6 westword.com WESTWORD JANUARY 1-7, 2026 | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | denied any wrongdoing but has settled with twenty women who claimed the quarterback engaged in sexual misconduct.) As in L.A., DePodesta’s boss and team owner in Cleveland, Jimmy Haslam, isn’t known for being traditional or smart with his payroll on the fi eld. That should help him in Denver, where the Rockies are viewed as the least favorable and most incompetent fran- chise in a city that is getting used to the playoffs in professional basketball, football and hockey. In his short time at the helm, DePodesta has focused on fi lling out the coaching and front offi ce staff after the team named Warren Schaeffer the full-time manager. So far, he seems to be looking for young, analytically- driven talent (sound familiar?) and a con- nection to the Dodgers, hiring Josh Byrnes as GM and Brett Pill as hitting coach, both of whom come from the MLB defending champs. Those moves and the hiring of bench coach Jeff Pickler, previously on the Red and Twins, received praise. Now it’s about getting players, and DePodesta is confi dent in who the Rock- ies will attract in free agency and via trades. “There are people who have proactively reached out to us, saying, ‘We want to play there.’ They see certain opportunities, not just because of playing time, although that’s certainly part of it. But fortunately, just within the last couple of weeks with what we’ve been able to put together off the fi eld, I think people are excited and there are some players who want to be a part of that. There are some players who want to be tutored by some of our pitching guys. There are hitters who I think would be excited to come over and be part of what we’re going to try to build here. It’s been good, and I think it’s been really positive so far,” DePodesta recently told the Denver Gazette. “Now, I’m not Pollyannaish. I understand that we still need to bid for players accordingly in the marketplace, and we need to be competitive in that marketplace. But, so far, we’ve been encouraged by the interest people have in being a part of what we’re trying to build.” Forgive us for not being Pollyannaish about next season, either. But at least we’re inter- ested. – Thomas Mitchell Barbara Kirkmeyer Colorado hasn’t elected a Republican governor in 23 years. Barbara Kirkmeyer wants to change that in 2026. The state senator from Brighton is one of 21 Republicans who’s fi led to run for the offi ce. But unlike many of her competitors, Kirkmeyer might actually have a shot at winning. Since launching her campaign in Septem- ber, Kirkmeyer’s name has risen to the top of the crowded primary fi eld, inspiring hope among party analysts and earning endorse- ments from the likes of U.S. Congressman Gabe Evans and former Governor Bill Ow- ens, Colorado’s only Republican governor in the last fi fty years. “Colorado is ready for a new direction. They’re ready for a person like myself,” Kirk- meyer says. “One-party control hasn’t served us well. ...We’re unaffordable, we’re unsafe, our roads are crumbling. Quite frankly, we’re unraveling. Enough is enough.” Democrats currently have a stranglehold over Colorado. Since 2019, Democrats have held every statewide executive offi ce and ma- jority control over the state Senate and House. Colorado has voted for Democratic presidential nominees in each election since 2008. However, when it comes to active reg- istered voters, Democrats only outnumber Republicans by a small margin. Around 50 percent of Colorado voters are unaffi liated, while 25 percent are Democrats and nearly 23 percent are Republicans. A recent poll of Colorado voters found that 52 percent disapprove of term-limited Governor Jared Polis, and 44 percent disap- prove of U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, one of two leading Democrats running for governor. The poll also found that a majority of respon- dents feel the state is “on the wrong track.” “It’s time for a governor who knows how to govern,” Kirkmeyer says. “The people are just as fed up as I am. They’re ready for a common-sense conservative who’s going to roll up her sleeves and deliver real results. ...I won’t raise your taxes. I’ll fi ght for afford- ability, make our community safe and fi x our roads. And I’ll work with anyone working for Colorado’s best interests.” Kirkmeyer is staunchly conservative in her policy stances, such as being anti- abortion, pro-gun rights and pro-oil and gas. But she’s differentiated herself from the more fringe MAGA side of her party. Months after Donald Trump endorsed then- Colorado GOP Chair Dave Williams for Con- gress, Kirkmeyer con- demned Williams and called for his removal over his “hateful narra- tives.” While Trump has pushed Polis to pardon election-denying for- mer Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, Kirkmeyer won’t commit to doing so if elected governor, saying she would “con- sider all the facts.” In the Senate, Kirk- meyer has a reputation for working across the aisle, particularly as a member of the powerful Joint Budget Committee, which drafts the state’s annual budget. She high- lights her sponsorship of bipartisan bills that cut property taxes, provided education funding and preserved the state’s healthcare safety net. Before she was elected in 2020, Kirk- meyer served two decades as a Weld County commissioner and led the Department of Local Affairs under Governor Owens. She unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2014 and 2022. In the latter race, she won the Republican primary but ultimately lost to Democrat Yadira Caraveo. “Everything I have done in my life has led me to this moment,” Kirkmeyer says. “There is no one with my level of experience. No one with my ability to build coalitions, work across the aisle and get the job done for the people of Colorado. That’s what sets me apart.” If elected, Kirkmeyer would be the fi rst woman to serve as Colorado governor, though she’s not particularly interested in breaking glass ceilings. “I don’t know that it makes a big differ- ence if you’re a male or female,” she says. “I’m just a person who likes to get things done. It’s time that I step forward and deliver for my state.” – Hannah Metzger Christina Carlson Shortly after Mike Johnston took of- fi ce as mayor of Denver in July 2023, he launched All In Mile High, an initiative to solve homelessness that borrowed a few ideas from Urban Peak, the Denver nonprofi t that has been serving homeless youth in the metro area since 1988. And the city’s services continue to follow Urban Peak’s lead. “Urban Peak is having an infl uence at the city level,” says Christina Carlson, the executive director of Urban Peak since 2017. “We can solve [homelessness] tomorrow if we rally together to make change. I really believe that.” Urban Peak, which serves homeless in- dividuals between the ages twelve to 24, has long offered temporary housing to get people off the street. Temporary housing for people swept out of encampments was Johnston’s biggest AIMH investment, with more than $130 million worth of contracts for nonprofi ts to operate hotels converted to shelters inked in his fi rst year. Urban Peak, which now operates out of its “Mothership” campus on 1638 South Acoma Street, offers supportive services to help the youth it shelters fi nd permanent housing, work and benefi ts like housing vouchers. “What we’ve really doubled down on with the Mothership is that full-continuum of services,” Carlson says. “At Urban Peak, where we do outreach and transitional hous- ing and permanent housing, we have built underneath it all the support services from medical to clinical to case management to education to workforce development. By creating that holistic approach, it’s way more effective.” At the city’s AIMH housing sites, resi- dents can access wraparound case manage- ment for behavioral and mental health as well as help transitioning into permanent housing and fi nding work or benefi ts like housing vouchers. And just as Johnston’s AIMH has dealt with controversy over poor security, high costs, crime at its sites and the departure of the Salvation Army from management of several facilities, Urban Peak had to pay $2 million after the Denver Auditor found it committed wage theft during the construc- tion of its Mothership. Carlson says that those back wages – which Urban Peak blamed on contractual confusion – are paid off. Urban Peak separates temporary housing residents into “affi nity groups,” meaning their roommates have similar backgrounds, like coming from foster care or identifying as LGBTQ. “There’s work that happens with seniors or families or male or female identi- fying, but I think teasing it out into smaller communities is new,” Carlson says. “Urban Peak was a big player in creating that.” AIMH, too, separates some groups, put- ting homeless families at the Tamarac Shel- ter, 7525 Hampden Avenue, and women and trans residents in the Elati Village, at 1375 Elati Street. Johnston promised to solve Denver homelessness by the end of his fi rst term, which wraps up by 2027, and with a year and half left to go, he’ll likely rely on Carlson beyond her work at Urban Peak. Just before the COVID pandemic in 2020, Carlson started the Homeless Leadership Council to unite the executives of the Denver area’s largest homelessness service provid- ers, including offi cials from the Colorado News continued from page 4 Barbara Kirkmeyer COLORADO SENATE REPUBLICANS Paul DePodesta JASON MILLER/GETT Y IMAGES
