Denver's new mayor Mike Johnston declares state of emergency on homelessness

On his second day in office, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston declared a state of emergency on the issue of homelessness and housing insecurity in Denver.

Johnston called homelessness "the most significant issue the city faces right now" and "a human rights issue." He said he aims to house 1,000 people by the end of 2023. The emergency declaration, according to Johnston, will help the city gain access to resources from the state and potentially, the federal government.

In his news conference Tuesday morning, Johnston said homelessness is tied to several issues, such as mental health, public health,  social services, economics and safety.

RELATED: Homelessness pushes out to the Colorado foothills and Denver suburbs

The declaration of a state of emergency will mean more resources and involvement from the city and private and nonprofit partners working on the issue of homelessness, according to Johnston.

"Today is the start of a process to devote city resources, city personnel, the leadership of the city council and of the agencies against that target," he said.

Johnston is also launching a "78-neighborhood tour" where city councilmembers will visit the communities in their districts and talk to residents and community organizations about what they need and what they can offer.

RELATED: Upcoming survey of homeless in Denver reveals community's biggest housing hurdles

Part of the city's efforts will be looking at land that can be converted to accommodate housing, such as through the use of tiny homes, Johnston said, to offer "both the dignity and stability of housing and shelter, plus also access to bathrooms, kitchens, showers, all the core services, as well as all the wraparound services around mental health and addiction and long term workforce training to get people back up on their feet and back to be contributing members of society."

Johnston also said he was bringing in 10 mayoral appointees to help lead this effort, but didn't say who they were or what, specifically, they'd be doing. He also said city staff have identified 197 publicly-owned sites and several privately-owned areas throughout the city that could accommodate "micro-communities" to provide housing.

The declaration itself doesn't cost any money, Johnston said. The total cost of efforts involved won't be known until his administration can do more extensive research and talk to community organizations, private sector landlords and hotels and other parties, but he did say the city has money in its budget to help undertake the efforts and that the emergency declaration would open up state funds to help the city.

RELATED: Residents voice top issues for Denver and Colorado as Mike Johnston takes office

In city surveys, homelessness and public safety and crime are among residents' top five issues. 

Johnston said unhoused people might not want to go to shelters, but rejected the idea that many unhoused people don't want housing: "We've seen really consistently from conversations with leaders in the unhoused communities [...] is when you have really dignified, stable housing to give people access to, the great, overwhelming number of people that are currently unhoused, want those services. That's 90% plus in many cities and also in some of the surveys we've done here."

A recent survey of unhoused people by Housekeys Action Network Denver showed between 93% and 99% of the over 800 people it surveyed want some form of housing.