Hey Denver, it's time for the weekly general session of your Denver City Council.

Tonight's coverage of Denver City Council starts now.

Good afternoon, everyone.

We're gonna take a minute and see if we could fix that.

Thank you, Tim.

Appreciate that.

Um, thank you for taking the time to join us for the Denver City Council meeting.

Today is Tuesday, October 14, 2025.

Tonight's meeting is being interpreted into Spanish.

Sam or Jasmine, would you please introduce yourself and let our viewers know how to enable translation on their devices?

Yes, of course.

Thank you for having us.

Hello, everyone.

My name is Sam Guzman with the CLC, and today, along from my colleague today is Diego Pons, he will be interpreting today's uh meeting into Spanish as well.

Please allow me a quick minute while I give instructions in Spanish on how to access interpretation.

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Sam.

Welcome to the Denver City Council meeting of Tuesday, October 14th.

Council members, please join Council Member Alvidres in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Pledge of allegiance, number five for the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands.

Council members, please join Councilmember Alvidres as they lead us in the Denver City Council land acknowledgement.

The Denver City Council honors and acknowledges that the land on which we reside is the traditional territory of the Ute Cheyenne and Arapaho peoples.

We also recognize that government academic and cultural institutions were founded upon and continue to enact exclusions and erasures of indigenous people.

May this acknowledgement demonstrate a commitment to working to dismantle ongoing legacies of oppression and inequities and recognize the current and future contributions of indigenous communities in Denver.

Thank you, Councilwoman.

Council members Gilmore, Lewis.

Present.

Here.

Got it.

Thank you.

Council Member Sawyer, we're getting to you.

Approval of the minutes.

Are there corrections to the minutes of October 6th?

Seeing none.

The minutes stand approved.

Council announcements.

Are there any council announcements this afternoon?

Councilwoman Gonzalez Cutieres, go ahead.

Thank you, Madam President.

If you can see, I have these lovely purple and gold pom poms right here in front of my desk because I want to celebrate.

And I'm trying to gather all of the um all of the teams that have won in fall sports for high school right now are playing.

And a lot of them are still playing out to see who wins the city championship.

But what I'm here to brag about right now, because it's very near and dear to me, is that the North High School Girls Softball team took the city championship this year for the first time in uh since the 90s.

Yeah.

And the Denver North High School girls' flag football team also took the city championship this year.

Um close ties, because both of my um kiddos, a junior and a freshman play on these teams, and they worked really hard throughout the year to make that happen.

And it's a huge celebration for North High School and for the North Side.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you.

I was so excited to see that as a North alum.

Um, I think the last time they won is when my sister was there.

Um yeah, like a long time ago.

So exciting.

Councilmember Alvidres.

Thank you, Council President.

Um, I just wanted to shout out Councilwoman Sawyer who's remote today.

Happy birthday, and also to Councilmember Watson.

We have a lot of birthdays in October.

Happy birthday, Councilman.

Scorpios.

My birthday's my birthday's at the end of October.

So thank you, Councilmember Alvides.

Councilmember Cashman.

Yeah, thank you, Madam President.

Uh, I want to let uh folks know that uh my office along with my partner, Councilwoman Gonzalez Guterres has been working uh through the summer and uh already uh in into the uh fall weather uh on a few dozen um uh public events uh to collect uh opinions from Denver residents on how the city can do a better job of involving residents in their own governance uh combination of simple community engagement and more robust uh community empowerment.

We're having our uh final in-person event tomorrow night uh at Cook Park Recreation Center, 7100 uh East Cherry Creek Drive South from 6 to 8 p.m.

Uh come out and uh we've already heard from uh uh 50 or 60 of the Southeast neighbors.

Uh it'll be a great interactive discussion, and we'd like your opinions.

Um uh on another matter since we're bringing up championships on the way to their next one.

The University of Denver Pioneers men's hockey team has started off the season with uh a pair of wins over University uh Nevada, Las Vegas and Bentley University in Massachusetts, and a unfortunate one-to-one tie with Air Force.

But we're on the way to another good season, so go pieos.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Councilmember Watson.

Uh thank you, Madam President.

Uh we have our monthly uh community office hours at Yazoo Barbecue Company at 2150 North Broadway.

That will be on October 24th from 1 to 2 15 p.m.

Come out and meet with me and my staff, share whatever thoughts you have.

You can even come and give us a hug.

But it's a great time to meet your city council staff and to meet me and talk about all the important stuff that's happening to you and your family and your businesses in the fine district nine.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you.

Councilmember Torres.

Thank you, Madam President.

Um, Historic Denver is uh doing their annual gala this Thursday.

And I just wanted to give a shout out to um a couple near and dear uh honorees that they're gonna be honoring on Thursday.

Uh Derek Okubo is receiving the Ann Love Award.

Um, Derek was my uh former supervisor at Agency for Human Rights and Community Partnerships, um, but also long involved with the Japanese American community and acknowledging um uh the historic site of Amachi um here in Colorado.

Um, and so really glad to see him getting recognized.

And then the Far East Center is receiving the community preservation award.

Um, and the Luang family who own the Far East Center.

Um not only has it been uh cultural anchor in West Denver and Southwest Denver at Federal and Alameda, um, but it's also been one of the great gathering places for annual events like um the mid-autumn festival and the lunar new year and um Saigon Azteca and a number of other really amazing spaces.

So thank you to Historic Denver and congratulations on another year.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you.

Excited to be there on Thursday and congratulate all the award winners.

Councilmember Abidres.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I just wanted to take an opportunity also to shout out Laws Whiskey, which is a whiskey that is distilled right in District 7, who has featured in the Denver Post today because they're saving Southern Colorado farmers.

So they use all locally derived wheat and barley for their whiskey.

So come visit District 7 and try out Laws Whiskey.

We have a few whiskey places.

And one of our very own former city employees, Valerie Gonzalez, who worked in the Office of Children's Affairs, is receiving the Knowledge is Power Award as one of the partner in education awards.

So want to just give her a congratulations, also partial because it is my auntie, one of them.

I have many.

But anyway, I'm really proud of her and um and the work that she has done for many decades.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you.

She has a funny joke I'll have to tell you off camera.

She's saying about her awards, because this will be her second one that she's getting.

If you'd like to, if you're a paddle boarder like myself, please join us at Berkeley Park.

It's called a spooky fat paddle this Friday, October 17th from 4 to 8 p.m.

at Berkeley Lake.

It's for free.

I think they'll have paddle boards, or if you have one, you can bring your own.

I have my own.

All ages are welcome.

And the paddle boards are first and first come, first served.

All right.

Seeing no other uh council announcements.

Tonight we have the Denver Colfax Marathon Government Relay presentation.

Let's welcome Andrea Dowie Downey of the Colfax Marathon.

Andrea.

And Tim, can you help with setting up the presentation on the laptop for?

Please.

Thanks, Tim.

He's gonna have to just get to the laptop.

Yep.

Do we have it pulled up?

Luke's gonna check.

Luke.

Otherwise, we're good talkers.

And Council President, if you don't mind, I could start with my remarks as Luke is looking for the presentation and a walk when the presentation comes up.

Folks will have a visual of what I'm saying.

But I am I'm honored uh to uh each year since I've been on Denver City Council to bring forward this uh presentation to the winning teams and the Colfax Marathon Marathon.

So I am I'm excited to announce that this is coming this spring, will be the 20th year of the Denver Colfax Marathon.

As a board member of the marathon, I would like to extend a thank you from the board and staff.

And that are so grateful to the many city agencies and personnel that helped make this happen.

DPD, DFD, Parks and Recreation, Dotti, OSE, and many more teams participate in the Colfax Marathon every year.

We had 25,000 runners last May run our various races from the marathon to the half marathon, urban 10 miler.

I ran that last year and I didn't die.

It's great.

Um relay and 5K.

This is a huge amount of runners running through our city, running through to fine district nine, running through to uh perfect 10, and many other districts.

Um many of us remember back when the race was new and just had 4,000 runners.

So uh bit about the Denver Colfax Marathon.

It's a community event, and for those of us who work for the marathon, it's an honor every year because we get to celebrate every single runner reaching their dream.

And they may their dream might be health and wellness, it might be a personal goal.

Office it's running for a family member or even for a charity.

So when you watch these runners cross the finish line, it's not just about their arms in the air, but it's about they did something for someone else besides themselves, and I have to say it's one of the most remarkable feelings I've ever had.

You know, it's amazing how big this event's gotten over the years with 25,000 runners.

It's now one of the top 25 marathon weekends in the country, and we're proud to say it is the largest in the eight-state Rocky Mountain region.

It's gotten big and it's gotten fun.

Uh, a couple of fun things that I think I want to every make sure everyone knows is that each year over 140 charities partner with the marathon for free, and they raise funds and awareness, and they've raised millions of dollars over the years.

I want you to know that because if you know a 501c3 nonprofit who wants to partner with us, we have open door policy.

Have them call us and they can join us and be part of the race and raise money.

Every year, in addition to that, we give 175,000 to nonprofits.

How we do that is by winning relay teams that are fast.

Check out the guys next to me.

These guys are fast.

They have won money year after year after year, which has been terrific.

I also want to mention that every year we have a five million dollar economic impact to the city and surrounding areas.

So we're very proud of what we can give back to our community as a nonprofit.

So thank you again to the City of Denver, Denver Police, the fire department, parks and rec and so many more different departments and divisions.

And I want to present this trophy to Councilman Watson for representing our 2025 race, complete with the marathon medal.

So thank you so much.

And we'll go ahead and place the trophy here for you to get as long as it doesn't fall off.

Um I want to go ahead and introduce um Cigna.

They are our title sponsor.

Without their gracious support, we wouldn't be standing real here right now, helping all these runners reach their dreams.

I want to introduce Donna Upson, VP of Sales for Cigna.

Thank you, Andrea.

Um, like Andrew said, I'm Donna Upson.

I am BP of Sales at Signa.

And 2026 will mark the fifth year that Signa has been the title sponsor for the marathon.

Our mission at Signa is to improve the health and vitality of those that we serve, and we just can't imagine a better organization to partner with that brings that mission to life.

So I want to thank you guys for having us here tonight and for all of your support with the marathon.

So now let's talk about how fast is Denver Fire.

Okay.

Let's we gotta think about this.

1,100 teams are competing in our relay.

15 different divisions.

And in the city, I have to say, Denver's really in there.

Okay.

We had Denver fire teams, Denver Park Rangers, the airport, human services, community planning.

We had teams for them, everyone.

And who stood out and shined is our two Denver fire teams.

So tonight we have with us um Connor and Alex of Denver Fire Gold.

They were our first place men's team, and they were fast.

They were just over three hours with 3014.

And the members of their team, I want to give them a shout-out because these guys train, they get ready, and they work hard to make money for charity.

Cruz Martinez, Levi Rawlings, Connor Clegg, who's here tonight, Alex Brown, who's here tonight, and Nate Pacheco.

They earned two thousand dollars to give to Denver Firefighters Charitable Foundation.

But here's what else is cool.

They won the brass nozzle.

I'll have them hold them up.

That's is part of a fire truck, by the way.

That's because they're the fastest firefighter team in Denver, Lakewood, and Aurora.

They've won it five out of the last six teams.

So I mean, Lake Lakewood and Nora really have to start training a little harder, I think.

Um, Denver Fire Black is not with us here tonight, but they took second place in Co-ed.

They were 319-14.

Their team members were Caitlin McMahon, Nick Cummings, Liz Hedley, Adam Bunde, and Brett Monroe, they won an additional $1,500 to the Denver Firefighters Cherry Bell Foundation.

So over the years, the tens of thousands of dollars that Denver Fire has won for their nonprofits that are related to Denver Fire has been absolutely substantial.

So I just want to give a quick round of applause to Denver Fire.

And then I want to talk about how fast the schools were.

I heard about youth sports over here.

I gotta say our schools are fast as well.

187 teams in the Denver Public School Teacher Division.

There are 15 top teams.

We had four of the 15 here in Denver.

I can say Wiggy because my kids went to East High School.

We had two teams from Montview DSST, two from Cedar DSST, in total, winning five thousand dollars for the schools.

That's really significant what these teachers are able to accomplish.

It's not their first year at it either.

So all in all, it's about giving money back to charity.

It's about charities being able to raise money for themselves, and it's about runners being able to reach their dream.

My hope is you join us for the 20th year.

If you're not ready to get out there and run the marathon, please come along the course, spectate, cheer people on, or come and volunteer.

We love having the city of Denver be part of our race.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Andrea.

Let's give another round of applause for everyone.

There are no communications.

Proclamation number 251533, honoring the lives and careers of FBI special agents Roy Moore and Donald Sebasta.

Whereas on November 1st, 1955, the Colorado man placed 25 sticks of dynamite aboard United Airlines Flight 629, which departed Denver's Stapleton Airfield en route to Portland, Oregon.

The bomb detonated eight miles east of Longmont, killing 39 passengers and five crew members.

And whereas this unprecedented tragedy resulted in numerous changes in airline safety, investigative techniques, and courtroom protocols.

And whereas, due to the suspicious nature of this incident, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was active was actively engaged in this tragedy at earliest stages.

Initially, the Bureau supported a Denver police department with victim identification, and later with identifying the perpetrator of this heinous act of mass murder.

And whereas FBI director selected special agents Roy K.

Moore and Donald Sebesta to lead the Denver FBI Field Office's investigative efforts into this crime.

And whereas Special Agent Moore was born on June 11th, 1914 in Hood River, Oregon.

Agent Moore was has dedicated his life to service, having enlisted in the United States Marine Corps following his high school graduation and was stationed at Quantico, Virginia.

And whereas in 1935, Agent Moore became a firearms instructor for newly hired FBI agents, which ultimately led to him pursuing a career as a special agent for the FBI.

And in 1955, he and special agent Sebesta helped identify and get a confession from the perpetrator of the bombing of United 629.

And whereas in 1964, Agent Moore was handpicked by Director Hoover to oversee most of the notorious civil rights killings, including those depicted in the movie Mississippi Burning, and is credited with establishing the first FBI Bureau office in the state of Mississippi, effectively declaring war on the Ku Klux Klan, and whereas Agent Moore retired from the FBI in 1974 and provided security for the deposit guaranteed national bank.

And on October 12, 2008, he passed away to complications from pneumonia.

And whereas Special agent Donald Sebesta was born in Callaway, Minnesota in 1922 to James and Mary Sebesta, and was also drawn to a life of public service, enlisting in the Naval Reserve in September of 1942 at the age of 20.

He was commissioned as an insign as an ensign and educated in naval aviation.

And whereas, following his release from active duty in 1945, Agent Sebesta continued his service as a pilot instructor in the organized flight reserves, and in 1949, he earned a law degree from John Marshall Law and was later admitted to the Iowa Bar Association.

And whereas in 1951, Agent Sebesta accepted a position with the FBI as a special agent, serving first in the Houston Field Office and later the Denver Field Office, and his experience as a naval aviator provided him with unique insights needed for the investigation of the bombing of United Flight 629, and resulted in his expert testimony at the trial.

And whereas Agent Sylvester played important roles in a number of high profile cases, including 1960 kidnapping and murder of Adolph Corus III, and resulted in him serving as the primary media spokesperson for the Denver FBI Field Office.

And whereas Agent Sylvester retired from the FBI following 25 years of distinguished service, and upon retirement, he was able to enjoy his true passions for playing the piano and outdoor activities by gardening and mountain excursions.

And whereas Agent Sylvester passed away at age 58 in 1980.

Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the Denver City Council, Section 1, that the Denver City Council recognizes the service and investigative prowess of both special agents Moore and Special Agent Sebesta, and acknowledges their outstanding service to the citizens of our country and for their efforts to ensure justice for the victims of United Flight 629.

Section two, that a clerk and recorder of the city and county of Denver shall affix the seal of the city and county of Denver to this proclamation and a copy be transmitted to the Denver Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the families of Agents Moore and Sebesta, the Denver Police Museum, the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI, the FBI Denver Citizens Academy, Alumni Association, and the FBI Experience in Washington, DC.

Thank you, Councilmember Watson.

Your motion to adopt.

Council President, I move that proclamation 251533 be adopted.

Before we do that, I would like to officially um welcome Councilman Sawyer to the meeting.

Thank you for joining us, Councilman Sawyer.

It has been moved and seconded.

Comments by members of Council, Councilmember Watson.

Uh, Council President, I am um honored to have been asked to provide this proclamation.

Um, the good work of uh these two special agents were not only acting on their professional um training and their skill, but also in answer to the families who lost lives, whose fam whose families lost their lives on that terrible day.

Um, often we forget um parts of our history and ways in which it impacts the way we live uh today.

Um, that heinous act uh created a process where our aviation and the way we travel in this country um has increased in security and ensuring that no such act will happen in the skies above our country, and surely not in the skies above Colorado.

So I thank the family members who are here for their support of their fathers, and in their memory, thankful for them bringing some peace to the family members who lost their loved ones on that day.

And thank you so much, as always, Michael Hess, as a historian in ensuring that on a regular basis uh that Denver City Council acknowledges and elevates the names of folks who served with such distinction uh throughout their lives, and the family members who remember that service.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you, Councilmember Watson.

Madam Secretary, we'll call.

Council members Romero Campbell.

Aye.

Aye.

Albitris.

Aye.

Aye.

Flynn.

Aye.

Gonzalez Cutieres.

Aye.

Heinz.

Aye.

Cashman.

Aye.

Lewis.

Aye.

Torres.

Aye.

Watson.

Aye.

Madam President Sandoval.

Aye.

Madam Secretary, close the voting, announce the results.

11 ayes.

11 eyes, proclamation 1533 has been adopted.

We now have time for the proclamation acceptance.

Councilmember Watson, who would you like to call up?

Madam President, we have three individuals identified to speak tonight.

I believe Marv is here.

And then Jim Sebesta, son of Special Agent Don Sebesta.

If you both don't mind, I'm coming up to the podium and Marv, I'll turn it over to you.

And Tim, while they're speaking, if we can um promote he has he has Joe promoted.

You have Joe Giglio.

Thank you so much.

Marv.

Thank you, sir.

This is a true honor to these two.

And recognize not only their dedication to their profession to the investigation and bringing justice, but as you uh more eloquently mentioned to the victims of the plane crash.

And I also appreciate your um providing some further history in the background that of their careers as it went forward.

Uh both of them had exemplary careers with some um very prominent investigations that are credit to themselves, but also brought credit to the FBI in general.

So thank you very much.

Thank you, sir.

Good afternoon.

I'm Jim Sebesta, one of Don Sebesta's children.

Dad loved his 25 years in the FBI.

He especially valued the professionalism, the integrity, and the shared mission of keeping our communities safe.

Some people may think that a proclamation are just words on paper.

But to the families of law enforcement, they carry deep meaning and respect.

On behalf of our dad, and our mom who supported him all those years.

And our family, a lot of which are here today, or online.

We'd like to thank you for honoring his service and recognizing his accomplishments for being part of one of the best law enforcement agencies in the country, in the history of the country.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up we have Joe online if you accept the promotion.

Good afternoon.

I'm Joe Giglail, son in law of Roy G.

Moore, and retired special agent of the FBI.

Ironically, my first office of assignment was to the Denver Division, where I had the good fortune of being assigned to Don Sebesta as my training agent.

He was one of the best.

Thank you for recognizing Mr.

Moore and Mr.

Sylvester for their sterling investigative efforts and identifying John Gilbert Graham as the person responsible for this most tragic event.

Roy Moore was the assistant special agent in charge of the Denver Division of the FBI when the downing of United Airlines Flight 629 occurred nearly 70 years ago, and the supervision of this case rested squarely on his shoulders.

He was known as a bulldog of an agent.

In later years, when discussing this case, he always expressed thoughtfulness for the victims and surviving family members.

New investigative techniques emanated from this case.

Most notably the keeping of an interview log when questioning a subject in custody.

As you recall, Mr.

Graham claimed he was under duress by the FBI when admitting his guilt.

The interview log negated his claim.

On behalf of Mr.

Moore, I thank the city council for this honor, and Councilman Watson for sponsoring this proclamation.

Thank you very much.

Thank you so much.

And thank you, Councilmember Watson, Madam Secretary, please read the bills for introduction.

From the Finance and Business Committee 25-1426, a bill for an ordinance making appropriation from the Capital Improvement Fund 25-1427, a bill for an ordinance, amending ordinance number 400.

Series of 2008, as subsequently amended by ordinance number 1659, series of 2024, ordinance number 1208, series of 2025, and ordinance number 1279 series of 2025, thereby amending the boundaries of the down Denver Downtown Development Authority.

And from the South Platte River Committee 25-1445, a bill for an ordinance changing the zoning classification for 890 North Grove Street in Via Park.

Council members, this is your last opportunity to call out an item.

Councilmember Alviderez, will you make the motions for us this evening?

Yes, Council President.

Now we'll do a recap.

Under resolutions, Councilmember Alvidres has called out council resolution 1425 for comments and a vote.

Councilmember Lewis has called out resolutions 1374 for questions on and a vote.

Under bills for introduction, Councilmember Alvides has called out Council Bill 1426 for a comment and a vote.

And Councilmember Lewis has called out Council Bill 1345 for questions.

Under pending no items have been called out.

Madam Secretary, please put the first item on our screens.

Council resolution 1509, a resolution authorizing and approving the expenditure and payment from the appropriation account designated liability claims, the sum of 1,200,000 and no cents made payable to Arnold and Porter K.

Schooler LLP Client Trust Account for full payment and satisfaction of all claims related to plaintiff Derek Vernane Greeth Doskey Jack Gerd, Robert Greer, and Kevin Greer Greer in the civil action captioned Jasmine ELT versus City and County of Denver, which was filed in the United States District Court for the District Court of Colorado.

Council resolution 1510, a resolution authorizing and approving the expenditure and payment from the appropriation account designated liability claims, the sum of 300,000 and no cents made payable to Arnold and Porter K.

Schroller LLP, client trust account for full payment and satisfaction of all claims related to plaintiff Jasmine V.

Lind, and in the civil action captioned Jasmine B.

Jeelen versus the city and county of Denver, Colorado, which was filed in the United States District Court.

Case number 22 CV 133K SKC SBSBP.

Council Resolution 1511, resolution approval authorizing and approving the expenditure and payment from the appropriations account designated liabilities claims, the sum of 20,000 and no cents made payable to O'Sullivan Law Firm on behalf of Quincy Williams for full payment and satisfaction satisfaction of all claims filed related to notice of claim number 2004 024655.

Councilmember Lewis, please go ahead with your comments on resolutions 1509, 1510, and 1511.

Thank you.

After consist consistent feedback from my constituents, it is my responsibility to ensure that the public is aware of every tax dollar being approved as an expenditure and payment of funds for a settlement with the city and county of Denver.

My office is tracking every dollar by department and as a running total with your approval of 251509, 251510 tonight.

The city will approve settlements in the amount of 1.2 million dollars and 310,000 dollars to settle cases brought against the Denver Police Department with your approval of 251511.

The city will approve an amount of 20,000 to settle a case against the fire department.

The approval of these items tonight brings the 2025 total for taxpayer dollars in city settlements to 7,879,000 dollars.

This funding is drawn from a liability claims pool of money that is refilled when necessary from the city's general, the city's general budget and does not come out of the safety budget.

We must therefore pay extra attention in this budget environment that we are watching out for how the city spends our money and that we are making decisions for the future with this knowledge.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman.

Madam Secretary, please put the next item on our screens, resolution 1271, a resolution approving a proposed amendatory agreement between the city and county of Denver and IPS group inc for delivery, installation, and testing of parking meters linked with on-street parking management systems city.

Council Councilmember Lewis, please go ahead with your questions on resolution 1271.

Thank you.

I actually just had one question regarding this because I wasn't able to be in person for the presentation.

But it's my understanding that we are amending this contract to reach that $6.5 million amount because we are locked into the contract for 10 years based on the technology that is provided.

And I wanted to know where we were in those 10 years, and do we plan to put this out for bid once those 10 years conclude?

Is anyone from Dotti or General Services online?

If the person online can you can raise your hand so we could get you promoted.

Cynthia Patton, yeah.

Cynthia, if you can um accept the promotion.

She's coming, councilwoman.

You might have to repeat, because sometimes it's it's um challenging.

You got me okay.

Did you hear um hi Cindy?

Did you hear Councilwoman Lewis's uh question?

I did.

Yeah, there was just a little delay um as it was promoting the so hi Cindy Patton.

I'm from Davi, I'm the COO.

Um thank you for that question, Councilman Lewis.

We are not locked into the contract, but the lifespan of the material, the equipment is 10 years.

So we want to be able to see that out through his full lifespan.

So we would like to continue to use this same equipment that we have.

We installed it in about 2022.

It's typically about 10 years.

So the intention would be once we reach the end of useful life for that equipment.

We will go back out to it.

Okay.

So I appreciate you saying that when I read in the file materials, the way that it reads is that we are locked in the contract because um IPS and all the other um meter vendors have the equipment and and software um and the metered hardware that is specific to this hardware.

Thus, thus we are locked into that for 10 years because we would lose money if we were to make a shift um now or before the 10 year expiration.

Yeah, I can see what you're saying.

So the the extent the contract is just a two-year extension.

So technically, contractually, we could end the contract.

Um, but to be good stewards of public dollars and to see the equipment outwards through full life cycle, we would want to use the equipment while it still has functioning well, and it is.

So technically, um, we're kind of splitting hairs between the terms, but we can exit the contract, but we would be just leaving money on the table.

And this is perfectly good equipment, and we have to throw it away because all of the software is proprietary and there to work through the vendor to get it to call up and um give us reporting and have it communicate with the bank systems and all of those things.

So we don't want to do that.

We just want to extend the contract until we're at usable life end and then we can go back up to bid.

Do you see the difference between those?

Yeah, no, contractually, we just are asking for two more years.

It is possible that we'll extend that again.

Um, but when we are at the end of the useful life, which is typically around 10 years, we go back out for it.

That's very common in the industry.

Yeah, so I wasn't asking about the two years.

Um, I understand that I was asking about the 10-year lifespan because the reason that this contractor wasn't selected through a competitive process is because of this 10 year lifespan.

And so this that's where my inquiry is coming from.

It's not the it's just let me finish up here.

It's not the extension of the two years.

I'm just curious as to if we are locked in it and why we didn't go to a comp go through a competitive process.

It's because this software is attached to hardware that we currently have, and we want to make sure that we have access to the software because we have the hard hardware, so that we're not lose leaving money on the table.

So that's where my inquiry was coming from.

Yeah, you're correct.

So when we procured this and we went out to bid um originally way back in 2009, we knew that the lifespan of material was about 10 years.

We got a few extra years, and in 2022, um, we had half of the meters that were going to go offline because they were out of network.

They were running 2G and 3 tier, so we had to do an emergency um procurement to replace some of those meters and upgrade others.

So we locked ourselves into another 10 year lifespan.

Um, if we wanted to get the maximum value out of their out of that equipment, but contractually, we're only obligated for what we sent with contract file.

Thank you.

I appreciate that delineation because that's what I was trying to better understand was what we were locked in contact contractually versus what we wanted to stay in in order to be able to um save money but also be able to collect that data.

And so that's um super helpful for me.

The last question I have for you is where are we in that 10-year lifespan?

We installed um newbie replaced, like I said, back in 2022, we replaced those 2G and 3G meters.

I don't remember the quantities right off the top of my head.

Um, I can certainly give those to you.

It was a little more than half of the meters we replaced wholesale, and that was 2022.

And the other remaining meters we we upgraded.

So the ones that we replaced have 10 years from that.

So I would say 2030-ish is when they would begin to go offline.

Um, and the upgraded meters probably sooner than that.

So we're gonna continue to track them on maintenance teams that are watching them every day, but right now they perform great.

Okay, and so this contract maxes it out at the 6.5, and so then council should probably expect that another contract might be coming before us in the future in order to be able to make it to that 2032 timeline or deadline, I guess.

Yeah, to the end of when we would expect those those um meters to start giving us travel.

So you should expect to see the contract in the next few years.

Thank you so much.

That's all I have.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Woman.

Councilman, uh Madam Secretary, please put the next item on our screens, Council Bill 1345, a bill for an ordinance approving a proposed intergovernmental agreement between the city and county of Denver District School District One and the City and County of Denver to administer the Denver Youth Employment Program to provide customized workforce development services for eligible youth citywide.

Councilmember Lewis, please go ahead with your and ask with your questions.

Thank you.

Um I had a few of these questions answered last um week, but I had one lingering uh question about this contract for the 1.5 million dollars, and I was just curious is if for this amount for 2026, is the um intergovernmental agreement going to cover 1.5 million dollars again for 2026, and is it also going to be um covering the number of students that we have agreed to in 2025?

Hi, Councilwoman Lewis.

I'm Shantae Trotman from Workforce Development with Dito.

Yes, you are correct.

We do have secured, we're actually trying to secure funding now for another 1.5 for 2026.

Okay.

And that will cover, I believe we share with you the 375 students.

So yes, it will.

Okay.

And then we will look to um send you a new contract for that coming up here.

We're already working on that.

That's in review with the vendor, which is DPS for the 2026 contract.

And at the beginning of January, we'll start working on the RFP that will happen in 2027.

Wonderful.

And then if I might inquire, um, that's where are you all in terms of the 2025 numbers for enrollment um for the the students that I've I sure I'm sure you anticipated I would ask you that.

Excellent.

I got updated numbers for you.

We apologize for that.

We gave you enrollment numbers.

Don't worry about it.

But the new numbers are at 373.

So that includes all the carryover, which you had a question about if students were doing their work's experience now or being rolled.

Would we have any carryover into the next year?

So yes, we would, but currently we have uh a total of 373.

So we have carryover plus our spring 2025, our summer and our fall numbers equal 339, and then those students that are enrolled in what we call just workforce programming, which is the year-round program is 34, so 373.

And I think that we had reported the goal of 375.

So they're only two away from what we have for students.

That's literally what I wanted to hear is that you all were really close to making that goal because I wanted to make sure that we are um giving those dollars to the youth if they had the opportunity to be able to access them.

So that's it.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um Madam Secretary, please put the next item on our screens.

Um council bill 1395, a bill for an ordinance ordinance relinquishing an easement in its entirety established in the permanent non-exclusive easement recorded with the Denver Clerk and Recorder at reception number 2023 037098 located at Broadway Station filing number four.

Councilmember, I'll be this.

What would you like to do with council bill 1395?

Pursuant to Rule 5.10.

I would like to postpone consideration of this bill for one week to the next council meeting, Monday, October 20th, 2025.

No motion is required, and council bill 1395 has been postponed until the council meeting on Monday, October 20th, 2025.

Madam Secretary, please put the next item on our screens, council resolution 1374, a resolution approving a proposed contract between the city and county of Denver and Denver Rescue Mission to operate and provide programmatic services at Holly Street shelter, an overnight only low barrier emergency shelter in council district four.

Councilmember Lewis, please go ahead with your questions on council resolution 1374.

Um, thank you so much.

I just had a uh question regarding this because it seems like it's council district four and council district eight, and I just wanted to see if someone could help me understand what's happening with this contract and what changes will be reflected in terms of services provided for for council district eight, council woman um remember Campbell can ask about council District four on with the splitting of this contract.

Councilmember Romero Campbell.

Um thank you.

I had flagged this earlier.

I think it was just miss um it says council District four and it is in council District eight.

Um so just wanted to clarify that for folks that it's not in District four.

Um and I had flagged that um earlier for that to be changed or resubmitted from host with the correct council district number.

Thank you.

Host, go ahead.

Good afternoon, Jeff Kositsky, Deputy Director for Shelter and Stability at HOST.

The reason no changes to services at all.

The reason that we're breaking the contract out is to essentially provide better accountability to uh for our providers by being able to look at the spending and the outcomes of each shelter individually.

So that's the only reason why we've broken it out.

It was at the request of our operations and impact division.

Okay, Jeff, thanks.

That's super helpful.

So the contract previously was uh a contract, an overarching contract that comp that covered Council District 4 and Council District 8, but you've split it so that you can be able to isolate the accountability for the programming and eight and then the programming in four.

That's correct.

That's all I wanted to know.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman.

Um Councilmember Alvides, will you please put council resolution 1374 on the floor for adoption?

I move that council resolution 25-1374 be adopted.

It has been moved and seconded.

Comments by members of council, Councilmember Lewis, anything else?

Nope.

Thank you.

Madam Secretary, we'll call on council resolution 1374.

Council members Romero Campbell.

Aye.

Sawyer.

Aye.

Albitris.

Aye.

Flynn.

Aye.

Gonzalez Gutierrez.

Heinz.

Aye.

Cashman.

Aye.

Lewis.

Aye.

Torres.

Aye.

Watson.

Aye.

Madam President Sandoval.

Aye.

Madam Secretary, call the close the voting, announce the results.

Eleven ayes.

11 ayes.

Council resolution 1374 has been adopted.

Madam Secretary, please put the next item on our screens.

Council resolutions 1380 and 1381.

1380, a resolution of propos approving a proposed fourth amendatory agreement between the city and county and Denver, Central Student Transportation LLC to operate and provide transportation services for individuals experiencing homelessness to and from overnight shelter accommodation citywide.

Resolution 1381, a resolution approving a proposed second amendatory agreement between the city and county of Denver and Busco Inc.

to operate and provide transportation services for individuals experiencing homelessness to and from overnight shelter accommodation citywide.

Councilmember Albidares.

Will you please put council resolutions 1380 and 1381 on the floor for adoption?

I move that council resolutions 1380 and 1381 be adopted.

It's been moved and seconded.

Comments by members of council.

Councilmember Lewis.

Hi, thank you.

Um so it's my understanding that this is to operate and provide transport transportation services for folks experiencing homelessness to and from overnight shelters.

Um I wanted to know if you could tell me specifically where are folks coming from and where are these routes um taking folks to good afternoon again, Jeff Kositsky, Deputy Director for Shelter and Stability at Host.

Uh so for the Busco um contract.

Uh they provide daily transportation from our front door shelter locations that include Samaritan House and Lawrence Street uh shelter and community center for shelter guests accessing 24-hour shelter at the 248th Avenue and Catholic the Catholic Charities and Denver Rescue Mission sites as well as Catholic Charities Smith Road Shelter.

Um so they're basically picking people up from uh Lawrence Street and uh Samaritan House and bringing them out to 48th Street.

Uh they also provide daily round trip transportation of guests coming from Denver Rescue Mission Holly Center, the shelter we just spoke about, picking them up from the Lawrence Street Community Center, bringing them out to the shelter, and then uh bringing them back in the morning where they can get meals and other services.

Busco also assists in cold weather shelter and transportation as needed.

And they're providing the kind of larger buses that are our stage lines.

This consists of two buses that are providing connectivity between shelter, day shelter, health care locations for people experiencing homelessness, and then they also provide assistance during cold weather shelter.

And these are our smaller buses that they're operating.

Thank you so much.

For the cold weather shelter, where are they transporting folks from into for the cold weather shelter?

So uh we do take people from uh the area around Lawrence Street and St.

Francis, and we have a number of bus stops that go to shelters that or day day centers that people are using, and we'll take them out to the cold weather shelter based on availability.

Um so it really just depends on uh what shelters happen to be available at that time.

Um we don't you have to use this service too much.

We also, within our cold weather contract with um with Bayodworks, they are also transporting people from cold weather shelter to cold weather shelter.

So, for example, if uh a shelter um you know at the Aspen uh that's providing cold weather is full and people are waiting, um, they will be picked up and taken to a place where we have availability.

Okay, thank you so much.

That's super helpful.

Thank you.

Yeah, thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Lewis.

Madam Secretary, we'll call on council resolutions 1380 and 1381.

Council members Romero Campbell.

Aye.

Sawyer, aye.

Albidres, aye, Flynn.

Aye.

Gonzalez Gutierrez.

Aye.

Heinz.

Aye.

Cashman.

Aye.

Lewis.

Aye.

Torres.

Aye.

Watson.

Aye.

Madam President Sandoval.

Aye.

Madam Secretary, close the vote announce the results.

11 ayes.

11 ayes, council resolutions 1380 and 1381 have been adopted.

Madam Secretary, please put the next item on our screens.

Council resolution 1425, a resolution approving a proposed purchase and sale agreement between the city and county at Denver and GSZ, L L C, Great Falls Family Limited Partnership, L L L P, Tremont, Lewit Lee Leewin Properties, LLC, and Ruth Ann West for the city to acquire the property located at 1460 and 1480 Tremont to support an affordable housing project in the central business district in Council District 10.

Councilmember Alvides, will you please put council resolutions 1425 on the floor for adoption?

I move that council resolution 25-1425 be adopted.

It has been moved and seconded.

Comments by members of council.

Councilmember Lewis, followed by Councilmember Alvides, followed by Councilmember Lewis.

Thank you, Council President.

Um I am going to be opposed to this tonight specifically because of the funding source being contingency funds.

By definition, contingency is an event such as an emergency that may but is not certain to occur, and something liable to happen as an adjunct or a result of something else.

For example, pullback of federal funding, collapsing bridges, unexpected costs incurred, and many other needs that didn't make the bond projects, and many other needs across the city.

In other words, contingency funds are meant to cover emergencies and unexpected things, not speculative real estate opportunities.

In Denver's budget, the capital improvement program contingency is set aside each year as 4% of revenues and is intended to cover things like emergency expenses, unanticipated repairs, compliance with new laws or regulations, or unexpected cost escalations.

At a time when Denver is in a financial crisis and facing massive backlog of urgent needs across our city, it is fiscally irresponsible to use contingency dollars for land acquisition.

These funds should be preserved for true emergencies, like our failing shelter system.

In my district, the Zunei shelters that's vacant almost all year, used only for a few cold weather nights, while the city cannot afford to maintain its exterior.

And I've heard similar complaints about other shelters.

And not only that, but we have rec centers like Athmar and La Familia that are deteriorating and desperately need expansion.

We lack funding for critical infrastructure, and it's important to explain to our residents why we don't have money to fix these problems.

Yet we're being asked to spend emergency reserves to buy downtown property in a depressed real estate market where nearly everything is for sale and no one else is buying.

This is not a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

We owe it to the residents to protect contingency funds for what they're meant to be, a safeguard in times of crisis, not a slush fund for speculative deals.

I urge my colleagues to consider this before voting, yes.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Lewis.

Hi, thank you.

I appreciate your words, Councilwoman Alvidres.

I have a I have a few questions.

The first one is could these um could this fund be used to purchase an additional um shelter?

I know community members have asked for um additional shelter uh beds, and I think we need them, and so I'm curious if this is a fund that we might be able to pull dollars from if we were interested in purchasing a shelter.

Uh yeah, thank councilwoman and uh members of council appreciate the opportunity to answer the question.

Um CIP contingency, I think it's a I appreciate the comments in terms of what CIP contingency um can be available for.

The first thing I would just state is um we do have these opportunities within our CIP contingency policy um that it can be this contingency can be used for a changes in work program brought on um by the mayor ship or city leadership.

So we do feel after review of the contingency policy, it does fall within those considerations in terms of if the funding could be used to purchase a future shelter in the future.

Um, I think that is a is a possibility, although that would be uh limited just due to the total capacity of city's contingency funding.

This one is a little bit of a smaller um investment and can be done without further taxing or or limiting cities' operating resources, whereas the purchase of a shelter um could potentially have pretty pretty large operating um impacts on it.

What's in the fund currently, the amount?

Uh yeah, currently within CIP contingency, it's about 7.4 million um is in that fund.

Okay, and um, in terms of um moving forward with this, um, is it necessary for us to do this now, or could we wait until after the bond passes to determine if the bond passes and what projects might be able to move forward, then we can make a decision after that decision point um to move forward?

I might phone a friend here and call up uh Lisa Lumley from Real Estate who has some details on the the timing of this specific arrangement.

Okay, thank you.

Before you go, will you let us know who you are for the record?

I I am so sorry, Councilman, thank you.

Um, Jackson Brockway, uh capital planning and budget manager with Department of Finance.

Thank you, Lisa Lumley, Director of Real Estate.

Councilwoman, the ownership has uh had informed me because they'd signed it um in the summertime back in July, the purchase and sale agreement.

But given what was going on on council schedules and the change in committee schedules, um, this was the first we were able to get in front of committee that they had told me that they wanted to know that this was if the city was going to approve it and sign it, that this was um approved and executed before the end of the month, or they would potentially walk.

And so that's why unfortunately I haven't been able to just pull it back to wait until after the bond.

If the city decided to allow them the space to walk, what do we have to lose?

Like, could we not look at other properties?

I think looking at for downtown for affordable housing opportunities.

This was a unique opportunity for us on a site that from a price standpoint was a very small, as Jackson said, um, purchase price um relative.

So that is why.

I mean, could we walk?

Sure.

Um, in good faith, we have been moving forward with them, but um, uh it's not that we can just go pick up anything, and I think that's in terms of other parcels.

So that is why we were pursuing this one.

What's what's been the complication to be?

What's been the complication to bring us to October?

Will we have to make a decision right now?

There's urgency, but it sounds like there were initial conversations happening in the summer.

Again, uh for the ownership group, they are um they're a group that are not based here in Colorado, that are trying to divest themselves of this parcel, um, the property, they're all older and retired.

So that is why they were trying to have this limitation that we had this wrapped up, if not by before the end of the year, fairly close after the first of the year.

So this was their time constraints that they were working with then.

Okay.

It seems like it seems like the city is in a position in which we could maybe push back a bit and use um the influence of the city to make a decision that's best for the city's portfolio and timeline.

And I think with the bond lingering and us not having a decision point there, this feels a bit premature for me.

Well, I have a deep appreciation for what it is that you all are trying to accomplish in terms of housing, and that the city would would own um this asset.

I just feel like it's a bit premature that we could maybe push them a bit, have them wait for us to have that decision point and then come back once we have a decision, our data information regarding the bond.

So I appreciate you, Lisa.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Heinz.

Thank you, Madam President.

Um perhaps this is for the Department of Finance.

Can you share um your uh strategy and previous years on uh contingency and um whether we roll it over or we start uh you know, particularly as we get to the end of the calendar and fiscal year, since our fiscal year is our calendar year.

Yeah, appreciate that.

Once again, Jackson Brockway, the Department of Finance.

Um yes, we do have a standard strategy around use of contingency and think of that contingency policy that we listed out.

Um you can almost think of it in terms of prioritization as well, um, in terms of the first and foremost need are going to be those those emergency expenses, the cost overruns, other uh other other cost needs that show up within the capital portfolio.

And so we are very limited in our use of contingency, especially in the first half of the year.

Um as we get to the second half of the year, it's a good opportunity to reassess where where we're at, check in with our maintenance programs, understand um how those are doing on their average spend and understand where where our assets are at, making sure that there are not major, you know, uh safety hazards present in in the community.

And so um towards the back half of the year, we have um there have been limited opportunities where um these types of investments can be used for CIP contingency, um, and it it really just depends on the the level of contingency we have at the time.

So if you go back and look historically, um we have utilized contingency for this type of purpose in the past.

Um it was 2024, where we did use this for um some earnest money payments to support shelter purchases, um, and then previous years 2023, we did that toward we uh did an a ordinance, excuse me, uh towards the end of the year for some of those emergency repairs.

So you generally won't see any type of CIP contingency use um early in the year unless it is a very urgent pressing need.

Thank you.

And uh since you're up there, you don't happen to know the dollar amount in the vibrant differ bond uh for district 10 outside of uh uh tier one culturals.

Um I don't have that number right in front of me, but happy to follow up.

The answer is zero.

Um thank you.

Um the uh so the if we're I guess if we're talking about the bond um waiting before after the bond's passage um has no impact on on uh the center city, at least District 10.

Um so I think uh as I as I I I think as I understand it, contingency funds have been used in the past to to purchase items um particularly items that are uh of value um that are not only of a financial value as it is at a particular particularly attractive purchase price, but also values that we hold here in the city of Denver.

Is that a fair fair statement?

Yes, I think that is fair, and especially I think the element that I would point out is where they're items of an unknown nature.

I think like real estate, specific real estate transactions are very hard to budget for in a previous CIP year, which is why sometimes we'll look to CIP contingency for those sources.

Got it.

Thank you.

So just a comment about what I think, and I don't have any other questions for you.

Um we wouldn't be able to buy an affordable housing project for that amount.

We could leverage the purchase of this property uh to uh to help an affordable housing developer uh have uh this site, not necessarily have as in for us to give them the land, uh maybe a uh 99-year lease or something like that, um, but to have a an opportunity for 2.5 million dollars to have um affordable housing for 150 people in the center city uh where we already have jobs, we have transit, we have services, uh we have amenities, we have health care.

Um I think that there is a particular value financial and um you know the values of the city for us to consider this.

Um I think that uh if we were to look at the land cost per unit, it would be far more attractive if we took two and 2.5 million dollars divided by the 150 uh proposed um uh long-term uh housing units uh as we're what we're trying to do here.

Certainly, I recognize shelters are in demand.

Um our end goal is to put people into housing, not into shelter.

So um so I see this as a financial um way for us to achieve some of that value statement of we want people in housing, not just in shelter.

Um rather uh rather uh in a rather financially attractive way.

Um I would hope that actually since we have um Ms.

Lumley here, um, do you have a sense of uh would we purchase this and then give it, or would we are is uh the city considering a uh ground lease?

What I would say is because this the intention is for this to be truly an affordable housing project on those projects, we normally are doing the ground lease as our contribution.

Um if it were more of a market-driven, that's where we may look to um realize some of the value back to the city, but right now the intention is for this to be an affordable housing project.

Yeah, thank you for that.

I would far prefer as as we've had conversations in the past, I far prefer the city to retain uh the land, even if with a 99 year or however long, you know, long-term ground lease.

Uh, because uh we are here um city council making decisions for future generations, and be it 60 years or 99 years, that's three or five generations from now, they will have this land back to do something that is of uh of pressing need at that time.

So uh at any rate, I think that um I think there's some compelling reasons why uh we should uh acquire this particular property.

I think that's in line with the values that we have in city council and as the city.

Um it is a financial um, I think prudent uh decision as far as contingency.

We have uh in the past made uh acquisition decisions with contingency, particularly at the end of the year, which is where we happen to be.

So I'll be voting in favor of this.

Oh, um, and then one last thing.

Um, the vibrant differ bond.

Um, while I recognize that that is um uh that's uh quite a bit of funds, um this won't be available.

Um, you know that the the funds uh for the vibrant different bond just don't affect the center city, and there are just so many reasons um for access and jobs and transit uh for us to consider affordable housing in the center city.

Thank you, madam president.

Thank you, Councilmember Sawyer.

Thank you, Madam President.

Um really appreciate both uh pieces of this conversation.

I think this is a really tough one for me because I do think we all share the uh the value that we want more affordable housing.

Um the question is I think really for me, is this something that the city of Denver should be doing at all, right?

We cannot be all things to all people.

We do not have the tax base for it.

Um, and it feels like we are trying to be all things to all people with the the breadth and depth of all of the things um that we have been talking about over the last two years under this administration.

And so um while I appreciate that this is an opportunity, I think um, you know, we don't have to take every opportunity that comes in front of us, especially not when we are in a budget crisis, especially not when if the city is willing and ready to spend seven million dollars of CIP contingency.

Uh we've got a list uh a mile long.

There's seven billion dollars worth of projects that need to be done in this city um in order to just do capital maintenance on the assets we already have.

Um and it's things that impact our residents.

Right now, right?

This is um living and pools that need their uh filtration in our rep centers that need filtration systems fixed.

It is street lights that um have been knocked down and have never been replaced because Dottie um you know has fully expended the streetlight uh dollars that they have for this year, that those are things that impact our residents directly right now that are not things that are covered in the bond, that are not things that are covered out of the general fund, that are real everyday issues.

So if the city and county of Denver is ready to spend seven million dollars of CIP contingency, please give my office a call.

Uh we have we would be happy to help you spend that um in furtherance of the needs of the residents um of the city and county of Denver in terms of CIP dollars right now.

Um, this is a great opportunity.

It doesn't mean that we have to take it.

Um, and I don't think we should.

So I will be a no tonight as well.

Thanks.

Thank you, Council Pro Tem Romero Campbell.

Thank you, Madam President.

Um, I have some uh similar thoughts on this one.

I really um I know how much we need uh affordable housing, and I know that this is a really um, you know, prime location that we're looking at downtown um during the briefings.

My issue was with the funding source um and that we're looking at CIP contingency because those dollars can be used for capital maintenance projects across the city.

Um I think about the projects that are uh that are on hold and and waiting here in Southeast Denver.

Um, and with that uh again, I really struggle with this one, um, but I'm gonna be a no on this one tonight.

Uh I think if this deal can um be postponed and we can wait and and work with the with the um with the owners um to still consider it within a month.

Um I definitely would uh look at it and see that we have possibly another funding source um purchase through the bond, but for tonight um and because of the funding source, and I had talked about this um during the briefings that I had um and looking and you know, wondering why it wasn't coming from host um and from um their housing fund.

Um, um that seems to be, in my opinion, a better fit for the source of this um funding.

So I just wanted to um, again, I struggle with this one, but I'm gonna I'm gonna be a no on this one tonight.

Thank you.

Thank you, Counselor Lewis.

A council member Watson and then Luis.

I'm trying to have everyone go who hasn't been in the queue yet.

So, Councilmember Watson, and then I'll go to Lewis.

Uh thank you, Council President.

Is there someone from host that can answer question consent concerning the housing opportunity um a housing fund?

Um, is that a source that's available for uh purchase similar to this?

Yes, good afternoon, Council Adam Lyons, deputy director of housing opportunity for host.

Uh, an acquisition of raw land for future affordable housing development would be an eligible use for our affordable housing fund, either the linkage fee side or the property tech side.

Um however, you know, host maintains a multi-year pipeline of affordable housing projects.

So uh in order to fund this project, we would be forgoing or uh even delaying a project that could be shovel ready today.

Um, you know, essentially, host does not have the two and a half million dollars ready to go today.

We would have to either wait, you know, the vast majority of our funding is through the linkage fee that comes in monthly as permits are being pulled.

So I think timing is another concern.

Um if we don't have the 2.5 million in linkage fee today, we would have to wait a couple months to accrue that before we could uh come back before city council for approval, um, in addition to uh delaying or even uh denying a project that would otherwise be shovel ready.

Can you share a little bit of the collaborative dialogue that was had um beginning in July?

I know uh Lisa and team were looking at this lot.

Absolutely.

Yeah, so you know, obviously in constant communication with real estate on this particular parcel, um, as well as uh you know, my involvement, hosts involvement with the downtown area plan, uh, knowing that affordable housing is a large component of the strategies in that draft plan that should be in front of this uh body in the very near future for adoption, um, and income at a variety of levels.

So we've been looking at ways that we can increase uh affordable housing downtown, that we can preserve the existing affordable housing we have downtown.

So it is an ongoing conversation, especially, you know, when we talk about things like uh Vibrant Denver and the the acquisition funds that uh if approved would be available there.

Um we look at sites, and this site seemed really prime that we don't get an opportunity really to develop new affordable housing in down a town and haven't developed new affordable housing in quite some time.

Um final question, um, madam president, it's more um uh high level.

So, Adam, I'm not sure if you or someone else from the administration, but the thought process, I mean, several council members have spoken to the CIP contingency and the prioritization of those funds um for this um purchase instead of some of the CIP.

I know I have a long list in District 9 as well.

Um, what was the overarching thought on that piece?

That prioritization that this is a value add um use of CIP contingency instead of simply going down the line of the CIP six year uh programs we already have in place.

Yeah, definitely.

I think I could speak best to the host resources or the lack thereof for this particular project, but I would definitely want to defer to my friends over in the Department of Finance for the strategy around the contingency funds.

All right.

Yeah, I appreciate the question.

I and Jack Sbrockway, Department of Finance.

Um, I think we looked at the prioritization exercise of all the different needs across the city.

I think the point from council is well taken about um the needs and desires around uh deferred maintenance is as well as just other projects in the queue.

Um we look across our capital portfolios, uh, one of those areas that that does not have as much investment is is that housing portfolio.

Um primarily it can be very challenging to advance um those types of projects with with capital funds.

So I think the first piece of that um is it it is relatively unique to move um a housing related purpose forward um with capital dollars, and I think this presented um a very good opportunity for that that that could not necessarily be projected within a future CAP.

Um the other advantage here is is there is a delivery component um to these capital investments, and and oftentimes it may not necessarily be a funding issue, but it could be um a staffing challenge or a planning and design challenge to make sure we can move those projects through.

Uh so this represents an opportunity as well to do um additional projects and and really add some value to the community, provide a housing purpose that wouldn't necessarily need to be done um with city staffing or or OM resources.

And then last, I think within our 2026 CIP, we are we are right there with you in terms of making sure we are putting dollars back into deferred maintenance.

The CIP puts in about 139 million dollars into deferred maintenance across our various portfolios.

And while that may not be enough to cover the full needs of the city, it is certainly when you look at our historic spend in those reinvestment programs, it does increase the amount that we're putting into our roads, our bridges, our parks, our recreation centers, and while we do continuously to seek to uh to put funding towards those spaces from from the overall prioritization exercise and that opportunity to advance a housing purpose is why that CA is why the CIP felt like a good fit for this project.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam President.

Councilmember Lewis.

Hi, thank you.

I wanted to provide some clarity for Councilman Hines, because I think he misunderstood what I was trying to convey when I was discussing the bond.

And I think my council colleague, um, Amanda Sawyer astutely pointed out what I was trying to say in terms of the connection to the bond.

So I understand that there may be a lack of projects for district 10, but that was not um where my sites were set.

Um I was actually thinking more comprehensively across the entire city and not just isolated to district 10 because um it's necessary to do so.

And as I'm thinking about $7 million in contingency, it um it's important for me to speak to the deferred maintenance projects that we are all aware of.

Um and so my desire to want to take a pause and say, hey, can we wait until the bond passes?

It's because I want to know what passes in the bond in order for us to be able to assess what we might need seven million dollars for on the other side of the bond.

In addition to that, Councilman Hines, you mentioned that shelter is not housing, and I agree, but that does not change the fact that we have 300 folks who are looking for housing within our shelter system, and we just do not have enough beds, and we are looking at losing additional beds, 40, I believe, um, with the tiny home village with Monroe.

And so we have to take that into consideration and have that in our purview as well as we're making these decisions.

Um I'd like to remind um folks when we talk about housing.

I have it's a both and, right?

We have to be able to provide shelter space, but we also have to be able to think about long-term strategies for housing.

And I've been able to both do that and I've I've shown that um to my council colleagues, and which is where my inquiry has come from, where I've talked about social housing, where we've been able to bring a social housing study where I was able to bring $50 million as a part of the bond to um housing in particular, that work, my work, not anyone else's.

And so I don't need anyone to tell me about the importance or the lack of importance of the bond.

I'm keenly aware, and I wanted to know about the deferred maintenance, and I wanted to be able to take this point in time to say, hey, is this a good time for us to be making this decision and putting contingency dollars towards this investment at this time?

And the answer for me was no, which is where my inquiry um had come from.

I also look at the the data points when we're looking at the vacancy rates downtown from 34% to 35% um 34 in 2024 and 35 in 2025.

And so that has to have some bearing.

And so I'm not just saying this in isolation, or I'm not just saying it because it's important to be said.

I'm saying it because I'm worried about the direction that the city is going in when we say that we're experiencing uh deficits and shortfalls when it comes to our budget, but then we are dipping into our contingency, our emergency dollars to do something that is not an emergency by definition.

And so that I wanted to explain that because it was important for me to help you understand, Heinz, where my thought process was when I brought up the bond.

It wasn't about the isolation of district 10.

It was about what we needed to do, what was best for the entire city, and with that, I will be a no.

Thank you, Councilmember Lewis.

I also have concerns about using contingency dollars for this project.

Um, it's just in a time where um we have so much going on in our council districts in each 11 unique council districts and citywide, it feels odd to me that we're using contingency dollars to make this purchase, and we're using CIP dollars maybe to purchase a soccer stadium.

CIP dollars can only go so far.

I will say in my time in office, um I've never had two million dollars worth of investment in council district one.

I don't think I voted on one affordable housing project since I've been in elected since 2019, not one.

That's concerning and it doesn't there's not parity across the city.

So I also will be in no this afternoon.

Um Madam Secretary, roll call on council resolution 1425, Council members Romero Campbell, nay.

Sawyer, no, I'll be today.

No.

Flynn?

All right.

Gonzalez Cutieres?

Nay.

Heinz?

Hi.

Cashman.

Lewis?

Nay.

Torres?

Nay.

Watson?

I.

Madam President Sandoval.

Nay.

Madam Secretary, um close the voting, announce the results.

Seven nays, four ayes.

Seven nays, council resolution 1425 has failed.

Madam Secretary, please.

You know what?

I'm gonna have to put a plug in this because we have to move on to public comment.

So tonight there are no public hearings scheduled.

If there are objections from members of council, we will recess until 5 30 before reconvening the regular meeting.

City council will provide a half-hour general public comment session to hear from the public on city matters, except for any matter that is scheduled for a legally required public hearing.

I need one minute to pull up the script.

Thank you.

So even if you just want to start with the profile, um, certainly again, this is like my perspective outside industry, uh looking in, even with creative talent, unless you have big bucks and you've got a big studio and agency, a lot of times people are still looking at your resume on LinkedIn to see what kinds of things you have there.

So even if it's you really polish your profile and you've got one solid post.

You know, that's at least some substantive me that when someone goes to check you out, it's there.

Right, right, right.

You know, and yeah, it's it's definitely important to be promoting uh and pushing out your own content, but also like engaging with other people's content and having these conversations on on these social media platforms.

Um, you know, can you can you talk about that?

I you know, is it is it okay to message someone in their inbox and like try to have coffee with them?

You know, I don't know.

Do you have any kind of advice for the other side of the coin, which is to you know be involved in social media and in the networking aspect of it and commenting on other people's stuff?

So especially when I in a job search, if you're thinking about a job search, um I want people to recognize my name.

It takes so little engagement for you to become a regular and marketing folks and program folks will notice that.

Um so you know, especially in the nonprofit when I've been, let's say, for example, on a job search, like I always make sure I make a donation so I'm in the CRM, and I make sure that I've engaged with 10 posts, let's say.

Um, and that really will start to stand out to people.

Like on that company's profile, like start engaging with if you're looking to get a job there.

Yeah, that's that's a good point.

I didn't even think of that.

Yeah, totally.

I want them to go, oh yeah, I recognize this name.

Right.

That's what I want to see happen.

And it's the same for hiring within film and industry.

I do think there's a place for that.

Um, I never hesitate to reach out to someone.

Um I always joke, if if I couldn't take the word no, I wouldn't be in nonprofit.

Um, I have absolutely done that with success.

There's someone that I find interesting, um, someone that I think I could learn from or network with.

You know, certainly I try to come, same philosophy with something of value.

Can I buy you a cup of coffee?

Um, uh, try to make some offer of value first before the ask.

Um, but for me, it's work pretty successfully.

And certainly there are times where someone says, you know, I get a lot of these requests, I have a consultancy fee.

And if I can, great.

And if I can't, that's okay too.

Um, but I would never hesitate to reach out to an expert.

For sure.

I'm in the same boat.

Most people are super receptive, receptive.

I have had a few people that said, Well, I do a hundred bucks an hour for my consultation meeting fee.

And um, but nine times out of ten, everyone seems like pretty pretty cool, and and you know, you don't want to be pushy, but it's like, especially in this industry, people are really busy, you know, and it's like if you reach out once and they maybe didn't get back to you, that doesn't mean that they're like, oh, this person.

You know, it just might mean that they're really busy.

And you know, I always kind of politely follow up, you know, and just kind of keep on it.

Um, and I guess I'm just used to it now.

Like at my work, it's always hard to nail down people for shoots and stuff.

So I'm like just fine with like chill about it, but like um, I think some people might be a little hesitant about sure following up too much, or they send one email and they're like, Well, they didn't respond, so that's that.

And it's like, well, okay, you you reached out one time, and it's like if this person's a filmmaker or producer or whatever, it's like they're probably really, really busy.

Yeah, they're you know, so um I would just encourage people to kind of be politely persistent, you know.

I think that's a great, I think that's a great way to look at it.

Yeah, cool, cool.

Um, well, yeah, I mean, like, so you know, aside from just social media and networking and the value that it has, you know, I don't think it's certainly replacing all like networking and interaction in person and that sort of thing.

It's sort of the beginning, or it widens your scope to be able to get to those places.

So um, yeah, I just had on you, you know.

Um, can you can social media really replace traditional networking?

I would think not.

Um, you know, or is it more of a supplement, would you say?

I think if you're looking at it as either your agency studio or personal brand, starting with the why how what, making sure that you know your own message, you've gone through the steps to identify your goals, because that's a step that so often gets missed.

Well, I have a LinkedIn because I guess I need one, I hear that so often.

You should start by looking, making sure you understand your identity, your brand identity.

Come up with the goals that you have.

Is it business development?

Is it networking with new talent to build your bench?

Is it um getting new like straight opportunities?

So sit down and work through the goals and then look at the tactics available to you in order to achieve those goals.

Yeah, for sure.

And you know, can you can real relationships like through social media be had, do you think?

I absolutely think so.

I do too.

And I think I think a huge part of it, and we see this in that sort of parasource social relationship building, but I do think the right storytellers like Robbie, you feel like you know him before you walk in the room.

Right.

And that's the goal, really.

Um, and for CFEA and and everyone in the community, I I see my job as just holding the megaphone.

The great stories are out there, the work is being done by talented people like you, like you know, the CFEA membership.

I just see my role as being the mic holder, and elevating and elevating those stories because there will be a tipping point, right?

If we are doing the storytelling, I think it's something that storytellers forget is to tell their own stories sometimes.

Sure.

Um and I just want to help that along the way across Colorado.

No, for sure.

Yeah, I mean, um my kind of doing this podcast and sometimes, you know, kind of trying to get people on the show and stuff like that.

It's similar, right?

Like in turn, you know, and I've had like three to six month periods where I've gone back and forth with people on social media before I actually did meet them in person, and and I just kind of politely followed up and they were super cool.

I mean, they were very busy and stuff, but then eventually they were able to carve out some time to do it, and it's like, you know, just that I guess being an example of like, you know, just politely persistent, you know, and yeah, everybody's busy, but like by the time I had them on the show, I almost felt like we kind of knew each other a little bit because we had been going back and forth for a while, and um, you know, so yeah, I feel like you can have meaningful relationships on social media, but then yes, of course, you should maybe try to go to some CFEA events, like meeting there, you know, it's certainly valuable to meet in person and you know, have real experiences with people, but um, you know, when I first started uh in non-prof in the nonprofit space, I would go to an event in a room and I knew no one, like completely blank slate, and then I would go to a few more events and I would know one person, and then I would go to a few more events and then I would know half the people in the room.

Just showing up is a huge part of it.

You know, I can be the same.

There's long work days, and you go, okay, now I'm gonna go network.

I I love it, but it still is an obligation.

It's a an exercise, it's a practice.

Then you get to work on your pitch, right?

It's a way to work on your own pitch to other professionals who are gonna have insights and feedback that a client may not even.

Um, I do think you can build meaningful relationships, and there's something about access.

You know, you may not have, I don't know, say someone is maybe a slightly higher profile person in in the industry.

Um, but they have a Instagram and you can reach out.

I mean, you don't need to have a cell phone or do a deep dive to find an email or you know, God forbid, go through a contact form, right?

Okay.

There's something about that.

There's there's a little more equity in that access.

Sure, sure.

Well, uh, let's uh, you know, talk, I guess, a little bit more high level about some of this stuff.

So, you know, it's like we're we're seeing YouTube creators, TikTokers, um, and independent artists uh gaining massive following sometimes if they strike the right chord and whatnot.

Hey Denver, it's time for the weekly general session of your Denver City Council.

Tonight's coverage of Denver City Council starts now, all right.

We're gonna get it.

Is it fixed, Tim?

Now I can't hear.

Is it working, Tim?

Okay.

All right, council will now reconvene from our earlier session.

We will continue from the earlier session with consideration of council bill 1426.

1426, a bill for an ordinance making an appropriation from the capital improvement fund.

Councilmember Alvarez, what will you please put council bill 1426 on the floor for final publication?

I move that council bill 25-1426 be ordered published.

It has been moved and seconded.

Comments by members of council.

Oh, wait, no, we already did this one.

No, this is the second part.

Sorry, sorry, sorry.

All right, keeping me straight.

Thank you so much.

Councilmember Alvidres, followed by Councilmember Lewis.

Thank you, Council President.

I will just reiterate my remarks earlier that I feel like contingency funds are not meant for this use.

And so I will also be a no on this one.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Hines.

Thank you, Madam President.

Since the um previous bill failed, there's no reason to pass this.

So I'll vote against it.

Only because the previous bill failed.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Lewis?

Yes, thank you.

Um so same as my similar um, same as my earlier um concerns was about using contingency dollars in this way when we have a lot of different maintenance projects that we um should be thinking about and utilizing those dollars to that amount, as well as um concerns around the number of shelter beds that are necessary in this moment are for folks that are living on our streets.

And I think we heard earlier that 13th and 14th are in committee seeing a lot more folks experiencing homelessness and street homelessness in particular, and so wanna make sure that we are using the very limited dollars, and especially as we talk about contingencies or um bank account, if you will, um our savings account to utilize those when it's truly an emergency, and this doesn't fit the bill for me in that way.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Madam Secretary, count roll call on council bill 1426.

Council members Romero Campbell?

Nay.

Sawyer, Albitris?

Nay, Flynn, Gonzalez Gutierrez?

Nay.

Heinz?

No, Cashman.

Lewis.

Torres?

No.

Watson.

No.

Madam President Sandoval.

Nay.

Madam Secretary, close the voting and announce the results.

Ten nays.

10 nays.

Council bill 1426 has failed.

Madam Secretary, please put the next item on our screens.

Council Bill 1427, a bill for an ordinance amending ordinance number 400 series of 2008 as subsequently amended by ordinance number 1659, series 2024, ordinance number 1208, series 2025, and ordinance number 1279 and series 2025, therefore amending the boundaries of the Downtown Development Authority.

Councilmember Alvidres, will you please put council bill 1427 on the floor for publication?

I move that council bill 25 1427 be ordered published.

It has been moved and seconded.

Comments by members of council.

Councilmember Lewis, I'll start with you.

Thanks.

I actually just had a question regarding this in the file material.

So there were two documents in the file materials.

One of them was the file bill for the Denver Downtown Development Authority, and then the second one was the signatures for the DDA board.

And when I opened the resolution for the signatures for the DDA board on both this computer but also on my um city-issued laptop, I was not able to pull that up, and so I was just worried.

I just wanted to see that document before voting on that.

No, probably just couldn't pull it up.

I think I have to call a friend.

Is Donna Wilder here?

Donna Angela.

Anyone here from the mayor's office?

I know they were here.

I saw them out on the I saw them in the audience earlier.

So we'll just have to take a moment.

Okay.

And if not, if maybe we could just postpone it to give them time to upload.

I saw Chris Lull here.

Where are all the city employees?

I'm all besides us.

Yeah, pushed out.

Um, uh, and if we need to postpone these because we don't have people to answer the question, do we just um can you look to see which rule we would need to post them or postpone them under?

Cause I don't see anyone here.

I think they may have thought we were done.

Madam President, it would be postponed under rule 5.10.

Is it under point ten?

Okay, let me try one more time to get them.

Um literally, okay, I'll give them two more minutes, one more minute.

Hold on, I'll be right back.

I don't have uh councilwoman Torres, will you monitor everything?

Pro Temps not here.

Yes, sir.

Could we engage in a little mischief?

Yeah, I I I fully support.

Seems like this would be a great time for a brief recess.

In the uh state they call it a uh senatorial five.

We're we'll just we'll just stay on pause.

Yeah.

Remember, we're still hot, everyone.

Here we go.

Councilwoman Lewis, they're on their way.

They had um misinformation on how our agenda was going to move forward.

I move we adjourn.

I've never had this happen where the mayor's office doesn't follow our agenda.

Um, yeah.

Uh, oh, thank you.

Yeah, but they won't let them in.

Um, um, hi folks.

We just need a couple of folks to leave the room.

We're at capacity in order to let city employees in to answer the questions.

Uh then you can come back in.

Okay, we've got one and two.

Thank you so much.

I think that's all we need.

We we can bring three in.

All of you.

Hi, Donna, go ahead and go right up to the m up to the mic.

It's the youth voice.

Thanks, Donna.

So we always, just so you all know, we always start our unfinished business first, and then we go into our our regular agenda.

So currently we have up Council Bill 1427, amending the boundaries of the Downtown Development Authority, and Councilmember Lewis has some questions.

And Councilmember Flynn.

So I'll start back with Councilwoman Lewis.

And if you need to call a friend, just let us know and we'll try to get them in to help you, okay?

Great.

Okay.

And just you'll just start by introducing yourself.

Thank you.

Great.

Um hello, city council, Donna Wilder with the Department of Finance.

Hi.

Hey, Donna, I just have a quick question.

So in the filed materials and legislature, it has the file bill with the wear ass language for the downtown at the Denver Downtown Development Authority.

The second um document that's supposed to be loaded into legislature is the DDDA board signatures requested resolution.

And when I tried to access that document on my city-issued laptop, I was not able to pull it up, and I'm also not able to pull it up here.

And so I wanted to see that before saying yes.

So I know what I was saying yes to.

Yeah, to my knowledge, it is executed, and we can make that available to you.

Okay, can you do so before we vote?

Yes.

I will email that to you right away.

Thank you so much.

Yeah.

Do we need to call Chris and ask him to mail it?

Because they won't vote on it until we get that done.

I might be the only one in possession of that other than the city attorney's office.

I'm not sure if Cindy from City Attorney's Office is online.

Is there any city attorneys online?

If you are, can I ask you to please raise your hand?

Jonathan Griffin.

No, I don't think John Griffin will work.

If it's appropriate for me to do it while I'm up here, I'm happy to do that.

That's great.

Thank you, Donna.

Thank you.

Madam Secretary, how do we take this out of order?

It'll require a motion and a vote.

Okay.

Can I make the motion?

Uh-huh.

Um, can is it are you okay if I would take this out of order so we could do the proclamations?

Yeah.

Okay.

So I'm gonna just ab lib it, Madam Secretary.

Tell me if I get it right.

I motion that I would like to take ordinance 1427 out of order.

Is that good enough?

Yeah.

Second.

Okay.

Lewis seconded.

Uh Taurus seconded, so we have a moon second.

Do we have to do a roll call?

Yeah.

Okay.

Can you do Madam Secretary?

Can you do a roll call on the motion to take council bill 1427 out of order?

Council members Romero Campbell.

Aye.

Sawyer.

Albitres.

Aye.

Flynn.

Aye.

Gonzalez Gutierrez.

Aye.

Heinz.

Hi.

Cashman.

Hi.

Lewis.

Hi.

Torres.

Aye.

Watson.

Aye.

Madam President Sandoval.

Aye.

Madam Secretary, close the voting and announce the results.

Ten ayes.

Ten eyes.

Moves council bill fourteen twenty-seven out of order.

Is that correct?

Okay.

Never done that off script before.

Okay.

Now, uh, Madam Secretary, do I read the block vote?

Or I have to read that after we do this, correct?

After.

I I think the block vote would be next, because it's still part of the unfinished.

Okay, so block vote.

Okay.

Um, all bills for introduction are ordered published.

Council members remember that this is a consent or block vote, and you will need to vote aye.

Otherwise, this is your last chance to call out an item for a separate vote.

Councilmember Alvidres, will you please put the resolutions for adoption and the bills on final consideration for final passage on the floor?

I move that the resolutions be adopted and bills on final consideration be placed upon final consideration and do pass in a block for the following items all of the 25 series.

1373, 1375, 1376, 1377, 1420, 1421, 1422, 1423, 14, or 1364, 1432, 1433, 1022, 1024, 1407, 1412, 1413, 1419, 1509, 1510, 1511, 1379, 1409, 1424, 1271, 1406, 1408, 1410, 1415, 1416, 1417, 1418, 1345, and that's all of them.

Thank you.

It has been moved and seconded.

Madam Secretary, roll call.

Council members Romero Campbell.

Aye.

Albitres.

Aye.

Flynn.

Aye.

Gonzalez Cutieres.

Aye.

Hines.

Aye.

Cashman.

Lewis.

Aye.

Torres.

Aye.

Watson.

Aye.

Madam President Sandoval.

Aye.

Madam Secretary, close the voting and announce the results.

10 ayes.

10 ayes.

The resolutions have been adopted and the bills have been placed upon final consideration and do pass.

All right.

There are two proclamations being read this evening.

Council President.

Yes.

I um ask for um some assistance.

There are some additional folks outside that are here for the cafecito proclamation.

And since that one is first, if we could try to switch folks out so that they could come in.

I know.

Are there any willing members who would step out while we do the first proclamation?

How many people, Councilwoman?

I'm not sure.

I'm trying to get that information, but they're right outside the door.

So we have detected them.

Thank you so much.

Seven.

And then come back afterwards.

Yes, they will let me welcome back in.

Seven.

Sumowski.

We've never had this.

See what kind of call.

See what happens when you bring all kinds of people.

Three more?

Four more.

Three, four.

There you go.

Going once.

And you ladies are part of the cafecito proclamation?

All right.

All right.

You think that's it, Councilman Gonzalez Gutierrez?

Alright, we've never had this before.

Alright.

First time for everything.

I think I've said that like five times already.

I've never done this.

I think my blushing.

I'm like, what is happening here?

Um, there are two proclamations being read this evening.

Council Pro temrum, um, let me change this.

Council members Gonzalez Gutierrez, Torres, and Alvidres.

Will you please join me in reading proclamation 1553?

Proclamation 1553 celebrating a legacy of empowerment.

34 years of Denver Cafecitos Latina leadership.

Whereas Hispanic Heritage Month, observed annually from September 15th to October 15th, celebrates the histories, cultures, and contributions of Hispanic and Latino communities, values that Denver Cafecito has embodied for 34 years, building a legacy of empowerment through mentorship, networking, and service, and whereas in 1991, at a critical moment in the national conversation on workplace equity and justice, four Latina leaders, Rosemary Rodriguez, Michelle Lucero, Denise Mayas, and Lady Garcia Eckstein founded Grupo de Cafe, now known as Cafecito, as a safe and welcoming space for women of color to gather, reflect, and support one another.

And whereas what began as a few women, meeting for coffee has evolved into a vibrant and influential multi-generational network of Latina professionals and allies, who for 34 years have gathered nearly every Friday to share successes, exchange ideas, navigate challenges, and uplift one another.

And whereas Denver Cafecito has remained volunteer run with no dues and no friend raising, and has focused instead on friendship, mentorship, and support.

And whereas special recognition is owed to Rosemary Rodriguez for her dedication to promoting weekly newsletters, which has become which has become a trusted source for job postings, community events, and celebrations of achievement for over more than 1,200 members.

Whereas beginning in 2020, Marlene de Rosa stepped forward to assist Rosemary Rodriguez with coordinating meetings, securing new meeting locations, encouraging uh virtual gatherings during the pandemic, which many members described as a social lifeline and whereas the influence and work of Denver Cafecito have been recognized in the media, including a 2008 feature in 5280 magazine that highlighted the founders as power brokers and acknowledge the group's mentorship and role in helping members obtain influential roles in the mayor's office and on local boards and commissions and whereas the group has also served as a vital venue for civic engagement as reported in July 2021, Rutter's article describing Denver Cafecito gathering where Latina community leaders organized to testify in Colorado's redistricting process and mobilize participation through its newsletter platform and whereas Denver Cafecito exemplifies the spirit of Hispanic Heritage Month by fostering leadership, connection, and resilience among Latina women and their allies through a welcoming and impactful community that continues to build a legacy of empowerment.

Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the Denver City Council that the Denver City Council honors and recognizes Denver Cafecito for 34 years of Latina leadership and celebrates its legacy of empowerment.

And that the clerk and recorder of the city and county of Denver shall affix the seal of the city and county of Denver to this proclamation and that a copy be transmitted to Cafecito.

I move that proclamation 2020 1535 be adopted.

It has been moved and seconded.

And I'm just going to start the way it read.

So I'm going to start all the way to my left and then work my way down.

I'll go first.

Okay.

Um, thank you all so much.

Um, and I will just say this is a glorious crowd to look out upon.

Um it is the glue of this Denver community, and I can't thank you all enough for being here to sit with us uh in recognition of all of your work and all of your advocacy.

Um Cafecito.

Um, I have seen Cafecito be a space of welcoming for brand new people to Denver who don't know a single person, and they meet a warm community that will welcome them every time, will connect them to people who will um teach them about things that they might want to know, or just be a place to have fun.

Um, and all of those things are necessary things for building community.

What you've done over 35 years, and I wish I could just do the math in my head of 52 weeks times 34 years.

Um, what is that?

1500.

Almost 1,500 meeting uh meets that you've had.

Um, and these aren't meetings.

Like these aren't like, you know, our meetings where we gavel in and gobble out.

It really is social, it really is about bonding, and it really is about meeting people that you can have a relationship with and you can lean on, um, and that you become friends with and um and allies with.

And you're also a space where difficult things are discussed.

Um, Denise's moderator, I have a full memory of her really challenging questions.

So they they hold no punches, but they also embrace everyone.

And so I thank you so much for being that in our community.

And it doesn't surprise me that you four are the ones who uh really led it because you lead everywhere you're at.

So thank you so much and love you all.

Thank you, Councilman Gonzalez Gutierrez.

Thank you, Madam President.

I remember it was 2016 for me.

I I was actually, no, sorry, let's scratch that.

It's 2015 because I was pregnant with my my third child, my son.

And I remember I walked into La Casita, because that's where I shouldn't maybe disclose where the meetings are, right?

Is it secret?

Is it like Fight Club?

Um, just kidding.

It's not Latina Fight Club, I promise.

It's a great place.

But I remember I walked in all pregnant and was picking up some breakfast borritos for my staff at the time where I worked working with youth and families in Denver.

And uh Rosemary came up to me, and I've known Rosemary for years because of my family, and uh my mom worked with her sister at North High School and all of the things.

And she goes, Serena, what are you doing?

And I was like, Oh, I'm the director of this organization and da-da-da.

And she says, have you been part of Cafecito?

Why are you not here?

And I was like, I didn't know I could be a part of it.

Um so anyway, from there on, um, in 2015, I I started um to attend the meetings, and I thought, you know, this is gonna be scary.

There's probably going to be people there that are doing amazing things, and it's um, you know, maybe intimidating.

But when I walked in, it was the complete opposite of that.

Um, the women uh welcome you with open arms, and it is such a welcoming, beautiful space, um, and it's a safe space for us to be able to have conversations about all kinds of things, everything from family to political issues, um, policies, and it's a really it was a really great place um where I learned to spread my wings um before I ever even decided or was asked to run for office.

Um, but it was a great place to be able to um test waters and and also get feedback from other people in the community and especially these other amazing women.

So I'm honored to be able to be part of this um proclamation this evening.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you.

Councilmember Albidades.

Thank you, Council President.

Um, it is an honor to be able to do proclamations like this for community and for the people that make our city work and city move.

And I do remember my first cafecito.

Um, for those of you that may not know, I actually grew up in construction, and so being a woman in construction, um, my dad is probably the reason that I'm here because he always made me be the spokesperson for a business.

So I was like early business development from the seventh grade on.

And I remember finding out about cafecito, and I was like, why am I gonna go?

None of these women are gonna be in construction.

I don't know what to talk to people about.

Um, and it was at the market downtown.

Um, amazing place.

Uh too bad it's not here anymore.

But it I walked in and again, it was the same experience where people were just so welcoming.

I felt like I didn't have to be there to talk about what I do for work or what I needed.

I could just be there and be myself and have other women to talk to.

And even though there's a lot of lawyers and policymakers and all of these other things there, um, I felt like I belonged.

And I think as a Latina, there's not a lot of spaces where you walk in and feel like you belong.

99% of the time, even in this building, you really feel like you don't.

And so to have a place where I know all women can belong, whether they're Chicana for many generations, whether they're immigrants that just arrived, like this is a safe space where you can share your ideas, share your struggles, and not feel alone.

So thank you so much for creating that space.

And then when I ran for office, I had like this whole bunch of chingonas that were gonna be there for me and answer questions and guide me.

So I couldn't be more proud to like um be a sponsor of this proclamation.

So thank you, Council President, for bringing it forward, and thank you all for everything that you do.

Thank you.

Councilmember Flynn.

Thank you, Madam President.

Um, I only recently became acquainted with uh Cafecito when I was invited to present.

Uh back in June, I believe it was, and thank you for the invitation.

Uh I had an incredible time discussing those issues with you, and I just wondered how through a Zoom screen you were able to share coffee.

That was my only question.

But uh congratulations on this longevity and and keep it up for another 1500 some odd uh meetings.

That's a lot of coffee.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you.

Um where do I start?

So just want to say thank you, ladies.

Um, I don't probably think a lot of us would be here.

Um, I was trying to think about my first cofecito, and I can't really remember it, but one of the most impactful coffecitos for me was after my dad died, um, I had social anxiety.

I had not wanted to go out, and I showed up at Cofecito, and I looked at Rosemary and I probably looked really scared, and you wrapped my arms around me, and you said, come on, Gita, we got you.

And the second cofecito that I'll never forget was after I was in my coma and almost died.

I think I weighed like 95 pounds, my hair had almost fallen out.

Um I had had more surgeries than I even knew about at that time, and I showed up and you all were at La Casita, because my dad had passed away, and I didn't know you were there, and I was with my sister Kendra, and she looked at me and she was like, Do you need to walk out?

And I said, I don't know what to do.

And she said, let our community help you.

And I walked in, and Rosemary, once again, it was you who walked up to me, and you said, Are you okay?

And I said, No, I'm not.

And I said, but I'm alive, and you said that you had talked to all the people in the coffeecito, and they had all prayed for me, and you had gone to visit my mom, and you had seen my family and you'd seen my kids, and that's the community.

That's the power of community.

Not when I was running for office, but when I was at my lowest low in my life, my dad had just died, and I literally almost died six months later, and it was you all who were there for me, and it's you all who continue to be there for all of us, so I just can't thank you enough for all of that love.

Um, and being there and calling me sometimes when I miss my dad more than anything in my entire life, and you all will remind me of something he said or something he did, and it's those memories and that powerful leadership that you four have created that have moved on to another generation.

I remember I found out about Senator Bennett um having an internship page and my daughter was able to go and be able to have a different type of experiment experience.

So thank you all for creating such a powerful legacy in Denver.

Um, I at a loss for words because this just means so much to me to have all of the six Latinas be a sponsor um for all of the work that you all have done, and just want to just acknowledge the four of you and the work that Marlene is doing.

It's not easy to continue to say, hey, add me to this list, add me to this list, put out this newsletter.

Did you share this information?

We can kind of be pushy.

None of us are pushy as Latinas, right?

Um, but thank you all so much for your leadership, and honestly, thank you for being there after.

Um, and since my dad has been gone from the um here and supporting my mom, my mom talked about you all when I got woke up from my coma, and she said that you all went to visit her and that she would never forget that.

So thank you so much.

I cannot tell you how much you all met to my family at such a scary time in my family's life.

Madam Secretary, roll call.

Council members.

Romero Campbell.

Aye.

Alvides.

Aye.

Flynn.

Aye.

Gonzalez Cutieres.

Aye.

Heinz.

Aye.

Cashman.

Lewis.

Aye.

Torres.

Aye.

Watson.

Aye.

Madam President Sandoval.

Aye.

Madam Secretary, close the voting and announce the results.

Ten ayes.

Ten ayes.

Proclamation 1535 has been adopted.

We now have time for the proclamation acceptance, and we'll just whoever would like to come up and accept it.

We don't have any names listed.

Can we have everybody stand up who has been to Cafecito?

Or thought about Cafe City or run into us somewhere.

Thank you.

Councilman Watson, Councilman Flynn, Cashman, we've got to get you there.

Councilwoman Lewis, we'd love to have you.

I'm Rosemary Rodriguez.

I'm one of the co-founders along with Letty Garcia Xine, Denise Mayas, Michelle Lucero, Jennifer.

I'm so glad they let you back in because you're a frequent member.

Um we are overcome.

Um it's it's my personal joy to create a space for immigrant women, for young women, for women of privilege.

Doesn't matter what you come to coffee with, uh, you have a space.

And uh and we're curious, and that's why uh Councilman Flynn, we invited you to talk about your work on the uh Allen Berg story.

Uh we we have a lot of questions and a lot of curiosity and a lot of wondering and uh I I think that what binds us, it is not only our Latinidad, but the um, our children, the future, and education.

Thank you so much.

And if I did I miss anything?

Thank you.

Thank you, all right.

Next up, council members Gonzalez Gutierrez, Torres Alvidres.

Will you please join me in reading proclamation 1534?

Proclamation 1534, honoring the organizations in Denver that contribute to the advocacy empowerment of the Hispanic, Latino, Latina, Latin X, and Chicano Chicana community.

Council President, yes, can we wait just a minute?

Thank you.

Like mad chaos in here, there's a we have room up here on the front to the right, or in the we still have a whole row up here in the front to the right.

You just have to get uncomfortable and come on to the front of the classroom.

We have a couple seats, like right there.

You're just gonna have to sit sit next to people.

That you may not know.

Jen, there's seats over there.

Thank you all.

How many people did you bring?

I know.

There's still a couple spots.

There's there's if you have a spot next to you, can you raise your hand?

So we know how many more people we can add.

James, Lieutenant, did you see that?

Yeah, five.

We're waiting until after this.

Okay.

All right.

Are we good?

We seated.

Yes.

Great.

All right.

Uh, Councilmember Gonzalez Gutierrez, Torres and Alvidres, will you please join me in reading proclamation fifteen thirty-four, honoring the organizations in Denver that contribute to the advocacy and empowerment of the Hispanic, Latino, Latina, Latinx, and Chicano, Chicana community.

Whereas Hispanic Heritage Month, observed each year from September 15th through October 15th provides an opportunity to honor the histories, cultures, and contributions of Hispanic, Latino, Latina, Latinx, Chicano, Chicana communities in Denver, in Colorado, and across the United States, and whereas the Denver City Council recognizes and uplifts the many community partners, advocates, and activists who have played essential roles in advancing representation, equity, and justice, especially empowering voices that have historically been excluded.

And whereas the Hispanic, Latino, Latina, Latinx, and Chicano, Chicana collective histories, and individual stories are the foundation of our present, and that must not be forgotten, but rather preserved, taught, studied, shared, and carried with us, allowing it to bring intention to our actions and guiding our way.

And whereas we stand on the shoulders of our ancestors whose resistance, advocacy, activism, collaboration, and commitment to community continue to inspire and shape the work of countless individuals and organizations today.

And whereas advocacy organizations have built bridges to connect communities with policymakers, elected officials, educators, service providers, and other key partners, while also ensuring longer tables are built for everyone, including spaces for Hispanic, Latino, Latina, Latinx, and Chicano Chicana voices to be part of the decision-making process that shape our collective future.

And whereas this month and every month, we remember that all the struggles of those who have been historically excluded, underrepresented, and overlooked beyond Hispanic, Latino, Latina, Latinex, and Chicano, Chicana communities, are interconnected.

And whereas the Denver City Council recognizes that our collective power is rooted in community.

Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the Denver City Council that the Denver City Council recognizes September 15th through October 15th as Hispanic Latino Latina Latinx and Chicano Chicana Month by celebrating, acknowledging, and uplifting the advocacy work done by community partners, and reaffirm our commitment to equity and the ongoing work of building a city where all people can thrive, and that the clerk and recorder of the city and county of Denver shall affix the seal of the city and county of Denver to this proclamation, and that a copy be transmitted to Color Latina, Colorado Latino Leadership Advocacy and Research Organization, Claro, Servicios de La Rasa, Movimento Poder, Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, Circ, Circ Action Fund, Denver Healing Generations, Tepayac Community Health Center, Juntos Community, Convivir Colorado, Cultivando, Green Latinos, Mi Familia Vota, El Centro de los Trabajadores, MSU, Denver Chicano, Chicana Studies, Colorado Changemakers Collective, Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, Remain, American Friends Service Committee, AFSC, and all community partners that work with and for Hispanic Chicano Chicana and Latino Latinax communities.

Councilmember Gonzalez Cutieres, your motion to adopt.

I move to adopt Proclamation Number 251534.

It has been moved and seconded.

Comments by the sponsors.

Thank you so much, Madam President.

And thank you all for literally packing the chamber and beyond.

This is just absolutely beautiful.

We put it out there and said, hey, we want to do this thing, and we know that there's so many organizations.

I think beyond the ones that are here today, but I thank you for being here to represent the work that you all do.

Just as stated in the proclamation, we do stand on the shoulders of our ancestors who paved the way for all of us to be in these very positions.

All of us, us up here, all of you in here, and all of other other people in the community.

They pave the way for these organizations to even exist through activism and pushing to be at the table and at times to create the table themselves, lifting up our community voice and holding decision makers accountable.

These organizations work in coordination with other communities that have been historically underrepresented, such as in our Black, Asian American, Pacific Islander, Indigenous, Immigrant, and LGBTQ plus communities, because our struggles are wrapped up in one another, and it is imperative that we stand in solidarity in one with one another, not only in the times right now, which we know we have to be here to hold one another and to fight for one another, but always we can't let our guard down.

We have so many people here to have one person speak for all of you.

Um I want to just recognize each of you, and I will have you stand when I call out the organization.

So whoever's here from those organizations, if you could please stand.

I'll start with the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights.

If there's anyone here from Color, please stand.

Thank you.

If you're here, thank you for being here.

Any members from Movimento Poder, please stand rights coalition and circ action fund.

Cultivando.

Green Latinos.

Family, if there's anyone here.

El centro de los trabajadores.

MSU Denver Chitano Chicano Studies.

Colorado Changemakers Collective.

Well just Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network.

American Friend Service Committee.

So the last thing that I'll say, thank you all very much.

And Madam President, I'm going to make one last statement and then pass it to my colleagues who join me in sponsoring this.

Before we like do the final clapping, I have a request, and so if before we do that, I want to I'll I'll lead it off if that's okay when we get through every speakers.

Do you want to vote first?

Because we haven't even voted yet.

Oh, clapping.

Okay, no clapping yet.

After the vote, okay.

Let's do after the vote.

I would normally say who do you want to call up?

Can we do it then so we can pass it?

Yeah, did that?

Okay, perfect, great.

Okay, sometimes we have to be reminded of our agenda.

We got off track a lot tonight.

Um so it is because of the organizations that we have the protections that we have for our immigrant community in our city and our states in our state.

We have protections for those seeking reproductive health care.

We have providers that serve our community, providing cultural respectful behavioral health care and health care.

They help uh youth lift up their voices and advocate for their rights.

They help those seeking to become gainful employees here in our city.

They raise awareness and advocate for environmental justice in our communities, and they educate our young people about our histories so that we never forget where we came from and why the struggle continues, why we could continue to fight for our communities.

La lucha sigue.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you.

Council Mentores.

Thank you, Madam President.

Um this is such an important collective of people right now because I was even thinking just over the weekend.

Um what are we gonna do when martial law is declared?

What are we gonna do when the insurrection act is invoked?

Because they are coming.

And you fill me with this reassurance that we will do whatever we need to do together.

And I'm so grateful for that because I um I can't say I know exactly what is coming, right?

Or what how it's gonna affect all of us and our families.

Um, but we know that we are not the first ones to have experienced this, and we exist here because we are the seedlings of survival that our grandparents, great-grandparents, ancestors before that made sure um were planted.

And so I have to remind myself that I'm not alone in this, that we're not alone in this, and I hope you do too, because it can feel really overwhelming to think of what's around the corner in this country.

And I was able to watch an interview or a dialogue that uh Tanahasi Coates was uh had recently, where he talked about himself as a continuum of the activism and fight that had been waged generations before him, where that they fought against tyranny and fought for liberation that they themselves never fully got to see expressed or given.

But they knew that they were doing something that would be sustained over multiple generations, and I feel like we are at the continuation of that fight and that work.

Um, and so it did not start now, it started generations ago, and it does not end now.

It will be realized in future generations and for our kids and our grandkids.

And so we know who we're fighting for, and we know why we are in this fight now.

And I'm just really grateful that we are all part of that effort together.

So thank you all for packing this room for coming down.

It is not easy to make it to a meeting here in the middle of the city.

And uh because I it is important for us to see visually how much of a force we are.

And so thank you all so much.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you.

Councilmember Alvidares.

Thank you, Council President.

Um, it is such an honor to see all of these beautiful people here that are doing such amazing work across our city.

Um, and I was thinking very similar things to Councilman Torres recently.

Somebody reached out, like, what are you gonna do when that happens?

And I know that I would be calling on people in this room because it's not a what am I gonna do, it's a what are we gonna do?

And someone in this room and I were recently having a conversation, and we're talking about how our elders are getting older and what does that mean, who's gonna lead us, and and we both looked at each other and we're like it's us.

It's us, we are the ancestors for the future.

If we don't do our part now, there they won't be.

And it's hard to hold in moments like I put it to the back of my brain, try not to think about it, but there's there have been moments, even recently, um, when I was standing next to the clerk when he was making a press conference about how important our elections are, and I was standing there, and of course, a lot of us probably think, oh, that's just Paul.

And um, and a lot of people think I'm just floor, and I'm standing there and I'm watching like this press conference about how important our elections are, and I thought this is history.

This is not just like me standing by somebody that's doing work for our city.

This is people that are standing up at a time when things like elections are being questioned.

The most basic things are are at risk.

People are saying things like, are we gonna have another election?

What will what will there be?

And it's these moments where we have the opportunity to be the ancestors that we that our kids need that the future generations need that I feel lucky to have.

Um when my father came from Mexico, he came here to Denver and was met with opportunity because of the generations and the Chicano movement that was started here, because of the unions that were started here, because of all these things, and so even though my family wasn't here fighting those fights, they benefited from that, and I always have to remind myself of that and think about that and think about how all the things that happened before and why my family felt safe coming here and moving here to Denver.

And I hold that very close to my heart, and it's something that I continuously try to educate myself on.

Um, and I am just very grateful of the city that we are because of the people that I serve with, um, that we are able to advocate and be that for the future.

And we need each other, we need you all, and we're here for you all.

And together we will get through what we don't know what's coming, but we know we'll face it together.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you.

Councilmember Lewis.

Oh, um, thank you.

I just wanted um to be brief, and you all don't need my voice in this, but I just thought I'd let you all know, um, because I consider you all family, that um I don't have to know what's going to happen under um this administration.

I don't have to know what's going to happen under fascism, but I do know um and I hope that you all know that you have a fighter in me.

I'm not someone who is um lacking in courage.

Um I am not someone who is um easily cowarded.

I am now someone who is afraid.

And so when you all need me, just know that your sister has you.

Um, and whatever that looks like, because I do not fold.

I am absolutely a fighter, and whatever that fight looks like, I am down for it.

I cannot wait, and I look forward to joining you all to that fight.

Thank you, Councilmember Lewis.

Um, so as I look around the room, I see so many familiar faces who've helped me, who've helped my family, who have given, um, and whose honestly, shoulders we all stand on, right?

And for me, this is just it's really personal because things are so challenging up here behind the dais.

You get these complaints about parking, and yet we're getting seeing in Chicago what's happening with ice.

You get complaints about off-leash dogs, which are important, and yet you have people who are saying, democracy, what's happening with our democracy, what's happening with our health care system, what's happening with our basically everything that I know.

I had more rights when I was born than my daughter at 23 does, and that's really scary for me to say sitting up here.

And as we all come together during this last day of Latino, I don't like the word Hispanic, but whatever, it's Hispanic Heritage Month.

I don't particularly care for that.

Um, for Latino Month.

I'll just ask all of you, how can you come together?

I was thinking about this last night, and I was thinking about have I done a good enough job to reach out to people who are hurting, people who are suffering, people who might need a friend, people who might need a little bit of guidance.

Um, not me as a councilwoman, not me as council president, me as Amanda Sandoval, who is born and raised in the North Side.

Me as Amanda Sandoval, whose family has hosted La Casita and have fed probably a lot of you in this room.

Me as Amanda Sandoval, who's a mom.

So I would just ask all of you to stop at the end of the day and think about somebody who might be going through a really scary time.

I'll never forget I went to Cafecito one day and I had gotten a call from someone who they thought ice was at their door, front door, and I didn't even know how to get myself together to introduce Ken Salazar back to Denver.

I started crying.

So we never know what each other are going through.

I just want to say thank you to my council sponsors.

I couldn't imagine having a better way to end Hispanic Heritage Month with six Latinas on city council who actually represent the same amount of voters in Denver.

That's very historic.

Thank you, Councilmember Lewis, for your solidarity.

Um, and one uh last thought is we just need to also recognize the healing generations.

If anyone's here from Hailing Generations, can we please give them a shout out?

And thank you all.

Um, we have one last thing to do.

We are gonna adopt this, and then we have one item that was called out of order, and then we can all go in the hallway and we'd all sit the Latinas, we would all love to take pictures of with you.

So please don't go away.

We just have to close out.

This is our job.

This is what we're elected to do.

So please just hang in there with us.

Madam Secretary, roll call.

Councilmember Romero Campbell.

Aye.

Albitres.

Hi.

Flynn.

Aye.

Gonzalez Gutierrez.

Aye.

Heinz.

Aye.

Cashman.

Lewis.

Aye.

Torres.

Aye.

Watson.

Aye.

Madam President Sandoval.

Aye.

Madam Secretary, close the voting and announce the results.

10 ayes.

10 ayes, proclamation 1534 has been adopted.

Now, Councilwoman Gonzalez Gutierrez.

We have to do our work now.

Thank you guys.

Thank you all.

All right.

We will now continue with the consideration of Council Bill 1427 taken out of order.

Councilmember Lewis.

Oh, that's right.

You have an email from Donna Wildler.

I do.

I took notes.

Hold on.

Yeah.

Lost in the moment, okay?

I think we might have to get her back in here.

Let me let you know.

Do you think do you need her?

Do you need questions?

Yes, I have just a few based on the documents that were provided.

Thank you.

Tim, will you ask Donna if she'll come in?

In the blue.

Yeah, Donna.

Here she comes.

Awesome.

All right.

Donna, we're back up.

So our the our colleagues were able to review the document that was sent.

Thank you so much.

And Councilmember Lewis has some questions.

Okay.

Thank you so much for sending that document.

I really appreciated it.

Um, after having the opportunity to review it, I just have a few questions.

Um it says page nine, but it's actually page 590 of the packet, and the language is regarding um the appointment of the president, the appointment for the president of the council.

And I know we had had earlier discussions about um the appointment coming from the president versus it being the president, and I just wanted to make sure that language was updated so that we could capture the changes that we had discussed previously.

Um I'll need to look into that.

Okay, and get back to you if that's okay.

Yeah, sure.

Um it's it's an old document, it's from 2008, and so I I think it's probably just old in the packet versus what we agreed on.

I think that's probably right.

Yeah.

We haven't updated it since we changed that language, probably from two weeks, three weeks ago.

Okay, good question.

Um the second question that I wanted to ask about is um the signature for the DDDA is um Director Tisdale, and I know that we've had some conversation about Director Tisdale coming off that board and someone else um taking that seat.

Is there any movement there?

Chair Doug Tisdale, again, Donna Wilder, Department of Finance, uh Chair Tisdale's um term expires in June of 2026.

Okay, so we have some time.

Okay, and then my final question um in the in the document, it shows the different projects, and one of the projects that stick out that stood out to me was the Civic Center for the 300, or 300, excuse me, for the 30 million dollars.

And it's my understanding that the project in its entirety is 39 million dollars, and so I'm curious how it works with the DDDA and then the additional dollars that would be required to bring the project from Shovel into inception.

I see the uh total project cost that we were presented with was 50 million, and I could call on the project manager to speak to that if that's okay.

Sure.

Jenna, and Jenna, if you'll just introduce yourself, thanks.

Hi everyone, my name is Jenna Harris.

I'm the downtown parks program manager at Denver Parks and Recreation.

Um so Donna spoke to the total project cost for the project, which is a $50 million project with a $30 million request from the DDDA.

Um Donna, do you want to talk a little bit more about the contribution from the Civic Center Conservancy as part of that?

Sure.

Uh the DDDA funds, uh, the $30 million were approved uh with the understanding that the conservancy would uh fundraise.

Okay, up to 10 million dollars to reimburse uh the DDA funds back into the thank you.

I just wanted to understand if we have the $30 million investment.

What's the the Delta and what's the plan to get to the full amount?

Yeah, so we are fully funded with the 30 additional 30 million from DDDA.

Um, understood, okay.

Thank you so much.

That's all.

Councilmember Schwan.

Thank you, Madam President.

Uh and thank you, Council, Councilwoman Lewis, for calling this out.

I had the same issue uh researching this when we couldn't pull up that document, and as it turns out, that document was was kind of pointless, and now we have the actual resolution record or the bill request, so I appreciate that.

Um it didn't bother me to call it out though for that specific reason, but I wanted to call it out to vote no uh because frankly, I cannot support the Civic Center.

Uh what do they call it?

Transformation.

Uh it's a national register landmark landscape property.

Uh it's part of it's a hundred years old, it's part of the city beautiful movement.

And what I've seen, and I know there's been a lot of public engagement, but I think a lot of people don't haven't seen it yet, and they don't realize what's going to happen out there behind us.

And I think it turns that beautiful space into an amusement park.

And it makes it uh, in my view, uh uh kind of useless for some of the big celebrations we've had there.

We used to have taste of Colorado, we have Cinco de Mayo there.

Uh if uh if the Broncos ever win another Super Bowl or or the first time the Rockies win the World Series, um, uh might be 200 years old by then, but uh I just can't see us cluttering up that beautiful landscape in the way it's been designed.

And I know it's so far down the road that I'll probably be the lone voice in the wilderness, but I want to go on record uh that I do not support that.

Uh the other two projects in the bill I don't have a problem with.

So uh but I have to vote no in order to in order to express my opposition to this particular one.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you.

Um see no other questions, madam secretary.

We'll call on Council Bill 1427.

Oh, Councilmember Lewis, go ahead.

Just one question.

Thank you.

Is it possible to break up the um the projects for council members in the future to be able to vote independently on the the um projects versus the package?

Uh we appreciate the question, and we can consider that.

Uh, we do need to consult with city attorney's office, but happy to consider that in the future.

Thank you.

I asked the same thing.

I asked the same thing tonight while we were here.

I contacted the Department of Finance and said I would appreciate breaking them up.

I know it's more paperwork, but we do that for appointments to our commissioners because it's important that we are able to vote on things that we want to vote on instead of bundling them.

I know that's quote unquote easier, but it makes it harder from here on the dais.

Okay, so that's noted.

Councilwoman Lewis, thank you so much.

Madam Secretary, we'll call on Council Bill 1427.

Council members Romero Campbell.

Aye.

I'll be the day.

Flynn.

Nay.

Gonzalez Cutieris.

Heinz.

I sorry.

That was an aye.

Um Cashman.

Lewis.

Nay.

Torres?

Aye.

Watson.

Aye.

Madam President Sandoval.

Aye.

Madam Secretary, close the voting, announce the results.

So, apologies.

AIs.

AI's council bill 1427 has been ordered publish.

We have no public hearings scheduled for this evening.

On Monday, November 10th, 2025, Council will hold a required public hearing on Council Bill 1445, changing the zoning classification for 1890 North Grove Street in Villa Park.

Any protest against this council bill 1445 must be filed with the city council offices no later than noon on Monday, November 3rd, 2025.

There being no further business before this body, this meeting is adjourned.