Ted Laszlo, the president of Denver-based Vertix, said he had been negotiating with the zoo for months, with offers to fix problems associated with a $19 million sea lion habitat that was completed last year and opened in June. In fact, he said he believes the zoo still owes the company and 25 of its subcontractors $800,000 for their work

“The exhibit opened 10 months ago, and we’re still waiting to get paid, so unfortunately our response will have to come with a counterclaim,” Laszlo told The Denver Post on Thursday. “These are not change orders or amounts in dispute. These are agreed-upon sums owed to Vertix and our subcontractors.”

The zoo filed suit on March 17, alleging that Vertix and Barker Rinker Seacast Architecture (BRS) breached their contract by providing substandard work and materials that have led to leaks, rust and broken pumps in the Schlossman Shores habitat, which is home to five California sea lions. The zoo is seeking unspecified damages in Denver District Court.

Zoo officials said the money owed to Vertix is being withheld for the reasons laid out in the lawsuit — namely, Vertix’s alleged unwillingness to fix its mistakes.

“As stated in the complaint, under the contract, DZCA may withhold or offset any amount due to Vertix if Vertix refuses to correct its work — which is what has occurred here,” zoo spokesman Jake Kubié said. “It is imperative that the sea lion habitat be built in a manner that will stand the test of time.”

Vertix has worked on multiple projects at the zoo since 2020, starting with an African penguin exhibit that greets visitors at the entrance. Laszlo said. The company has also built or worked on a flamingo habitat, an African crane exhibit, and the renovation of Lighthouse Pizza (now Cafe Costa). One of its most high-profile contracts was the $7.8 million, open-air Down Under wallaby and kangaroo habitat, which opened in 2024.

Zoo officials acknowledged those projects, but drew a distinction between those and the current one.

“Each project stands on its own and is built with different project managers and subcontractors. DZCA has not sued Vertix on other projects at this time,” Kubié said. “This lawsuit is not about past projects; it����ap about this one, and the items that need to be corrected for the benefit of the sea lions.”

As a longtime donor, Laszlo said Vertix is ultimately a supporter of the zoo’s conservation and education mission, which makes the organization’s lawsuit even stranger to him. In the days leading up to the suit, he said Vertix’s vice president, Brady McQuinn, met with acting zoo CEO Cristal Torres DeHerrera, “and we thought we had a solution to the issues they presented.”

He added that “we stand by the exhibit. … It’s fantastic, and anybody who visits can see it’s a high-quality exhibit.”

The habitat, called Schlessman Shores, was supposed to be a state-of-the-art facility for the zoo’s California sea lions when it debuted in June 2025, complete with “a deep saltwater pool, sunny rocky shores, and immersive underwater views — all designed to support natural behaviors and create unforgettable guest experiences,” zoo officials .

The new habitat was also supposed to save 8 million gallons of water per year with newly efficient back-end systems. The former California sea lion habitat, Northern Shores, opened in 1987 and had not been updated in nearly 40 years. The two-year construction timeline meant the zoo’s five sea lions had to be housed elsewhere during that time.

However, zoo officials are now citing dozens of problems with the completed habitat, which is already dangerous, unsightly, and a waste of resources, according to the lawsuit, which was filed on March 17 in Denver District Court. They’re seeking unspecified damages from Colorado companies Vertix Builders and Barker Rinker Seacast Architecture (BRS).

“We are committed to resolving this matter as efficiently as possible, and to ensuring the habitat stands the test of time and meets the agreed-upon intent to provide our animals with a high-quality environment,” the Denver Zoo Conservation Foundation Alliance wrote in a statement provided to The Denver Post.

The complaint includes four separate claims, with two each against Vertix and BRS for breach of contract and breach of warranty. The lawsuit includes claims that BRS’s design failures resulted in construction delays and additional costs to “raise the pool, curbs, skimmers and to revise the beach area,” as well as failures in the design for the sump pump, pool, and barriers. BRS also failed to specify appropriate caging and metal hardware, resulting in rust, the zoo claimed.

“DZA made known to BRS the presence of these errors, omissions, and deficiencies,” according to the lawsuit. However, BRS failed to correct or resolve the problems, “which fall below the standard of professional practice.”

The lawsuit also claims Vertix’s poor work resulted in broken sump pumps, areas of water leakage, a falling pipe, exposed metal ties, peeling paint, faulty caulking, rust, and salt water leaching from the habitat’s upper pool into the moat, among others.

Vertix also failed to correct its work after the zoo notified them of the problems, the lawsuit claims.

The zoo is being represented by Tiffanie D. Stasiak and Lisa M. Saccomano of Denver-based firm Kutak Rock.

Vertix and BRS did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Throughout April. Colorado isn’t New Zealand, but the state is still one of the largest producers of sheep in the U.S., coming in behind only California and Texas when it comes to the number of animals raised here: 405,000 in 2025, according to the American Sheep Industry Association. That����ap why many chefs and restaurateurs here believe that lamb is one of Colorado’s signature dishes.

As a result, more than half a dozen of the state’s best-known chefs will participate in Lamb Jam 2026 throughout April, preparing dishes priced under $30 and “available on bar, happy hour, or small plates menus,” according to organizers at the American Lamb Board. Participating chefs and restaurants include: Dana Rodriguez of Work & Class, Alex Grenier of Mercantile, Ty Leon of Restaurant Olivia, Zach Warren of Kawa Ni, Erasmo Casiano of Xiquita Restaurante y Bar, Manny Barella of Riot BBQ and Bo Porytko of Molotov. Diners can vote online for their favorites. Get more information at . — Jonathan Shikes

World-class breakdancing

Friday. Break yourself, fools! Some of the best breakdancing you’ll ever see is coming to Denver’s Boettcher Concert Hall this weekend with Red Bull BC One. The event “will bring out top talent and internationally recognized breakers to the city to celebrate its thriving breaking community,” organizers wrote.

“Open to all ages, Red Bull BC One Cypher Denver will see the country’s top B-Boys and B-Girls battle for the regional crown. Composed of prelim winners and wildcards, 16 B-Boys and 8 B-Girls will go head-to-head in 1v1 elimination rounds,” they added. “In the leadup to the event, Red Bull BC One will host workshops and open prelims, giving local breakers the opportunity to learn from some of the world’s best and compete for a spot on the main stage.”

It all goes down at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 3, at the Denver Performing Arts Complex, 100 14th St. in Denver. All ages. General admission is $15 via . — John Wenzel

Easter egg hunt

Saturday. One of the metro area’s best family egg-hunts returns on Saturday, April 4, just in time for Easter (which is the next day, Sunday, April 5) at Four Mile Historic Park in Denver with two sessions from 8:30 a.m.-noon and 1:30-5 p.m. “Each session features age-specific egg hunts – including a brand-new adult-only hunt — a magic show and live music. Plus, a meet and greet with the Easter Bunny, tractor rides, Four Mile House tours, croquet, egg rolling contests, egg and spoon races, Tales & Tails story time, face painting, crafts and more,” organizers wrote.

A pre-sale ticket costs $20 for general admission and $35 for the goodies-filled Extra Easter Experience. Prices go up just before the event to $25 and $40, respectively. 715 S. Forest St. in Denver. Call 720-865-0800 or see more details at . — John Wenzel

Glowing Wild

Through May 10.  Themed lighting displays: They’re not just for the holidays anymore. Take Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance’s Glowing Wild, which returned for its second showing in mid-March and continues select nights through May 10. (See for full calendar.)

The installation re-creates “the lush forests of Asia to radiant reefs of Australia,” organizers wrote online. “Guests will experience the glimmer of 60 illuminated scenes and 175 new larger-than-life lantern sculptures that bring animals and their stories to light, all handcrafted by Chinese artisans.” See it between 6:30 and 10 on event nights. Tickets are $20 for youths, $28 for adults, and free for kids 2 and under. 2300 Steele St. in Denver. Call 720-337-1400 for more details. — John Wenzel

Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance officials announced Hesty’s pregnancy on Thursday and said the baby’s father, Jaya, will also be a first-time parent.

“This is an exciting milestone for the critically endangered species and an extra special moment for us as Hesty was born at DZCA in 2010 and is now becoming a mom herself,” zoo officials wrote in a post on Facebook.

Jaya, who moved to the zoo in 2019, and Hesty have spent time together in the past few years as part of a breeding recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums species survival plan.

“While there are always risks with first-time pregnancies, our expert teams are carefully preparing for Hesty’s birthing window and are ready to provide support if needed,” zoo leaders said Thursday. “Hesty required brief assist-rearing as an infant before reuniting with her mother, so our teams are planning for every possibility to give both mom and baby the best start.”

Hesty is in her late second trimester, and her due date is in late May, according to the zoo.

have similar gestation cycles to humans – between 260 and 270 days, compared to 280 days for humans – and usually give birth to a single baby weighing 3 to 4.5 pounds, according to the DZCA.

Orangutans carry around their babies for the first two or three years and continue to nurse them until they are six or seven years old.

The Denver Zoo is welcoming an endangered Huon tree kangaroo joey to first-time parents Pearl and Tristan.

The joey, a boy with a pink nose, was born in late July, according to a . He was the size of a jellybean when born but has since grown bigger and stronger and is now poking his little head out of his mom’s pouch, the zoo said.

Over the past few months, zoo staff said they have been closely monitoring the joey using “voluntary pouch-check training” and a specialized scope to ensure the baby is meeting his key developmental milestones.

“We’re happy to report that both mom and joey are doing well!” the zoo said Thursday in a social media post. “The joey has been busy wiggling around in Pearl’s pouch, and Animal Care Specialists are beginning to spot him moving in and out of the pouch. In the coming months, he’ll continue taking brief trips outside before eventually venturing out on his own.”

Parents Pearl and Tristan arrived at the zoo in 2023 as part of an Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan (SSP) breeding recommendation, Denver Zoo said.

“Native to the mountainous rainforests of Papua New Guinea, Huon tree kangaroos are uniquely adapted for life in the trees, using their powerful forelimbs and long tails to climb and balance,” the zoo said. “Habitat loss and hunting pressures have caused their wild populations to decline, making every birth an important conservation success.”

As the joey gets more active, zoo guests may get a sighting of the little guy peeking out from his mommy’s pouch.

The Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance that the two Malayan tapirs, 16-year-old JonHi and 18-year-old Rinny, had died. Now, the zoo believes their deaths may have been caused by copper, a common dietary supplement that’s “essential to the overall health of the species.”

Zoo staff prescribed copper to the two animals after noticing they had low levels of the mineral in their systems, according to an .

“We immediately took corrective actions, including a comprehensive review of dietary supplements with the potential to cause harm, and we expect additional process improvements as our broader internal review continues,” zoo officials stated in the update. “This unfortunate accident was isolated to JonHi and Rinny, with no risk to other animals, staff, volunteers, or guests.”

 are an endangered species, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s . When healthy, the black-and-white animals .

Zoo officials said they were “heartbroken by the loss.”

“Animal wellbeing is our highest priority, and this is an incredibly difficult outcome,” officials stated. “We are using this as an opportunity to review and strengthen internal protocols to reduce the possibility of incidents like this occurring in the future.”

“We’re deeply saddened to share that we recently lost our two beloved Malayan tapirs, JohHi, 16, and Rinny, 18,” the Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance wrote on . “Given the loss of both animals in a relatively short period of time, our Animal Care and Health teams are thoroughly investigating their deaths to determine the causes and any potential connection in accordance with our standard protocols.”

are an endangered species, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s .

The tapirs — sometimes called “oreo” tapirs because of their black and white coloring — typically grow up to 8 feet long and 3 1/2 feet tall, and can weigh more than 700 pounds, . The vegetarian animals can live for up to 30 years, zoo officials said.

“We can confirm that there is no risk to other animals, staff or guests,” zoo officials said, adding that the zoo would share the results of the death investigations after they were completed. It’s unknown how long those investigations will take.

Several of the female giraffes in Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s herd have been recommended for potential breeding under the ‘ (AZA) Giraffe Species Survival Plan, but Khalid, the zoo’s 17-year-old breeding bull, died last month, .

Jasiri, a reticulated giraffe at the Denver Zoo, will spend a few months at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo for those breeding efforts, according to the organization.

“ are classified as Endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species,” Denver zoo officials wrote on social media. “We’re proud to play a role in supporting this incredible species through collaborative conservation efforts like the (Species Survival Plan).”

Zoo officials did not specify how long Jasiri would stay at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, but said he is expected to return to Denver later this year.

Species Survival Plans aim to ensure “a genetically diverse, demographically varied, and biologically sound population” at accredited zoos, according to the AZA. Program officials monitor populations and carefully match animals across AZA-accredited zoos for breeding.

Many other nonprofits funded by the SCFD also offer annual free days — or they’re always free, such as the Broomfield Veterans Museum, city of Lakewood art exhibitions, Heritage Lakewood Belmar Park, Foothills Art Center, Colorado Music Hall of Fame, the Aurora History Museum, and Louisville History Museum, according to the SCFD.

All free days take place during regular business hours unless otherwise noted. Check the full list, and a printable bookmark for the spots listed below, at . Some require online reservations, and all events are subject to change or cancellation.

Denver Museum of Nature & Science

• • Sunday, Jan. 11
  • Sunday, Feb. 1
  • Monday, Feb. 9
  • Friday evening, March 6
  • Monday, April 13
  • Sunday, April 26
  • Friday, June 19 (Juneteenth)
  • Monday, August 24
  • Tuesday evening, Sept. 1
  • Sunday, Oct. 11
  • Saturday evening, Nov. 7
  • Monday, Nov. 16

Free admission does not include IMAX or the Planetarium. Call 303-370-6000 or visit for more.

Denver Art Museum

• Tuesday, Jan. 13
• Tuesday, Feb. 10
• Tuesday, March 10
• Sunday, April 26
• Tuesday, May 12
• Tuesday, June 9
• Tuesday, July 14
• Saturday, Aug. 1
• Saturday, Sept. 12
• Tuesday, Oct. 13
• Saturday, Nov. 7
• Tuesday, Dec. 8

Note: General admission is free every day for those 18 and younger. Free days do not include admission to ticketed exhibitions. Call 720-865-5000 or visit for more.

Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance

• Friday, Jan. 9
• Sunday, Jan. 25
• Sunday, Feb. 22
• Sunday, April 19
• Wednesday, Nov. 11
• Saturday, Nov. 14
• Saturday, Nov. 22

Due to demand, tickets will not be available at the gate. Instead, all reservations must be made online starting roughly two weeks before the date. Call 720-337-1400 or visit for more.

Denver Botanic Gardens at York Street and Chatfield Farms

• Monday, Jan. 19
• Thursday, Feb. 12
• Monday, March 9
• Wednesday, April 22
• Tuesday, June 9
• Wednesday, July 1
• Tuesday, Aug. 25
• Friday, Nov. 27

Denver Botanic Gardens, Plains Conservation Center

• Thursday, Jan. 15
• Thursday, Feb. 19
• Saturday, March 21
• Thursday, June 11
• Saturday, July 11
• Thursday, Aug. 20
• Saturday, Nov. 14
• Thursday, Dec. 17

Call 720-865-3500 or visit for more, including educational days for students.

Denver Center for the Performing Arts

• Tuesday, Jan. 6
• Tuesday, Feb. 17
• Tuesday, April 7

DCPAccess Sale dates supported by SCFD include low-cost tickets to various upcoming shows. Visit for more.

Sitting down in the living room-like area of his office in the Wellington E. Webb Municipal Office Building, O’Brien says the view through the massive south-facing windows — a sweeping vantage of the Denver Art Museum, the Central Library and the rest of Civic Center — is excellent. But it����ap hard to enjoy because the exterior windows are tinged with grime.

For O’Brien, who is in his third and final term, a clean view is paramount. Not just to see the city’s landscape — but also to get a clear sense of its budgets and work orders to determine if the city is using public dollars well. with acting as a watchdog on the city’s strong-mayor system.

But after 10 years in that position, O’Brien says the role is getting tougher in some ways. He has butted heads with the mayor’s office more often, he said. Sometimes, city agencies make it difficult to get the information his team is seeking for audits. And he nearly lost $500,000 in his budget recently amid citywide financial woes, prompting public pushback by O’Brien against Mayor Mike Johnston’s proposed cut.

“I would say it����ap really the result of a new administration,” he said, referring to his increasingly frequent run-ins with Johnston, who took office in mid-2023 and succeeded Michael Hancock. “We didn’t have some of these problems with the previous administration.”

The fight over the budget is one of the most public examples of the two disagreeing. O’Brien wrote a pointed letter in September to tell the mayor to “stop interfering” with his separately elected office. O’Brien has harshly criticized Johnston’s administration through its audits, digging in specifically on how the mayor’s homelessness program operates and tracks expenses.

He also audited the organizational culture of several key city agencies, including the mayor’s office and Denver Parks and Recreation, saying that staff members “did not understand the process for reporting concerns and did not feel comfortable doing so.”

A spokesman for Johnston says it isn’t surprising that the auditor and the mayor’s office sometimes disagree.

“Given the auditor’s role, it would, frankly, be pretty weird if we always saw eye to eye,” said Jon Ewing. “I can’t speak for the auditor’s relationship with the prior administration, which was to my memory often unsparing, but certainly feel like we’re making a good-faith effort to take his opinions and recommendations strongly into account.”

Johnston wasn’t available for an interview ahead of this story’s deadline, Ewing said.

From the budget fight to a recent debate among City Council members over who should investigate claims of unfair labor practices among city employees, O’Brien has found himself in the political spotlight on several occasions.

That����ap somewhat unusual for a 40-plus-year certified public accountant who ran as an apolitical candidate in his first election in 2015. Unlike the auditors of the past few decades — including Dennis Gallagher, who served in the position from 2003 to 2015, and Don Mares, the auditor from 1995 to 2003 — O’Brien had never held an elected office before he became Denver’s auditor.

O’Brien served as the legislature-appointed state auditor from 1984 to 1995 and then worked as a consultant and as the CEO of the American Humane Association before running for office.

“I don’t give it (politics) a lot of thought,” he said. “I have a job to do. I have a code of conduct to adhere to.”

Councilman Kevin Flynn, who was a city hall reporter for the Rocky Mountain News for decades and has been on the council since 2015, said it was a notable change for Denver to elect an auditor who wasn’t overtly political.

“He brought a more professional outlook into the auditor’s office,” he said. “That’s kind of a welcome change.”

Flynn, who has also occasionally butted heads with the auditor over the years, added that he saw the tension between the mayor’s office and O’Brien as ordinary.

“It’s just the nature of the role,” Flynn said. “I don’t think this is unusual, I think it’s just current.”

Former Councilwoman Robin Kniech, who served on the council from 2011 to 2023, praised O’Brien’s work on labor issues but said other cities’ auditors do a better job of collaborating with the agencies they audit.

“The audits still seem more focused on an old-school gotcha that often awkwardly lags improvements that agencies (already have) underway,” she said.

Over the years, O’Brien has had conflicts with lots of people in the city, as when he sued the council over limits its members put in an ordinance giving him subpoena power and when he took on the Denver Zoo for refusing to open its books to his team. Since then, the office has secured fuller subpoena power — after winning the battle with the council — and expanded its work related to enforcing labor issues, including wage theft.

O’Brien made headlines earlier this year when he used that subpoena power to investigate wage theft complaints in the city’s strip clubs. He found that two of them, Diamond Cabaret and Rick’s Cabaret, “violated nearly every applicable provision” of Denver’s minimum-wage laws. His investigation resulted in a judge ordering those clubs to pay nearly $14 million in restitution and penalties to hundreds of workers.

The strip clubs’ owners accused O’Brien of “wielding subpoenas like weapons.”

Meticulous auditing process

Under Denver’s form of government, the mayor serves as the city’s chief executive, drafting the annual budget, setting the policy agenda and overseeing day-to-day operations. The 13 elected council members can propose legislation and make amendments to the budget. The mayor can veto their decisions, unless they override him with a supermajority.

The auditor — currently paid a salary set by ordinance at $178,152 — serves as a check over that system, primarily as a watchdog for the mayor’s office. Though he can’t force agencies to adopt his recommendations, the office issues them publicly, along with the audits’ findings.

Through discussions with the public, registered neighborhood organizations and city officials, the auditor’s office seeks input on which topics it should audit, O’Brien said. Then, the auditor’s staffers dig into the details to see if the programs are working as intended.

They look for things like inaccurate data reporting, inefficient spending and contract compliance. The office has about 100 staff members, about half of whom work in audit services. Beyond financial and performance audits, the office also reviews the city’s cybersecurity and IT services, something that could become more significant as Johnston leans into artificial intelligence programs.

“We are always looking at what risk the city faces in not achieving goals and objectives within given departments, given programs, given agencies,” O’Brien said.

Some of the office’s reports have sharply criticized the city’s delivery of services. One from 2024 found that the city wasn’t keeping homeless shelters safe or properly tracking spending on those services, which cost the city about $58 million per year.  Another in 2023 showed that the to improve its staff retention.

In the spring, the office released an audit showing that the Office of Climate Action, Resiliency and Sustainability was using money from a voter-approved 0.25% sales tax hike — which was intended to help tackle climate change — . That included at least one contractor’s meals, mileage and parking.

In 2026, the office plans to investigate Johnston’s homelessness program, the city’s budget process, the recently completed 16th Street mall reconstruction project and the city’s bikeway projects.

‘Running into difficulty’ getting info

The office is staffed by people from various backgrounds, from accounting professionals to public policy experts to lawyers. Once they decide on a topic for an audit, they request all sorts of planning documents, contracts, budgets and payroll records to begin their research.

Those are the type of documents that O’Brien says his office has struggled to obtain recently.

“On some audits, we’re running into difficulty getting access to information,” he said. “Much more than in the past.”

That happened as recently as September, when an auditor’s office review of civilian oversight of law enforcement “was chilled,” said auditor’s spokesman Michael Brannen. The office didn’t hand over a trove of internal communications the auditor requested, citing that they were protected under “deliberative process” exceptions to public record laws.

In the O’Brien’s staff wrote that they had been “significantly limited” in what they could review.

Completed audit reports include conclusions and recommendations to the agency investigated, leaving it up to the entity’s leaders to decide if they will accept or reject the suggestions. The auditor’s office tracks how many of its suggestions agencies accept and reject, and which they actually implement.

Since 2020, the office has made about 900 recommendations, according to . The city has accepted about 94% of them, but it’s implemented only about 38%. More recently, since 2023, the city has accepted about 350 recommendations and implemented just 36, according to data provided by the auditor’s office. Another 140 recommendations are pending implementation.

Ewing said the mayor’s office “respects the auditor’s insight and guidance.”

“We take all of the office’s recommendations into deep consideration and respect the auditor’s role,” Ewing said.

As Denver faced budget shortfalls citywide earlier this year, triggering layoffs and service reductions, Johnston’s administration proposed cutting 3% of the auditor’s budget, which is set at about $16 million for 2026. O’Brien responded by saying he didn’t believe Johnston had the power to take that action. Ultimately, the council restored his full budget, and he vowed to curb his budget himself rather than leaving it up to the mayor.

“I do not believe he has that authority, and I’ve told him that half a dozen times at least,” he said of Johnston. “What����ap to say he couldn’t cut it 30%? Or 100%?”

Work on labor draws attention

Besides the budget, recent attention has also focused on the office’s labor-related work.

When O’Brien was first elected, the auditor’s office enforced labor complaints only related to the prevailing wage — the city requirement that people working on publicly funded construction projects must receive certain wages depending on the type of work.

At that time, just four employees worked on labor issues, O’Brien said. That work has grown significantly under his administration. Now there are 40 employees dedicated to labor complaints.

Much of that work is investigations into wage theft — which occurs any time someone isn’t paid what they’re owed under law or as promised by their employer, including minimum wage violations, overtime violations and sick leave violations. In the year from November 2024 through October, the office said it returned about $2.3 million to workers.

Kniech, the former councilwoman, praised this work: “He has been a champion for workers and labor enforcement, helping to implement a new generation of protections passed by Council.”

O’Brien said he sees wage theft as a significant problem, estimating that workers could fall victim to more than $140 million in stolen wages every year in metro Denver.

After O’Brien filed his lawsuit against the council, it the ability to subpoena city agencies and businesses last year. So far, the office hasn’t used its subpoena power against city agencies. However, it has forced businesses to open their books at least a dozen times, Brannen said.

O’Brien says he doesn’t have any specific goals for the rest of his final term, which ends in July 2027. Several former auditors have gone on to run for mayor.

When asked whether he would do the same, O’Brien declined to comment. Until his term is finished, he hopes to continue improving transparency and accountability in Denver.

“Services could be better,” O’Brien said. “Services could be provided at significantly less expense. Data could be more secure.”