STATEMENT ON DENVER LAYOFFS
DASHR published the following statement concerning the Denver layoffs in partnership with Our Revolution Metro Denver and Solidarity Warriors:
On August 18th, the City of Denver laid off 169 employees and eliminated over 600 open positions to address what the city is calling a $250 million budget shortfall over the next two years. The layoffs will have devastating impacts on not just the individuals involved but also the city services that they provided. Notably, not one position was eliminated from the Department of Public Safety despite that being the single largest budget line item, which almost never sees cuts when the annual budget is generated. Hardest hit were the Office of Children’s Affairs, Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, and Office of Human Rights. The Assessment, Intake, and Diversion (AID) Center will also be shut down as a result of the layoffs, which provided necessary services to our unhoused community and people coming out of jail. Also notable is that the layoffs come before the January 1st implementation of 2024 ballot initiative 2U, which Denver voters approved and allows for unionization of an additional 7000 city employees.
While many are quick to blame Mayor Mike Johnston for the budget disaster, it should be clear that this crisis began nearly 25 years ago when then-Mayor John Hickenlooper took office and his initiatives painted a blueprint for modern gentrification. Since his administration, Denver has continued a pattern and practice of mismanagement, corruption, and high-cost development projects through multiple mayoral terms. This has led to the current dynamic where, through taxpayer dollars, residents of Denver are paying for a city they may never see due to being priced out and pushed out.
Mayor Johnston is not without blame, however, as his mismanagement of the budget and development projects has directly contributed to our current budget crisis. When elected, the Mayor promised a “Vibrant” Denver that would bring people back downtown and eliminate our major crises of homelessness and affordability. Instead, Vibrant Denver has led to roads being shut down, making travel excruciating; construction that has blocked and shuttered many longstanding local businesses; homeless services that are impossible to access; and our current budget crisis; resulting in the first mass layoffs since 2011. We also strongly reject any scapegoating of our unhoused community and undocumented community, who received necessary and critical services, but who are being blamed for the shortfall.
Our Revolution Metro Denver is clear that our priorities for our community are housing, healthcare, environmental sustainability, and workers’ rights. A budget should reflect the needs and priorities of the people. For too long, oligarchs at the national, state, and local level have stolen and mismanaged taxpayer dollars, and Denver’s budget crisis represents the consequences of misplaced priorities and failed leadership.
ORMD and partnering organizations stand in solidarity to call for these specific details and issues to come to light in order for the public to be aware and educated on said subjects. We call upon the current local administration and any elected officials at all levels to do better by representing the needs of the people they serve.
