Denver’s Mayoral Candidates 2019: Michael B. Hancock

Age: 49
Experience: Denver Mayor since 2011, former Denver City Council president, and former president of Metro Denver’s Urban League
Action Plan: Keep the city on course: Continue to address homelessness, improve congestion issues, and make Denver a leader in environmental sustainability

Why do you want to be mayor?

Outside of marrying my wife Mary Louise and having [our] three children, it’s been the honor of my life to be able to serve as mayor of this city. I’ve always been devoted to public service and I treat this city similar to how I treat my family: I love this city a great deal.

What’s the first thing you would do if reelected?

We’ll take a look at our team. We’ll fuse that team with a mixture of new energy, and we’ll maintain a lot of the experience that we have.

What’s your plan for working with other cities in the metro area?

When I became mayor, the big issue was primarily the airport and airport city. We spent three years learning about each other and rehashing historic battles that I had no clue existed. Deep rooted animosity toward each other. I think the stage has been set for us to do even more, with a focus on housing, homelessness, and mobility.

Who has been a role model or mentor for you?

My mother. Her tenacity, her resiliency, her optimism. She’s eternally optimistic even though she was oftentimes discriminated against as a single mother.

One more thought:

On being accused of sexual harassment in 2018: Listen, it was a mistake. And I acknowledge that it was a mistake. I was transparent. I apologized to the detective, to my family, and to the city. It was something that was difficult to deal with, but also I learned from it. And at the end of the day I don’t know that there’s much more we can do around that issue other than change policy; we did change the policy. We grow from it and I hope that I’m a better person from acknowledgment of that mistake that I made, and again, grow from it.