Denver, CO

Colorado lawmakers have RTD in sights for major overhaul — including big changes for elected board

Published

2 years ago

February 7, 2024

Colorado lawmakers have RTD in sights for major overhaul — including big changes for elected board

Colorado lawmakers are drafting legislation that would deliver a sweeping overhaul of the Regional Transportation District — significantly reshaping and downsizing the governing board to remove nearly all elected seats while attempting to align the transit agency’s planning with broader housing and climate initiatives.

As formulated by the legislation’s three Democratic sponsors, who represent suburban areas, the broad outlines of the upcoming bill seek to bolster local governments’ coordination with — and influence over — the metro Denver agency. The legislators also hope to address RTD’s longstanding operator shortage and to launch the most substantial revamp of RTD’s governance structure since the early 1980s, when Colorado voters converted its board to all-elected members.

The draft has not yet been finalized, but the sponsors said in an interview Tuesday that the emerging proposal reflects their desire — shared by Gov. Jared Polis — to align the state’s climate, housing and transportation goals this year and into the future. But the changes also risk inflaming existing tensions between Denver and its suburban neighbors over the direction of the transit system.

The governor and his legislative allies plan to push denser, more strategic development, cut down on car usage and assuage skeptical local government officials who worry about the impact of those broader measures.

“We’ve been having a conversation for two years about how do we increase density and affordability of housing around transit-oriented corridors, and working with our local governments,” said Sen. Faith Winter of Westminster. “(Local governments) said, ‘That’s great, but we don’t have reliable transit.’

“So that leads us to the conversation of: How do we make sure we’re getting reliable transit and increasing transit?”

Winter, along with Reps. William Lindstedt of Broomfield and Meg Froelich of Englewood, set their sights on seeking change in how RTD operates.

The most eye-catching of their bill concepts is a plan to remake RTD’s board.

RTD now is governed by a 15-person board whose members are elected to four-year terms from geographic districts touching eight counties. According to a conceptual outline of the bill distributed by the sponsors last week, they are considering proposing that the board be cut down to seven members — all but one of them appointed.

According to that document:

Three members would be appointed directly by the governor to represent a transit rider from a “disproportionately impacted community”; a budgeting or public financing expert; and an expert in either transportation planning, development or electrification.
One member would be the head of the Colorado Department of Transportation or a designee.
The Denver Regional Council of Governments would choose two members from across the region — one of them a mayor or city council member, the other a county commissioner.
Voters within RTD’s boundaries would select the seventh member in an at-large election.

Froelich said the composition of RTD’s board was still being discussed but that there would be a mix of appointed and elected members in the bill.

She and the other legislators said they wanted the board to be “professionalized” like the panels that oversee similar transit boards elsewhere across the country — most of which, save for a handful, are appointed, not elected. The sponsors noted that in the 2022 election, four current RTD members were elected as write-in candidates because nobody qualified for the ballot.

Lindstedt said the board should “reflect the region and have the skill sets to be able to manage such a large mass transit agency in a professional manner.”

Some worry board revamp would disenfranchise riders

Several directors on RTD’s board did not respond to messages or declined to comment Tuesday. Board chair Erik Davidson said he had been told that the concepts in the bill outline weren’t final, and he didn’t want to comment because the measure was still being drafted.

Debra A. Johnson, the agency’s CEO and general manager, echoed that sentiment in a separate statement.

Board Director JoyAnn Ruscha, stressing that she was speaking only for herself, said the potential board overhaul “effectively disenfranchises people of color and our transit-dependent riders.” Local taxpayers fund and ride RTD, she said, and they should be directly represented on the board.

“I have no shame in the fact that I don’t have an advanced degree, or that I’m not a transportation planner, or that I didn’t get an MBA,” said Ruscha, whose District B includes northeast Denver and northern Aurora. “My family lived and died by the bus.”

RTD, formed in 1969, had an appointed board for more than a decade. In 1980, a bipartisan group of state lawmakers and activists spearheaded a statewide voter initiative to convert the board to all-elected members. The campaign, called “Citizens for an Accountable RTD,” passed by a margin of more than 100,000 votes.

Since then, legislators have broached the idea of adding appointed members or changing the board, but none of those efforts were successful. Among common criticisms of the elected model is that it pits regional interests against each other.

Besides the board changes, this year’s budding measure also would direct RTD to coordinate its planning with the Denver Regional Council of Governments, a planning organization bringing together representatives from metro-area municipalities and counties.

The objective is to ensure that RTD’s fixed routes align with local governments’ density and transit-oriented development objectives.

Froelich characterized the goal as “increased synergy” for work on a range of issues, including transit-oriented communities and development, meeting greenhouse gas emission targets and solving workforce shortages.

“All of that hinges upon reliable regional service from our transit agencies,” she said. “And the reason that we flow into the governance questions is (that) we want to set up a government system that gives us our best shot at that.”

An RTD commuter rail train arrives at Union Station in Denver on Aug. 3, 2022, during a monthlong zero-fare promotion. The Regional Transportation District charged no fares on all services during August as part of the state-supported Zero Fare for Better Air initiative, which was repeated for two months in summer 2023. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)

The plan comes as two intertwining legislative packages begin to wind their way through the Capitol this year. One — a suite of land-use bills — seeks to encourage denser and more strategic development in Front Range cities, with a particular eye toward transit access. The other is a series of measures intended to bolster access to and use of public transit. That includes a bill to facilitate the creation of a statewide transit pass.

The ongoing debate in the state Capitol over ways to increase development along and near transit corridors has helped shape the RTD overhaul now being contemplated.

Last year, local governments opposed Polis’ sweeping land-use reforms almost uniformly, largely because of local control concerns but also over criticisms about the access and reliability of public transit.”

Lindstedt said the bill would seek to provide the type of increased accountability that local governments “so desperately ask for over the mass transit system that they rely on when they’re making those land-use decisions.”

The bill also would aim to address RTD’s operator shortage — vacancy rates were at 15% for bus drivers and 18% for light-rail train operators as of November — by embracing an existing CDOT program that trains vehicle operators.

It would also propose changes to how the agency interprets Title VI, a provision of the federal Civil Rights Act that protects people and underserved communities from discrimination in federally funded programs, including transit. Winter said the intent was to ensure RTD can provide transportation for special events or for specific populations without being viewed as violating Title VI. Examples of potential special services cited in the outline include Denver Broncos games — similar to the large-scale BroncosRide shuttle service that RTD used to offer but discontinued — and big concerts.

Broomfield mayor: “We have no control” over RTD service

The legislators said an overarching goal is to improve coordination and accountability between RTD and local governments.

Broomfield Mayor Guyleen Castriotta said Tuesday that her city and other north metro municipalities were fed up with paying money into RTD and getting little service in exchange. RTD’s post-pandemic service restorations have favored routes with higher demand and ridership, which often are in or near Denver, over geographic coverage.

Broomfield pays $17 million annually to RTD but only has one bus line — the Flatiron Flyer — that stops in the city.

“We’re forced to pay the same amount every year, but we have no control over what kind of service RTD decides to give us,” she said.

The greatest lament in northwest communities — a complaint voiced often by Polis and some other officials — is RTD’s failure, due to insufficient funding, to build out the full B-Line commuter rail train to Boulder and Longmont as promised.

Polis previewed his desires for RTD reform in his January State of the State address, in which he said that state leaders “must reexamine governance and operational efficiencies” at the agency while improving local partnerships and transit-oriented development.

Ruscha, the RTD board member, expressed concern with the bill’s overall intent, including any proposed changes to how RTD interprets Title VI. She said the board already coordinated with the council of governments.

“I do not think that this bill concept is going to address the pain points that people have with RTD, as I can see it,” she said, relying on the conceptual outline.

Chris Nicholson, a regular rider of RTD buses and trains, is a candidate for RTD’s District A board seat in the November election to represent areas including central and east Denver. He said he did not disagree that RTD needed updates to how it operates.

But he questioned why everything should be addressed in one big bill and how a requirement that RTD coordinate on service plans with the council of governments would make it more nimble. He questioned how the sponsors did their homework, noting that a presentation provided to interested parties never mentions riders — beyond the criteria for one of the governor’s appointees — disabilities, people of color or people with low incomes.

“This has not been the kind of process that has centered people who really matter in this conversation,” Nicholson said. “Those people are not the governor or the people in the legislature.”

Stay up-to-date with Colorado Politics by signing up for our weekly newsletter, The Spot.

Source link

Click to comment

Denver, CO

Denver Broncos mock draft: Post-Jaylen Waddle trade

Published

3 hours ago

March 21, 2026

Press Room

Denver Broncos mock draft: Post-Jaylen Waddle trade

We’re coming back to the mock draft simulator this weekend. The Denver Broncos said ‘f dem picks’ and acquired wide receiver Jaylen Waddle from the Miami Dolphins this week. That trade provided a big boost to the offense, but it will make their 2026 NFL Draft much more challenging. With the reduction in draft capital, I decided to run several AUTOMATIC draft simulations through PFN to see what kind of players get mocked to them in the first two days of the draft.

Denver Broncos mock draft simulations

Broncos mock draft #1

In this first simulation, the Broncos drafted Arkansas running back Mike Washington Jr. People will say this would be a huge reach in the second round, but I think getting a guy who can be a first down, second down type back like J.K. Dobbins is a vital need for Denver in 2026.

Broncos mock draft #2

In the second simulation, the Broncos drafted offensive guard Keylan Rutledge out of Georgia Tech. This one surprised me and I don’t think I’d like this move very much if that’s what happened on draft day with just one pick in the first two days.

Broncos mock draft #3

In the third simulation, the Broncos traded up to the 54th spot in the second round to take defensive tackle Lee Hunter out of Texas Tech. They would give up pick 62 and pick 108 to secure the move. In a draft with so few picks, this would sting, but I wouldn’t hate it. Though Hunter is a 24 year old rookie, he is likely NFL ready in year one.

Broncos mock draft #4

In the fourth simulation, the Broncos drafted Arizona safety Genesis Smith in the second round. While I like JL Skinner and his special teams ability, Denver likely could use a long-term addition to the safety group. Smith would add a dynamic in coverage that the defense has often lacked — covering those tight ends and running backs.

Broncos mock draft #5

In the fifth and final simulation, the Broncos went with cornerback Keith Abney II out of Arizona State. People would probably hate the idea of taking a cornerback, but the Broncos have a decision to make between Ja’Quan McMillian and Riley Moss by next season. If they take a guy like Abney in the second round, it would give them tons of flexibility to make a trade somewhere else in the position group.

Of the five mocks, I only got excited over the Mike Washington Jr. outcome. Though I could see the reasoning behind all of the rest outside of taking a guard in the second round when they have decent depth already at that position.

What do you think? Or, better yet, run your own mock draft simulation and share it.

Horse Tracks

Source link

Denver, CO

University of Denver hockey’s unbeaten streak entering NCHC championship fueled by lights-out freshman goalie

Published

15 hours ago

March 20, 2026

Press Room

University of Denver hockey’s unbeaten streak entering NCHC championship fueled by lights-out freshman goalie

Johnny Hicks couldn’t care less that he stands 5-foot-10. He was born that way, after all.

There is a growing stigma in the hockey world, Hicks said, about size and height. The long-limbed keepers are prevalent. DU hockey just had a two-year run behind local legend Matt Davis, who was 6-foot-1. And the Pioneers went into the season with 6-foot-3 freshman Quentin Miller as the heir apparent to Davis, with Hicks, the other freshman goalie, waiting quietly in the wings.

Well — not too quietly, if you happened to observe a Denver practice anytime since Hicks arrived from the WHL’s Victoria Royals this summer.

“There’s obviously some lazy goalies out there,” star defenseman Eric Pohlkamp smiled on Thursday. “But (Johnny) doesn’t take a shot off. He’s blocking every shot, whatever it is. And no, he’s been super fun to watch. He competes every single day.

“And it’s tough for us, in practice, because we want to score.

It’s become quite tough for opponents, too, since Hicks first stepped in the goal for an injured Miller in late January. From that point on, an underwhelming DU squad — sitting at just 14-11-2 and 2-6-1 in their last nine matches — has gone streaking. Denver hasn’t been beaten across its last 12 matches heading into Saturday’s NCHC championship against No. 6 Minnesota Duluth, as a deep squad has finally found a flowing offense.

And Hicks has been the lynchpin in the goal, with a truly remarkable stretch since stepping in for Miller: an 11-0-1 record in 12 starts, with two shutouts and a .961 save percentage on the season.

“If they do get a breakaway, you know he’s got it,” Pohlkamp said. “So the confidence he gives you is unbelievable.”

Injury creates an opportunity

That offensive freedom, perhaps, wasn’t quite there early in the season for a historic program coming off another Frozen Four run in the 2024-25 season. Denver was averaging just two goals per outing over that nine-match slump, entering a Jan. 24 matchup with St. Cloud State, where Miller exited with an injury a few minutes into the game. The roster was gripping their sticks “a little harder,” as Keiran Cebrian said, to try and find net. A vicious cycle.

And the group didn’t quite know what to expect from Hicks when he first took up the mantle, Pohlkamp said.

“But then, he came in and was excellent right from the start, which is honestly really hard to do,” Pohlkamp said. “To get thrown in the fire like that and do what he did.”

Head coach David Carle of the University of Denver Pioneers moves a net during practice at Magness Arena in Denver on Thursday, March 19, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

DU’s staff knew plenty well what Hicks was capable of. Head coach David Carle and goaltenders coach Ryan Massa recruited Hicks out of Canada around this time last year, as Hicks was rehabbing from an injury. Carle noticed one key fact: once Hicks got hurt, his Victoria Royals club started to “nose-dive,” as Carle remembered.

“The teams he was on,” Carle said, “anytime he was in the net, were winning games.”

History is repeating itself, with Hicks in Denver. Shots are finding the net with more regularity across the past couple of months, as Carle’s 2025-26 group wields a remarkably balanced attack: 12 different Pioneers have more than 15 points, with the NCHC championship match and an NCAA tournament run still left to come. Pohlkamp, who leads Denver with 17 goals and 37 points, was named a top-10 finalist for the 2026 Hobey Baker Award, which recognizes the best men’s college hockey player in the country.

“If I get it, I get it,” Pohlkamp said. “But, really looking at this weekend, and Saturday, and then (NCAA) regionals in Loveland, so. Hopefully, I’ll put a ring on my finger. That’d put the cherry on top, for sure.”

Reid Varkonyi of the University of Denver Pioneers takes the ice during practice at Magness Arena in Denver on Thursday, March 19, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

That stretch starts Saturday against the sixth-seeded Bulldogs (23-13-1), as Hicks’ role takes on greater importance. Minnesota Duluth will trot out a formidable and wholly contrasting man in the goal: Adam Gajan, who was named to Slovakia’s Olympic team in January. He stands 6-foot-3. He is long where Hicks is shorter. And yet Hicks has already beaten him twice before — a Friday-Saturday back-to-back in late January, as Denver beat Minnesota Duluth 4-3 and 1-0 to realign their season at the start of Hicks’ dominant stretch.

Hicks, for one, has paid particular attention to not paying attention to his numbers. Or his prospect profile, with his height. Or any external chatter about his performance. He is trying to focus, moment-to-moment, on the patch of ice that he patrols directly below the crossbar.

“If I can do that, I can do anything,” Hicks said. “And I know this team has the exact same mindset.”

Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.

Source link

Denver, CO

Theater backed by DDA delays opening after convoluted city loan process

Published

1 day ago

March 20, 2026

Press Room

Theater backed by DDA delays opening after convoluted city loan process

Blair Russell and Steve Wargo kicked off their LoDo theater with a song and a dance.

It wasn’t their first production, but rather, the overly elaborate and frustrating process of getting money from the Denver Downtown Development Authority.

“By the end, it was like CC’ing just 10 people on emails, just hoping that one of the people was the right one,” Russell said.

The duo were awarded a $400,000 loan from the city affiliate last July to help them launch the Denver Immersive Repertory Theater at the corner of 15th and Blake streets. They said what ensued was months of back and forth, with redundant questioning and confusion from city staff.

“Some of them, it didn’t feel like they even knew who we were or what we were asking for,” Russell said.

The men finally got their loan last month. But they said the ordeal pushed back the theater’s opening date by at least two months.

“How do we plan to open a business when we have no idea how many more steps this is going to take, what the process is and what they really, truly expect the timeline is?” Wargo said.

DDA tasked with revitalizing downtown

The DDA has existed since 2008, when it was formed to redevelop Union Station. In the wake of the pandemic and years of construction along the 16th Street Mall, a small group of voters extended the organization’s mandate to the whole of downtown, approving $570 million in bond funding.

That money will be used for a variety of things intended to revitalize the area, from helping launch retailers to renovating parks and partially financing the conversion of offices into apartments. The money is generally expected to be repaid from the increase in taxes created by the new investments.

About $155 million has been awarded so far.

When Russell and Wargo applied for DDA funding in early 2025, their business plan was largely ironed out. The two were looking to open an “immersive” theater, where people come to participate in the play, not just watch. Its first production, “Midnight’s Dream,” will feature 11 rooms with scenes happening simultaneously — 18 hours of acting in each show.

The pair hoped to put DDA money toward the $750,000 build-out of their location at 1431 15th St. When they applied, they were under the impression that the award would be a grant.

“I think everybody went into this not knowing how the funds were going to be delivered,” Russell said. “So you just make some assumptions. And we heard that there were grant funds, we heard that there were loans — that they had different ways of implementing this.”

Ultimately, a loan is what they got. The terms: 10 years at 3% interest, better than they’d be able to get elsewhere. Mayor Mike Johnston announced July 30 that Russell and Wargo’s theater, along with nine other projects, would be awarded a combined $100 million.

“Today launches downtown Denver’s economic recovery into overdrive,” Johnston said at a news conference.

First recipients just now getting money

But as the mayor was speaking, the DDA had yet to even source the money it was awarding.

Among the funding recipients announced in July was Green Spaces, a recently shuttered RiNo coworking, event and retail space that’s opening at 16th and Welton streets.

“It wasn’t smooth, but it wasn’t a terrible, strenuous process,” Green Spaces CEO Jevon Taylor said of working with the city and DDA.

The 30-year-old entrepreneur said his opening date for Green Spaces was pushed back from spring to this summer. But he doesn’t attribute that to one party, instead saying that he faced difficulty getting everyone — the city, his landlord, his subtenants — on the same page.

“I was just playing middleman,” Taylor said.

The city approved DDA for its own loan in November, giving it the first tranche of funds to dole out. PNC Bank provided the authority with a $160 million loan expiring in July 2038 and a short-term, $50 million line of credit.

“When [the award] was announced, and when we applied, we went into it with the idea that we would use it to finish the core and shell construction on our space,” Russell said. “Because we didn’t get the money in September or October, we had to just move with our own funds to do that work.”

That’s when the conversation shifted from Russell and Wargo being asked by city officials how the business would operate and use the funds to how they wanted to receive the money. That stage of the process also took months.

“We couldn’t have done that before?” Russell recalls thinking.

Now, with the loan in hand and the build-out well underway, they plan to use the funds to pay actors and for other ancillary expenses.

Mosher: Process ‘was too cumbersome’

Bill Mosher, Denver’s chief projects officer and a primary architect of the DDA, told BusinessDen in an interview that the process could have been better.

“I cannot refute, disagree, or say anything they said is not true,” he said of Russell and Wargo.

The hang-up, Mosher said, was that the DDA put the recipients of the awards through a city program that distributes loans to small businesses. But that process was far more complex and intensive than needed, he said.

“It was too cumbersome, and we need to be more flexible,” he added.

Going forward, Mosher said, the DDA will play a larger role in administering its loans to businesses directly. That means having a primary point of contact and establishing guidelines on how the funds ought to be distributed.

Mosher pointed to the DDA’s process for office-to-residential conversion loans, which are outlined in a simple, one-page document on its website.

Despite their frustrations, Russell and Wargo said they’re grateful for the DDA funding. They said the involvement of the city affiliate even helped them pick up investors. The two had previously been self-funding the entire endeavor.

“It’s so rare to get that type of support for a project of this nature that [it] was actually a plus to investors,” Russell said.

Read more from our partner, BusinessDen.

Get more business news by signing up for our Economy Now newsletter.

Source link