Trinidad Rodriguez
Trinidad Rodriguez ran for election for Mayor of Denver in Colorado. He lost in the general election on April 4, 2023.
Rodriguez completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Trinidad Rodriguez was born in Denver, Colorado. He earned a high school diploma from East High School and a bachelor's degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1996. His career experience includes working in the finance sector. Rodriguez has been affiliated with the Downtown Denver Partnership and Denver Housing Authority organizations.[1]
Elections
2023
See also: Mayoral election in Denver, Colorado (2023)
General runoff election
General runoff election for Mayor of Denver
Michael Johnston defeated Kelly Brough in the general runoff election for Mayor of Denver on June 6, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Michael Johnston (Nonpartisan) | 55.2 | 89,889 |
 | Kelly Brough (Nonpartisan) | 44.8 | 73,097 | |
| Total votes: 162,986 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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General election
General election for Mayor of Denver
The following candidates ran in the general election for Mayor of Denver on April 4, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Michael Johnston (Nonpartisan) | 24.5 | 42,273 |
| ✔ | | Kelly Brough (Nonpartisan) | 20.1 | 34,627 |
 | Lisa Calderón (Nonpartisan) | 18.1 | 31,164 | |
 | Andy Rougeot (Nonpartisan) | 11.5 | 19,927 | |
 | Leslie Herod (Nonpartisan) | 10.7 | 18,506 | |
 | Chris Hansen (Nonpartisan) | 4.8 | 8,309 | |
 | Deborah Ortega (Nonpartisan) | 4.5 | 7,739 | |
 | Ean Tafoya (Nonpartisan) | 1.6 | 2,700 | |
| Terrance Roberts (Nonpartisan) | 1.0 | 1,757 | ||
 | Thomas Wolf (Nonpartisan) | 1.0 | 1,747 | |
 | Trinidad Rodriguez (Nonpartisan) | 0.7 | 1,240 | |
| Aurelio Martinez (Nonpartisan) | 0.4 | 755 | ||
 | Al Gardner (Nonpartisan) | 0.4 | 725 | |
 | James Walsh (Nonpartisan) | 0.4 | 722 | |
| Renate Behrens (Nonpartisan) | 0.1 | 184 | ||
| Robert Treta (Nonpartisan) | 0.1 | 169 | ||
 | Abass Yaya Bamba (Nonpartisan) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 24 | |
 | Jesse Parris (Nonpartisan) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 11 | |
 | Paul Fiorino (Nonpartisan) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 5 | |
| Matt Brady (Nonpartisan) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 4 | ||
 | Marcus Giavanni (Nonpartisan) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 1 | |
| Danny F. Lopez (Nonpartisan) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 0 | ||
| Total votes: 172,589 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Sylvia Herring (Nonpartisan)
- Kwame Spearman (Nonpartisan) (Unofficially withdrew)
- Anna Burrell (Nonpartisan)
- Alex Valdez (Nonpartisan)
- Sean Gallegos (Nonpartisan)
- Kenneth Simpson (Nonpartisan)
- Alex Cowans (Nonpartisan)
- David E. Stevens (Nonpartisan)
Campaign themes
2023
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Trinidad Rodriguez completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Rodriguez's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Like many Denverites, this city helped my mom and me through tough times, and I wanted to pay it forward. That's why I've spent the last 25 years volunteering and in my finance career working with local nonprofits and civic groups, securing funding for schools, health clinics and affordable housing communities. That sets me apart from the other candidates.
Denver is facing significant challenges including homelessness, public safety, and affordability, but I won't stop fighting because I believe in this city. We can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results. It’s time for my vision to build a city where every Denverite, regardless of their neighborhood, can achieve their version of success.- My top priority is addressing the homelessness crisis. At 11 years old, I learned my godfather was unhoused and struggling with addiction. All I could hope for at the time was that there would be someone to protect him from himself and others. Too many Denverites experiencing homelessness have lost their lives in the past five years alone. We need humane, compassionate, and scalable new tools to protect unhoused people from themselves and others. Building on my work with the Denver Housing Authority, my first action would be to declare a state of emergency to address Denver's homelessness crisis. This will grant access to unique tools and resources that we will use to open a temporary field treatment hospital. To begin solving this crisis,
- My second priority is addressing public safety. At nine years old, someone invaded our home and assaulted my mom. Feeling completely helpless, I wondered how my mom and I would ever feel safe to sleep again. Thanks to the officers who responded, my mom and I felt slightly safer sleeping again. I want Denverites to feel safe in this city. Unfortunately though, the crime rate is rising and law enforcement has a lot of trust to rebuild in the communities it serves. First, we must hire more officers. Denver has grown by 50% but our officer ranks are the same as in 1997. Next, we must expand the STAR program; our officers must do the work that they are trained to do. And as Mayor, I promise to raise standards for equity in policing with rigor
- My third priority is to address affordability in Denver. The cost of living has soared 200% over the last ten years but household incomes can't keep up. As a board leader at the Denver Housing Authority for ten years, I learned what investors want and need to advance our affordability goals. Over the last ten years we've added to both our total housing supply and restricted affordable units, and as Mayor, I will build on this work. The other key to building affordability in our city is expanding our city's relationship with Denver Public Schools and higher education institutions: we must keep investing in education.
Physical occupancy of our downtown commercial buildings hovers around 50%, and work-from-home is an undeniable factor. With that option and the dismal and unsafe feeling of being downtown, employees are staying away.. We also see fewer conventioneers and day-trippers in downtown restaurants and retail stores.. My priorities will focus on curbing the rising crime rate and helping unhoused people who are on our streets. A safe and clean environment is foundational to a vibrant area.
Creating new kinds of exciting attractions is next: better connections to our incredible place and each other. I’m envisioning weekday Ciclovias, mass events for walking, biking, rolling and other exercise. More healthy and safe commuting options will give people more opportunities to combine wellness into their work days. Our rehabilitation of the 16th Street Mall will also help with its improved design for pedestrians. And as mayor I will work with landlords through innovative programs to make vacant ground floor space available for pop-up galleries, restaurant concepts, recreation places, and greenhouse growing.
We also need community engagement to create a bold vision for the repositioning of the glut of commercial office space. Mixed uses can exist in those buildings— they don’t have to be just office spaces or just housing spaces, but can house both. They could also include arts, nonprofit, and healthcare spaces. With the right vision for planning, zoning, and adaptation, we can begin to restore downtown’s vibrancy. My administration will hold design competitions for our rich architectural industry to drive planning and zoning policies that unlock and drive the redevelopment of exciting places that attract and retain diverse uses. There could also be innovative approaches to financing and economic incentives to spur more rapid development.
Who better than a finance expert and city builder to develop strategies and teams to ensure investors do more to support our affordability objectives?
I will coordinate with the Legislature and our neighbors to improve outcomes.
In my volunteerism and career, I advanced efforts to stem involuntary displacement through the income restricted supply production. Through these experiences, I can develop actual strategies to achieve results in preventing and reversing displacement.
Denver currently has the same number of officers that it had in 1997, yet our population has grown by about 50%. That alone needs to be addressed.x. We need to hire more officers, and my office will work with our police Chief to do so. Reducing funding for safety is not the answer. We also need best-in-class leadership and management to help develop our officers over time, helping them feel supported and successful, thus increasing job satisfaction and talent retention.
We also need to expand the STAR program. Our officers need to be doing the work they are trained and signed up to do.
Many sustainability efforts can make near term, perceptible improvements in local climate conditions. Among the most important is air quality, in which the Front Range region collectively has grappled with for decades and threatens to undo progress in shifting to more active mobility modes. Mitigating and reversing this trend in challenging conditions of geography and rapid growth in emissions producing activity, including development, will take long range planning, implementation and collaboration with our region of the state and US. At the same time, private sector industry is pushing forward with exciting innovations in sustainable products and services. Some areas that I will prioritize in addition to and in concert with the Climate Action Plan include the following.
The emerging development of self-driving technology when combined with electric or hybrid mass transit vehicles has the potential to reduce emissions per vehicle mile traveled and improve the transit service frequency and coverage. As mayor, I will position Denver to specifically attract this innovation industry as a long term play in our future development.
Channeling markets through setting public/private investment targets, coordinating with cities that have similar climate approaches as a purchaser, investor and partner.
My administration will initiate our climate strategy to substantial economic development, operational, planning and direct expenditure efforts in high impact areas. DEN, DOTI, DEDO and our regional intergovernmental relations present unique opportunities.
Though efforts to enhance comprehensive mobility investments that were widely supported by public and private sector leaders and planners throughout the Front Range did not pass at the ballot box, now is the time for his administration to step forward as a leader in planning solutions that support our regional goals for mobility.
My team will accomplish this through innovative infrastructure design and building; lowering, and enhancing enforcement of speed limits to meaningfully reduce and eliminate mobility related injuries and deaths and determine how Denver can be a leader in unlocking promising new technologies that can advance these goals, such as self-driving people movers among others. Creating and harnessing incentives in efficiency, sustainability and health will lead to a more even distribution of mode shares by our citizens.
Build team and invest in people (appointees) and the future of our city’s leadership that is diverse;
Lead the development of culture and values of the city team (cabinet and appointees, employees, and board and commission members);
Collaborate with the city council and advisory entities;
Measure and monitor organizational performance and transparently share with the public;
Actively lead stakeholder partnership development that advances Denver’s strategic goals with philanthropy, business and commerce, neighborhoods, community serving organizations, and domestic and foreign governments and organizations where Denver has a strategic interest;
I will measure our success using key performance indicators that correlate to progress in reaching my vision. Among these indicators will be declining poverty rates, growth in real median household income, educational attainment among residents, local gross domestic product growth and enhancement of neighborhood diversity. I will assess this through continual engagement with Denver’s residents, business, community serving nonprofits, philanthropy, advocacy groups and partners.
Build team and invest in people (appointees) and the future of our city’s leadership that is diverse;
Lead the development of culture and values of the city team (cabinet and appointees, employees, and board and commission members);
Collaborate with the city council and advisory entities;
Measure and monitor organizational performance and transparently share with the public;
Actively lead stakeholder partnership development that advances Denver’s strategic goals with philanthropy, business and commerce, neighborhoods, community serving organizations, and domestic and foreign governments and organizations where Denver has a strategic interest;
Carol Hedges: Former Policy Director, Governor Roy Romer; former ED of Colorado Fiscal Institute
Andrew Hudson: Former Communications Director/Press Secretary, Mayor Webb; Founder AH Jobs List
Verónica Figoli: Former DPS Foundation CEO; former Chief of Community Engagement at DPS; Chief Development Officer
Gary Yamashita: In personal capacity only.
Ismael Guerrero
Jack Blumenthal: Independent Director
Sandi Paiz Garcia: CFO, Financial Planning Association, former CFO Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Wendy Chao: CEO, Colorado Chinese News
Christina Habas: Colorado 2nd Judicial District Court Judge, retired
Craig Archibald: Former Urban Peak Interim CEO and board chair
Cynthia Lynn Diaz: Tonantzin Casa de Café
Christopher Sanchez: BBA Water Consultants, Principal; Chair of the Board, Colorado Board of Examiners - Water Well Construction and Pump Installation Contractors
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See also
2023 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on March 22, 2023
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