Get live updates from The Denver Gazette’s staff on Mike Johnston’s inauguration as Denver mayor on Monday, July, 17, 2023.

12:15 p.m. – protestors sound off

While inside the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Johnston spoke about ensuring a Denver that left no one abandoned, a reminder of the challenges awaiting him as mayor gathered outside.

Protesters held up posters and chanted “people over profit” as they called for solutions that will prevent the displacement of people who reside at the temporary shelter at Rodeway Inn, which the Denver Housing Authority plans to shutter and sell.

Zoe Avalon has lived at the shelter for more than a year. She is afraid she will be forced to live on city streets when the shelter closes in a few weeks and has not found other housing so far. There’s has been talk of bridge housing for people leaving Rodeway but that is not enough, she said.

She believes the new mayor’s administration has been initially responsive to their concerns “but those are words.” She hopes city officials will finds a way to keep the shelter open until a better plan for its current residents is found.

At Rodeway, she is provided with meals and case management. Many people there have PTSD and are victims of domestic violence.

“Some of us have physical disabilities and we tend to be brushed under the rug. We are what people see as the ugly side of the city,” she said.

11:35 a.m. Gov. Polis sends congratulations

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis issued a press release minutes after Mayor Mike Johnston’s inauguration.

“I am proud to congratulate Denver’s new Mayor Mike Johnston on his inauguration,” Polis said in the statement. “We look forward to working with Mayor Johnston to continue our bold work delivering for Coloradans, from boosting our strong economy with good-paying new jobs to making Colorado one of the ten safest states in the country to reducing the cost of housing.

“I thank former Mayor Michael Hancock for his service to Denver over the past 12 years as mayor.”

11:05 a.m. – Mike Johnston outlines his “Dream of Denver” 

“Our Dream of Denver,” the new mayor said, “is a city that belongs to all of us, so if you serve this city … you can afford to live in this city and raise a family here.

“Our dream of Denver is a city where you feel safe in every part of our city, so you can send your kids out to play in any neighborhood at any time of day and not once worry about their safety.”

“Our dream of Denver is refusing to abandon our city center, but promising to reimagine it, as centers of commerce and culture, art and music, where all of us can live and work and play. To build industries that manifest the creativity of our diverse entrepreneurs, that showcase what makes us different and what makes us Denver, in spaces where all of us feel seen and safe and celebrated.

“Our Dream of Denver is that the things we build support the people that built them, houses that house those who built them, hospitals that serve those who serve us, roadways that carry home the hands that paved them, our dream is a city that asks not only what we are building, but who we are building it for, mindful always of how we build a city that serves those who have been left out of the cities successes for far too long.”

Johnston added:

“So, today, we dedicate ourselves to two essential American ideas; every problem we face is solvable, and we are the ones to solve them. Those of us on this stage swore an oath today, but for us to succeed, every Denverite must take their own oath, an oath to dream, serve, and deliver. To dream a Denver bold enough to include all of us, to serve our city above ourselves, to march on shoulder to shoulder, undeterred by failure, until we deliver results.

“That is our oath.”

11 a.m. – New mayor begins speech with diagnosis of America’s challenges 

Mike Johnston, who was sworn as mayor just a few minutes ago, began his inaugural speech with an analysis of what’s ailing American society.

“Instead of turning to each other, we turned on each other. Instead of reaching out a hand, we pointed a finger,” he said.

The question now, he said, is “how we found ourselves here, but how we find our way out of here.”

10:51 a.m. – Mike Johnston sworn in as 46th Denver Mayor

Mike Johnston is now the mayor of Denver.

Johnston took the oath of office Monday morning at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, marking the beginning of his administration as the city’s first new mayor in 12 years.

Johnston was elected in June, emerging as the winner out of a field of 17 candidates over two rounds of elections, to replace term-limited Mayor Michael Hancock, who has led the city since 2011.

Hancock spoke at Monday’s ceremony, in addition to City Council President Jamie Torres, poet Laureate Bobby Lefebre and several faith and community leaders.

Johnston, 48, is a Democrat and former two-term state senator. He grew up in Vail, graduated from Yale and Harvard, and most recently headed Denver-based Gary Community Ventures, a major local philanthropic nonprofit.

Johnston was inaugurated along with Auditor Tim O’Brien, Clerk Paul López and the 13 members of the Denver City Council.

10:46 a.m. – Colorado Poet Laureate Bobby LeFebre delivers new poem

The crowd really got fired up from this poem, delivered in three minutes:

“Let us say that this moment right now, is all there is.

And if this moment right now is all there is, let us fashion from it something marvelous.

Let us drink from its mouth until we become intoxicated, but a stumble into the euphoria and ecstasy of the now.

The mundane is an enemy of the magical humdrum, a murderer of the mystical.

So, let us imagine. Let us build, let us peer into the future unafraid.

The future, where roots in imagination converge to usher in new things. For what is the city but the people? What is progress, but the populace thriving? What is hope, but what fortitude embodies.

Dream with us a new Denver. One we have yet to see but long for. Where multifamily is more than a metaphor, and no need goes unmet.

A revolving world refuses stagnation and so should we. A new city is possible. A new city is here, all around us living and breathing. The present is now. The future is extraordinary.

Can you see it? The vision? Can you hear it? The sweet bells and justice ringing righteously in the distance. Fate convincing us to listen to what we hunger to one day see.

Let us run with hope and abandon in the direction of the chimes. Traverse an urban landscape that has made winners of some and bull’s eyes of others.

Unprecedented times require unprecedented actions. Hope is a beacon beckoning us. Join us at the intersection of empathy and innovation. Where yesterday and tomorrow rendezvous.

Are you working? What are you working toward? What song does your heart sing when it is at peace? Are you leading with love? Are you transmuting fear into fire? Are we ready to reconcile?

Old enough to repair. Brave enough to admit what do we know of accountability? Can we deploy radical imagination? Etymology: Radical comes from roots imagination, to picture oneself.

Can you picture yourself grasping onto the roots of new ways? Is your recognition lucid? Are you grounded? What is our foundation? How do we view transformation? Do you believe in what you cannot see? Do you see what you cannot touch? Can you dance in the space between reality and reason? Can the unreal become real?

Are you comfortable and learning? Are you willing to unravel indoctrination? Can we dissolve the status quo? What do you know of collectivism? Do you believe in more than yourself?

Can you commit to common cause? Can you be unbound by what is? The master’s tools still will not dismantle the masters house!

We need new tools to analyze is to take things apart to imagine is to put them together! What if? Why not? Open the door to possibility?

Leave no one behind! Let us build the best city in the world! One fist, one idea, one person, one action, one need, one day at a time.”

10:40 a.m. – Mayor Michael Hancock peacefully transitions power

The room cheered as outgoing Mayor Michael Hancock called the inauguration a hallmark of democracy, by upholding “the peaceful and orderly” transfer of power. Hancock called it an honor to pass the baton before he and Johnston embraced. He exited the stage with a standing ovation.

10:15 a.m. – Ceremonies begin

The swearing-in ceremonies started in earnest shortly after 10 a.m., with Raquel Garcia singing the national anthem and the Spirituals Project, a choir, singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

Here’s a background of the song on the NAACP page:

Often referred to as “The Black National Anthem,” “Lift Every Voice and Sing” was a hymn written as a poem by NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson in 1900. His brother, John Rosamond Johnson (1873-1954), composed the music for the lyrics. A choir of 500 schoolchildren at the segregated Stanton School, where James Weldon Johnson was principal,  first performed the song in public in Jacksonville, Florida to celebrate President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday.

9:31 a.m. – Crowd gathers for Mike Johnston’s swearing in

True Apodaca-Cobell, the political director for SEIU Local 105 and a member of the labor relations committee for Johnston’s transition, waited nearly first in line to take his seat inside the ceremony.

“It’s incredible,” he said of Denver’s first inauguration of a new mayor in 12 years. “I’m looking forward to a mayor who is actually listening, and is from all accounts ready to be engaged.”

The transition process, and the fact that the committee he served on existed at all, was one of the first signs that Johnston aims to be a transparent and engaged mayor, Apodaca-Cobell said.

The use of committees “was unique. It wasn’t just a bunch of back door deals” leading up to Johnston’s swearing in, he said. The committee gave Apodaca-Cobell a seat at a table where people came together to brainstorm solutions for the city, and where professional moderators led forums to spur critical thinking. He’s optimistic that Johnston will continue to be a mayor “who is thinking about labor in such a progressive way.”

8:57 a.m. – Mike Johnston tweets optimism before inauguration

Optimism suffused the city of Denver’s air on Monday morning, as Mike Johnston prepares to take the oath of office as Denver’s 46th mayor.

“Alright, Denver, here we go!” Johnston said on Twitter. “It’s a new day.”

8:38 a.m. – Roads closed around Union Station

Wynkoop and 17th streets were shut down outside the front of Union Station Monday morning as crews worked to set up a stage for Mike Johnston’s inauguration party.

The stage and sound equipment was being set up on the south side of Union Station at its main entrance.

The inauguration, which is called “Denver Vibes Festival” kicks off at 5 p.m. on Wynkoop Plaza.

The event is open to the public and attendees can RSVP on DenverVibesFest.com.

Isaac Slade, formerly of The Fray, will be headlining the event. Flobots and The Motet are also scheduled to perform, along with 10 other bands. Dozens of local artists and vendors were also scheduled to be on hand to sell food, drink and wares.