Meet James Walsh, one of the nearly two dozen people hoping to be Denver's next mayor.
Beyond that, I have always felt that Denver Democratic leaders and their politics are progressive in all but labor. They’re not anti-labor but they’re not pro-labor. I want to lead the city in a way where workers are put first. Denver workers first is one of our slogans.My students pushed me, pushed me and pushed me to run. And after teaching in this city for 25 years I have legions of former students.
That made me feel like I am a viable candidate. They’re energized. They’re galvanized. They’re moving. And the energy that flows out of our meetings is infectious. We can’t imagine that any other candidate can match it. That’s the most important factor in a campaign is simply human energy.The minimum wage should be a living wage which means that people making minimum wage should be able to pay their basic bills and survive and pay their rent. That means raising it even more.
Denver is already fairly immigrant-friendly but there are still changes that can be made. Because we live in a society where a subset of people, their labor is welcome but their humanity is not.I would work with groups like the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition and the American Friends Service Committee on bringing immigrant voices including undocumented voices to the table to help shape future policies.I think this is related to my emphasis on harm reduction.
And again bringing to the table people who have lived on the streets, currently or formerly. No better expert than hearing directly from the unhoused community.We don’t have the funding that the big names have. We don’t have the career experience that the big politicians have but we do have people power behind us and that trumps those in my view.