Go to: Candidate Q&A home page · Denver Post Voter Guide
Note: Denver City Council elections are officially nonpartisan. The Denver Post gave candidates the option of noting any affiliation with a political party or membership in political groups.
Alfredo Reyes
Residence: Harvey Park
Profession: Nonprofit Executive and Community-Engaged Researcher
Education: Denver Public Schools; Colorado College; CU Boulder; Gates Millennium Scholar; doctoral study in community change
Experience: Led the coalition behind the Latino Cultural Arts Center; co-authored the River Sisters environmental framework in the West Denver Area Plan; Denver Citizen Oversight Board.
Political affiliations: Unaffiliated. The at-large seat should answer to all of Denver.
What are your top three priorities, if elected?
A Denver that puts families, youth, elders, and small business first, not just the creative and professional class and major corporations. Affordability: fund the paths to homeownership, bring back the starter condo, and make childcare affordable so families can stay. Public safety as an ecosystem: prevention first and restoring the AID Center with wraparound supports and case managers. Dollars that deliver: Denver signs 3,000 contracts without tracking what stays local. I’ll read every contract and push local hiring. Denver’s once-in-a-lifetime stadium and river investments must build a city we all benefit from.
What types of transportation improvements should the city prioritize in future budgets?
Start with what voters already ordered: sidewalks. Denver promised a connected sidewalk network, and I’ll fight to fund it on schedule, beginning with the routes our kids walk to school. Then complete streets: protected bike lanes, safer crossings, and safer speeds on residential streets, because no family should need a car to reach work, school, or a park. On transit, I’ll be honest: RTD isn’t run by the city, but council shapes land use around stations and can partner on bus rapid transit corridors. Before widening Peña Boulevard, DEN should finish designs for double-tracking the A Line.
Denver has a contract with Axon to provide 50 license-plate-reading cameras at 20 intersections. When that contract expires in March, what should Denver do regarding the use of this technology?
Let it expire until Denver has rules. Council approved this contract without an overarching surveillance policy, and thatap backwards. Tracking the movements of an entire city is not routine procurement. Before any renewal, council should adopt guardrails in ordinance: a defined purpose, strict retention limits, audit logs, public reporting on outcomes, and an absolute bar on selling it or using it to train corporate AI. If the technology can’t pass those tests, Denver shouldn’t buy it. Our data shouldn’t be collected, kept, or sold without our say.
A Denver proposal called “” would change the zoning code to allow more duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes in residential areas. Once the details are ironed out, the council will likely consider the concept. Do you support the broad strokes of the idea, and why or why not?
I support missing middle housing in the right places, and the pared-down UHC is closer to getting it right. Neighbors already told us where it makes sense: our adopted plans call for duplexes and fourplexes on corner lots, near transit, parks, and schools, with antidisplacement protections in place first. Growth should follow that guidance and respect neighborhood character rather than being left to investors and speculators. In Harvey Park, where I live, our plan points new density toward Federal Boulevard as bus rapid transit arrives. Get the details right and build homes families can actually own, not just rent.
Whitney Traylor
Residence: Skyland
Profession: Attorney/Mediator/Media Legal Analyst
Education: Morehouse College B.A.; Emory University School of Law J.D.
Experience: A practicing attorney for 30 years, professional mediator for 10 years, professor at MSU Denver for 15 years, 9News legal analyst since 2017.
Political affiliations: Unaffiliated
What are your top three priorities, if elected?
1. Accountability for every dollar. Too often, city contracts are renewed without checking what they delivered. As a trial lawyer, I find what others miss. Before seeking new revenue, tie every dollar to outcomes, not activity.
2. Housing people can afford. Sequence growth near transit and job centers first, protect renters, and prevent displacement in neighborhoods that have already lost too much.
3. Small businesses that thrive. Faster permits, sensible fees, and real access to city contracts, so owners focus on customers, not red tape.
As an independent voice, I’ll make City Hall answer for results.
What types of transportation improvements should the city prioritize in future budgets?
I’ve been car-free for over a year, so I see firsthand where sidewalks end, bike lanes vanish, and buses run late.
1. Safety first: fix the most dangerous intersections, and build protected, connected bike lanes and complete sidewalks.
2. Frequent, faster buses: most transit riders take the bus. Deliver Colfax BRT on time and on budget, and grow the network of routes running every 15 minutes or better.
3. Equity: invest first in neighborhoods that have waited longest and in riders without cars–seniors, shift workers, people with disabilities.
Every project should report measurable results: fewer deaths, faster trips, more miles built.
Denver has a contract with Axon to provide 50 license-plate-reading cameras at 20 intersections. When that contract expires in March, what should Denver do regarding the use of this technology?
As a civil rights attorney, I oppose this technology. License plate readers record the movements of everyone who drives past, not just suspects, and that violates people’s privacy and constitutional rights. Denver’s Flock camera data was searched for immigration-related reasons more than 1,400 times.
If Denver keeps it, safeguards must come first: a council-passed surveillance ordinance, not contract terms a mayor can rewrite; an independent audit of how cameras were used, what crimes they helped solve, and any misuse; and strict enforcement of the ban on federal data sharing. If the evidence doesn’t justify the intrusion, end it.
A Denver proposal called “” would change the zoning code to allow more duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes in residential areas. Once the details are ironed out, the council will likely consider the concept. Do you support the broad strokes of the idea, and why or why not?
I support the goal, and I would sequence it. Denver needs more homes, market-rate and income-restricted, because scarcity drives up prices. I would focus the most growth where it delivers the most homes with the fewest tradeoffs: near rail stations, frequent bus corridors, and job centers, allowing more housing types by right. In other neighborhoods, I support ADUs and would look at duplexes and triplexes with input from the neighborhoods. Zoning is only half the problem. I would cut review times to a 90-day target and study our fees. Success means homes built, not plans announced.
Jeff Walker
Residence: Rosedale
Profession: Compliance Manager
Education: Master of Arts (Public Administration)
Experience: Served on over one dozen civic organizations since 2004, such as Denver Planning Board, RTD Board, Reimagine Policing task force, Better Denver and Elevate Denver subcommittees.
Political affiliations: Democrat
What are your top three priorities, if elected?
Traffic safety, housing affordability, communication with constituents.
What types of transportation improvements should the city prioritize in future budgets?
Slower speeds on arterials like Federal, better sidewalks, increased density.
Denver has a contract with Axon to provide 50 license-plate-reading cameras at 20 intersections. When that contract expires in March, what should Denver do regarding the use of this technology?
Denver should look at what data were collected, how they were used (ratio of data collected to crimes solved, violations addressed) and if there were any misuses of the data. Itap extremely important to make sure the terms of the contract were followed.
A Denver proposal called “” would change the zoning code to allow more duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes in residential areas. Once the details are ironed out, the council will likely consider the concept. Do you support the broad strokes of the idea, and why or why not?
I support. It should provide more options for where people live and work. It should also provide improved ridership for transit. However, itap still very expensive to build residential units.
Gabriel Konkle
Residence: Athmar Park
Profession: Software Architect
Education: Some College
Experience: I have been on both sides of the poverty line and done everything from driving school buses and manual labor to serving on the board of a nonprofit and being a Director of Data Science.
Political affiliations: The Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America.
What are your top three priorities, if elected?
1. Actual Affordable Housing. Median income is the wrong measurement for housing affordability. The fact is, 1 in 5 Denverites can’t reasonably afford 98% of housing. That must change. I plan to rezone much of Denver to break up the single-family home monopoly and bring affordable housing to all.
2. Ending AI Overreach. Automated License Plate Readers track everyone’s movements throughout the city, AI police drones scan faces without a warrant, and data centers are being built that will drain our water reserves in a drought. I plan to institute outright bans for all of these activities.
3. Pre-K For All. I don’t know how feasible Mayor Johnston’s re-election childcare effort is. Regardless, I will draft legislation for expansion of our public Pre-K to full-time and for 3 year olds.
What types of transportation improvements should the city prioritize in future budgets?
More BRT corridors (with MUCH better protections in place for the small businesses affected by construction), investment in RTD’s Cost-Sharing Partnership program to ensure on-time and frequent buses in Denver, double-tracking the A-Line train to the airport, automated speeding cameras in high-traffic areas in Denver, more speed bumps and dips and roundabouts in Denver’s residential areas, more dedicated bike lanes and trails throughout Denver, and support for the Colorado Connector plan!
Denver has a contract with Axon to provide 50 license-plate-reading cameras at 20 intersections. When that contract expires in March, what should Denver do regarding the use of this technology?
We should remove the cameras that are violating our constitutional rights, discontinue our relationship with Axon for these AI-powered cameras, and put ordinances in place to ensure such technologies cannot be deployed in Denver again.
A Denver proposal called “” would change the zoning code to allow more duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes in residential areas. Once the details are ironed out, the council will likely consider the concept. Do you support the broad strokes of the idea, and why or why not?
I do support the broad strokes of UHC. I think it’s a good first step towards rezoning and affordable housing in Denver. I worry that developers will target disadvantaged communities for the redevelopments, however, and families will be displaced. So, alongside UHC or soon after, I want to expand Denver’s displacement protections for marginalized communities. I will vote in favor of UHC, though.
Cynthia Diaz
Residence: Inspiration Point
Profession: Small business owner; health care economist and data scientist
Education: B.A. Ethnic Studies, CU Boulder; B.A. Economics, M.A. Economics, CU Denver
Experience: Owner, Tonantzin Casa de Cafe. Health care economist, Kaiser Permanente and IBM Watson. Organizer with SEIU Justice for Janitors, ACORN, and Mexico Solidarity Network. Counselor, Servicios de la Raza
Political affiliations: Unaffiliated
What are your top three priorities, if elected?
Keeping small businesses open. Independent shops are closing across Denver, and we lose neighborhood character and the sales tax that funds city services. I would cut the fees and permitting delays that hit small operators hardest, and fund mitigation inside construction budgets.
Housing people can afford, with protections so longtime residents are not priced out of neighborhoods they built.
Budget accountability. I am an economist. Denver just closed a $200 million gap. Before we cut again, I want to know which programs work and which communities carry the cost. We cannot cut services for the people who need them most.
What types of transportation improvements should the city prioritize in future budgets?
Start with what the city controls. RTD runs the buses; Denver runs the streets. That means bus lanes and signal priority on the highest-ridership corridors. Then maintenance before expansion, and business mitigation funded inside construction budgets. I own a shop on a corridor under construction. We ask small businesses to absorb years of disruption and call it progress.
Denver has a contract with Axon to provide 50 license-plate-reading cameras at 20 intersections. When that contract expires in March, what should Denver do regarding the use of this technology?
Let it expire. Denver scanned about 2 million license plates a month. We were not investigating 2 million people. That is the whole problem, and it does not depend on whether the technology works. It does not. No randomized trial has found these reduce crime, and officers nationwide keep getting caught running searches on ex-partners, usually discovered by the victim instead of an audit.
But I would not want a permanent record of where my neighbors drive even if it did work. Let the contract lapse.
A Denver proposal called “” would change the zoning code to allow more duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes in residential areas. Once the details are ironed out, the council will likely consider the concept. Do you support the broad strokes of the idea, and why or why not?
Yes, with protections. Denver has gotten too expensive for the people who keep it running. Teachers, nurses, the people who staff our clinics and restaurants. And we have almost nothing between a single-family house and a big apartment building. We need that middle. People also care about their neighborhoods and the families who built them. We need options for sellers who don’t want to sell to developers who build McMansions. I support this with real protections attached: limits on teardowns, an affordability requirement, and anti-displacement money in the same ordinance. Not promised later.
Melissa Mejía
Residence: Chaffee Park
Profession: Housing Policy Strategist and Consultant
Education: DPS graduate, Bachelor’s in psychology and Master’s of Public Administration, both from the University of Colorado Denver
Experience: I work in restaurants for 10 years. After returning to school, I worked for a Council office, was Head of Policy for a housing nonprofit, and recently supported a community organization’s policy work.
Political affiliations: Registered Democrat, member of Denver Democratic Socialists of America
What are your top three priorities, if elected?
My top three priorities are affordability, an economy that works for working people, and a city government that delivers reliable services in every neighborhood. That means protecting renters, expanding affordable housing and making it easier for families to stay in Denver. It means supporting workers and small businesses while ensuring large corporations pay their fair share and follow the same rules as everyone else. And it means focusing on the basics: safe streets, clean parks, dependable transportation, responsive city services and greater accountability at City Hall.
What types of transportation improvements should the city prioritize in future budgets?
Denver should prioritize reliable public transit, safer streets, protected bike infrastructure, better sidewalks and crossings, and traffic-calming measures that reduce dangerous speeds. Transportation investments should also center people who are too often overlooked in street design, including children, seniors and people with disabilities. I also support stronger coordination with RTD, including expanding high-quality bus rapid transit and improving connections between neighborhoods. The goal should be a transportation system where driving is not the only practical option, and where every Denverite can get around safely, affordably and reliably.
Denver has a contract with Axon to provide 50 license-plate-reading cameras at 20 intersections. When that contract expires in March, what should Denver do regarding the use of this technology?
I would not vote to renew the Axon contract. Public safety should not require Denverites to give up their privacy and civil liberties. Before the city adopts surveillance technology, residents deserve clear answers about what data is collected, how long it is retained, who can access it and whether it can be shared with outside agencies. Those safeguards should exist before a contract is approved, not after. Denver should invest in proven approaches to public safety and community well-being while setting a much higher bar for technologies that can track people’s movements throughout our city.
A Denver proposal called “” would change the zoning code to allow more duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes in residential areas. Once the details are ironed out, the council will likely consider the concept. Do you support the broad strokes of the idea, and why or why not?
Yes. Denver needs more housing choices, and allowing duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes in more neighborhoods is one important part of that. Zoning reform alone will not solve our affordability crisis, though. I want to see the final proposal include strong protections against displacement, incentives for genuinely affordable housing, and strong standards that discourage the demolition of existing, naturally affordable homes simply to replace them with luxury units. We should make it easier to build more homes and create opportunities for multigenerational families, first-time homebuyers and people who want to stay in their neighborhoods as their needs change.
Jake Browne
Residence: Regis
Profession: Marketing Director
Education: Metro, a second-chance high school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Attended Westwood College.
Experience: A decade producing events: staff, budgets, regulations, angry neighbors. Writing for The Denver Post’s Cannabist and for Westword, and bartending.
Political affiliations: Registered Democrat
What are your top three priorities, if elected?
Real money back in pockets. Five cents on every dollar of your heat goes to the city. I’d propose ending that. When we cut services, like recycling, your bill goes down, too.
Landlord reform. Small businesses get fair lease renewals or get paid to move. Buildings that sit empty pay a fee that goes up every month. Renters get better access to the city’s property tax relief program.
End AI surveillance, both on the street and in the workplace. Traffic cams shouldn’t spy on us and software shouldn’t count your clicks.
What types of transportation improvements should the city prioritize in future budgets?
Most days I just want my drive to be a little less dumb. The light that stays red for a cross-street nobody’s on. The lane full of orange cones that moved in and never left.
Both are the city’s to fix. Retime the signals on the streets people drive most, worst first, and publish when each was last retimed. When a city project closes a lane, the contract says when it reopens, and the contractor pays for every day it doesn’t. None of it costs anybody a crosswalk.
Denver has a contract with Axon to provide 50 license-plate-reading cameras at 20 intersections. When that contract expires in March, what should Denver do regarding the use of this technology?
A license plate reader photographs your car every time you roll past. It watches you. You don’t get to watch back.
No city law says what Denver can buy, what happens to the pictures, or who gets to look. So pass the law first. I’ve pledged to vote no on every surveillance technology contract and renewal until Denver passes an ordinance that requires disclosure of capabilities and council approval.
A Denver proposal called “” would change the zoning code to allow more duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes in residential areas. Once the details are ironed out, the council will likely consider the concept. Do you support the broad strokes of the idea, and why or why not?
The apartment building I rented at 32nd and Tejon is Williams and Graham now. Great bar. Nobody lives there.
The neighborhoods aren’t being preserved. They’re being redeveloped one bigger house at a time: a little brick house comes down, and what goes up is three times the size.
So yes. Duplexes through fourplexes are the starter homes Denver quit building. My vote on the final version turns on affordability set before the vote, relocation help and a right to return for renters, something for the neighbors who stay, and a review clause.
Monica Martinez
Residence: Hilltop
Profession: Executive director of The Fax Partnership, an East Colfax nonprofit
Education: Master’s from LBJ School of Public Affairs, BA from UC Berkeley
Experience: Nonprofit Executive Director since 2015, worked for an attainable housing developer in 2007-10, affordable housing policy lead and 311 project manager under Mayor Hickenlooper, 2003-07
Political affiliations: I am a proud Democrat running to fight for the people of Denver and make sure the future of our city is shaped by the people who call it home.
What are your top three priorities, if elected?
Federal policies are deepening the affordability crisis, but Denver can make a difference. Leading The Fax Partnership for 11 years on East Colfax, I’ve seen families squeezed by housing and transportation, their two largest household expenses. I will champion increased transportation investments and housing density on transit corridors so we can change the economics of everyday life and transform families’ lives. We also need to restore people’s trust in government; I will advocate for improved customer service that will save residents time and money. Government earns trust when it works on people’s behalf rather than shifting its burdens onto them.
What types of transportation improvements should the city prioritize in future budgets?
Future transportation budgets should focus on building a network that makes travel safer and more affordable. Through The Fax and raising my daughter in Denver, I see how transportation affects families. Our investment in BRT will be most effective when paired with housing along those corridors and microtransit connecting underserved neighborhoods. With 94 people killed on Denver’s streets last year, we need to invest in street design that reduces dangerous speeds and prevents crashes. Transportation is the second-largest household expense, which is why budgets should prioritize investments that reduce what families spend getting around while making our streets safer.
Denver has a contract with Axon to provide 50 license-plate-reading cameras at 20 intersections. When that contract expires in March, what should Denver do regarding the use of this technology?
Working on East Colfax has reinforced my belief in the importance of keeping residents and small businesses safe. I am deeply interested in understanding the outcomes of the Axon contract to determine if reductions in crime result from this technology. I would renew the contract only if analysis demonstrates a meaningful public safety benefit while protecting residents’ civil liberties and privacy. Continuation of the contract requires safeguards for data use and an absolute prohibition on sharing it with ICE or using it for immigration enforcement. If the technology cannot meet both standards, I would not support renewing the contract.
A Denver proposal called “” would change the zoning code to allow more duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes in residential areas. Once the details are ironed out, the council will likely consider the concept. Do you support the broad strokes of the idea, and why or why not?
Denver is estimated to have a 40,000-unit housing gap. To effectively reduce this, we need to create more workforce housing within our existing neighborhoods that the marketplace develops. UHC is a means of this, enabling the City to reserve its precious public dollars for supporting 40% AMI and below units that the market doesn’t serve. To realize the benefits, I would pair this reform with low-interest construction loans helping existing homeowners add units in exchange for affordability commitments, making sure these changes create housing opportunities while allowing more Denver residents to build wealth as our city grows.
Raymon Doane
Residence: Green Valley Ranch
Profession: Tax Professional, Loan Broker
Education: MBA, University of South Carolina-Aiken
Experience: Budget Director for House Minority Office, Business Analyst/Tax Examiner – Department of Revenue, Property Tax Specialist – Department of Local Affairs, Election Judge/Voter Clerk – Denver Elections
Political affiliations: Republican, Libertarian, Unaffiliated
What are your top three priorities, if elected?
Make Denver Parks and Rec a self-funded department
Improve streets and reduce construction times
Improve business regulations
What types of transportation improvements should the city prioritize in future budgets?
It should prioritize public transportation for the elderly and youth (safety and affordability). When the bus is safe for children and the elderly, more people will utilize it.
Denver has a contract with Axon to provide 50 license-plate-reading cameras at 20 intersections. When that contract expires in March, what should Denver do regarding the use of this technology?
Let it expire, and begin to actually repair the roads that the vehicles that cross these intersections drive on. We can invest in safer crossings and better sidewalks (something that is required by ordinance).
A Denver proposal called “” would change the zoning code to allow more duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes in residential areas. Once the details are ironed out, the council will likely consider the concept. Do you support the broad strokes of the idea, and why or why not?
I support the broad strokes of the idea as it unlocks opportunities for more individuals to obtain housing. There will be homes and neighborhoods that maintain their “character,” as the market won’t allow for a complete overhaul of a community.
Julissa Soto did not return the questionnaire.
