Amy Ford, the executive director of the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, or DOTI, said her office had decided on the new course of action partly in response to an outcry from residents since the city altered an earlier plan for Alameda in the fall. The demonstration announcement signaled the possibility of more changes ahead, depending on the outcome of the pilot.

“We’ve already done a pretty extensive safety analysis, and we’ve shared that,” Ford told reporters following an afternoon presentation to a City Council committee about the project. “We also know that people had questions about that continuing safety analysis.”

The decision to demo the changes comes as pushback has reached a fever pitch. Frustrated residents attended the committee presentation, holding up signs, speaking out from the gallery and snapping their fingers to support some council members’ comments.

While Ford spoke, one man held up a sign that said “Fire Amy Ford.” That level of protest isn’t typical for committee meetings.

How Denver’s shifting plans for Alameda Avenue created a PR nightmare for Mayor Mike Johnston

, which spans from Pearl to Franklin streets, has garnered intense scrutiny after DOTI officials announced late last year that they were changing the design from a full-lane elimination, which would have reduced the road from four lanes to three, to a partial-lane repurposing to create turn "pockets" in some places.

Some neighbors of Alameda were furious, saying the full-lane reduction would be safer for pedestrians. But a coalition led by Jill Anschutz, the daughter-in-law of Colorado billionaire Phil Anschutz, opposed the plan, arguing it would increase traffic congestion.

DOTI says the new plan still will make the street safer, while preventing worse congestion and side-street diversion of traffic.

The department����ap decision to switch the plan after Jill Anschutz got involved led to critical media coverage, the resignation of a member of a transportation advisory committee and a letter from most of the council members.

Mayor Johnston, bowing to business interests and wealthy families, is moving Denver’s road safety backwards (����ap)

The debate has reached all the way to Mayor Mike Johnston’s office as opponents of the new plan have questioned his priorities.

Ford and Molly Lanphier, who is leading DOTI’s community engagement for the Alameda project, attended Wednesday's committee meeting to update council members on the project����ap progress and to answer their questions.

Councilwoman Flor Alvidrez, whose district includes that section of Alameda, said she feared what this decision -- and decisions like it -- could mean for the city’s most vulnerable residents.

“What scares me most is that this is setting a precedent of the loudest, most powerful people continuing to influence our decisions, and the people who are in the most danger not being in the room,” she said.

Committee members pressed Ford and Lanphier on how the project revision decision was made and questioned whether the new plan would actually improve safety in the corridor.

“We have to be accurate,” said at-large Councilwoman Sarah Parady. “If there is one value I’m concerned about in 2026, it is people trusting government.”

Ford said DOTI hasn't worked out the details of the demonstration yet, but it could begin in the spring and last “several months.” The council members asked that the department also do a pilot of the original full-lane reduction, which would leave one travel lane in each direction and one for turns in the middle.

The demonstration's setup could mean cones, bollards or repainted lines along the section of road. Officials are still deciding which metrics they will study during the demo period.

Ford said it's something the city has done before with projects like the South Broadway bike lane plan.

“We absolutely have a shared vision on safety,” Ford told the committee. “We are not trying to propose projects that we think would change or reduce the safety of what we’re trying to implement.”

DOTI is scheduled to present another update to the committee on Feb. 18.

The plan started as a straightforward lane-reduction project and an attempt to improve safety along the corridor. In recent months, it has turned into a broader debate about Johnston’s priorities, the influence of wealth in city politics, and how to make all of Denver’s streets safer and less congested for drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians.

Neighbors of Alameda, a major thoroughfare that’s one of the most dangerous roads in Denver, have been lobbying the city for years to make changes along the section from Pearl to Franklin streets. They say crashes are frequent, cars have plowed into front yards and pedestrians are often put in dangerous situations.

The developed an initial plan that would have eliminated one of the street’s four lanes, leaving one travel lane in each direction and one for turns in the middle. The redesigned three-lane road would have had more space for pedestrians and reduced the number of cars spanning the road at one time. But months after DOTI sent a notice announcing construction would begin in 2025, city officials .

Instead of reducing the lanes, they would keep all four but convert some spans into “turn pockets” for drivers turning left. Supporters of that plan said it would result in less congestion for cars while still making the road safer. Opponents said the new design appeared less safe for pedestrians than the original version.

When it came to light that the changes were happening in part because of complaints originating with Jill Anschutz, the daughter-in-law of , the revelation triggered a maelstrom of , the resignation of a member of the and, late last month, a formal .

“Folks in this community want the street to be safer,” said Allen Cowgill, a member of the city’s who opposes the new design. “Folks outside the community feel like they’re starting to see a pattern of lifting certain voices over others.”

While DOTI makes decisions around infrastructure projects, bike and pedestrian advocates like Cowgill have criticized Johnston himself — suggesting the outcome is proof he operates the city unfairly.

In an interview Friday with The Denver Post, Johnston said the idea that wealthy residents influenced this process was a “totally false narrative.” The decision came from the experts at DOTI, he said.

“I think folks that are upset about it, they’re trying to create a conspiracy that never existed,” he said. “(The Anschutz name) carries no more weight than Smith or the Jones name or any other constituent we have.”

How the project planning has unfolded

DOTI began working to improve safety on Alameda in 2018. After tweaking one intersection along the road — at Corona Street — the department’s engineers studied the resulting data and created the initial lane-reduction design.

In 2024, officials unveiled the initial design to a group of about 50 neighbors of the corridor, said Molly Lanphier

“I was in attendance, and the result was very mixed. Some people were very much in favor of the full reduction and some people were not,” she said.

Then, in April 2025, the department sent out flyers to residents along the affected section of Alameda, notifying them that construction would begin in the summer.

By June, a group led by Jill Anschutz had contacted the city with complaints. Her home is just off Alameda, a few blocks outside the project zone.

Her group, called , was concerned that the full lane reduction would cause worse traffic congestion on Alameda and push cars onto side streets, like Virginia Avenue. The group hired Jason Gallardo, who used to be the deputy chief of staff for DOTI, as a lobbyist.

In July, Act for Alameda submitted a petition with about 300 people signed on to oppose the project. In August, another group, called , submitted a petition supporting the project, with about 175 signatures, according to city officials. Hundreds more have registered in both opposition and support in the months since, including in December, when the submitted another petition of support for the original design from 1,030 people.

Asked how he evaluates warring factions like these, Johnston said it was the nature of government work.

“Some folks want fewer cars on Alameda, some folks want more,” he said. “That����ap a valuable debate to have, but it doesn’t make either answer wrong. They’re just competing values we have to manage.”

He added that his administration generally considers the views of both those who are most vocal about projects as well as those who may not have spoken out.

“If you are someone that lives in East Denver and works in West Denver and you commute on Alameda,” he said, “you also have a say in what happens on that street.”

In November, DOTI sent out a , which called for repurposing only one of the westbound lanes, rather than eliminating any lane entirely.

The city now has to conduct a full redesign to incorporate those elements. The new expected construction timeline is from this coming November to September 2027.

The new design will cost an extra $100,000, said DOTI spokeswoman Nancy Kuhn.

The city says the new plan will still reduce the potential for crashes and improve pedestrian safety, and it won’t cause as much congestion or side-street diversion as the original design.

Some pedestrian improvements from the original design, like flashing light crosswalks at Franklin Street, are still set to be installed early this year.

The big picture: latest flashpoint

The story of Alameda Avenue is just the latest chapter in a series of high-profile transportation decisions that transit advocates have scrutinized.

The city’s cancellation of part of and its removal of in Lower Downtown also caused headaches for Johnston, with the city’s bike advocates criticizing the decisions.

There was never a plan for Alameda to have a bike lane, but some of the same advocates have pointed to it as an example of deprioritizing safety.

Cowgill, the transportation advisory board member, says he thinks the focus on Alameda is due to “pent-up anger” from people who believe the mayor “just doesn’t really care about street safety.”

Johnston says transportation safety is a “huge priority” for his administration, adding that residents have strong, opposing opinions on how to accomplish that.

Cowgill said the other reason the situation had gotten so much attention was that the involvement of the Anschutz family made it seem as if the city’s community engagement process wasn’t as meaningful as residents thought.

“I think it����ap also resonating with folks because it sincerely does — despite the statements from the administration to the contrary — it does feel like they listened to the richest family in the state,” he said. “I think the Anschutz name absolutely plays a really big part into it. I think that����ap why it����ap gotten so much notoriety around the city.”

Jaime Lewis, who was formerly on the advisory board, resigned over the project change.

“I was recognizing a trend by DOTI to change plans at the last minute, though there had been an exhaustive community outreach and the plans were at the 12th hour,” he said.

Johnston said that even with all the critical media coverage, he saw the situation as mostly isolated to the Washington Park neighborhoods. He said the project hadn’t come up in other community meetings or constituent conversations.

The city is moving forward on the partial lane reduction despite ongoing protests from surrounding neighborhood organizations. The East Washington Park Registered Neighborhood Organization also wrote a letter to the mayor’s office and DOTI opposing the changes. The West Washington Park RNO is now asking the city to conduct an additional safety assessment on the new design.

Christina Noto, the president of the West Washington Park RNO, says her group is frustrated with the process, but at this point it just wants whatever is safest.

“I think the pay-to-play in politics is a problem,” she said. “But moving forward, what we all want is just the safest outcome for Alameda.”

Eight members of the City Council Dec. 30 that asked the mayor’s office to restore the original design.

“During a time of eroding faith in government, it is important that representatives of the city be impeccable with their word and transparent in their dealings,” they wrote.

City officials say they do plan to conduct more safety analyses, but they’re moving forward with the new design. DOTI officials are set to give a presentation on the Alameda project to a council committee Wednesday.

“We’re still exploring what approach we are going to take in terms of additional safety analysis,” Kuhn said.

Johnston says he plans to stay out of DOTI’s process.

“I think that����ap the way these decisions are meant to be made,” he said. “These should not be political decisions. They should be planning decisions, and so I support them — but I trust the experts on the ground.”

Cowgill said he thought there was still time to reverse course.

“Even if they’re saying it����ap final now, it doesn’t mean it����ap final. They have the ability to go back and change it,” he said. “At the end of the day, nothing is really final until shovels are in the ground.”

Matching Peña’s praise, fellow former Mayor Michael Hancock hailed Bennet����ap chief rival for the job, Attorney General Phil Weiser, as “a tremendous attorney general” and “one of the smartest people I know.”

The compliments, however, highlight what many Democrats see as a good problem to have as the primary race comes into focus: Peña, despite his high praise for Bennet, wants Weiser to win the job. Vice versa for Hancock, who’s really rooting for Bennet.

The two high-wattage candidates have effectively cleared the field of other potential high-profile Democratic candidates in the race to succeed Gov. Jared Polis, who is term-limited from running for a third time. The narrow Democratic field stands in stark contrast to the wide-open Republican contest, where 25 candidates — none of whom had raised more than $200,000 as of this fall — hope to win the Colorado governor’s office for the GOP for the first time in 24 years.

Bennet and Weiser are well-liked in party circles, and each comes with a well-established resume. They’ve likely crowded out any other serious challengers, leaving most Democratic and unaffiliated primary voters with a binary choice between two men who are both Denverites — a potentially simpler exercise than the four-way race in 2018, but it could be complicated by each’s long record for voters to compare.

Weiser, elected as the state’s top attorney in 2018 and now term-limited, has had much of his tenure dominated by legal fights with the Trump administration. He has sued the new administration this year alone. His office has claimed wins in 25 of those cases, losses in seven, and is awaiting rulings in the others. 

Bennet became a U.S. senator in 2009 and is Colorado’s longest-serving senator in 50 years. His record includes winning a key provision in the 2021 American Rescue Plan to expand the federal child tax credit — a move heralded by the Brookings Institution as leading to a “” across the country before the provision expired after about six months.

They’ve each shown fundraising prowess, raising multimillion-dollar war chests in the opening months of the governor’s race. 

All of those factors set the stage for a primary fight with more defined battle lines than the free-for-alls of the past. If no other major candidate enters, voters who cast ballots in the June primary will be asked to weigh senatorial deftness against the value of legal pugnacity in the Trump 2.0 era, Weiser’s comparatively new blood versus Bennet as the old guard — and competing visions that nonetheless broadly align along Democratic priorities. 

“They’re both incredibly smart, thoughtful people whose careers have risen during this weird period of American politics where (President Donald Trump) has become such a dominant figure and such a polarizing figure,” said University of Colorado Denver public affairs professor Paul Teske, who’s donated to each of their campaigns. “… It can lead people to nitpick more than they might otherwise. If you prefer Phil to Michael, you might have to come up with a reason why you prefer him more.”

How this shaped up as a two-man race

Weiser, 57, launched his campaign on Jan. 2 — just before Trump was sworn in for a second term, and before any other prominent Democrats tossed their hats in the ring. Affordability, housing shortages, climate change and the youth mental health crisis dominated his out-of-the-gate message.

With Colorado trending distinctly blue over the past decade, anti-Trump sentiments roiling the liberal base and no incumbent governor seeking reelection this time, it seemed like he’d be the first candidate of many for 2026.

Weiser rode the early entrance to a hefty cash haul and a slate of early endorsements while other possible contenders pondered their moves. The rumored candidates included prominent Democrats U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, and Secretary of State Jena Griswold.

But no other high-profile Democrat entered the race — until Bennet, a third of the way into his latest term as a senator, decided he wanted to come home. He publicly announced his campaign in April.

Bennet’s decision is an exceedingly rare one. U.S. senators hold one of the most influential political posts in the country. Over the past 40 years, only 19 sitting or former senators have run for governor anywhere, . Four of those were Democrats. That’s out of some 500 governors’ races over that time frame.

Bennet, 60, said at his announcement event that he saw an opportunity in Colorado to “forge a better politics” than what����ap practiced in Washington, D.C. He pledged to build an economic and educational foundation to “drive a stake through Trumpism.”

“We have people all over Colorado that are working in their communities, and at the county level, who are desperate to have a partner in the statehouse, who believe that what we have to do in this state is unify the citizens of Colorado,” Bennet said, listing off priorities like cutting the costs of housing and child care and raising education levels. “… This is not a moment for rhetoric, it’s a moment for results.”

With so many other Democrats seemingly waiting in the wings, Bennet’s entrance into the race threw the political world for a loop.

“I was surprised, just because it seemed like it was outside the realm of what he was thinking about,” said U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen, a Lakewood Democrat who’s endorsed Bennet. But like other backers, she quickly understood the move after a conversation with him.

“When you talk to him, it becomes clear that he felt like this was where he could make the biggest impact, and that’s what we all strive for in public service,” Pettersen added. “… While I was surprised, I understand that his breadth of experience — from superintendent (of Denver Public Schools) to the Senate — and (with) the opportunities he has in Colorado, I understand why he wants to do this.”

Bennet quickly lined up more than 175 endorsements from across the state, including from nearly all of Colorado’s Democratic members of Congress. (Only U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, who represents Denver, remains uncommitted.) The rollout was a show of force for the campaign, drawing on Bennet’s long history of winning statewide campaigns and his reputation among Democratic leaders.

But it wasn’t a knockout blow. Weiser’s still very much in the race.

Politicos have long joked that AG stands as much for “” as attorney general. For Weiser, himself restricted from running for the same post again and seeing fellow Democrats sitting in U.S. House or Senate seats that he might otherwise consider, the governor’s office was an obvious next move.

At a fall event with Peña and former Gov. Roy Romer that was billed as a fireside chat with “the state’s most transformative leaders,” Weiser said Colorado was at an inflection point. It must both protect its values from “the craziness in Washington,” he said, and forge its own path forward. Reflecting on Romer’s and Peña’s tenures, in which the former leaders fought to build the economic hub that is Denver International Airport, Weiser said he stood ready to take on big challenges.

“There is lower trust in our institutions right now (and) less ability to create solutions to get things done,” Weiser said. “… We have to find a way to meet this moment, create a similar can-do spirit — where we’re going to try a bunch of different things. Not all of it is going to work, but we’re going to try something.”

Weiser’s record as the state’s top attorney quickly swayed Romer, who led Colorado from 1987 to 1999, to believe in his higher aspirations. Speaking at the campaign event last month, Romer highlighted the need “to enable people to believe in government itself,” and particularly in the leadership of those in office.

“Bennet’s a personal friend. I like him. I respect him. I support him very much,” Romer said in an interview. “He’s my U.S. senator. I didn’t know he was (getting into) this race, but I like Phil anyway.

“Phil, I’ve watched for years. He’s a good man, and I just think he’ll make a great governor. Bennet, he’s my senator — and I hope he stays my senator.”

That sentiment — Bennet for Senate, and Weiser for governor — has been catchy enough among the attorney general’s supporters to make it in recent months.

The two men aren’t the only ones running for the nomination. Fellow Democrats Antonio Martinez, Carmen Broesder, Fatima Fernandez, David Hughes and William Moses have also declared for the race, though none have raised any substantial money as of the most recent campaign finance filings or stood out in other ways.

‘Ready to weigh’ state’s toughest problems

Bennet joined the Senate in 2009, appointed by then-Gov. Bill Ritter to replace Ken Salazar, whom then-President Barack Obama had just appointed U.S. Interior secretary. At the time, Bennet, after years of working mostly behind the scenes, was virtually unknown throughout most of the state.

Ritter had plucked Bennet from the role of DPS superintendent, where he had served since 2005. As the head of the school district, Bennet declining enrollment and a stark achievement gap between students of color and white students, and he made the decision to close a storied northeast Denver high school that had struggled in the decade prior.

Before that, Bennet, a Yale-educated lawyer, had served as then-Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper’s chief of staff. Before he entered Colorado’s political sphere, Bennet worked for billionaire Phil Anschutz, buying up and restructuring distressed businesses, including oil companies and movie theater companies, earning millions of dollars in the process.

He won a close election to a full term in the Senate in 2010, earning 48% of the vote, less than 2 percentage points over his Republican challenger. Colorado was still distinctly purple then, and his election stood out during a national red wave year.

But as Colorado turned azure in the decade to follow, Bennet����ap margins have only increased. He won by nearly 6 percentage points over the Republican challenger in 2016, and was 800 votes shy of an outright majority in a race that also had Green and Libertarian party candidates. In 2022, Bennet won nearly 56% of the vote, routing his Republican rival by nearly 15 percentage points.

He has repeatedly pointed to education and support for children of all economic stripes as key motivations for his public service. That streak continues with his gubernatorial bid.

Three of his four major policy proposals so far have circled education and child care, with ideas to tie education to job opportunities, to lower child care costs and give special benefits to child care workers, and to create new rules around online safety for children, such as social media regulations and banning cell phones in classrooms.

The fourth proposal, on housing affordability, looks to help families dig roots in the Centennial State and help their kids find their own Colorado dream. That includes expanding state-supported housing by 30% over the next decade.

“Whether you think you’re the most conservative person in Colorado, or the most liberal or progressive person in Colorado, if our kids can’t afford to live here, it doesn’t matter,” Bennet said in an interview after unveiling his child care proposal. “… We have to unify Colorado — build a coalition across our state to do hard things — and I think I’ve got the experience and the leadership skills to be able to help us.”

Former Colorado House Majority Leader Daneya Esgar said that breadth of experience — and focus on children — helped bring her into his camp early in the race. 

“When I look at Michael’s career, he has a history of governing. He’s been a senator, he’s had to really think about policy issues, he’s had to make important decisions when it comes to votes. And I think that����ap something we really need somebody (who’s) in the governor’s office ready to weigh,” Esgar said. “Specifically, I think what I’ve always appreciated about Michael is the work he’s really done and the vision he has for Colorado’s kids, throughout his entire career.”

But Bennet’s senatorial experience may also be an avenue of attack.

The question of why he’s leaving one of the most powerful political positions in the country to run for office closer to home is all but sure to follow him on the campaign trail, no matter how many times he says why. He will also have to contend with blowback for controversial votes to approve some of Trump’s cabinet nominees.

He raised eyebrows with his pronouncement that he’d time his resignation so he could appoint his own successor to the U.S. Capitol, should he win the governorship.

Former U.S. Sen. Tim Wirth, a Democrat who represented Colorado from 1987 to 1993, said he told Bennet he wished he’d stay in the Senate, where he was elected to serve, and that he was “surprised and disappointed” he would end his term early. He sees Coloradans as having an appetite for an aggressive posture against the Trump administration, and the Senate provides a unique opportunity to wage that war.

“If I were in the Senate, I’d be as visible as possible fighting Trump,” said Wirth, a Weiser supporter. “I’ve told both Michael and (now-Sen.) John Hickenlooper that I wish they were both a lot more aggressive than they’ve been. They’ve got effectively safe seats, and they ought to be outspoken.”

Willingness to ‘really fight for important values’

While Bennet wants to move to an office 1,700 miles closer to home (and one with much better mountain views), Weiser hopes to hop just a block away from the Colorado Attorney General’s Office downtown.

He has spent much of his career bouncing between Colorado and Washington, D.C. After graduating from New York University’s law school in 1994, Weiser worked as a clerk for 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge David Ebel in Denver. He headed back east to clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg later in the decade, and he returned to Colorado in 1999 to join the faculty at the University of Colorado Law School.

He moved east again to work in the Obama administration, and he returned for a final time to serve as dean of the CU law school. 

Weiser turned to elected office in 2018 — and, as with this election cycle, he faced a tough Democratic primary. He edged out state Rep. Joe Salazar by fewer than 5,000 votes to win the nomination. His two general election wins, in 2018 and 2022, were less dramatic affairs amid Colorado’s overall political shift leftward. He won in 2018 by more than 6 percentage points and in 2022 by more than 10.

As a gubernatorial candidate, Weiser has set goals of halving the state’s housing shortage and banning algorithmic rent setting by large corporations — a measure vetoed by Polis in May. He also wants to “Trump-Proof” Colorado and launch a “ColoradoCorps” service program for 18- to 26-year-olds looking at careers in firefighting, law enforcement, education and more.

Former U.S. Rep. David Skaggs, who represented a Colorado district from 1987 to 1999, crossed paths with Weiser at the CU law school after he left Congress. He was “struck from the get-go about how razor sharp his mind is, what a good lawyer he is and what an agreeable fellow he is,” Skaggs said.

But now, he points to Weiser’s willingness to “take on the Trump administration, both Trump 1 and Trump 2, and really fight for important values and legal principles.”

Weiser has been in the thick of state government for seven years now, and there’s no better preparation for managing it as governor than spending the better part of a decade lawyering for it, Skaggs said.

Hancock, the former Denver mayor backing Bennet, complimented Weiser’s legal experience but also contrasted it with Bennet’s broader base of experience. Bennet’s time in city hall, for example, gave him a deeper understanding of issues like local control and how to bring local governments along — without wielding a stick, like recent zoning battles with the state have entailed.

“Mike will have a better understanding of those issues,” Hancock said. “He knows the responsibility of local governments, particularly city councils, and how to negotiate and work those things through. I think he’ll be a little more collaborative in that sense because of that knowledge.”

While Weiser’s tenure as attorney general has turned on legal fights with both Trump administrations, he’s also overseen the distribution of tens of millions of dollars from settlements during the opioid crisis. He challenged the merger of the Kroger and Albertsons grocery chains — the parent companies, respectively, of King Soopers and Safeway — which was called off after judges blocked it. He’s backed consumer protection litigation, and his office has been front and center in negotiations over the Colorado River, the lifeblood of the state and the broader West.

But those high-profile legal fights haven’t necessarily translated into name recognition.

A June poll found Bennet with a decisive lead over Weiser — but almost half of likely voters then said they weren’t familiar with Weiser. Comparatively, 13% of likely primary voters were unfamiliar with Bennet.

Weiser’s campaign hopes that means he’ll have a fighter’s chance over the next seven months as people start paying more attention to the race.

He made an early splash by backing a proposed amendment to the Colorado Constitution that, if approved by voters, would allow the state to gerrymander its congressional districts for partisan advantage, should other states do the same — and as Texas, California and others are doing now. The vote to amend the state constitution to pause its nonpartisan congressional maps wouldn’t be until November 2026, though, making 2028 the earliest election those maps could take effect.

Weiser defended the position by saying he hates gerrymandering but “love(s) our democracy more.” Bennet, for his part, said he wouldn’t take the issue off the table, but the 2026 House elections themselves should be a bigger priority than the amendment.

Weiser plans to win a spot on the primary ballot through the state assembly, which means winning over grassroots Democratic activists.

“If you look at the numbers, we have more current and former elected officials who’ve endorsed me, we’ve got more Colorado donors, and we continue to build that momentum — literally visit by visit, community by community,” Weiser said in early October, after the event with Peña and Romer. 

Regarding endorsements, Bennet counters: “I don’t think my opponent has really added many people since I got in the race, and I think that’s exciting.”

Not all support — or opposition — is set in stone

As the race shapes up, some organizations haven’t landed on either candidate — yet. Some see the narrow field as an opportunity for the candidates to distinguish themselves and for the groups to see how closely Bennet and Weiser align with their own political goals.

Indivisible Colorado, a network of progressive political activists that formed following Trump’s first election in 2016, hasn’t typically endorsed in primary races. But, with Colorado’s regularly blue tint in general elections and a national push for a more aggressive Democratic Party, that could change, said Robin Cellars, a member of Indivisible Colorado’s leadership team.

In particular, the organization wants a governor who will fight back against “this authoritarian takeover” by the Trump administration, push for a tax system that has the rich paying more, and defend against overreach by federal immigration enforcement. The latter might include a ban on law enforcement wearing masks and attempting to prohibit the construction of immigration detention facilities in Colorado.

Organizers don’t want sympathetic social media posts, Cellars said. They want aggressive action from a blue state. She didn’t weigh in on the race between Weiser and Bennet, but Indivisible members will be watching to decide whether the group will endorse.

“We are definitely wanting to reform the Democratic Party by getting quality candidates. And the place to do that is the primaries,” Cellars said. “… In the primaries, that’s where we can really make a difference.”

The Colorado Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, is working with the campaigns to coordinate events where its members can hear directly from the candidates, CEA President Kevin Vick said. He hopes the union membership will be able to vote on its endorsements by mid-spring.

“I want to give (the candidates) opportunities to speak for themselves,” Vick said. “I know they both have long records in education. I want them to not only be able to relay their records, but if there’s any evolution or learning that they’ve done on their journey — particularly as it relates to education and how we should be treating educators — I think that would be of interest to educators across the state.”

As the race wears on over the next seven months, the victor stands to emerge covered in blue bruises — or, perhaps, campaign-tested and ready to unite the party heading into the general election.

Pettersen, the Lakewood congresswoman who endorsed Bennet, knows it as keenly as any observer of the race. Her husband, political consultant Ian Silverii, is working on Weiser’s campaign. 

“We’re lucky in Colorado to have two amazing public servants running,” Pettersen said. But she also can’t wait for the primary to end.

Then — assuming voters deliver Democrats the governor’s office, as she hopes — the work begins of steering the state through seemingly constant financial pain and the impact of a federal government hostile to Democratic policies.

“Just mitigating the fallout from the failed federal policies, and then trying to come through that while rebuilding the Colorado we want to see — governing through this is going to be one of the most heart-wrenching and difficult things I can imagine,” Pettersen said, citing Medicaid cuts, concerns that rural hospitals could close and changes to food assistance programs. “It’s going to be a gut-wrenching reality to navigate.”

Three decades later, Marcelo Balboa’s No. 17 jersey will be immortalized at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park — a tribute to the defender who helped launch the Rapids and give a new league one of its first stars.

“As a kid, I didn’t play this game because I was looking to have my number retired. I wasn’t playing this game because I wanted to be in the (National Soccer) Hall of Fame,” Balboa told The Denver Post two weeks before Saturday night’s jersey retirement ceremony in Commerce City.

“My goal was to play soccer because I loved it, I breathed it and I lived it every day. So to sit here and think that they’re going to retire that number and no one will ever wear it, it����ap just kind of weird, you know?”

The defender’s bicycle kick in a 2-1 World Cup upset of Colombia didn’t even go in — a fact Balboa jokes about often.

But it was a flash of brilliant potential unseen from an American up to that point on the global stage. The soccer world took notice. And so did Anschutz — enough so that the MLS co-founder and American soccer visionary decided to lure Balboa to Colorado with his ambitions for the club and the league as a whole.

Balboa was mulling a move from Liga MX’s Club León to Mexican giants Cruz Azul at the time. But his history playing for the Colorado Foxes in the American Professional Soccer League years prior, along with Anschutz’s pitch, made the Rapids move a “no-brainer.”

Growth for Balboa and the team he instantly became the face of wasn’t easy in the early days. The team trained at a local rec center, outside of which two trailers functioned as the team’s facilities. One held equipment, and the other was a locker room and shower space with water that was lukewarm at best.

To promote the team, Balboa and teammates stood outside on street corners on Federal Boulevard waving Rapids flags. They appeared on every TV and radio station that would have them.

“I think the things (Balboa) did to help grow this league can’t be underestimated and they certainly can’t be forgotten,” Rapids president Pádraig Smith told The Post. “The league wouldn’t be where it is if it weren’t for players like Marcelo Balboa. … A lot of it rests on the shoulders of (Balboa) and what he did to help this league survive and then thrive.”

Balboa described his role in less grandiose terms.

“I hate to say it, but you had to pimp yourself out,” Balboa said. “You had to do things you didn’t have to do in Mexico. Mexico already had 75 years of soccer compared to one year of soccer in the U.S., so we did anything and everything.”

That hustle bled onto the field, and Balboa proved early on he was more than just a name — or the guy who missed that bicycle kick.

Balboa scored the club’s first goal in its second game against the Dallas Burn — a tap-in which he insists should belong to Jean Harbor for the assist he provided. Balboa also scored the last of three goals in that game.

Balboa, a center back, scored seven goals that season, but the Rapids finished dead last in the league’s inaugural 1996 season. They made moves for big players in the offseason and ended up in the 1997 MLS Cup final against D.C. United, but lost, 2-1, in front of a then-MLS-record 57,000 fans.

Balboa remembers scoring three of four bicycle kick attempts in his career, two when he was a much younger player. But he missed the one he “needed to make” in 1994. In eerie fashion during a 2000 match against the Columbus Crew, Balboa came true on what drew Anschutz to him in the first place. From essentially the exact same spot on the field as the 1994 attempt, he nailed a bicycle for what is still one of the most iconic goals in MLS history.

The silhouette of the attempt lives on as an easter egg on the jock-tag of the Rapids’ 30th anniversary ‘Original Green’ kits, which will make their home debut Saturday night when Balboa’s number is immortalized.

“My dad made it clear to me when I was a younger player that if you’re going to be a defender, you’ve got to do things differently than most to stick out,” Balboa said.

He certainly did for young players like Chris Armas, another original MLS player for the L.A. Galaxy and Chicago Fire, who is now the Rapids’ head coach.

They shared fields on opposite sides for years in the MLS before they finally joined paths for a U.S. Men’s National Team match that turned out to be Balboa’s last. It was a friendly against Iran in 2000, which the teams drew, 1-all.

If there was a torch to pass from one future National Soccer Hall of Famer to another, it was in the form of Armas’ sweltering half-volley for his first goal in red, white and blue. Armas doesn’t recall much about the match aside from the goal — his first of two in a lengthy international career — but he and Balboa reminisce on those times often.

“Although I was right behind him as one of the pioneers, his group — that national team group of him, Tab Ramos, John Harkes and (Eric) Wynalda — those guys paved the way for all of us,” Armas said. “They were the ones, those marquee players on each team. … They were the household names, and I remind him of that and I thank him for that.”

Balboa, whose jersey will be just the fifth to be retired in MLS history, has waited for this moment for a handful of years. The club floated the idea the year after it retired Pablo Mastroeni’s No. 25, but Balboa declined because it would have been “disrespectful” to retire another jersey so soon.

This year — the league’s 30th season, a year before a World Cup stateside — felt like the right time.

As much as preparation has been an emphasis for his playing, coaching and broadcasting career, a jersey retirement ceremony is new ground.

“Come the 16th, you’ll see a babbling fool more than likely, in tears, trying to get words out,” Balboa said.

Now, they’re spending the most anyone ever has on a Denver home.

Public records show a limited liability company with an Aspen address is spending nearly $50 million on a residence in Denver’s exclusive Polo Club neighborhood. The Walton family is behind that LLC, multiple sources told BusinessDen.

Up to this point, the most ever spent for a single residence in the Mile High City was $17.7 million in late 2022.

The buyer of that home? The Waltons. It����ap one of two they’re demolishing to make way for the new mansion.

Land already secured — for $28 million

The home will be built on what had been two adjacent parcels along Polo Club Lane and Polo Club Road.

In November 2022, the property along Polo Club Lane sold for $17.7 million. About 6.5 acres, it had an 8,500-square-foot main house on it, along with a 1,000-square-foot guest house and five-car garage, according to the listing.

The deal remains the most ever paid for a home within Denver limits. It trails only a couple deals in nearby Cherry Hills Village, a separate municipality. A mansion that former Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson paid $25 million for, and later sold at a loss, holds the record for the Denver metropolitan area.

But the buyer of the lot on Polo Club Lane wasn’t done.

Three months later, in February 2023, an adjacent lot on Polo Club Road sold for $10.5 million. It was a stunning deal. The home on 1.32 acres had sold for just $4.2 million in 2021, two years prior.

Both properties, more than 7.5 acres combined, ended up owned by Maroon Partners LLC, at a combined cost of $28.2 million.

LLC that owns site bought Florida property from Bill Gates trust

Maroon Partners LLC was incorporated in Delaware and, in the sale paperwork, listed an office address in Aspen. Leonard Oakes, a real estate attorney in the mountain town, has signed public records as an “authorized signatory” of the LLC. He didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Maroon Partners has spent big elsewhere. In 2022, the entity spent $26 million to buy a South Florida equestrian estate from a trust linked to billionaire Bill Gates, according to The Real Deal, a real estate publication.

And the entity owns one other Denver home about a mile from the Polo Club properties. That one was purchased for $5.1 million in August 2022 — the exact month that Rob Walton, his daughter Carrie Walton Penner and her husband Greg Penner, along with some smaller partners, closed on the acquisition of the Broncos for $4.65 billion

Rob Walton is the son of Walmart founder Sam Walton. Penner is the chair of the company’s board. He is also CEO of the Broncos and the designated “controlling owner” of the team.

In interviews with BusinessDen, the sources that linked the Polo Club purchases to the Waltons did so under the condition they not be named. A Walton representative acknowledged a request for comment by BusinessDen but did not provide any.

The Walton family was linked to Colorado before buying the Broncos. The family bought a ranch near Nederland in 2014, and recently put it up for sale with an asking price of $48.5 million. Rob Walton sold an undeveloped site in Aspen in 2022 for $30.8 million, after buying it in 2000 for about $9 million, according to Mansion Global. A Walton-linked LLC bought multiple structures across nearly 8 acres in Cherry Hills Village in May 2022 for $22 million.

New home to have eight beds, 11 baths

The residence proposed to be built across the Polo Club lots is expected to cost $20 million, according to statements of valuation submitted to Denver in June by a project manager with Service First Permits.

Adding the land buys brings the cost of the home to $48.2 million.

The statements of valuation were submitted in conjunction with other documents seeking permits to build the new home, which would be 17,975 square feet in total, although only 11,400 square feet of that is described as “habitable” space. The remainder is described largely in documents as “exterior heated hardscape area.”

The eight-bedroom, 11-bathroom home would be one level, with the exception of a basement wine cellar and storage space, according to the plans. It would be divided into three buildings: a main residence, a guest house and a pool house, although the structures would be set close together.

The main residence would have the six bedrooms and eight bathrooms, as well as a living room, two laundry rooms, a kitchen and large pantry, according to the plans. The guest house would have two additional bedrooms, each with their own bathroom, and a living room in between.

The pool house, which some of the plans label as a “recreational wing,” would have a gym, sauna, TV room and golf simulator bay, per the plans. The pool would be just outside.

Plans also call for a greenhouse elsewhere on the property.

CLB Architects of Jackson, Wyoming, is the architect listed on the project plans. Vail’s Beck Builds is listed as the general contractor. Design Workshop is the landscape architect.

“A sanctuary close to the city”

Josh Steck, an agent with Compass that has worked multimillion-dollar deals, said Denver hasn’t seen anything like the proposal before, but it����ap not a surprise that Polo Club is where it����ap happening.

“If you’re going to do it, that����ap the place to do it … It is very challenging to get that much land that close to the city,” Steck said.

Cherry Hills is another popular spot for well-heeled buyers, and has larger lot sizes than Denver, but 7.5 acres even there “is hard to do,” Steck said. And Polo Club’s proximity to the thriving Cherry Creek business district is a major draw.

It����ap easy to pass Polo Club without thinking about it. Brick walls separate the neighborhood from busy University Boulevard. Billionaire Phil Anschutz has been a longtime resident.

Liv Sotheby’s International Realty agent Delroy Gill, whose priciest deal has been a $8.6 million sale in Cherry Hills, called Polo Club “a sanctuary close to the city.”

“When you spend $20 million on land, you probably have the finances to make whatever you want come to life,” Gill said.

Gill noted that other neighborhoods south of Cherry Creek, such as Bonnie Brae, are also performing strongly. He’s preparing to list a newly built home at 890 S. Milwaukee St. on Thursday for $7.5 million, and said he expects it to sell for slightly above that — likely the highest price per square foot in the city in the past year, he said.

Gill said the ultra-luxury residential market — defined as properties costing at least $6 million — is seeing “a lot of consolidation,” as buyers sell some of their holdings and think big on the ones they keep. Buyers are also returning to cities after favoring more remote spots following the pandemic, although they still don’t want to feel confined, he said.

“Proximity and acreage are what is causing the price surge right now,” Gill said.

Now, fans of the historic resort can spend the night inside one of its guest rooms — while sailing around the world on a cruise ship.

, a sister company to the 106-year-old hotel, has created near-exact replicas of Broadmoor rooms onboard several of its ships. Both brands are owned by Colorado billionaire Philip Anschutz, under the parent company .

Today, guests will find one Broadmoor suite each on Star Breeze, Star Legend and Star Pride, three 312-passenger ships in Windstar’s six-vessel fleet. Those ships also each have a suite designed to look like a room at , the Broadmoor’s sister property in Georgia.

And, soon, Windstar will add the specialty suites to another vessel, the 342-guest Wind Surf.

Several hotels have announced or launched their own cruise lines in recent years, including The Ritz-Carlton and The Four Seasons. But Windstar is one of the only cruise lines around the world to tackle the reverse — and put a land-based hotel room onto a ship.

The specialty suites are so innovative that they earned Windstar a coveted industry award: best suite design at the in December 2023.

“It was a brilliant idea that was executed perfectly,” says Jack Damioli, the Broadmoor’s president and chief executive officer. “The sense of place they were able to achieve in the suites with the wallpaper, art and color tones is pretty astonishing.”

An ambitious idea

Windstar is unlike other cruise lines you may be familiar with. For starters, its ships are small, accommodating just 148 to 342 guests at a time, depending on the vessel. They feel more like private yachts than cruise ships.

There are no waterslides, no casinos, no raucous pool parties with hordes of sunburnt-to-a-crisp tourists. Guests tend to be affluent, well-educated folks in their 50s, 60s and 70s; they’re mostly married couples or small groups traveling together.

Against this backdrop, the idea for the Broadmoor and Sea Island Resort suites was born during a March 2022 meeting of executives from Anschutz’s various businesses.

Windstar, the Broadmoor and Sea Island Resort all have similar guest demographics so, at one point during a brainstorming session, Windstar’s president Chris Prelog mentioned: Wouldn’t it be great to have Broadmoor and Sea Island suites on the ships?

“Immediately, we fell in love with the idea and thought it was fantastic,” says Damioli. “But we also wondered if it could be pulled off. For one, there is just not the same square footage on a ship as in our hotels — could it be done and done well? Would you really get enough of a sense of each property to have it translate, especially for those who had stayed at the resorts?”

When Prelog returned from the meeting to Windstar’s offices in Miami, he tasked his team with bringing the ambitious plan to life. It would be wildly challenging for several reasons, on top of those Damioli mentioned.

For one, cruise ships must adhere to strict design and construction rules that are intended to keep guests and crew members safe. All materials must be non-flammable, which means interior designers couldn’t simply grab an extra roll of wallpaper from the Broadmoor’s storage closet and slap it on the ships’ walls.

“Designing ships is very different from designing residential or hotel spaces,” says Stijn Creupelandt, Windstar’s vice president of hotel operations and product development. “We have the most stringent regulations — there’s a whole 1,000-page book that says what types of materials we can and cannot use. You cannot just go to your corner antique store and pick up a few pieces. Everything has to be made specifically for cruise ships, really.”

They were also working on a tight timeline. The first ship to get the specialty suites, Star Legend, was scheduled to undergo an intense, two-week renovation period — called “dry dock,” in cruise ship parlance — in Cadiz, Spain, just eight months later. The team needed to work out a plan before then, so that construction crews could complete the work before the vessel returned to service.

“These things need to be planned out meticulously,” said Creupelandt. “The ship is in a certain location, all supplies need to be shipped in advance and coordinated with plumbing, electrical and everything else. There’s demolition, there’s buildup and then there’s time to clean it and put it back into operation. It����ap a very coordinated effort.”

Experiential research

But first, before they could dive head-first into the complicated logistics, the Windstar team needed to conduct some hands-on, experiential research. Creupelandt and Seattle-based interior designer took a whirlwind trip to Georgia and Colorado to check out the two resorts.

They explored each property thoroughly, making careful notes about the architectural features, the color palette and, perhaps more importantly, the overarching vibe.

“It����ap not just about the looks, because obviously you can see photos,” says Creupelandt. “It was really about getting the essence of the property and how it feels. We wanted to pick up some common elements that would make you feel like you were at the Broadmoor, versus just copying and pasting.”

When they returned from their research mission, Creupelandt and Schneider began tackling some of the design challenges. They found a vendor who could reproduce the Broadmoor’s signature bougainvillea wallpaper (designed by Broadmoor co-founder Julie Penrose herself) so that it met maritime specifications; they also designed custom furniture and fabrics in the Broadmoor’s unique Europe-meets-the-American-West style.

In the end, they managed to get everything ready by the time Star Legend entered dry dock. From there, it was just a matter of repeating the process on the other ships — Star Breeze in March 2023 and Star Pride in April 2024. On each vessel, crews stripped two classic suites down to the studs, then built them back up again in the style of either the Broadmoor or Sea Island Resort.

Positive reception

The specialty suites are located at the very front of the ships, an area called the forward. They have large windows that offer unobstructed views of the water and, depending on which way the ship is heading, colorful sunrises and sunsets. The ships sail all over the globe — from French Polynesia to Iceland to Greece and nearly everywhere in between — so guests can also gaze out at the local scenery.

Each suite has a bedroom, a living room with a comfy couch, a cozy dining nook and a private veranda. Inside the Broadmoor suites, archival black-and-white photographs of the historic resort hang in gilded gold frames on the walls.

The response from guests has been overwhelmingly positive, even from those who have no previous connection to the Broadmoor or Sea Island Resort.

“They are very different from what you expect from a cruise line,” says Creupelandt. “They make you feel at home.”

Spencer Penrose, the late founder of the Broadmoor, likely would’ve enjoyed the suites, too. Penrose and his wife, Julie, were jet-setters who made many transatlantic journeys together, according to Damioli. They even drew inspiration from their international travels when they designed the Broadmoor, so the Windstar suites are a bit of a full-circle moment.

And Anschutz?

He’s “very pleased,” says Creupelandt.

“The design award we received is actually on the way to his office because he’s very proud,” he adds.

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Williams announced his candidacy from the official Colorado GOP email account, assuring Republicans in the same email, to which he attached his official campaign press release, that he would remain in the role as chair and stay neutral in his own race — a laughable assertion.

He continues to use the official Colorado GOP email account to unapologetically attack his primary opponent for things he knows are untrue. Williams wants to paint Jeff Crank as a “RINO” and “Never Trumper” even when he knows his opponent voted for and supported former President Donald Trump in the past.

In the most flagrant misuse of his position, Williams sent out a mail piece from the Colorado State GOP doubling down on his previous false claims, attacking his opponent, fellow conservative organizations, and even long-time stalwart conservative donor Phil Anschutz and one of his newspapers, The Colorado Springs Gazette. The same Colorado Springs Gazette was incidentally the only major newspaper in Colorado to endorse Donald Trump for president against Joe Biden in 2020.

Republicans of all stripes across Colorado called me after the mail piece hit, asking: “How can Williams do that?” The answer is simple: “He can only abuse his position and our trust if we let him.”

The Colorado Republican Party is a private organization governed by our own bylaws, and Dave Williams has winnowed membership of the party to those he controls with fear. Few will stand up to him. I have little hope that the remaining members of the Executive Committee or the Central Committee will put a stop to this garbage because anyone who fights back is either kicked out or quits.

Here’s my suspicion about Dave Williams: He’s not actually that loyal to President Trump. He’s only loyal to himself and his desire to be in Congress.

In 2016, Williams was part of the Colorado crew that walked out of the convention to try to stop Trump’s nomination. In 2020, Dave Williams was fired from his volunteer position within the Trump campaign for.

William’s too-cute-by-half attempt to change his official name on the primary ballot against Congressman Doug Lamborn in 2022 to “Dave ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ Williams” wasn’t actually an expression of his loyalty to Trump as much as it was an attempt to use President Trump’s popularity with Republican primary voters for his own Congressional gain. He’s not a friend; he’s a coattail rider.

Even the Colorado GOP lawsuit that Williams touts as his major effort to help President Trump was a clear attempt to overcome his own fundraising impotence as chairman. Every step of the way, another email came out with the same message: “!” Williams is now using the same money on his own Congressional race from the official state party account.

Simply writing this out loud will land me on Williams’s shadow “RINO Exposed” website or whatever its actual name is. But if I’m a RINO, I’m the most heavily armed, pro-life, small-government RINO around, and this baseless accusation from this professional political grifter is actually high praise!

Dave Williams does not represent me. He does not represent the values or the principles of the GOP that I have supported my entire adult life. I will no longer stand idly, leaving Williams unchallenged to use GOP resources to practice distortion and extortion.

Kelly Maher is a Republican and a long-time Colorado political strategist.

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Kiz: Hosting a Super Bowl in this dusty old cowtown would be sweet. But here’s what I really want to know: You think Bezos could deliver us Aaron Rodgers in two days on Amazon Prime?

Phil Anschutz is 81 years old, so he would feel like a short-term solution as owner of the Broncos (pardon my gloomy outlook).
— C.J., Denver

Kiz: More than 20 years ago, Anschutz would call my house at breakfast to talk soccer. If he would like to hang out in my kitchen every morning and talk about football, I’d pour him a bottomless glass of Metamucil.

I’d like to see Thurston Howell III and Lovey as Broncos owners. Deep pockets. Never around.
— Rob, boating enthusiast

Kiz: Don’t the Broncos already have the Skipper as their coach?

I don’t know who should own the Broncos, but this endless conservatorship needs to end. The Broncos have become the Britney Spears of the NFL.
— Lauren, watching from Spain

Kiz: Now that the Bowlen kids have stopped bickering in court, maybe the focus can get back to winning on the field.

The single most important thing Major League Baseball could do to promote action would be to limit the defensive shifts. I would suggest a rule that prohibits more than two infielders from being stationed on either side of second base. That wouldn’t completely eliminate defensive shifts, but it would eliminate the worst manifestations. If the NBA can institute a 24-second clock in order to promote more action, MLB can do comparable things.
— J.C., progressive thinker

Kiz: The only thing that could stop the MLB from implementing serious restrictions on defensive shifts prior to next season would be mutual distrust between players and owners that it prevents them from doing what’s best for the game.

Everything about the All-Star Game and Home Run Derby was great, until it came to the uniforms. Why use bush-league uniforms a high school team wouldn’t wear?
— Kal, sharp-dressed man

Kiz: The staff here at Kickin’ It Headquarters has never been accused of being fashionistas. We wear the first wrinkled T-shirt found on the bedroom floor. But a player proudly representing his team at the All-Star Game in Dodger blue or Yankees pinstripes is a tradition so cool that MLB should never mess with it again.

Hey Kiz: If you didn’t complain so much, would they pay you less?
— Steve, just sayin’

Kiz: Nah, but if I had a nickel for every sports fan that griped about my columns, I’d be the next owner of the Broncos.

And today’s parting shot puts the Rockies in their place.

Denver is a football town with a hockey problem. Until baseball in Denver is treated more seriously than an excuse to sell overpriced beer in a bar dressed up as a baseball diamond, the Rockies will continue to be irrelevant. Dick Montfort needs to sell.
— Erik, honest fan

You could imagine general manager George Paton arguing for the sanctity of draft picks. And you can almost picture Pat Bowlen nodding at this, quietly. Then sitting up in his chair, leaning over and asking Mr. Paton how many Lombardi Trophies the Minnesota Vikings have won over the past four decades from hoarding all those precious draft picks.

The chaos at Dove Valley the past five years, the rot, the complacency, the lack of direction, urgency and accountability, always started at the summit. Always. The culture, for better or worse, formed like snows at elevation and trickled down.

The Broncos need a front-line quarterback. Not a project. Not a hope. Not a promise. A star. At some point, you have to realize the folly of bringing a plastic fork to the West����ap gunfights, year after year.

You know what else they’ve been missing?

Another Mr. B. Or Mrs. B.

One mission. One mantra. One voice. One desk where the buck always stops.

No more trusts. No more interim tags. No more temporary emperors clinging to power, money and relevance while a fan base starves. No more putting egos and greed ahead of Patrick Mahomes.

So, yeah, a toast this Independence Day Weekend. To the biggest elephant in the Broncos’ room, finally inching toward a blessed exit.

With the Bowlen family trial stayed and vacated from its scheduled July 12 date in Arapahoe County Court, it����ap starting to smell like a settlement is coming, and amen.

Ride with The Post����ap Ryan O’Halloran on this one: If the heirs couldn’t rally behind a single chosen one — Jeff Bridich and Nolan Arenado will team up on “The Amazing Race” first — then they’re going to put this city, and this franchise, out of its collective misery and sell this bad boy.

And before you shed a tear for #TeamBrittany, take a gander at the estimates. The Carolina Panthers went for $2.75 billion in 2018. Forbes.com pegs the Broncos’ value at $3.2 billion, and even that feels low. Pro Football Talk that the additional returns from sports betting, especially locally, could triple the asking price — think $8-10 billion — on the open market.

So let����ap see. Air our family’s dirty laundry in the courts during a knock-down, drag-out fight for stewardship? Or sell and figure out a way to split $10 billion among the clan?

If only all our Fourth of July barbecues could be Bowlen Fourth of July barbecues.

Come on down, Phil Anschutz.

Save us, Jeff Bezos.

Who needs a rocket ship when you can ride Thunder on Thursday nights in perpetuity?

The Broncos have become the NFL’s version of the Beach Boys: An oldies act riding an endless tour on past laurels, playing to a loyal following, with band members you’ve never heard of and wouldn’t pay to watch if they weren’t on this stage, wearing these colors, representing the brand.

Every season, they come around again, blasting out the same songs, even if those songs haven’t been hits for years. There’s comfort there, sure. But nothing contemporary. Nothing compelling.

In a coach/quarterback league, the Broncos have spent the past five years lowballing on the former and whiffing on the latter. They keep swimming stubbornly against the NFL current, doubling down on defense in a circuit that����ap getting more offensive by the year.

Since March 2016, this town has gone through nine quarterbacks, five offensive coordinators and three head coaches.

Nothing sticks. Except the misery.

When your ownership is a dysfunctional family? When your front office settles?

That����ap how you become the Bengals, not the Broncos.

Not Mr. B’s Broncos, anyway.

The AFC West is threatening to become what the AFC East turned into over the previous 18 years, when The Tom Brady and Bill Belichick Show consumed a generation. One team and one quarterback — Kansas City and Mahomes, in this case — nailed down at the crest, every year, with the rest of the pack left tearing at scraps.

You’ve got to fire a shot the Chiefs won’t point and snicker at. Which is the standard response when they have a Mahomes, and you don’t.

Look, if everything goes right — we’re talking everything, especially on the injury front — you might win 10 games during the regular season with Drew Lock or Teddy Bridgewater behind center. You also won’t get past the first weekend of the playoffs.

The Vikings Way works. To a point.

The Rodgers Way is better.

Would the NFL have forced the Broncos to play a home game on national television last fall without an active quarterback if Mr. B were still here? We all know the answer to that one.

One mission. One mantra. One voice. No. 1 In Everything is just a slogan, tough talk and empty calories, until somebody at the top backs it up.

None gained more between March 18, 2020, and Thursday than Charlie Ergen, the co-founder of Dish Network and EchoStar who is now Colorado’s richest person. Ergen $5.4 billion last March and is now worth $10.7 billion, .

That����ap a gain of 98% that puts him ahead of investor Philip Anschutz, who saw his net worth drop during the pandemic, from $11 billion to $10.1 billion, or about 8%.

The economic downturn of 2020 was different in some ways than the Great Recession, as seen in these billionaire gains, said , a professor of economics at the University of Denver. The stock market has soared since hitting a nadir in March 2020, bringing investors large gains even as unemployment rates have remained well above pre-pandemic levels.

“As has become painfully clear, the stock market is not, in fact, the economy,” Schneider said. “Recently they are trending quite differently and yes, in a downturn like this if you’re relying on income from work then you’re in a much more vulnerable position.

“This is where the pandemic is very different from the Great Recession,” he added. “During the Great Recession, things happened in financial markets and therefore, of course, the stock market also declined rather rapidly.”

Ken Tuchman, founder of the Englewood-based , saw the largest percentage increase of Colorado’s billionaires — from $1.3 billion in March 2020 to $3.1 billion by Thursday, according to Forbes data. TTEC did not respond to a request for comment.

John Malone, chairman of Liberty Media, gained $2.3 billion over the past year and is now worth $8.1 billion. Pat Stryker, the medical technology heiress and Colorado’s richest woman, took in $900 million and is now worth $2.9 billion. And media heir Gary Magness gained $500 million and is worth $1.6 billion. Messages left with their spokespeople were not returned.

Another thing the pandemic has made clear is that billionaires have “delinked” from the rest of the economy, said , a scholar at the progressive Institute for Policy Studies and author of several books on income inequality.

“I was watching billionaire wealth during the Great Recession in 2008-2009, when the total assets of the Forbes 400 went down for four years, declined with the fortunes of everyone else and didn’t recover to 2007 levels until 2013,” he said. “So, I thought (last year) that the economy’s going to get hammered, wealthy people are going to feel the pain like others, and that is clearly not the case.”