It’s been just over 24 months since Denver Mayor Mike Johnston took the oath of office as the city’s 46th mayor, and, in that time, the former Harvard-educated and once rural Mississippi school teacher has delivered two State of the City addresses.
His inaugural address, delivered on July 22 last year at the historic Paramount Theater, marked yet another ambitious campaign to solve the city’s woes, notably housing, public safety and a struggling downtown.
During his campaign for mayor, the then-candidate notably promised to end Denver’s homelessness crisis in his first term as mayor. Fresh from his electoral victory, when excitement among his supporters was palpable, he talked about a “new dream,” which became the bedrock for the slogan he later adopted to encapsulate his vision for the city — “vibrant Denver.”…