Grading Mayor Mike Johnston's First Year in Office

Last week marked exactly one year since Mike Johnston took office as commander in chief of the Mile High City. We solicited letter grades from our City Cast Denver readers and listeners to judge how YOU think the new mayor is doing after one year on the job. Of those who participated, the responses were nearly evenly split. Overall, a slim majority of 26.5% gave Johnston a failing grade, while 23.5% thought he deserved an A.

Here’s what Denverites are thinking:

A Grade

“He gets an A for following through on his promise to improve the homelessness crisis. He appears to be developing a plan to reinvigorate downtown. He seems to listen more than he talks, a sign of a strong leader.” — Melvyn K.

B Grade

“B+. He inherited serious problems with homelessness and drug use downtown, then we got slammed with migrants by the thousands. He’s been able to do right by them, for the most part, without seriously disrupting local services. At the same time, he’s made progress on the homelessness/drug use situation. A pretty tough coup to pull off, really, but he’s managed it.” — Tim K.

C Grade

“C. Although his heart is in the right place, I don’t think we can always tax our way out of problems.” — Nickolette B.

D Grade

“I give him a D. His House1000 plan was (and continues to be) a total sham, he’s given more money to policing while asking us to pay for affordable housing with more taxes. He also wasted millions with an inadequate and poorly executed migrant response. Over promise and under performance is what I’ve seen.” — Trena M.

F Grade

“F. The amount of taxpayer funds spent on wildly ineffective policies to address homelessness is appalling. All taxpayers should be outraged and he should be recalled.” — Ross J.

“F. He’s spending money carelessly, and not listening to his constituents. Denver is a mess financially and visibly.” — Liz M.

As for the mayor himself? He believes he deserves a solid B+. Hear more 👇