District 1: Diane Barrett

County Served: Denver County
Term Ends: July 2029

About Commissioner Barrett

A lawyer for nearly 25 years, Diane Barrett practiced primarily in the areas of public finance and land use/development. Her practice emphasized financing public infrastructure for local governments and for private development projects. She retired from the practice of law in 2005, and was persuaded to try public service by then-Mayor of Denver John Hickenlooper, who appointed her his Special Assistant for Transportation and Development. He directed her to oversee Denver’s participation in the $500 million Denver Union Station transportation and redevelopment project, a multi-modal hub for the Regional Transportation District’s massive FasTracks project. Retained in the Special Assistant position by Mayor Bill Vidal when John Hickenlooper became the state’s governor, Diane’s portfolio grew to comprise oversight of most of Denver’s major construction projects. When Michael B. Hancock became Mayor in 2011, he created the position of Chief Projects Officer and appointed Diane to fill it. Altogether, through three mayors, Diane was a mayoral appointee for 14 years in the City and County of Denver.

She retired in November of 2019, having recruited her successor and, she hopes, assured the continuation of the Chief Projects Officer role in Denver. In the summer of 2024, Governor Jared Polis recruited Diane and appointed her as his Special Advisor for Joint Rail Service, with the specific remit to begin implementation of Senate Bill 24-184. That legislation instructed CDOT, RTD, the Front Rail Passenger Rail District and two CDOT enterprises to work together with the Governor’s Office to establish a jointly operated passenger rail service from Denver Union Station to Fort Collins. A year later, with a Joint Service Executive Oversight Committee established by intergovernmental agreement including all six entities and negotiations underway with the railroads, Diane once again retired for the third and potentially final time.