PRAGMATIC ISSUES

Denver’s Brewing Budget Battle – Mike Johnston Starves Democracy While Luxury Towers Sit Empty

When Denver’s own Clerk and Recorder Paul López raises the alarm that Mayor Mike Johnston’s 2026 budget is undercutting the very foundation of our elections, residents should pay attention. This isn’t about office supplies or overtime pay, this is about democracy being balanced on the chopping block of austerity.

The irony?

Denver’s skyline is littered with hollow luxury high-rises, glittering symbols of speculative greed. Those units, many owned by absentee investors or shell corporations are sitting dark at night while election workers get told to do more with less.

Johnston’s budget choices aren’t just careless they reveal a city leadership more comfortable protecting empty condos than protecting voters. And let’s face it, Johnston’s budget issues are due to his own carelessness and mismanagement.

López is right to call this out. Elections don’t run on goodwill alone. They require staffing, secure infrastructure, and resources to ensure that every Denverite from Montbello to Westwood can cast a ballot with confidence. To “trim the fat” here is to hack into the bone of civic trust.

So here’s a thought, instead of squeezing elections, why not squeeze the hollow towers?

Tax luxury apartment buildings for every unoccupied residential unit. These “ghost units” already distort our housing market, drive up rents, and contribute nothing to the local community.

A vacancy tax would not only generate revenue but also send a clear message, democracy and livability matter more than investor portfolios.

Johnston has branded himself as the mayor who’s “all in” on fixing Denver. But if his all-in means starving elections and the homeless while protecting empty penthouses, and Denverites should be asking all in for whom?

Because starving democracy while feeding developers is a recipe for civic collapse.

Denver deserves better.

Paul López has sounded the alarm now it’s up to us to demand a budget that funds democracy first, and a city that taxes vacancy before it taxes voters. Unlike the media keeps reporting, Denver does not actually have a housing crisis it as an affordability crisis and our elected officials don’t seem to see that.