Andy Rougeot: “I will ban homeless camps”

VETERAN AND ENTREPRENEUR | Andy Rougeot: “I will add that more officers who aggressively enforce our illegal gun laws.” (Picture/ El Comercio de Colorado)

ELECTIONS IN DENVER

CANDIDATE FOR DENVER MAYOR

Newsroom El Comercio de Colorado

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Andy Rougeot, a candidate for Denver mayor, says that if elected he will ban homeless encampments in the city. “As mayor I will enforce our ban on camping in urban areas. The homeless people who occupy these encampments must be evicted from these places so that they can receive mental health care and treatment for their addictions. By leaving them in those camps we are not being compassionate. We are not complying with them as a society,” said the candidate.

Rougeot claims that he will use his experience as a father, Army veteran and small business owner to address Denver’s problems. He moved to Colorado in 2011 when he was assigned as an officer to a military base in Fort Carson. He was sent to Afghanistan with the Rangers and upon his return he moved to Denver with his wife. He earned an MBA from Harvard. He owns and operates a small business servicing the storage industry.

As veteran who worked in military intelligence he is concerned about the high level of crime. “According to statistics, murders have tripled in Denver, which is now the auto theft capital of the country. I believe that we must attend to the problem very carefully. My idea is to add more police officers to aggressively enforce our illegal gun laws. I’m going to make sure to provide the necessary funds to properly train our police. This city must be safe.”

Housing for young families

Rougeot would like Denver, in some thirty years, to still be home to his daughters. “But this city is becoming less accessible. We see how regulations are destroying good paying jobs. Those regulations also increase the cost of housing and prevent the construction of low-cost housing. We must reform the city’s permitting department, eliminate regulations, and encourage young working families to buy their first home in Denver,” he concluded.

Questions and answers

What is your exit plan for Denver’s immigrant crisis?

Andy Rougeot: The current mayor dodged this crisis. As mayor, I will work with state and federal authorities to make sure that we are solving this problem. What I am clear about is that we cannot take resources away from the homeless, from our police services, from building more homes to allocate them to this other crisis.

What do you like most about Denver?

AR: I love this city. It’s the only one I wanted to put down roots in. I was born abroad and moved many times as a child and as an adult. I changed as a child. In this city I feel at home. I feel the vitality and pioneering spirit of the city and all its inhabitants.