DENVER -- Denver mayor Michael Hancock is getting ready to give his State of the City address in just a couple of weeks and he already knows what he’s going to talk about.
“We’re going to talk about that growth and the importance of maintaining Denver’s sense of who we are,” he told Denver7 anchor Anne Trujillo on this week’s Politics Unplugged. “I’m going to talk about that because that’s important to people and they also want to hear about how we are responsibly meeting some of the challenges in terms of growth, housing and our quality of life.”
The mayor recently launched the Office of HOPE (Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere) to help focus some of the city’s resources on things like affordable housing and helping the homeless.
He also knows that many people in the city are becoming frustrated with big new housing developments which don’t allow for enough parking.
“The reality is our streets have to become multi-modal,” he said. “You have to think about how you move people around the city, and as this culture begins to shift we’ve got to fortify policies that really encourage people to think less about automobiles and more about transit -- pedestrian, or walking, using bicycles.”
Trujillo pointed out that the mayor has done everything but say Denver is a “sanctuary city.” The mayor says that will never change.
“My number one objective is to protect the people, the residents of this city,” Hancock said. “When we go out, and we’re learning across this country, when you put that symbol of sanctuary city on your city, we’re seeing that the ICE agency is doubling down and putting bigger targets on the backs of those you’re trying to protect, the most vulnerable. Immigrants are in our city, they’re working hard, clearly some may break the rules or the laws. We want to hold them accountable, but after today we don’t need to needlessly put people in harm’s way who are simply trying to find freedom and opportunity in our city.”
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Politics Unplugged airs Sundays at 4:30am & 4pm on Denver7.
