Johnston pulls from Peña playbook to shape Denver's future
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Photo illustration: Brendan Lynch / Axios. Photos: John Prieto / The Denver Post, Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call and Joe Sohm / Visions of America, via Getty Images
Two Denver mayors, 40 years apart. Similar budget woes. Same bold bets on the future.
The big picture: Mayor Mike Johnston is staring down a fiscal crisis — a $250 million budget shortfall, city staff layoffs and a skeptical public — while trying to pass the largest bond package in Denver history.
- To help sell it, he's turned to the one person who's been here before: the 78-year-old former Mayor Federico Peña.
State of play: Johnston handpicked Peña — the driving force behind Denver International Airport and the Convention Center — to co-lead the bond's steering committee.
- "Who most understands what it means to lead with courageous, big projects in a moment of economic uncertainty" other than Peña? Johnston told Axios Denver in a joint interview with the former mayor.
- "There is no one alive who has more profoundly shaped the constitution of modern-day Denver than Federico," Johnston added.
Why it matters: Johnston is pushing a $950 million infrastructure bond package just as his administration makes painful budget cuts — raising questions about whether the city can afford new investments while tightening its belt.
Yes, but: Peña, who went on to serve in the Clinton administration, argues the city can't afford not to. Tough economic times are when you double down on dreaming big.
- "I had people saying, 'Don't do anything. Let's wait for the recession to go away,'" Peña told Axios. "I said, 'No — we have to claw our way out of this with these investments.' [Johnston] is doing the same thing."
Flashback: In the 1980s, Peña's administration — in the teeth of a brutal recession and facing its own budget shortfall — pushed major public investments. He built the Convention Center, laid the groundwork for DIA and redeveloped what is now Lower Downtown and Riverfront Park.
- At the time, 600 acres of abandoned land generated just $40,000 a year in property taxes. Today, Johnston estimates that figure is exponentially higher, as the area has transformed into a massive economic engine — home to Union Station, Coors Field, Ball Arena and Elitch Gardens.
- Peña's own bond package jumpstarted that 600-acre transformation.
Between the lines: Even Peña admits he may have leaned too hard into long-term vision. In his memoir, he wrote projects like DIA and the Convention Center didn't immediately come to fruition or create jobs fast enough to meet public expectations.
- "Citizens expected quick change," he wrote — and he barely won re-election.
By the numbers: Johnston's bond proposal — on the ballot this November — promises 10,000 jobs and $2 billion in economic impact.
What's next: He'll spend the next two months selling the plan to voters, most of whom, recent polling shows, haven't heard of it.
The bottom line: Despite early doubts, Peña's vision to "Imagine a Great City" helped define Denver.
- Now, Johnston is pulling from Peña's playbook, asking Denverites to believe, once again, that big swings will pay off.