Cool Under Pressure

Chris Wedor’s hand engulfs mine in a friendly shake and I notice two things about his mits: one, they’re work-hardened, like he just came from building a deck; two, he’s applied the perfect amount of pressure for friendliness without the kid-glove business. His age is the next notable.

“I’m 32,” he says, knowing full well that politically, that’s something the other District 10 city-council candidates could pounce on. Youth translates to inexperience for many, but the fresh-faced, married gay man is anything but an easy target. What some people might not know outright is that Chris, familiar to some of us as a Tracks’ DJ, is one of five people tasked with auditing the performance and finances of Denver’s city agencies. As an auditor, his work revolves around making sure the city’s efficiency is in place and that its numbers are adding up in ways that make sense. And besides:

“Having lots of experience is no guarantee of success.” Further: “Having someone from a younger demographic is key. We need people who aren’t so defined, not so set in [their] ways. People who are open to new possibilities and willing to learn.”

We talk about the lack of participation and disenfranchisement, not only in the younger demographic, but with Denver denizens in general.

“There used to be a lot of activity in city council meetings,” he tells me. “On Monday nights, when community issues were debated and decided, the room was full. Lately, people have been frustrated with the council, and with government in general. What that means is stuff passes that many people just don’t understand. Things aren’t questioned.”

We talk about how easy it is to feel like no one’s listening. 


“People are cautious about government, and I get that,” he says. “There are special interest groups and a number of ways that things can get out of control, but we need people to pay attention. We need good voter turnouts and people watching carefully, asking the right questions. We need to be asking why certain policies are in place. Is anyone making sure we take a good look at what’s going on using data-driven facts?”

For example? “For example, while we were in an economic downturn, [Denver City Council] had a vote on whether or not they got a raise. That’s just out of touch — there’s no justifying that to me. We need to be making the right decisions in regard to money. There’s a real disconnect there. It’s almost nothing to get hundreds of millions of dollars passed for projects that may or may not be well planned. $200 million may not seem like a lot of money from an entire city budget standpoint, but to most people, that’s a lot of money. $1,000 is a lot of money. There’s a disconnect.”

How will you manage the reconnect? “We need people at our age who care. People always say, ‘We need change!’ but when it comes time to step up, no one our age is there. There’s a huge generational bridge and we need to become relevant in our local government. Local elections have a huge impact on the day-to-day lives of people, which makes it even more important for everyone to vote. [City council] affects where you can park, where you can build, what tickets you pay, et cetera.

“We also don’t utilize social media well at all. It’s more like, ‘Hey, I’m at City Council dot-dot-dot.’” His big shoulders shrug. “We need to use the platform to explain why it’s so important to be at city council, to be active in our local government, to engage and interact with people who would be interested in knowing what exactly is going on.”

Ok, let’s say he secures the seat. What’s Chris in city council honing in on? “There’s a good balance that has to be reached with pro-neighborhood and pro-development groups. You don’t want to overdevelop, but you also don’t want to block business that brings economic growth and stability to a neighborhood. I like to call it ‘intelligent growth.’ For example, think about the high density of traffic and people in the Speer/Cherry Creek area. Would it have made sense to plan high-rises that are going next to single-family residential neighborhoods more carefully? I believe so. We have to develop sensibly. With businesses and neighborhoods, that means compromise. Do we impose street capacity or add street lights? Do we limit one-way streets? These things — logistics —need to be strongly considered.

“Red tape is another issue. Our city has literally hundreds of types of licenses for people to wade through before doing anything — from architecture to opening a new bar; you’ve got weeks and weeks of paper-pushing to get through. We need to make getting things done easier to navigate. We’re one of the few cities in which developers actually carry around those huge tubes full of blueprints. Other cities do all that electronically now. We’re easily years behind, and that’s just a small example.”

He talks of public safety issues, like working with cops on civilian safety guidance and how to bolster a more tolerant community. “We need training, awareness, and a true understanding [between the community and the police force],” he says. He wants to make sure the proper ways to handle incidents around the city are employed, with special sensitivity to rape and hate crimes.

I doubt any of us could argue with that. As we’re talking about his marriage — he met his husband five years ago and they’ve been inseparable since — a harried gentleman gets the attention of the restaurant we’re in. There’s been a drunken hit-and-run incident and the intoxicated culprit is making a getaway. “Does that white BMW belong to anyone here?” Chris excuses himself from the table and makes his way toward the parking lot with the gentleman, moving swiftly but without panic. I stealthily follow. Outside, his concern isn’t with his car, but with the intoxicated driver who smashed into it.

“He shouldn’t be on the road,” he says, dialing his phone. He watches the driver’s path and moves away from the crowd for a quieter spot. I head back inside and wait. Minutes later, he slides back into the booth.

Everything ok? “It’s fine,” he says. “The police are on the way.” I can’t help but remark at how odd this is, but he swats at the air with his huge hand as though it’s nothing. The man is cool under pressure, not easily rattled. He wants to wrap things up.

“I’m an average person,” he admits, tone heavy with gravitas. “I’m not a politician, I’m a public servant who knows that too many people in government forget who they’re working for. I think in order to move government into the 21st century, Denver needs a leader with fresh, creative, data-driven ideas, and we need to challenge the status quo. We all know the system does not work for the people, and we need to change that. I just want to be that change for everyone.”