Nick Campion is running for City Council District 7 because he sees the job as a form of service to his community. It's what he said drove him to join the Colorado Air National Guard, volunteer with people experiencing homelessness and now seek a council seat.
"It's always been in my blood to serve others," Campion said. "My purpose is to serve others, the community and the planet."
Campion worked in marketing across the country before coming to Denver in 2015, serving in the National Guard and working in business and software. He got an MBA at CU Boulder, is the CEO of three software companies and has worked with climate-oriented community groups and entrepreneurs.
He's running against six others in a crowded race for District 7, where current Councilmember Jolon Clark isn't seeking reelection.
Campion's top issues include homelessness and climate change.
He's spent time volunteering to help people experiencing homelessness, and is opposed to the homeless sweeps, which he says are not working.
"The sweeps are inhumane," he said. "It's traumatizing to wake someone up and make them move, and constantly moving makes it hard to find them as well, and to provide services to them. They're not fixing the solution at all."
Campion wants to see Denver build more of many different types of housing, including short- and long-term, Safe Outdoor Spaces and tiny homes.
"We need to build more housing in general," he said. "Getting away from just building single family houses, but to more duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, being more creative with that, and also getting more dense by public transportation."
When it comes to climate, Campion wants Denver to focus on zero-waste.
"Food waste is one of the easiest things we can do as a city to reduce our emissions," he said. "I'm working on ways to bring better education to our food waste, because it's something that we all deal with on a day-to-day basis."
He also wants to see more climate action on the residential housing front, with more heat pumps and solar panels.
In addition to policy goals, Campion has a promise for voters:
"If I win, I will get a tattoo of District 7," he said. "I'm accepting submissions for tattoos on my website because I got skin in the game."
