Where He Stands

Businesses locate in areas with higher quality of life. Strong Arts and Cultural programs helped Denver economically. Don Mares will fully support the Arts, support the SCFD sales tax vote, attract the film industry, and strengthen arts education in Denver Public Schools.

Denver's cultural vitality is not just a quality-of-life asset — it is an economic engine. From the performing arts complex downtown to neighborhood galleries and studios, the arts drive tourism, attract talent, and define Denver's identity as a world-class city. As Mayor, Don will champion continued investment in the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District and work to make Denver a destination for film production, bringing jobs and revenue to every corner of the city.

Denver is the economic hub for the entire region. Don Mares will personally contact the chief executives of every metro city and county to convene an economic summit. He will create Enterprise Denver — a one-stop shop for business development, tax incentives, reduced parking fees downtown, and put permitting online to cut red tape.

The next mayor must understand that Denver's economy does not exist in isolation. When Northwest Denver neighborhoods thrive, the entire metro region benefits. Don's plan to convene a regional economic summit reflects his understanding that collaboration, not competition, drives real growth.

Enterprise Denver will streamline the process for starting and expanding businesses in the city. By consolidating permitting, reducing downtown parking fees, and offering targeted tax incentives, Don will make Denver the most business-friendly city in the Mountain West while protecting neighborhood character.

As Auditor, Don is Denver's fiscal watch-dog. He will review consultant spending, cut general government budgets before imposing furloughs, reduce mayor appointees (now at 52) at least in half, and revisit the number of police commanders to ensure taxpayer dollars are being used wisely.

Don Mares has spent years auditing city spending and knows where the waste is. His budget priorities are clear: protect front-line services, hold managers accountable for results, and never balance the budget on the backs of workers or neighborhoods. The current administration has allowed the number of mayoral appointees to balloon to 52 — Don will cut that in half on day one.

Don Mares will establish a partnership with Denver Public Schools based on trust and cooperation. He will use the mayor's bully-pulpit to advocate for schools and fight for state and federal dollars for Denver's students.

The mayor and the school board don't always agree — but they must always cooperate. Don believes the mayor has a responsibility to use every tool available, from the bully pulpit to intergovernmental relations, to support Denver's children. That means fighting in the legislature for equitable school funding and working with DPS leadership to ensure every neighborhood school has the resources it needs.

Don Mares was a vocal opponent to Amendment 2. He fought to include trans-gendered individuals in Denver's non-discrimination policy. Don supports domestic partnerships, the Colorado Business Council, and GLBT adoption rights.

When Amendment 2 threatened the civil rights of gay and lesbian Coloradans, Don Mares did not equivocate. He stood up and fought. As a state legislator, he worked to ensure that Denver's non-discrimination ordinance explicitly protected trans-gendered individuals — a position that was ahead of its time. As Mayor, Don will continue to champion equal rights and make Denver a welcoming city for all families.

Don Mares will work with Denver Health, workers, and businesses to make healthcare more available and affordable. He will create a large pool of small businesses purchasing insurance together to drive down costs. Don supports the $148 million bond for Denver Health and will expand prevention programs across the city.

Denver Health is a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of residents who have nowhere else to turn. Don's plan to organize small businesses into a large insurance-purchasing pool is a practical, market-based solution that can lower premiums without waiting for action from Washington. The $148 million bond will ensure Denver Health has the facilities and equipment to serve a growing city for decades to come.

Safety is the number one priority. Don Mares will review the existing jail site with neighborhoods. He has serious questions about expansion plans, the Rocky Mountain News building site, cost overruns, and why the Sears site failed as an alternative.

The city needs adequate jail capacity, but neighborhoods deserve a seat at the table when decisions this large are made. Don's approach is simple: transparency, community input, and fiscal accountability. Before spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, the next mayor must explain why previous alternatives were rejected and what the true long-term costs will be.

Don Mares' campaign started because of what lower downtown accomplished but neighborhoods were left behind. He will strengthen communication between City Hall and neighborhoods, give the Neighborhood Office a clear directive, and require agency heads to attend neighborhood meetings.

For too long, Denver's investment has flowed to the downtown core while neighborhoods from Montbello to Northwest Denver waited for their turn. Don Mares will change the culture at City Hall so that neighborhood concerns are not an afterthought. The Neighborhood Office will have a clear mandate and the authority to hold agency heads accountable for showing up and listening.

Don Mares will keep the city clean and safe, respond quickly to crime, increase visible police presence in every neighborhood, and establish a 24-hour telephone hotline for graffiti, trash, potholes, and other quality-of-life issues. He will ensure all public safety agencies can communicate with each other.

Public safety is not just about policing — it is about the daily experience of living in a neighborhood. Graffiti that stays up for weeks, potholes that go unfilled, and dark alleys that feel unsafe all erode the quality of life that makes Denver's neighborhoods special. Don's 24-hour hotline will give every resident a direct line to City Hall, and his commitment to interoperable communications will ensure that police, fire, and emergency services can coordinate during crises.

Don Mares won't let the evolution of Denver's transit system stop at T-REX or FasTracks. He will fight for Denver's share of Federal and State transportation dollars, work with RTD on transit oriented development, and look 10 to 20 years ahead to plan the infrastructure Denver's growth demands.

T-REX proved that Denver can build world-class transit infrastructure. FasTracks will extend light rail and commuter rail across the metro region. But the next mayor must be thinking beyond the current plan. Don will work with RTD to ensure that transit oriented development around new stations benefits neighborhoods, not just developers, and that Denver captures its fair share of federal transportation funding for the next generation of infrastructure.