When “Lived Experience” isn’t in the Plan: a Closer Look at Renée Chacon

In March 2024, the city held a series of Community Listening Sessions to shape its new Economic Development Strategic Plan. Residents were invited to share their vision for the city’s future. But the city's list of goals did not include public safety or less crime:

And yet… Residents found a way to talk about these issues. Our staff reporter attended one of these sessions. South-side residents, including Spanish-speaking mothers via an interpreter, shared feeling unsafe in their neighborhoods. They raised concerns about:

• Crime
• Their children's safety
• Community safety

They did this even though no one asked. Afterwards, the city published a Summary Report, which compiled feedback from all the sessions. It confirmed what we witnessed:

• Public safety and crime are mentioned several times
• Residents elevated safety on their own, without prompting

What's NOT in the report: fear of the police, requests for reducing, defunding, or replacing police. Residents most affected by violence did not call law enforcement the problem. They said crime is the problem:

Enter: Renée Chacon

Council member and candidate for re-election Renée Chacon has publicly voiced positions that conflict with what residents actually said. According to Eye on Commerce City's city council coverage:

• Police Chief Darrel Guadnola described Flock gunshot detectors and license-plate readers as a clear success. He presented concrete numbers to support this claim.
• Chacon expressed concern about a “surveillance state”.
• She suggested using Guardian Angels or local veterans as “buffers” between residents and police.
• She brought up the “race” of people in the south. She wanted the same resources spent in the low-crime north.

Yet the residents most impacted by crime — people of color from the south side —didn't express fear of police. They asked for safety. There is a clear contradiction: The communities Chacon claims to represent are saying one thing. Chacon is saying something very different.

The Question Commerce City Deserves to Hear Answered

Ms. Chacon, your proposals would limit police involvement. But the March 2024 Community Listening Sessions showed residents — especially South Side mothers — want more safety and didn't call for less policing. How do you reconcile this?

An Invitation to Respond

Council member Chacon, transparency requires fairness. We invite your response and commit to publishing it in full, unedited.