Denver, CO
Poll finds steady support for Denver’s mayor but suggests new tax increases may face skepticism
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s popularity is holding steady after 11 months in office, according to a new poll released Wednesday, but its findings suggest a sales tax increase he’s pitching for the November ballot could face some skepticism from voters.
Johnston remains confident in his tax proposal, unveiled Monday. It would generate an estimated $100 million a year to expand on the city’s affordable housing work, including by preserving or building tens of thousands of units affordable to people now getting priced out of the city. His own internal polling suggests two-thirds of the city would support the tax increase, he said.
But the June survey of 409 registered Denver voters for the nonprofit Colorado Polling Institute found that a solid majority — 64% — believe the city’s taxes are already high. Among them, 35% said the city’s taxes were “way too high,” while 29% said they were “high but acceptable.”
Still, it’s been rare for Denver voters to turn down tax increases, and a pollster noted that plenty of voters voiced moderate opinions on the question.
Those responses were collected before Johnston announced his proposed 0.5% affordable housing sales tax. If the City Council gives its blessing in the weeks ahead, that new tax would share the November ballot with a new 0.34% sales tax being sought to shore up the finances of Denver Health, the city’s safety net hospital.
If both pass, the city’s effective sales tax rate would increase from 8.81% to 9.65%, making Denver stand out along the Front Range.
The bipartisan poll, conducted by Democratic polling organization Aspect Strategic and Republican firm New Bridge Strategy, was conducted via a mix of online and phone interviews between June 13 and 18. It has a margin of error of 4.85 percentage points.
In good news for the mayor, the poll found 48% of voters viewed him favorably. That’s virtually flat compared to the 46% who viewed Johnston favorably in a Colorado Polling Institute poll in August, just his second month on the job.
But the share viewing Johnston unfavorably climbed significantly, from 22% in August to 38% in June, according to the results.
That’s due in part to rising familiarity as Johnston has been in the news, including as he’s spearheaded a new homeless strategy and responded to the migrant crisis. Just 11% of voters told pollsters they had no opinion or had never heard of the mayor in June, down from 32% in August.
His favorability ratings in the new poll contrast with results from a Magellan Strategies survey of 1,595 Denver voters conducted in May. That poll found that 43% approved of his performance — while fully 50% disapproved. The margin of error was 2.45 percentage points.
The survey was conducted for the council’s central office primarily to gauge support for a potential tightening of term limits. Its contract with Magellan was valued at up to $29,000, council spokesman Robert Austin said. The poll also found that the council’s approval rating was underwater, with approval at 36% and disapproval at 49%.
Regardless of his own support levels, Johnston is banking that voters will approve his tax request in November.
On the Colorado Polling Institute survey’s taxes question, Lori Weigel, of New Bridge Strategy, viewed the responses with some nuance. She noted that just about any voter is liable to say they pay too much in taxes, which is why the poll allowed respondents to grade the city’s tax burden by offering several options: way too high, high but acceptable, about right and lower than what one would expect.
“When we look at the ‘high but acceptable’ or ‘about right’ (responses), it’s a majority sort of gravitating towards that middle spectrum,” Weigel said.
The Johnston administration has done its own polling. In a meeting with Denver Post journalists on Tuesday, the mayor said his data shows 65% of city voters would favor the “Affordable Denver” sales tax increase. That figure was steady regardless of whether respondents owned or rented their homes, he said.
“We were really surprised that you have total alignment between renters and homeowners, and you also have — not surprisingly — massive support from younger voters for this issue,” Johnston said. “As we know, if you can’t afford to live here, then all the rest of the other things are secondary.”
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Denver police arrested a 35-year-old man on suspicion of first-degree murder in a fatal shooting near East Colfax Avenue and North Dahlia Street.
Joseph York was arrested Thursday after detectives identified him as a suspect through interviews and surveillance video, the Denver Police Department said in a news release Friday.
Detectives believe York was arguing with the victim, 25-year-old Elijah Barr, before the shooting in the early hours of June 7, the Denver Police Department said in a news release Friday. The intersection is between the city’s South Park Hill and Hale neighborhoods.
Barr was found with multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the hospital.
York is being held without bail in the Downtown Detention Center and is set to appear in Denver County Court on Saturday, jail records show.
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Denver, CO
Claimed by Christ, Free in Him: Archbishop Golka Celebrates First Juneteenth Mass in Denver
The annual archdiocesan celebration highlighted human dignity, Black Catholic faith and the healing power of Christ’s love.
“This is my first Juneteenth celebration as a priest or a bishop. I’m honored that this could be my first, right here,” Denver Archbishop James Golka said during the Mass commemorating Juneteenth at Curé d’Ars Parish in Denver on Sunday, June 14.
Celebrating the day the Emancipation Proclamation reached enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, Juneteenth marks the end of slavery in the United States. This year’s annual archdiocesan Mass, organized by the Office of Black Catholic Ministry and bringing together parishes and groups from across Northern Colorado, also served to welcome the recently arrived archbishop, who was warmly greeted with processions by the Knights of Peter Claver and Ladies Auxiliary, liturgical participation by the Curé d’Ars youth group and choir, and additional music by the Queen of Peace African Catholic Society.
“You have a very beautiful church here. The building is okay, also,” Archbishop Golka remarked, noting the beauty of the people of God, the Church, amid laughter and applause.
Carolyne Richardson, member of the Knights of Peter Claver Ladies Auxiliary at St. Ignatius of Loyola, was particularly touched by Golka’s quiet enthusiasm.
“The church was overflowing with diverse ethnicities joining in this celebration. Everyone was elated to meet Archbishop Golka. He seemed to look each parishioner in the eye with genuine care and concern,” she noted. “It was sheer jubilation watching him sing the gospel songs along with the choir.”
Recalling his time with fellow bishops at their annual spring meeting in Florida, the archbishop reflected on Pope Leo’s encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, and its discussion on the reality of slavery.
“Although there was not always consistency in practice — slavery was long tolerated before being unequivocally condemned — there has been a continuous affirmation throughout history of the dignity of every human being created in the image of God, even if it took eighteen centuries for the full incompatibility with slavery to be explicitly recognized,” the Holy Father wrote. “This constitutes a wound in Christian memory, one for which we cannot consider ourselves detached. It is impossible not to feel deep sorrow when contemplating the immense suffering and humiliation endured by so many in stark contrast to their immeasurable dignity as persons infinitely loved by the Lord” (Magnifica Humanitas 176).
“Finally, Pope Leo says this to you, to all of us,” the archbishop noted as he finished quoting the Holy Father’s encyclical. “‘For this, in the name of the Church, I sincerely ask for pardon.”
(Photos by Matt Walker/Denver Catholic)
In his characteristically deeply pastoral way, Archbishop Golka offered the deep, personal love of Christ as a spiritual foundation and antidote to any and all attacks against humanity, be they in the form of slavery or the lurking dangers of artificial intelligence.
“At your Baptism, you were claimed by Jesus Christ. That’s our identity. The evil one tries to make us forget that. We forget that we are beloved children of God. We begin to think that maybe we are worthless, that there’s no reason why we’re here. That is a lie,” the archbishop emphasized. “When God created the universe, he had you in mind, to be here at this time, and this place for his purposes. And he wants to use you in everything. That means, he can use your weakness and your mistakes if you let him.”
The call to surrender more completely to the Lord of love, whose Sacred Heart burns in love for souls, resonated deeply with those in attendance.
“The Mass was more beautiful than I could have imagined,” said Kateri Williams, director of the Office of Black Catholic Ministry. “Archbishop Golka’s homily deeply touched those in attendance, and many were moved to tears as he spoke of the Father’s unconditional love and as he reminded us that each of us has a unique purpose and calling in God’s plan.”
Osahon “Osi” Ogbeide, one of several members of the Youth Ministry at Curé d’Ars who read the Prayers of the Faithful, was also taken by the seeming contradiction in Archbishop Golka’s homily.
“The homily focusing on being a slave and surrendering to the lord was very impactful because it reminded me that God wants the best for us. And that can only be achieved in surrendering to him,” he said.
As we continue to surrender to God and follow his plan, even when it surprises and confounds us, we participate in the Kingdom of God, the archbishop concluded.
“God’s purposes are much more immense than my plan. My plan is pretty puny,” Archbishop Golka said. “God’s purposes began with creation, and they’re going to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the Reign of God. We get to participate in the Reign of God coming, if you use God’s gifts for God and God’s purposes.”
Factors such as declining birth rates and families moving out of the city are contributing to declining enrollment at Denver Public Schools. In turn, it’s reshaping the district’s future.
“I think we’re in a good position, but it’s responsible for us to always be looking in the future and knowing we have to make some adjustments,” said Chuck Carpenter, the district’s CFO.
In a two-year span between this past school year and next, DPS expects a decline in enrollment of around 1,700 students.
“We haven’t really seen anything like this,” said Carpenter in response to the consistent decline.
Because of this trend, the district is facing a $28 million structural deficit over the next five years.
“We have a balanced budget now, and we’re not predicting that we’ll have an unbalanced budget in three years,” said Carpenter. “We’re saying we need to make adjustments over the next three, four years, so that our budgets are balanced.”
DPS’s Director of Campus Planning, Andrew Huber, told CBS Colorado in an interview last month that those adjustments will likely include closing down more schools.
“Additional school closures will be necessary in the upcoming years. When exactly that would be is hard to forecast right now,” said Huber.
The district’s CFO says his biggest takeaway from a recent round of closures is to make sure to give families options for what’s next.
“No one wants their school closed, but the second-best option isn’t going to be the same for every family,” said Carpenter.
This issue could be one Denver faces for years to come.
“We sort of say, how many kids are born here? Because in five years, those kids will be kindergartners,” Carpenter added.
The city’s birth rate peaked in 2005, meaning those babies have already graduated high school. And, according to the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, more young families move out of Denver and into surrounding counties than move into the city.
“I think school consolidation is very — I understand why people want to talk about it, but I think it’s more about, like, how do we make sure that the programs that are offered are rich programs,” said Carpenter.
Carpenter also says the district is closely monitoring some potential cuts to federal grants for students of poverty and language learners. He says those decisions will be made by October for the start of the new fiscal year, and cuts would have a “terrible” impact.
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