Mayor Johnston Announces Executive Committee for Vibrant Denver Bond
Published on May 08, 2025
Executive Committee to Complete Final Review of Projects before Bond Package is Presented to Mayor and Submitted to Denver City Council
DENVER, CO — Mayor Mike Johnston announced the formation of the Vibrant Denver Bond Executive Committee today. This group will review the final list of proposed projects, as recommended by five subcommittees, before the full bond package is presented to the Mayor, then sent to Denver City Council for possible inclusion on the November ballot.
The Executive Committee is composed of the following community leaders:
- City Council President Amanda P. Sandoval (Co-Chair)
- City & County of Denver Chief Financial Officer Nicole Doheny (Co-Chair)
- Christine Benero, president and CEO, Mile High United Way, the first United Way chapter in the United States
- Kayla Garcia, president and CEO of Girls Inc. of Metro Denver, and previously with Denver Inner City Parish and Mile High United Way
- Mowa Haile, chair-elect of the Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and founder and president of Sky Blue Builders
- Happy Haynes, former executive director of Denver Parks & Recreation, former president of the Denver City Council, and former president of the Denver Public Schools Board of Education
- Mary Nguyen, founder and president, Olive & Finch Collective
- Federico Peña, former mayor of Denver and former U.S. secretary of transportation and secretary of energy
- Murphy Robinson, CEO of SurePass and former City & County of Denver deputy mayor, chief operating officer and executive director of the Denver Department of Safety
- Dr. Ben Sanders, executive director, Denver Office of Social Equity and Innovation
“The Vibrant Denver Bond Executive Committee represents the best of our city — leaders from every corner of our community coming together to help shape a stronger, more equitable future for Denver,” said Mayor Mike Johnston. “This process is rooted in the voices of our residents, and I’m grateful to the committee members for their commitment to ensuring this bond package reflects the needs and hopes of every neighborhood. Together, we’re building a more vibrant Denver, block by block.”
Mayor Johnston invited members to serve on the Executive Committee, with review and input from Council President Sandoval, based on familiarity with prior bond packages and capital projects, leadership in the community, and diversity of personal and professional experience.
The Executive Committee will have an initial orientation on May 12, followed by weekly meetings starting May 19, once it receives project recommendations from the five subcommittees. The subcommittees are currently evaluating hundreds of proposals submitted by the public, Denver City Council, and city departments. The city has gathered input through nearly 7,600 community interactions and received a range of project ideas and sentiments, including more than 6,200 survey responses and close to 1,000 participants at a dozen community meetings and town halls held across Denver.
The five subcommittees currently reviewing projects include:
- Arts & Cultural Venues
- Connectivity: Street, Bridge, Bike, and Pedestrian Safety
- Parks, Playgrounds, Trees, Trails, and Our Climate
- Recreation Centers, Libraries, Housing, and Other City Facilities
- Safe & Healthy Neighborhoods
“I am thrilled to see such immense excitement and engagement from community in this process and look forward to engaging with my colleagues to review project recommendations as we enter into this important milestone,” said City Council President Amanda P. Sandoval. “Our bond programs should reflect the needs and wants of our constituents, and I am committed to ensuring each of our districts receives investments in their communities that will contribute to more vibrant neighborhoods and a more vibrant city as a whole.”
The Executive Committee will finalize its list of recommended projects and share them with Mayor Johnston. The Mayor will then provide a proposed bond package to Denver City Council for their review this summer. If approved by Denver City Council, the bond package will be placed on the November 4 ballot. If approved by voters in November, the Vibrant Denver Bond Program would deliver investments in Denver neighborhoods over the next six years.
Executive Committee meetings will be open to the public to observe. The first meeting will serve as a general orientation session for the Executive Committee and is scheduled for:
Monday, May 12, 8:30-10 a.m.
Wellington Webb Municipal Office Building
201 W. Colfax Ave., Denver 80202
Fourth Floor, Room 4.G.4
Mayor Mike Johnston first announced the Vibrant Denver Bond Program in February as a way to fund public improvements across the city – without raising taxes and with approval from voters.
General Obligation (GO) bond programs like this one are used to build and upgrade public parks, recreation centers, libraries, arts and cultural venues, roads, bridges, police stations, and other public facilities. Cities across the U.S., including Denver, rely on GO bonds to deliver the world-class infrastructure residents expect and deserve.
Since 2017, the city has completed nearly 400 bond-funded projects across Denver. Recent projects include a new wing of the Denver Art Museum, an animal hospital for the Denver Zoo, a new stage roof at Red Rocks, a new playground at City Park, and an indoor pool with a kids’ play area at Green Valley Ranch recreation center. The city has also improved 14 libraries, made upgrades to more than 50 parks and 22 recreation centers (including the future new Westwood Recreation Center), updated equipment at police and fire stations across Denver, and is building a new fire station in northeast Denver, among many other projects.
Denver’s previous bond programs are nearly complete, creating capacity for new projects under the Vibrant Denver bond program without raising taxes.
Resources
About Denver GO Bonds
General obligation (GO) bonds are a long-term debt instrument issued by state or local governments to fund public capital improvement projects such as roads, bridges, bikeways, public facilities and parks. This includes restoring, replacing and expanding existing capital assets. Local GO bond programs are authorized by Denver voters every 4-10 years and repaid through property taxes. Denver’s previous bond programs include Elevate Denver, a 10-year, $937 million general obligation bond program approved by voters in 2017, and RISE Denver, a five-year, $260 million general obligation bond program approved by voters in 2021. For more information, visit denvergov.org/gobonds.
About the Denver Department of Finance
Committed to being the best financially managed city and county in the nation, the Department of Finance (DOF) unifies the financial and accounting functions of the City and County of Denver and provides residents easy access to key financial data through Transparent Denver. DOF is divided into the Office of the CFO and seven divisions, including the Assessor’s Office, Controller’s Office, Budget and Management Office, Capital Planning and Real Estate, Cash and Capital Funding, Risk Management and Worker’s Compensation, and Treasury. For more information, visit Denvergov.org/finance.
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