DENVER — At a news conference Monday on his 2024 goals, Mayor Mike Johnston briefly addressed the migrant crisis and its related costs that have put the city into a $180 million hole, calling the situation "unsustainable."
Johnson said no final decisions have been made on budget cuts beyond what has already been announced. He said the city is working to reduce the number of migrants it serves and to reduce the number of services it provides to them, and that he plans to give more of an update on the situation later this week.
In announcing his goals for this year, Johnston focused his news conference on issues including safety, affordability, homelessness and revitalizing downtown.
"In the middle of a tornado is the best time to have a clear sense of where you're going," he said.
He broke down his goals into categories around making Denver "vibrant, affordable and safe for all." He said the goals are specific and measurable, and many are intended to meet certain benchmarks by the end of the year.
Those goals include:
- An extension of last year's plan to get 1,000 people experiencing homelessness off the streets. This year, Johnston said he wants to move more people into temporary shelter and work to move the people currently in temporary housing into permanent rental housing.
- A reduction in gun violence by 20% with a focus on providing support to "hot spot" neighborhoods to prevent crime.
- A transformation of downtown Denver from being worker-focused into a neighborhood where people live and have more access to affordable housing, child care and public spaces.
- An expansion of affordable housing for working families.
- Streamlining the city's permitting process.
The mayor said cross-departmental teams will focus on each of his goals and that the city plans to create public dashboards to measure progress.
Earlier this month, because of the costs of the migrant crisis, Johnston publicly announced $5 million in cuts from the Division of Motor Vehicles and Denver Parks and Recreation. Other departments discussed cutting their 2024 budgets, including the Denver District Attorney's Office, the Department of General Services and the Department of Human Services.
"Without any federal support, without any work authorization, without changes to policy, we are going to have to make changes in terms of what we can do with our city budget, and what we can do in terms of support for newcomers when they arrive," Johnston said earlier this month.
Johnston has focused criticism on recent border legislation in Congress that Senate Republicans blocked despite bipartisan support when explaining why the cuts are being made. Denver has seen more than 40,000 migrants arrive in the city over the past year.
When he came into office, Johnston made it the city's goal to house 1,000 people by the end of 2023, and the city's House1000 Dashboard showed they surpassed that goal.
The city spent about $45 million last year on efforts to address homelessness, according to Johnston. In December, the mayor said they'd budget around $50 million for the next phase of the effort to bring more people in off the streets.
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