I’ve lived in Denver for 30 years, all in District 9. I met my husband, Mike, at a Whittier neighborhood meeting. I am the youngest of seven, raised in the projects on the island of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Because I grew up living with housing instability, I know how many Denverites feel. I have and will continue to focus on affordability in Denver, ensuring that teachers, firefighters and municipal workers can reside in the city they love. As the founding chair of the Denver Housing Stability Strategic Advisors board, we worked collaboratively to develop and pass the only affordable housing mandate in the state of Colorado, the Expanding Housing Affordability policy.
As your next city councilperson, I will promote permit reform that reduces the average time from 18 months to three months, bringing us into compliance with the requirements of Proposition 123. This time savings will expedite efforts to build affordable housing in Denver.
Housing is personal for me. My sister lived with an undiagnosed medical condition for years. She self-medicated, lost her job and then her apartment. Our family did everything we could to help her rise above her addiction and find housing; in spite of our efforts, she died alone in a boarded-up shack. And so I believe it is both a moral and policy imperative — since more than 300 residents die on cold or hot concrete yearly — that we confront the crisis facing our unsheltered residents.
I will implement and fully fund Community Solutions’ Built for Zero, which includes practical tactics to provide an accurate count of how many souls are living unsheltered. I will target the budget to ensure that we have a 1:1 match for the number of unsheltered residents to transitional housing. To reduce the root causes that precipitate individuals becoming unhoused, I will increase spending on mental health and addiction services, as well as rental assistance, the Daily Basic Income Program, eviction defense and tenant rights.
As we consider issues like housing, safety, transportation and green spaces, I will prioritize the involvement of my constituents in our decision-making processes. In the last four years, constituent services have been lacking throughout District 9. I will meet regularly with residents and businesses in each neighborhood, listening to their concerns and elevating their ideas for solving some of the biggest issues facing our city.
First, I will collaborate with each neighborhood in District 9 to create an area plan that expresses the desires of the residents and businesses on the health, growth and sustainability of their communities. Second, I will reform the current Registered Neighborhood Organization process to become more inclusive of renters, English as a second language speakers and individuals who don’t have 9-5 schedules (i.e., third shift employees). Reforming RNOs can help to foster more demographically diverse participation as constituents actively engage in shaping the decisions made by city council. We need a new councilperson who will represent the concerns of all constituents across District 9.
Website: WatsonforDenver.com
Contact: Darrell@WatsonForDenver.com; 303-946-2533