuously worked to prevent gun violence. He sponsored the bill that created the Office of Gun Violence Prevention for education, research, and outreach about gun safety. Last year, Chris sponsored the safe storage of firearms bill that became law. In the 2023 legislative session, Chris is currently sponsoring a bill that will instate waiting periods for gun purchases that will have a significant impact on reducing suicides and domestic violence committed with guns. Additionally, he is working on ghost gun legislation at the moment so we can get these dangerous, untraceable weapons off our streets. In his legislative races, Chris has been endorsed by both Moms Demand Action and Colorado Ceasefire for efforts on gun control legislation.
