Tonight's coverage of Denver City Council starts now.

Afternoon, City Council meeting.

Today is Monday, the 17th of November.

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.

Joining you virtually through Zoom, and along with my colleague Jasmine, we'll be interpreting today's meeting into Spanish.

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

Welcome to the Denver City Council meeting of Monday, November 17, 2025.

Council members, please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Council members, please join Councilmember Parity as they lead us in the 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 the forty-eight contemporary tribal nations that are historically tied to the lands that make up the state of Colorado.

We honor elders, past, present, and future, and those who have stewarded this land throughout generations.

Seeing none, the minutes stand approved.

South Broadway Street Streetscape Iowa Avenue to Westley Avenue, South Broadway Street Scape Wesley Avenue to Yale Avenue, South Downoon Street Pedestrian Mall, St.

Luke's Pedestrian Mall, and West 32nd Avenue Pedestrian Mall.

Councilmember Alvidos, why don't you start us out with announcements?

Thank you, Council President.

As the council member for District 7, I just wanted to respond to a conversation happening right now, and that my priority is making sure that any major public-private partnership, including intergovernmental agreements for the proposed National Women's Soccer League Stadium at Santa Fe Yards, delivers a long-term value, transparency, and real community benefits to Denver residents.

The postponement of the IGA that we had last week is not a denial of the projects.

It is a necessary pause to ensure we have complete information, realistic timelines, and a clear path to infrastructure commitments that support both the stadium and the surrounding neighborhoods.

Our constituents deserve that level of respect.

I am aware of the team's recent statement suggesting that without an immediate approval, Denver Summit FC is considering locations outside the city.

I want to be very clear.

Denver wants this team here.

I personally have been working for months to bring professional women's soccer to Denver and ensure the West Side, a historically underserved neighborhood, receives the financial investment it deserves.

But Denver cannot be pressured into rushing through an agreement worth millions of dollars without finished CBA, complete infrastructure planning, and transparent financial terms.

This project must strengthen the city, not burden it.

And it must strengthen the people who make women's sports what they are, the players and the fans.

Denver is one of the few places in the country where women's sports are met with unwavering support, where reproductive rights are protected, where LGBTQIA plus athletes and supporters are embraced, and where safety and belonging are not a political statement, but part of our core values.

That's why I remain committed to working in good faith with the ownership group, with the mayor's office, and our neighborhoods to bring the stadium and team to Denver in a way that is responsible, equitable, and sustainable.

Women's support, women's sports deserves stability, community investment, and a home where players know they will be respected on and off the field.

And I believe that home should be Denver, a city that stands by women, stands by equality, and stands by this team, and I will continue to do the work to make that a reality.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you.

Councilmember Parity.

Thank you so much, Council President.

I just wanted to share on behalf of Councilmembers Gonzalez Gutierrez, Cashman Lewis, and myself, this Friday, the 21st, towards the end of the day, we're gonna have a gathering, um, community hangout, I think is the term we chose, uh, for city employees, federal employees.

It's been a rough time to be a government worker, and so um, if you have just gone through the federal government shutdown, um, if you work um in any of those workforces or did until recently, we would love to see you.

Um it'll be catered by same cafe, and we'll be there between 3:30 and 6 30 p.m.

at 775 Mariposa Street.

There's a registration link that you can find um on any of our social media so that we have a head count for food.

Um, but we just have the sense that people could use a little bit of um thanks before the holiday, a little bit of community um a meal, bring your family if you want to.

Um, and it's just some time to spend with other people who may have been caring a lot for the last couple months.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Watson.

Uh thank you, Council President.

Um November 21st, um, 1 30 to 2 45 p.m., we'll be holding our district 9 uh community office hours and community drop-in at uh the Whittier Cafe at 28th in Walton.

So come on down and share it some uh smutter pork chops or whatever else that you love from Walton Street Cafe.

Let's come and talk about any of the opportunities within uh district nine.

So I'm looking forward to engaging with community on Friday, November 21st, from 1 30 to 2 45 at the historic Welton Street Cafe 28th Walton.

So come on down and join my team.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you.

Council Pro Temer Mural Campbell.

Thank you, Madam President.

Um, I have two announcements.

Uh one is uh we have our senior luncheon coming up on Saturday, uh December 5th.

If you are a resident of Friday, did I say Saturday?

Thank you.

Friday, uh December 5th, thank you.

Um, and our resident of District 4 reach out to our office.

I think there's just a few spots available.

It's a tradition that we do and lots of fun.

It's hosted over at the Welshire Event Center and the Welshire over by the Welshware Golf Course, which we'll be celebrating a hundred years this next year.

And then secondly, there's this really cool thing called uh Thanksgiving and the Turkey Trot.

So I just love that in Southeast Denver, there are three different neighborhood groups, and we've got three different turkey trots.

So if you are a resident of University Hills of Southmore or of Hampton Heights, you are more than welcome to reach out to your neighbor and participate in that turkey trot.

If you don't live in those neighborhoods, you probably still could come and trot with them, or you could go to the Mile High United Way Turkey Trot, which is at um Washington Park on Thanksgiving morning.

I think their first one starts at nine, and you can sign up online.

But just all the fun good things about, at least I think it's one of the fun things about Thanksgiving, is to be able to do those uh little 5Ks that we have and get out before you sit down and have your turkey dinner.

That's it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Lewis.

Thank you.

Two quick announcement announcements.

Um, one, the 42nd annual Hiawatha Davis Junior luncheon is happening on Saturday, December 13th from 11 a.m.

to 1 p.m.

So if you have not gotten your tickets, please do.

And we are slowly running out of tickets, which is a great thing.

And then the second is a thank you to those that were able to attend my office hours over the weekend, as well as my RO leaders who were able to attend our planning meeting to kick off 2026 in a joint town hall.

And so we wanted to thank them for their time on a Saturday.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And I have a couple announcements.

Um I'd like to celebrate and wish Councilwoman Gonzalez a happy early birthday.

Her birthday's November 22nd.

Happy early birthday.

And for those of you who live in the north side, um, if you've recently traveled along 29th Avenue between Zunai and Sheridan, there are lots of speed bumps, major speed bumps if you've used it.

And my office has gotten lots of questions about that.

So there currently is a survey to follow up on how is that avenue working.

You can take it at BIT.ly backslash 29th Avenue survey, and we'll also be posting that on my social media.

See no other announcements.

There are no presentations.

There are no communications, there are two proclamations being read this afternoon.

Councilmember Gonzalez Gutierrez, would you please read proclamation 1910?

Yes, Madam President, uh Proclamation number 25, 1910, honoring the second judicial district of the Colorado Youth Detention Continuum CYDC team.

Whereas the Colorado Youth Detention Continuum, CYDC, was introduced through state legislation to establish a juvenile services fund that would provide resources to local jurisdictions on or after July 1st of 1993 to fund an alternative to incarceration services.

And whereas the second judicial district of the C to Y DC in the city and county of Denver, just so we all know, second judicial district, we're talking about Denver, offers services that include but are not limited to intervention, treatment, supervision, lodging, assessment, bonding programs, and family services as alternatives to placement in state-funded detention and commitment facilities.

And whereas by using evidence-based practices and building relationships with youth and their families, CYDC not only supervises pre-adjudicated youth, but ensures their success and improves community safety by providing supervision, structure, and basic needs such as rent, utilities, food, clothing, access to mental health, and case management support.

And whereas in October of this year, the second judicial district CYDC team was awarded the 2025 CYDC Team of the Year Award at the CYDC conference.

And whereas, despite being understaffed since July of 2024, the CYDC team continues to excel in their role, assuming additional responsibilities as the case managers and management team also conduct intake screenings, unlike other judicial districts.

And whereas the state's CYDC team voted for the state CYDC team voted for one of Denver's team members, Miss Deborah Gibbs, who's here, to be awarded the bed manager of the year to acknowledge their work in supporting over 350 youth during the last year.

And these are youth that are in detention.

And whereas the team has succeeded at having a lower than 6% failure to a peer rate and recidivism rate, surpassing the 10% goal for the state.

Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the Denver City Council, Section One, that the Denver City Council recognizes the essential role and hard work of the second judicial district of the Colorado Youth Detention Continuum Team.

Section two, 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 the Colorado Youth Detention Continuum team.

Thank you, Councilwoman.

Your motion to adopt.

Thank you, Council President.

I move uh to adopt proclamation 25 1910.

It has been moved and seconded.

Comments by members of council.

Councilmember Gonzalez Codedes.

Thank you, Madam President.

It's very lovely to see some of the folks that I've known for many, many, many years now.

Some of you, I think I went to high school with, right?

Um, but all of you serve such a critical role in the juvenile justice system.

And we don't talk about it a lot here in the city level because the youth that they are working with are youth that are in district court, right?

And so we don't necessarily see that come across our table, but they're they're they happen to be housed in the Office of Neighborhood Safety.

And so we've talked a little bit about what CYDC is and and what they do, but hearing that they they received this award from the statewide, you know, the continuum youth detention continuum, they received a statewide award, which is I think the first time that they've received this award for the second judicial district.

And in Denver, you know, there's a lot of challenges that we have.

Um our young people are facing a lot, um, not right now, but historically have.

You know, we've seen the ups and downs in the juvenile justice system, times when we were over incarcerating our young people.

Um, we still continue to face issues of disproportionate kids of color in our system, in our detention facilities.

And what I'm most proud of with this team is that they're a diverse team.

They always make sure that they have language access, that they always make sure that they are innovative in making sure that there are in-house mentorship opportunities for our young people, that you're providing services and resources so that kids can be safely in the community, that they are safe in the community, and that you are also promoting safety in our community for our young people and their families.

And you do all of this not because you're getting a paycheck, like some of you have been with this program since the name change.

So Senate Bill 94 was the original legislation in back in 1993.

That's how long these programs have been around across the state, and they're charged with making sure their kids that are come in from intake that are arrested, and then they're doing a screening to determine if they should go to detention or stay in the community and stay in their homes or go to a different level of care.

Then they're tasked with helping supervising those young people if they are in the community.

It's a it's a lot of work to do that because in the juvenile justice system, you are not only working with the youth, you are also working with their family.

And there's a lot of components that come with that.

So I'm really proud of how hard our Denver team has worked to manage our bed capacity at Gilliam Detention Youth Center.

And also you work really hard to keep our kids in the community instead of always going to detention and locking them up.

And that's incredibly important.

And I know it is extremely challenging.

And I know there are times that you are tested in those moments, right?

Where you're tested and you're going, I don't know what else to do with this young person because they're not listening.

And it's really, really challenging.

Because teenagers, I have two of them right now, and I know how hard that is.

So I just want to thank you all for the incredible work that you do.

Um and I know you can't do it without the people who have been there for years, and I'm looking at some of you who helped raise me in that field in that work.

Yeah, you.

Yeah, I'm looking at you, Bishop.

Um, but thank you.

Thank you again for all the work that you do for kids that are, you know, have happen to find themselves in detention for kids that are um you know out in the community and trying to not you know recidivate and go back into those settings.

Really appreciate everything and um you know the leadership that you've had over the years, I think have continued to push that forward.

So thank you.

No, thank you.

Thank you.

Madam Secretary, roll call, council members Sawyer.

Torres.

Aye, Sawyer.

Albitas.

Aye, Flynn.

Aye.

Gilmore.

Aye.

Gonzalez Gutierrez.

Aye.

Heinz?

Hi.

Cashman, Lewis, Parity.

Aye.

Romero Campbell.

Aye.

Watson.

Aye.

Madam President Sandoval.

Aye.

Madam Secretary, we'll close the voting announce the results.

13 eyes.

13 ayes, proclamation 1910 has been adopted.

Councilmember Gonzalez Guterres, we now have five minutes for the proclamation acceptance.

Who'd you like to call up?

Yes, um, I would like to call up the current director of the CYDC program, Omar Martinez.

Uh, thank you.

Um, was not prepared for this, but I'll give it a go.

Um, our team has gone through a lot over the last years plus with staff shortages, increasing caseloads, and detention numbers.

But they have managed to stay resilient, tough, and motivated to serve these youth and families while trying to ensure community safety.

We're a small team.

We're only 12 strong.

Um, and despite the vacancies throughout the last year and three months, eight of us either um have two or three other working responsibilities or positions outside of our own.

And although it has been extremely stressful and overwhelming, our team has been able to get through it, work together because we are a family.

We believe in each other, and overall, this award not only shows that, but they are very much very much well deserved.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Lewis, welcome to the meeting.

And would you please read proclamation 1854?

Yes.

Proclamation 25, 1854, a proclamation formalized formally recognizing October as National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month.

Whereas we gather not merely to observe a month on a calendar, but to hold a sacred space of remembrance, a space where every life, no matter how brief is forever, etched in the hearts of a family and a community.

We acknowledge the profound and quiet grief that echoes in empty rooms and silent nurseries, a sorrow often carried alone, but one week now, but one we now choose to carry together.

And whereas we declare that all lives are of infinite value and profound love.

We honor the parents who love their children and hold them in their hearts for a lifetime.

We recognize the silent promise of a future that will never be, and the immense courage it takes to rise each day and carry that memory.

And whereas we recognize that this grief knows no bounds, it touches grandparents, siblings, friends, and entire communities.

We honor all who have been impacted by this loss, acknowledging that their love and sorrow are a testament to the ripple effect of every life.

And whereas today we acknowledge the invisible scars and unshared stories of those who have experienced this loss.

And whereas this proclamation is a vow to shatter the silence that has long surrounded this loss.

It is a promise to all who grieve their grieved that their story is seen, their pain is valid, and their love is external.

We recognize that the most powerful act of love is to speak the name of a child who is no longer here and to ensure they are never forgotten.

And whereas, let every October be a beacon of hope and a powerful call to action.

Let us transform our grief into a force that advocates for better care, offer support to a neighbor in need, and creates a more compassionate world.

One where no one must experience loss and solitude.

We do this not only for the babies who are forever missed, for the parents who live on as living monuments to a love that defies all measure.

Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the Denver City Council Section One that the Denver City Council honors every October as pregnancy and infant loss awareness month.

Section two, 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 Ariana Barton and Denver Health.

Thank you, Councilmember Lewis.

Your motion to adopt.

I move that proclamation 251854 be adopted.

It has been moved and seconded comments by members of council.

Councilmember Lewis.

Thank you.

Um I'll keep my remarks brief.

I have a deep appreciation for my office hours, and one of them being that um I had the opportunity to meet a brilliant young woman who brought this to my attention.

And so often when um parents experience a loss, that loss is often in solitude and often forgot about.

And Councilwoman Um Sandoval, you often speak about the importance of remembering our ancestors and the importance of saying their name so that their memories are never lost.

Um and unfortunately, as a mom, I've had this experience.

And so when you came into my office in my office hours, it reminded me of my own grief as a mother.

And so I really appreciate you honoring me and giving me the opportunity to do something so important in your life.

And so thank you for that opportunity.

Thank you.

Councilmember Parody.

Yeah, I really I didn't um I I heard this for the first time tonight.

I didn't know that Councilmember Lewis was bringing this, and I it's really beautiful, and I really appreciate it.

Um, like I think, you know, a third of women who eventually become mothers or something like that.

It's a really huge number.

I lost my first pregnancy.

Um, and one thing that I think about all the time right now is that we have sort of an invisible epidemic of women who are um experiencing threats to their future reproductive health because of conditions that arise during our first pregnancy and the loss of reproductive rights that we've had in the country.

Um, and so it's you know creeping up all over the place, but uh just the fact that we're now living in a place where somebody might um experience complications the first time around, and then because of our loss of rights, wind up being unable to give birth in the future is really devastating.

Um, and connected to that, both of my kids eventually were born through IVF, which took a long time and a lot of heartache.

Um, and those kind of technologies um don't have much of a future in a country where we can't do the science that's necessary to keep them advancing.

So I just wanted to point that out as well that we're not exactly moving in the right direction.

Um, and I'm really sorry to anyone who's been impacted by that.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Flynn.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you.

Thank you, uh Councilmember Lewis, for bringing this forward.

It strikes very close to home.

Uh, my wife, after her mom died, and her father had passed.

My wife and her younger brother discovered in cleaning out some of her materials.

They found a paper from a funeral home in their hometown for the burial of a three-day-old daughter.

That none of the three kids in the family knew had existed.

And so over about a two-year period, we made several trips back to Hammond, Indiana, where they grew up.

And the child was buried in an unmarked grave in the large cemetery there in the city.

We finally were able to locate the pin in the ground.

It had been covered over because this occurred in 1937.

We finally located the little pin after clearing away in a large area.

And we found it and we found her name.

So she has a babe.

And we bought a headstone and placed it there for her.

So this is very my pleasure to vote yes on this.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Lewis.

I just have to say because I was reminded from Councilman Flynn's words that when Ariana came to speak with me, one of the things that she shared was that when you have a miscarriage or you have a stillborn, that you often don't receive a death certificate.

And so her work is exactly what you're talking about, is to be able to bring that kind of closure to families.

And so thank you.

Councilman Friend and thank you.

Councilmember Alviderez.

Thank you.

I wasn't gonna say anything, but I think it's important that people know how common this is.

I've experienced this, and I had totally forgot Councilman Flynn until you mentioned it that I ha this happened in my family.

My sister was a twin, and Mary Elizabeth was my sister that um passed away a few days after birth.

So this is real grief.

They're real people, and um just thank you, Councilwoman Lewis, for your leadership in bringing this forward because just like all of our ancestors, we shouldn't forget those that only visit us for a small time.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Councilmember Lewis, for bringing this forward.

Um my husband and I have a dear cousin who lost her child, Alina Rose, and um I got invited to a fundraiser um last year, a nonprofit called Walk with Me, and it's specifically for mothers and families of infants of 22 weeks and prior.

And I was there um not affiliated with my cousin um Lindsay, and I started talking to the woman and I talked to her about my cousin Lindsay's story and how devastating it was.

And she said, I know Lindsay, she's come to our program, she's in our program, and Lindsay and her husband just helped another family, and um my husband was so taken back, he made a big donation in honor of Alina Rose.

We never said anything, and my cousin Lindsay sent us a snail mail, thank you card, because with that donation, it helped two other families that Lindsay had helped.

And she emailed, called us and said, I didn't know you made a donation.

I said, Well, isn't that the point of making a donation is not to say that you made the donation, is just to quietly support.

So for those of you who may not know, it's a wonderful organization called Walk With Me.

And what they say is that when you're going through grief, and if I'm sure every single person in here has gone through some form of grief, that you don't always know what you need, but sometimes you just need someone to walk with you and walk beside you and hold you.

And so it's a bigger metaphor of that that child will always be with them.

That no matter where they go in life, that that love for that child will be there.

So um I didn't mean to tack that on, but it's just a such a small lean organization that it doesn't get as much um recognition, and so just wanted to shout that out.

So thank you so much.

And in honor of Alina Rhodes, I will absolutely be supporting this this afternoon.

Madam Secretary, roll call.

Councilmember Sawyer, I said, Torres, all right, Albites.

Aye, Flynn.

Aye, Gilmore, aye, Gonzalez Cutieres.

Aye, Heinz.

Hi.

Cashman, Lewis.

Aye, Parity, aye, Romero Campbell.

Aye.

Watson.

Aye.

Madam President Sandoval.

Aye.

Madam Secretary, close the voting and announce the results.

Twelve eyes.

Twelve eyes.

Proclamation 1854 has been adopted.

We now have time for the proclamation expect acceptance.

Who would you like to call up, Councilmember Lewis?

Yes, I would like to call up Ariana Barton and on behalf of Denver Health, Stephanie Snyder.

No.

I'm your thought.

They're there much more.

Okay.

Well, Ariana and whoever's much more important.

Okay.

Good evening, everyone.

Thank you so much.

My name is Ariana, and it's truly an honor to stand here.

As the City of Denver recognizes pregnancy and infant loss awareness month.

This moment means more than I can express.

I stand here not only for myself but for every parent who has known that kind of grief.

I am a mother of three children I never got to bring home.

I experienced losses that changed every part of my life, one of them being a life-threatening epitopic pregnancy.

Each time I left the hospital with no welcome home celebration, no birth certificate, no funeral, no space to grieve.

My wound became the graveyard, and the world just kept moving like it was nothing.

When everything in my life was forever changed.

And I am not alone.

In the United States, one in four pregnancies ends in loss.

Every year, thousands of families silently carry this pain, often without support, without acknowledgement, and without a voice.

The silence is exactly why awareness matters, because behind every statistic is someone's baby, someone's story, someone's heart that is still learning how to beat again.

Today, Denver is help breaking the silence.

I want to give a heartfelt thank you to Councilwoman Shante Lewis, Timber Hudson, and every member of the Denver City Council for hearing us, and also Denver Health for taking such good care of me when I was going through my life-threatening epitopic pregnancy.

Oh, sorry.

Your willingness to create space for this conversation to validate this grief and to help bring awareness forward means more than you know.

This proclamation is more than a document.

It is a promise that our babies and our experiences will never be forgotten.

My hope is that this moment brings comfort, visibility, and support to grieving families, and that is continues and that continues to open doors for better resources, better education, and better compassion throughout our community.

To everyone here who has experienced the loss, your pain is real, your love is real, and your babies mattered.

Today is for them, today is for you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Hi, I am Natasha Walker.

I'm the perinatal loss coordinator and NICU manager at Denver Health Medical Center.

Um, I am have the um very awesome but also devastating job of supporting the 50 mothers that we see at Denver Health on the labor and delivery unit yearly, providing support, and we're able to provide photos and mementos for the families to take home, and then I provide post-bereavement um counseling through 13 months after their loss plus grief support groups that are starting January 2026.

Thank you.

I've lost my voice.

I'm an OBG UN at Denver Health, and I just want to say thank you to all of you and thank you for your bravery.

Because it takes a lot to stand up here and bring this forward and to bring everyone's voices forward that's gone through this.

I've taken care of countless of patients, and this is gonna make a difference to them.

My name's Stacey, I'm the associate nurse manager of labor and delivery at Denver Health.

Um, our nurses take great pride in taking care of these patients that we see on our floor and go through a lot of care and packing these mementos and things for patients to take home so that they have some sort of remembrance that is often overlooked and not talked about.

And on October 15th is the national wave of light, so that's great that there's one day, but the fact that we're getting a month is amazing.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Madam Secretary, please be read the bills for introduction.

From the Community Planning and Housing Committee, 25-1634, a bill for an ordinance amending the Denver Revised Municipal Code, Section 10-16 concerning the building and fire codes.

From the Finance and Business Committee, 25-1709, a bill for an ordinance establishing a new fund in the general government special revenue fund series for payment processing.

25-1710, a bill for an ordinance authorizing capital equipment purchases from the Denver Public Library Special Revenue Fund, 15830 Fund.

25-1711, a bill for an ordinance making rescissions of the unused capital improvement funds from completed and deferred capital improvement programs.

25-1712, a bill for an ordinance, amending ordinance number 591, series of 2021, as amended by ordinance number 706, series of 2021, as amended by ordinance number 1145, series of 2021, as amended by ordinance number 1192, series of 2021, as amended by ordinance number 374, series of 2022, as amended by ordinance number 969, series of 2022, as amended by ordinance number 1450, series of 2022, as amended by ordinance number 0548, series of 2023, as amended by ordinance number 1326, series of 2023 as amended by ordinance number 1683, series of 2023, as amended by ordinance number 0802, series of 2024, as amended by ordinance number 1561, series of 2024 to allocate interest earnings in the revenue loss and recovery categories to support programs, including temporary rental and utility assistance trua elections, immigrant legal services, wage theft enforcement, and the Denver Food System Summit.

25-1713, a bill for an ordinance amending ordinance 762, series of 2020 concerning the Central Branch Library Renovation Fund.

25-1714, a bill for an ordinance, amending ordinance 915 series of 2025 concerning the Denver Downtown Development Authority Fund 11893.

25-1715, a bill for an ordinance, amending ordinance number 1286, series of 2021 concerning the dental self-insurance internal service fund.

25-1716, a bill for an ordinance, amending ordinance 1542 series of 2024 concerning the sidewalks operating fund and the sidewalks capital equipment and improvements fund programs.

25-1717, a bill for an ordinance amending ordinance 184 series 1992 as amended by ordinance 1255 series of 2020 concerning the planned fleet fund purpose.

25-1813, a bill for an ordinance making appropriations to pay the expenses of conducting the public business for the year 2026 and for the purposes required by the charter and by other law.

From the Health and Safety Committee 25-1633, a bill for an ordinance approving a fifth amendatory agreement between the city and county of Denver and University of Colorado Hospital Authority to provide care treatment and supportive services to individuals living with HIV and AIDS in the Denver Transition Le Grant Area PGA.

25-1637, a bill for an ordinance approving a proposed fiscal year 2026 amendment to the second amended and restated operating agreement between the city and county of Denver and Denver Health and Hospital Authority, providing for the amounts to be paid for services by the city and county of Denver and by the Denver Health and Hospital Authority for the fiscal year 2025.

From the South Platte River Committee, 25-1541, a bill for an ordinance changing the zoning classification of 709 South Delaware Street in Baker.

25-1607, a bill for an ordinance establishing a new fund in the community development fund series for the dedicated linkage fee fund 16817.

25-1612, a bill for an ordinance approving a proposed second amendment to KSC development agreement between the City and County of Denver and Cronkey Arena Company LLC, Cronkey Parking, LLC, Fifth Street Limited, LLC, Cronkey Sports and Entertainment Metropolitan District Number 1, Cronkey Sports and Entertainment Metropolitan District Number 2, Cronkey Sports and Entertainment Metropolitan District Number 3, Cronkey Sports and Entertainment Metropolitan District Number 4, Cronkey Sports and Entertainment Metropolitan District Number Five, obligating the developer districts and their assigns to read to certain requirements for development of acreage bounded by the consolidated main line to the north and west, sphere boulevard to the east and our area parkway to the south in council district three.

And 25-1620, a bill for an ordinance approving a proposed sixth amendatory agreement between the city and county of Denver and Urban Drainage and Flood Control District, the Weir Gulf Weir Goal to reach W1 project.

We'll revise some construct construction requirements and fund management.

Thank you, Madam Secretary.

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

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

Yes, Council President.

Thank you.

Now we'll do a recap.

Under resolutions, Councilmember Parity has called out resolution 1580 for amendment and council resolution 1529 for questions and comments.

Councilmember Lewis has called out council resolution 1580 for comments.

Council resolutions 1626, 1627 in a block, and council resolution 1640 for questions.

And Councilmember Alvidres has called out resolutions 1569, 1570, and 1571 in a block for questions.

Under bills for introduction, Councilmember Flynn has called out Council Bill 1634 for a vote.

Councilmember Lewis has called out Bill 1607 for questions and 1813 for comments.

Under bills for final consideration, Councilmember Lewis has called out Council Bills 1590 and 1594 for a vote.

Under pending, no items have been called out.

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

Council resolution 1529.

A resolution approving a proposed mandatory agreement between the city and county in Denver and Roth Shepherd Architects LLP to add professional design services for police district six replacement location at 1566 North Washington Street.

Councilmember Parity, please go ahead with your questions and comments.

Thank you so much, Madam President.

I primarily are probably only have comments, which is just that this has to do with the uh Denver Police District 6 parcel, which is located as it says on Colfax and Washington, really close to downtown.

Um it's a part of the city that's zoned for as much as 12 stories of housing.

It's a very large parcel.

And before the current mayoral administration, to my understanding, because of course I wasn't on council at the time, there was quite a bit of conversation about trying to intentionally limit the footprint of the police station so that half or even three-quarters of the site could be used as housing, because as far as city-owned parcels go, it's a pretty um rare opportunity in that regard, given that it's right on the new BRT and zoned in the way that it is.

You know, the and the other reason I kind of want to highlight this is just because it goes to show how many um decisions that about things like use of city parcels sometimes happen without public input, as this as this process um mostly has.

I think that my colleague, Councilmember Heinz has certainly spoken to the public a lot about it.

Um, but it's been a little bit of a the process has mostly involved behind closed doors.

When the RFP went out, it did not ask for those who responded to it to try to limit the footprint of the building in any way, so that wasn't one of the considerations taken into account from the jump.

Um, and it's just sort of proceeded forward in that way.

And I know that um there's community members who really um hoped it would be a different outcome, wanted to weigh in.

Um so I'm just calling it out tonight to kind of um you know note that in public and ask that they continue to have a chance to sort of voice their feedback to these designs as this goes forward.

Um, but that's really it.

Um, so yeah, I'm not gonna, I thought about postponing under rule 3.6, but I don't think there's a reason to do that.

I'm not a no vote because we need a design contract.

Um, but I wish that we had a different way of thinking about these decisions when it's a city owned parcel that's involved.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Madam Secretary, please put the next item on our screens, council resolution 1626, a resolution approving a proposed purchase agreement between the city and county of Denver and Braun Northwest Inc.

for the first for the one-time purchase of a 2026 North Star 277-5 command vehicle for Jefferson County Regional Squads.

Council resolution 1627, a resolution approving a proposed purchase agreement between the City and County of Denver Braun Northwest Inc.

for the one-time purchase of a 2026 North Star 277-5 command vehicle for Douglas County regional bomb squads.

Councilmember Lewis, please go ahead with your comments on Council Resolution 1626 and 1627.

Thank you.

Um I call this out out of pure curiosity.

Um I was just curious why we were paying for bomb squat vehicles in Douglas County and Jefferson County, and my question was answered, but I thought the answer was really interesting, so I thought I'd read it for the public in case anyone else is interested in why we might be doing that.

Um so since 2003, the city and county of Denver has been the fiscal administrator for the urban area security initiative grant.

This program is part of a suite of homeland security grants designed by FEMA.

The Denver region, as defined by the grant includes our 10 County Metropolitan Statistics Statistical Area or MSA, which is inclusive of Douglas County and Jefferson Counties.

As a result, these funds are used for projects within Denver and within our surrounding cities and counties.

The thought behind this setup is that large metropolitan metropolitan areas will be more prepared for emergencies in all jurisdictions in the region in the region and have the proper equipment training, etc.

And so all AA, all UASI grants received by cities around the country are set up this way.

The funding comes to the core city in the MSA and is distributed from there.

The funds support projects, equipment, and training for first responders, regional planning and exercises, as well as emergency preparedness and response initiatives for the designated urban areas.

The purchase or the project, excuse me, the purchase of these two bomb vehicles was selected through a competitive process and was funded on the FY24 UASI grant award, which was authorized by the City Council via Council Bill 250126 in February of this year.

So if you were interested, I was.

Thank you.

Sure.

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

Council resolution 1640, a resolution approving a proposed third amendatory agreement between the city and county of Denver and Parsons Transportation Group to provide subject support and design services during construction for the Colfax transit implementation, bus transit, bus rapid transit project.

Councilmember Lewis, please go ahead with your questions on resolution 1640.

Okay, thanks.

I wanted to start with that I'm not necessarily opposed to this item, but I hear from my constituents in East Colfax specifically that the overflow in the surrounding blocks from the BRT construction is already a huge problem.

And so I have two questions.

First, what do we have in place currently to address these concerns or mitigate the problem?

And then the second question is what does this contract do or attempt to do in the future for this issue?

Uh good afternoon, Council Member Lewis.

Uh my name is Jonathan Stewart.

I'm with Dottie.

I'm the project director for Colfax BRT.

Could you repeat the question again one more, please?

Thank you.

Yeah, and I can separate them if it's helpful.

Okay.

Um so the first one is so I just for the context, it's I've been hearing about this overflow from um the East Colfax area and the the neighbors in and that um in that geographical area.

And so the first question is what do we have in place currently to address these concerns or to mitigate the problem?

And then the second question is what does this contract do or attempt to do in the future for this issue regarding the overflow?

That's sure.

So, so what's your what I'm what I heard you say is that you're hearing uh problems with traffic overflowing onto into the neighborhood.

Correct in the East Colfax area.

Yep.

So that is something that we do work very hard to try and mitigate that kind of impact.

And excuse me, I would say that one of several of the things that we're doing uh involved just trying to make it uh traffic flow a little more normally uh along Colfax itself.

Uh so we spend a lot of time working on that, making sure that the traffic lights are all working, making sure that the, even though there is construction along the corridor that is able to flow as much as reasonably possible through that area.

So I think that we do a lot of effort with that.

Uh and if there are any specific concerns that come up, then we try and isolate those and try and figure out solutions to those.

And so we have identified a number of those that have kind of occurred uh for a short term short-term period, and we work to mitigate those.

I think one example would be something like uh there was a uh a lane closure along York Street uh that happened, and and that was very impactful to the neighborhood.

Uh we I asked the contractor to work overtime to try and uh get that work done as quickly as possible, and that has since passed, and and that is that road is now fully open again.

And that's kind of the things that we encounter when we're doing construction for this project is we'll see something that we have to go in and fix, we have to do some kind of temporary closure, but it only lasts for a couple of weeks, and then we're able to open it back up again.

And so I think that that's kind of if if we see impacts where people are really going into the neighborhood, it would be some sort of isolated impact like that.

I turn my mic off my apologies.

Can you talk about specific mitigations for the East Colfax as it pertains to the BRT that you all have put in place?

Specific mitigations along East Colfax in your district or corridor-wide.

I would guess that there are probably several council members who would be interested, and I would guess it's not isolated to East Colfax.

Yeah, sure.

Um, so I I think that we have a lot of wayfinding, uh, and then I I mean I think there's only so much that we can do uh really what we're trying to do is kind of mitigate them from going into the neighborhoods, and so we do that with with signage, and also we have we we try and route the traffic differently so that so that that's not happening because that's absolutely what we don't want to have happen.

But I would say that uh one of the unfortunate circumstances is that traffic has to go somewhere, so they typically go to uh other parallel streets where they can continue to go east-west, and there's a limited amount that we can do because Colfax is under construction right now.

Okay.

Um the second question is can you tell me what this contract is?

Um what this contract does, or what is it attempting to do uh for the future about this issue?

Because that's what it seems like it's um, yeah, absolutely.

I could I can definitely talk about that.

So this contract is with the designer for the project, and what we're asking them to do, it's really kind of a lot of little things that we're asking them to do that are additional services that we had not scoped them out to do in the first contract.

Okay.

So we're adding a little bit of extra capacity, it does not change our project budget, but we're adding a little bit of extra capacity to do a couple of different things.

One of those is we did uh receive a grant from the state for crime prevention through environmental design, uh, and this is to uh do a lot of things that kind of help mitigate crime that happens along the corridor.

So uh we're installing some lighting along the corridor in in the farther east segment.

Uh and so we need construction plans to put that lighting and figure out exactly where to place it.

So we're having Parsons put together the design for that.

Another element is that uh we're converting some of our uh areas where we have trees.

Uh we're converting it to help mitigate water quality from storm runoff on the street.

Green infrastructure is what we call it.

And so we're incorporating some of those elements of green infrastructure into some of those areas where we're adding trees along the street.

Uh that's another element.

A third, a third one is what we generally call design services during construction, and really what this is about is making small adjustments along the corridor for areas where the real world conditions are a little bit different than what we expected.

A great example of that is when we're putting in trees along the sidewalk.

Sometimes there's a utility underground that we didn't know was there previously.

So we have to maybe move that tree over five feet or find a different place farther down the block altogether for it.

And we have to make changes to our construction plans.

And uh so that's another aspect that we're asking Parsons to do is to continue to make those adjustments.

And uh those are the three main elements.

I think the fourth element is we're also adding a PA system to the bus stations, the center running bus stations.

We're adding a PA system.

This is for enhanced security along the corridor.

Uh this is to be used in cases where there's a uh situation happening with uh people's personal safety or something like that, and this allows RTD to be able to communicate with people on the station because there will be video cameras on the station that's already in the contract, but having the PA speaker there, so what the people that are in the station looking at the video cameras, they see something where there might be some kind of danger happening.

This gives them the ability to speak to them as well in real time.

Okay, now you've piqued my interest.

Um, the RTD aspect of with the PA system is that folks who are like in their central command.

Correct.

Yes, it goes to their central command.

Okay, thank you.

That's it.

That's it.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you, councilwoman.

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

Council resolution 1569, a resolution approving a proposed fourth amendatory agreement between the city and county in Denver.

A O R.

Inc.

to continue providing consulting services for marketing and branding initiatives for the city departments.

Council resolution 1570, a resolution approving a proposed third agreement between the city and county of Denver and Rossman Design LLC to provide continuing consulting services for marketing and branding initiatives for city departments, and council resolution 1571, a resolution approving a proposed third amendatory agreement between the city and county in Denver and ground floor media, Inc.

to continue providing consulting services for marketing and branding initiatives for the city departments.

Councilmember Alvidres, please go ahead with your questions on council resolutions 1569, 1570, and 1571.

Thank you, Council President.

Um, I just had a question around what kind of marketing are we talking about here.

I was a little confused about what marketing this was for.

Hi, Jenny Shavone, Chief Digital Officer in Technology Services.

So these are contracts that are available to every city department, and the type of marketing that we're talking about are usually big campaigns.

So think about like the Emerald Ashborough campaign, um, the parks and recreation has been doing for a number of years.

Um I could rattle off a whole bunch, but they're generally for multifaceted marketing campaigns that need a strategy, a layered advertising approach, needs design and um copy created for it as well.

So kind of the big um marketing efforts that the city isn't necessarily staffed for in-house.

This is a um extra, you know, sort of professional services opportunity for agencies to use.

Okay, and so this isn't changing the allocation or anything, that's just extending.

It's extending for one year so that so the contracts are in technology services right now as a holdover from when we had the citywide marketing office in our agency.

So we're working with general services to transition contracts, these contracts to them next year and go out to RFP since these are now seven years old since our last RFP.

Oh wow, okay.

Yeah, that all makes sense.

Thank you.

I appreciate that.

Thank you, Councilman.

Thank you.

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

Council Bill 1639, a bill for an ordinance, amending the Denver revised Municipal code section 10 through 16 concerning the building and fire codes.

Councilmember Parity.

Will you please put Council Bill 1634 on the floor for publication?

I move that council bill 251634 be ordered published.

It has been moved in second comments by members of council.

Councilmember Flynn.

Uh thank you, Madam President.

I don't want to uh relitigate the issue that went through committee and several briefings, but uh I simply wanted to vote no on this because I don't support uh the changes that are being made for single stair uh residential structures, small residential and um I guess that's it, just don't want to support that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I'll just chime in as one of the bill sponsors that we're doing this.

Um the state had changed their requirements, and so we've been working on this prior to the state.

And when the state finally adopted this, we actually move forward and are really implementing a lot of what the state is requiring.

So I understand your no vote, Councilmember Flynn, but um I think that this isn't uh, we need all tools in our tone zoning code to be able to um address the affordable housing issues that we're seeing, madam secretary.

Please please put the next item on our screen.

Well, no, sorry, madam secretary.

We'll call on council bill 1634.

Councilmember Sawyer.

Aye, Torres.

Aye.

Albitares.

Aye.

Flynn.

Gilmore, aye.

Gonzalez Cutieres.

Aye.

Heinz?

Aye.

Cashman.

Aye.

Lewis, aye.

Parity.

Aye.

Romera Campbell.

Aye.

Watson.

Aye.

Madam President Sandoval.

Aye.

Madam Secretary.

Close the voting and announce the results.

Twelve eyes.

12 ayes.

Council Bill 1634 has been ordered published.

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

Council Bill 1607.

A bill for an ordinance establishing a new fund in the community development fund series for the dedicated linkage fee fund 16817.

Councilmember Lewis, please go ahead with your questions on Council Bill 1607.

Thank you so much.

I gotta find my notes.

Oh, that's right.

Um, this is the escrow for the ball arena.

I'm not opposed to this, I just had two simple questions.

Um, can you all explain to me what the escrow agreement is for?

Um, I understand that these are specific items within the community development funds, so that we can better track accountability, but what are we tracking exactly?

In other words, what are we putting in the escrow and why are we doing that?

We I believe we have someone online from the Department of Finance or how housing how host.

Uh great radan.

I believe we have Laia Mitchell online from host.

Okay.

Hi, I'm Laya Mitchell from the Department of Housing Stability.

Can you all hear me?

Yes, we can.

Okay, wonderful.

Thank you.

Um, escrow agreements um will be coming forward as a resolution next week to council on Monday.

The special revenue fund is the financial tool that allows the escrow accounts to um to be operationalized.

And the escrow accounts are part of the high impact development compliance plan for Ball Arena and the Affordable Housing Plan for River Mile that set aside um a percentage of linkage fee revenue to be held in a special account for use by the developers on that site for the affordable housing as on that site.

And so those were both previous commitments that have already been approved, and these are the tools that we committed to creating to operationalize those commitments and also to ensure that they're that the city is receiving the commitments and the affordable housing as um as committed to by the developers in on those sites.

So appreciate that.

So in the filed materials, it reads any interest earning will be available to offset called trust, administrative cost, credit it to the account balance or spent on affordable housing as directed by the escrow agreement.

You said the escrow agreements are going to come to council later on, and this is just the creation of the SRF, which I understand that, but I'm curious as to what's in the escrow agreements.

Yeah, thank you.

That's a great question.

So the escrow agreements set up the financial process where the city collects that linkage fee and it creates um the commitment or the sort of administrative tools for the city to administer those funds, both kind of the finance side and then from host.

Um, for example, on the ball arena site, when KSE or other developers are building affordable housing on the site, they have to request those funds from host or executive director or the CFO of finance can approve those funds once we establish that they are meeting the intent and the requirements of our high impact development compliance plan.

Okay, so I might so each of those, yeah.

Oh no, go ahead.

I mean maybe you cut off.

Keep going.

Well, each of those commitments, so each of their existing the development agreement with the high impact development compliance plan for ballerina and then the river mile affordable housing plan, each have like very specific requirements for what those funds can be used for.

Um for ballerina, it's the retention of up to 10 million dollars or 20% of the assessed linkage fee that will be held in the escrow account, and then that can be used to support the development of income restricted units and of affordable housing in their kind of park and transit districts as they build out the development site.

Okay, so and then oh, go ahead, keep going.

I'm sorry, you're I think as your connection is in and out, so it sounds like you're complete, you're finished, and then you're not, so I'm not intentionally interrupting you.

Do you just go in and out?

Okay, thank you.

I'm also having long pauses just to make sure you I'm getting all your questions.

For the river mile, it's the first 6.5 million square feet of non-residential linkage fee that will be put into that escrow account to be used specifically for affordable housing on the site.

Got it.

So as it as it says here, as directed by the escrow agreements.

I guess my uh what I'm trying to understand is what is it that we are what what is it that we'd be tracking and what would the escrow agreements be directing?

The escrow agreements direct the collection of the linkage fee that's being held specifically for use on the site.

Okay.

So the rest of the 80% of the linkage fee will be collected and used by host to be reinvested in affordable housing throughout the city.

Um and then the portion that's allowed to be held for each of these sites for River Mile and Ballarina, will you know be held and maintained just for the affordable housing on those sites?

Got it.

That's according as sort of previously approved.

Understood.

Thank you, sir.

I really appreciate it.

Those are my only questions.

Thank you.

Thank you.

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

Council Bill 1714, a bill for an ordinance amending ordinance 915 series of 2025 concerning the downtown development authority fund, 11 18 893.

Councilmember Parity, will you please put council bill 1714 on the floor for publication?

I move that council bill 251714 be ordered published.

It has been moved and seconded.

Comments and questions by council members of by members of council.

Council Member Alviderez, please go ahead with your questions on council bill 17-14.

Thank you so much, Council President.

Um, I do have a question because I've been going back and forth with the Department of Finance on this and our attorney, and the way I'm reading this, it says that um we are moving this from an appropriated to a revenue-based um source.

And my question for our city attorney, Bryan, is can you confirm whether or not under a revenue-based structure, city council will still review or approve annual spending from the DDA fund during the budget process, or will all those expenditures occur without council appropriation?

Uh Brian Drady, um, assistant city attorney, and so I may call on a department of finance to help me out here, but my understanding is that um for a revenue-based fund, essentially it's up to them to do the spending based on what is in that account.

So you would not be doing the like appropriations through the budget, but um you'll still approve contracts over 500k stuff like that.

Okay, so it seems like there will be a change for under 500,000 more directly.

Is that the case?

Not exactly, but I'll call on Department of Finance to come help me out with that one.

Good evening, council member.

Uh so what we're trying to do is just make it a revenue-based fund.

Uh, you are correct that if there uh were to be an appropriation, city council would have to approve that on the front end.

I think what's challenging with the DDDA is just the timing.

It's not necessarily on the annual budget process cycle as most of the other appropriations are.

Uh, we've got a significant number of other revenue-based special revenue funds.

Uh so I think that is the thinking behind proposing to convert this from an appropriated to a revenue-based fund.

Um, and we also have Donna Wilder from the capital planning and programming team for any more kind of concrete questions about the DDDA and the work of that uh entity.

I think we should promote Donna because she's subject matter expert who I always go to.

Tim, can you promote Donna?

Hi there, Donna Wilder, Department of Finance.

Uh, I facilitate uh the operations of the Denver Downtown Development Authority.

Thank you so much for this question.

Um this uh creation of this fund uh was and uh intended to be a revenue-based fund when created.

Um unfortunately there was an error and um we didn't catch it in time.

Uh, but this is a companion operating fund uh to the capital fund that city council had um approved, which is also a revenue-based fund.

Um the city and county of Denver is um uh really a statutory custodian of the DDDA tax increment and the proceeds of debt.

Um, and so because of that, it has very restrictive uses, and so um the treatment of this fund is allowed to be um special revenue fund that is revenue-based.

Um, and so we do request that that change be made.

Uh, this operating fund will be used uh to fund um uh employee um charges, um legal fees, and uh uh projects occurring within the DDDA authority that are operational in nature.

It does not limit city council's authority to approve contracts at or above 500,000 or the petitions for inclusions in which those projects uh occur upon.

So, what kind of would we no longer oversee in this case?

Yeah, that's a great question.

There may be some um projects that fall with that um outside of those parameters, and that would be a project that occurs on a property that's currently within the boundaries of the district, and uh where there's any contracts below that $500,000 mark or no contracts because it's a city agency performing that work.

Is there any other structure that I can reference that is you know similar to this?

Yeah, like I mentioned the capital fund is um that was approved by city council I believe back in November of uh 2024 is also a revenue based fund.

Um but I can see if there's any other examples and provide that to you.

Um okay, yeah, that would be helpful for me.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council President.

Okay, thank you.

Madam Secretary, roll call on Council Bill 1714.

Council members Sawyer.

Aye.

Torres?

Aye.

Albidres?

Nay.

Flynn.

Aye.

Gilmore.

Nay.

Gonzalez Cutieres.

Aye.

Heinz?

Aye.

Cashman?

Lewis?

Parity?

Nay.

Romero Campbell.

Aye.

Sawyer.

Oh, sorry.

Uh Watson.

Aye.

Madam President Sandoval.

Aye.

Madam Secretary, close the voting, announce the results.

10 ayes.

10 ayes.

Council Bill 1714 has been ordered published.

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

Council Bill 1590, a bill for an ordinance approving the 2026 operating plan and budget for the Rhino Business Improvement District.

Councilmember Parity, will you please place Council Bill 1590 on the floor for final passage?

I move the council bill 251590 be ordered published.

Sorry, final passage, wrong thing.

Be placed upon final consideration.

Upon final consideration and do pass.

Thanks.

Sorry about that.

It has been moved and seconded.

Comments by members of council.

Councilmember Lewis.

Thank you.

So the same as last time we spoke about this.

I'm calling this item off for a vote because I was a no on this last week.

My issue with this with these were the provisions or consideration given to the use of private security security over which council will have no oversight on after the vote happens.

I saw that I saw what can lead to this during my time at RTD, and combined with my long-standing concerns over the lack of transparency and oversight with bids generally, I'm not going to be able to say yes on this one.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Madam Secretary, roll call on Council Bill 1590.

Oh sorry, Councilmember Parity.

Thanks.

Thanks, Madam President.

Thanks, Councilmember Lewis.

Yeah, I just wanted to say that I I share a lot of those concerns and um wonder if it's a topic where we may need specific legislation thinking and talking about private security.

Um so I'm glad that council member Lewis continues to raise the issue.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Madam Secretary, roll call on Council Bill 1590.

Council members Sawyer?

Aye.

Torres?

Aye.

Albidas?

Aye.

Flynn.

Aye.

Gilmore?

Aye.

Gonzalez Cutieres.

Aye.

Heinz?

Aye.

Cashman.

Lewis?

Nay.

Parity?

Aye.

Romero Campbell?

Aye.

Watson?

Aye.

Madam President Sandoval?

Aye.

Madam Secretary, close voting, answer results.

12 ayes.

12 ayes.

Council Bill 1590 has passed.

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

Council Bill 1594, a bill for an ordinance approving the 2026 operating plan and budget for the downtown Denver Business Improvement District.

Councilmember Parity, would you please put place Council Bill 1594 on the fire on the floor for final passage?

I move that Council Bill 251594 be placed upon final consideration and do pass.

It has been moved and seconded.

Comments by members of council?

Councilmember Lewis?

Thank you so much.

So, same thing, I'm calling this one off for a vote for the exact same reason as last time, so I won't waste you all's time.

Um that I had some learnings and some lessons from my time at RTD, and this is the only time that our council members have an opportunity to be able to vote on this.

Otherwise, we have no oversight over what happens thereafter.

So thank you.

Madam Secretary, roll call on Council Bill 1594.

Council members Sawyer.

Aye.

Torres?

Aye.

Albidares?

Aye.

Flynn?

Aye.

Gilmore.

Aye.

Gonzalez Cutieres?

Aye.

Heinz?

Aye.

Cashman?

Aye.

Lewis.

Nay.

Parity.

Aye.

Romera Campbell?

Aye.

Aye.

Watson?

Aye.

Madam President Sandoval?

Aye.

Adam Secretary closed the vote and answer results.

Twelve ayes.

Twelve ayes.

Council Bill 1594 has passed.

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

Council Bill 1813, a bill for an ordinance making appropriations to pay the expenses of conducting the public business for the year 2026 and for the purposes required by chat charter and other law, also other known as the long bill.

Councilmember Lewis, please go ahead with your comments on Council Bill 1813.

Thank you.

Um so this is what is called the long bill, which is the codification of the city budget into ordinance.

And I just wanted to call this item out tonight to explain why I was why I was one of the no votes on the budget last week, but will be a yes on this item tonight.

So this bill makes record of when the money is located from the budget and assigns the money in the budget into specific spending pots for the next year.

Without this ordinance, the money could potentially be reverted to the unexpended fund balance, which we probably don't want that to happen, uh, which would nullify the work that council did to amend the budget two weeks ago.

For that reason, I'm a yes on this item tonight.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Parity, will you please put council resolution 1580 on the floor for adoption?

I move that council resolution 25-1580 be adopted.

It has been moved and seconded.

Councilmember Parity, your motion to amend.

I move that council resolution 251580 be amended in the following particulars uh on page one line seven, strike annually.

It has been moved and seconded.

Comments by the sorry Madam President, we still need a mover and a second or sorry, did I not do that?

I thought we uh we're about to.

Oh sorry, sorry, sorry.

A resolution appro uh did we do it now?

There we go.

Right?

It's good now.

Yes, all that thank you.

Uh comments by members of council, council member parody.

Thank you, Council President.

The purpose of the amendment is just to correct a drafting error.

Um the proposed agreement will provide 3,099 units over the lifetime of the agreement, not each year.

So just correct that.

Sorry?

Which one are you on?

We're on council resolution 1580.

1580.

Oh yeah, that's a bit behind.

Okay.

Madam Secretary, do you see that it's not on the floor?

Um, yeah.

There we go.

So right, the um, as it came through committee, it said that um the community firm needed to serve 3,099 unduplicated households every year.

But in fact, we're only contracting with them to do that over three years.

So, big difference in workload for them.

Gotta get it right.

Okay.

Councilmember Flynn.

Thank you.

Uh do you clarify we're holding this?

No, she's amending the just a correcting just a correcting amendment.

That was what was just moved and seconded, was the amendment to remove the word annually.

All right, don't we then have to refile it?

We can't amend council can't amend an agreement.

We can only adopt it or reject it.

Uhly, oh sorry, Brian Drawdy Assistant City Attorney.

We're not amending the agreement.

We're just amending the title to the bill.

Okay.

1580.

Okay, and we can do that on the floor.

Because when that previously happened, we had to refile it.

Uh so this isn't a bill, it doesn't need to be republished.

Okay, it's a um resolution, so it is able to be amended on the floor.

And council member Flynn, the underlying contract is correct.

Certainly.

Yeah.

Just making sure.

Okay.

Uh I'm not opposed to doing things more quickly.

Uh, but I believe we've had to refile things when they had faulty titles rather than amend them on the floor.

Is John Griffin?

I could be wrong.

Is John Griffin online?

I will say John approved.

Can you promote John Griffin?

Just so that we have it from not saying Brian, that you're not correct, but.

Okay.

Okay there.

John Griffin, Deputy Legislative Council.

John, did you hear Councilmember Flynn's question?

I missed the first part of it.

If uh you wouldn't mind repeating.

My recollection is that in the past when there was an error in the title of a resolution.

That we had to pull it and refile it with the correct title.

But you're saying and Brian was saying we can amend the title on the floor here.

Yes, that's correct.

Um, since it hasn't been published yet, because it's uh resolution, we are able to just amend the title on the floor and make the update um as needed.

Okay, as I said, I'm not opposed to doing things more quickly, but just want to make sure we weren't jumping the line.

Thank you, Madam President.

Madam Ferry, roll call on the amendment to council resolution 1580.

Council members Sawyer.

Aye.

Torres?

Aye.

Albites.

Aye.

Flynn?

Aye.

Gilmore?

Aye.

Gonzalez Gutierrez.

Aye.

Aye.

Cashman.

Aye.

Lewis.

Aye.

Parity.

Aye.

Romera Campbell.

Aye.

Watson.

Aye.

Madam President Sandoval.

Aye.

Madam Secretary, close the voting and announce the results.

13 ayes.

13 ayes.

The amendment to council resolution 1580 has passed.

Councilmember Parity, will you now please put Council Resolution 5080 on the floor for adoption as amended?

I move that council resolution 251580 be adopted as amended.

I'm secretary.

Roll call on Council Resolution 1580 as amended.

Council members.

Torres?

Aye.

Albitares.

Aye.

Flynn.

Aye.

Gilmore?

Aye.

Gonzalez Gutierrez.

Aye.

Hines?

Aye.

Cashman.

Aye.

Lewis.

Aye.

Parity.

Aye.

Romero Campbell.

Aye.

Watson.

Aye.

Madam President Sandoval?

Aye.

Madam Secretary, close voting once results.

13 ayes.

13 ayes.

Council resolution 1580 has been as amended, has been adopted as amended.

This concludes the items to be called out.

Tonight there will be a required public hearing on council resolution 1600 city council sitting as the ex officio boards of director for the ballpark Denver Denver General Improvement District.

Approving a work plan, adopting a budget, and making appropriations for the budget 2026 year and approving a mill levy and amending the 2025 budget.

Council resolution 1601, City Council sitting as the ex-officio board directors for the Denver 14th Street General Improvement District to approve the 2026 work plan 2026 budget and including capital charges and 2026 maintenance charges and making appropriations for the 2026 fiscal year and amending the 2025 budget.

Council resolution 1602, council city council sitting as ex officio board members of the Great Gateway Village Improvement District, approving a work plan, adopting a budget, and making approved appropriations for the budget year 2026.

Adopting a budget imposing capital charges and maintenance charges, approving a mill levy and making appropriations for the 2026 fiscal year and council resolution 1604 city council sitting as ex officio board of directors of the Sun Valley Denver General Improvement District, approving a work plan, adopting a budget, approving a mill levy, and making appropriations for the budget year 2026.

And a courtesy public hearing 1578 approving and accepting the downtown Denver Area Plan.

Which plan shall become a part of the comprehensive plan 2040 for the city and county of Denver pursuant to the provisions of 12-61 of the Denver Rives Municipal Code.

And 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 Parity, will you please put the resolutions and proclamations for adoptions and the bills on final consideration for final passage on the floor?

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

25 series 1911, 1638, 1707, 1708, 1689, 1697, 1699, 1700, 1702, 1703, 1721, 1569, 1570, 1571, 1626, 1627, 1027, 1688, 1690, 1691, 1692, 1693, 1694, 1695, 1696, 1745, 1619, 1639, 1529, 1532, 1628, 1640, 1641, 1642, 1698, 1701, 1567, 1588, 1589, 1591, 1592, 1593, 1595, 1596, 1597, 1598, 1599, 1605, 1606, and that's it.

Thank you, Madam Secretary, we'll call.

Lewis.

Parity?

Aye.

Romera Campbell.

Aye.

Watson.

Aye.

Madam President Sandoval?

Aye.

Madam Secretary, close voting, announce the results.

13 ayes.

13 ayes.

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

If there are no objections from members of council, we will recess until 5 30 before convening the regular meeting.

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

The general public comment session will begin at 5 p.m.

Tonight's session 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.

Sorry, I lost my script.

That concludes our general public comment session.

Let me see if I could wing this.

That concludes our general public comment session.

If we did not hear from you tonight, please sign up again.

Our sign-up starts on Thursday, and our next public comment session will be next Monday.

Thank you.

Council will now reconvene from our earlier session.

There are two proclamations being read this evening.

Councilmember Watson Lewis Parody, would you please read proclamation 1907?

Yes.

Proclamation 25, 1907, the Epworth Foundation presents the annual Denver Feed of Family Thanksgiving distribution honoring the legacy of Daddy Bruce Randolph.

Whereas over six decades ago, community icon, Daddy Bruce Randolph began a powerful tradition of feeding Denver families in need, a legacy that has grown into one of Colorado's most enduring acts of compassion and unity.

Whereas the Epworth Foundation continues this tradition as a beacon of service and community care.

Ensuring that the spirit of giving remains a cornerstone of Denver's character and extending its reach to families throughout the Denver community and beyond.

And whereas the Foundation's signature initiative, the Denver Fida Family Thanksgiving distribution extends the warmth of the holiday to thousands of households each year through the provision of food baskets and year-round community programs that uplift families.

And whereas, through the extraordinary generosity of local residents, businesses, faith institutions, and volunteers, more than 180,000 Denver area families have received support, including 7,500 Thanksgiving baskets in 2024 alone.

Whereas, under the leadership, and forgive me if I mispronounced your name, uh, Zymora unique, executive director of the Epworth Foundation, and Reverend Frank Jones, executive director of the Daddy Bruce Randolph Legacy Foundation, the 2025 campaign guided by the theme of gather, give, grow, invites Denver residents to unite as one community, give generously and grow stronger together, so every family may share a Thanksgiving meal and whereas financial and community sponsors for the 2025 distribution include Reconstruction Road Ministries, the Daddy Bruce Randolph Legacy Foundation, CMTS LLC, the Why Not Foundation, the Drop 1047, Denver City Council District 9, Denver Human Services, the Neighborhood Equity and Stabilization Division, and countless community members whose partnership fuels this effort.

And whereas, inspired by Daddy Bruce Randolph and carried forward by the late Reverend Ronald Woody and Elder King Harris, this intergenerational legacy endures through the steadfast dedication of volunteers, faith leaders, community partners, and donors who selflessly give of their talent, time and resources, and whereas the Denver feed a family initiative stands as an embodiment of Denver's highest values in unity, generosity, and inclusiveness, extending beyond the provision of meals to cultivate belonging, dignity, and shared joy during the holiday season.

Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the Denver City Council, Section One, that the Denver City Council recognizes the substantial contributions of the Epworth Foundation and the enduring impact of Daddy Bruce Randolph's vision, which have strengthened the community fabric and exemplified the highest ideals of service and brotherhood, and section two that the clerk 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 Jeromara Yanique, Executive Director of the Upworth Foundation.

Thank you, Councilmember, for motion to adopt.

I move the proclamation 25, 1907 be adopted.

It has been moved and seconded.

Comments by members of council.

I'll start with the sponsors, Watson, Lewis or Parody, who would like to go first.

Go ahead.

All right, I'll go first, but I'll be brief, um, because I think the District 9 member and the member who grew up in District 9 probably have some things to say.

But um one of the things that I um like to point out is that um Daddy Bruce learned to cook from his grandmother who had grown up enslaved.

And so I just think um that line, you know, um, from everyone who benefits from this meal every year back to someone who lived that life is a really strong comment on our history and um how much it reverberates through to today.

Um, and you know, she through her resilience um passed that down to her grandson, and he passed all this down to us, made it into something really beautiful.

Um, I also want to point out that this is a year when food insecurity has um it's never not been an issue.

It's gotten worse and worse and worse in recent years in Denver, um, and it's sort of um you know burst into the public eye over the last couple of months um because people were thrown into a much worse situation by the pause and snap benefits.

Even though that's over, um, it's not over because folks spent money that they needed for rent on groceries, so um, the outpouring of support around Denver for people, especially leading up to Thanksgiving to make sure that everyone has food has been really, really beautiful.

Um, and I think we probably need to sustain that for a little bit longer because it's gonna take people a minute to um get back on their feet after um those weeks where they were having to really stretch.

So um, I wish that nobody in our community faced that, but I am so grateful, especially um when it comes to Thanksgiving for those who who helped put a meal on the table, and so grateful for the Upworth Foundation.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Watson.

Uh thank you, uh Council President, and um to the Airport Foundation and to the amazing leaders in the audience, uh this event is a uh uh a one day or a one month, months of planning um and coordination.

Um, but within our community, um, we bring families together, our culture is built on us breaking bread together, and providing food in a time when our families have been targeted um by the federal administration um to starve.

It's been targeted for direct harm when it is absolutely not unnecessary.

Uh this proclamation is not simply a thank you to you for this day, but a thank you for upholding our culture and our process of making sure that we feed all who are in need, that we give all that we can give to community always.

The tradition that you uplift, the tradition that you sustain is a tradition of our people, it is our culture, it is who we are and what we bring to Denver, that no matter what hard times we face, and as council member parody correctly stated, uh this snap benefit targeted attack on our community has just begun.

Uh January, we're gonna be facing the same thing again.

We also know that HR1, which is that horrible bill that was passed, is removing tens of thousands, almost millions of folks throughout this country from receiving any benefits at all.

So this step that you take in this month to ensure that you're providing food for souls for folks who need it, is an example of what we as a city need to do strategically, because this battle doesn't end on a quote Thanksgiving day.

This is a fight that we as a community have been doing since we were brought here against our will, feeding each other and feeding families around us, and this proclamation speaks to that tradition, and it speaks to the soul of our community that we will not be scared, we will not be intimidated, that we will do what the government can't.

We'll continue sustaining our folks, sustaining our families, and bringing forward the joy that comes with breaking bread together.

So thank you to the airport foundation, thank you to your focus on our community, and thank you for demonstrating the example that the city and county of Denver must lead in and lean into um in coming these coming years as we face continued attacks by this administration.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you.

Councilmember Lewis.

Thank you.

Um I'll keep it brief, but just wanted to um thank the organizers um for your continued commitment to community to bring this tradition um and to keep this tradition alive.

I know for many folks, including um you all that you've had to scale back because you've seen donations um scale back in terms of being able to come to be able to be more expansive um for communities, and so really appreciate your commitment.

I remember fondly um participating in the um Daddy Bruce giveaway during as a child, and just remember it being a space of joy and not shame, and so often when you were in need of assistance or help that those spaces can feel like spaces of shame because you somehow um let yourself down or let your families down, and it never felt like that um as a child or even as an adult when I had my own children uh my own child and um had to um utilize the same service.

And so just wanted to thank you all um for your commitment and honoring the legacy of um Daddy Bruce, and he has some really dope pictures that Tember was able to find that I hope that someone remembers me in such a beautiful way um as well, and that my commitment to community um is is carried on in the way that his legacy is because it's just really really cool um to see that continue.

So thank you.

Thank you, and thank you to the sponsors for bringing this to our attention and um such an important event um in for the residents of all of Denver.

So we just can't thank you enough.

Madam Secretary, roll call, council members Sawyer.

Aye, Torres, I'll be the best.

Hi, Flynn.

Hi.

Gilmore, Gonzalez Cutieres.

Aye, Heinz?

Hi.

Cashman, Lewis, aye, parody, aye.

Romero Campbell.

Aye.

Watson.

Aye.

Madam President Sandoval.

Aye.

Madam Secretary, close voting announced the results.

11 Ayes.

11 Ayes, 19, the proclamation 1907 has been adopted.

We now have time for the acceptance speech sponsors.

Who would you like to bite up to accept the proclamation?

I know that uh I destroyed your name in a proclamation, so please help me out, sister.

I pronounced it Zayamara Yani.

It's all good.

Siomara Yannick.

There you go, that sounds much better.

Please.

It's all good.

I appreciate it.

I just want to say thank you so much for acknowledging the legacy and just talking about the tradition, listening to each of you.

As a transplant here to Denver, this was one of the first activities that I did.

We're talking about growing up, is that they brought me here to um volunteer, and then I came back year after year after year, and now I can proudly state that I am the executive director for the Epworth Foundation as of January.

So I got to see the growth.

I got to see the welcome into the community, and this is a legacy that this is this is this is who Denver is, you know, when I think about this, because it's about bringing us all together as a community, and as you said, not to shame anyone, but to make sure everybody has food.

It is, this was a really hard year coming out of last year with fundraising.

Last year was a very hard year.

It was an unprecedented unprecedented year for fundraising with the election, then coming into this year with the SNAP and all and all of that.

So we did have to scale back, and we are working with partnering agencies to make sure that no one goes without, but we are also still in need, and I'm gonna do a shameless that we still need, we still need money.

Okay, and I just have a simple five dollar challenge that I'm asking everyone.

If you give five dollars, ask three people to give five dollars and ask those three people to give five dollars because with community, five dollars can make a change.

We don't need a lot, but five dollars can make a change, and we will be able to scale back up so that way we can continue our legacy amount of feeding five thousand families.

Thank you.

And how can they give those that five dollars?

Okay, you can go to our website at Epworth Foundation.org.

That is EPWORTH Foundation.org, and you can go ahead and donate.

And if you can spread the word, and I'm asking everyone too in the audience, um, we just we we do need it because food insecurities in our neighborhoods, it's it's real.

And I always tell people the families we feed are not those that just don't have, it's people like you and I who have jobs who get up every day and go to work, and they're not able to have sufficient food to be able to feed their families.

It's it's it's real.

So I just want to say thank you.

I appreciate this year right now.

Receiving this as the um first ED following Elder King Harris is like remarkable for me, and I just want to say thank you.

Thank you all, Councilmember Watson Lewis and Perity, would you like to read proclamation 190 6 or is it 7?

6.

Okay.

Yeah, proclamation number 25, 1906, World AIDS Day, whereas the first World AIDS Day took place on December 1st, 1988, providing a platform to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS and to honor the lives affected by the epidemic.

This year marks the 37th commemoration of this important day, and whereas this year on World AIDS Day, we will recommit to ending the HIV epidemic in Denver and around the world.

We will also rededicate ourselves to fighting the discrimination that too often keeps people living with HIV from getting to the services they need and the full lives they deserve.

And whereas 42 years ago, visionary activists developed the Denver Principles Manifesto, which shaped the active involvement of people living with HIV in the AIDS response.

This was a historic first step toward the greater involvement of people with HIMV or GIPA principle, which promotes the meaningful participation of people living with HIV in decision making, not as passive subjects, but as protagonists fully involved in the response to AIDS.

The Denver Principles outline rights and responsibilities for people living with HIV and provided recommendations to healthcare professionals, family, and friends.

This remains the model for an ethical public health response, including for those experiencing homelessness, for people who use drugs, and for those living with mental health issues and disabilities.

And it only came into being because of the direct action of advocates and activists.

And whereas the first needle exchange program in the United States was created often illicitly by groups such as the National AIDS Brigade and the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, also known as Act Up, as a direct action to reduce the spread of HIV, and needle exchanges have been instrumental tools of harm reduction in Denver and beyond.

And whereas, thanks to the dedication of scientists, activists, health care workers, caregivers, and so many others, we have made enormous progress preventing, detecting, and treating HIV, reducing transmission and age-related deaths, and supporting millions of people so that they can enjoy long, healthy lives.

Still not everyone has equal access to that care.

For the more than 10,000 people in the Denver metro area, and 39 people, 39 million people globally now living with HIV, especially members of the LGBTQIA plus communities of color, women, and girls, a diagnosis is still life-altering and whereas Denver and Colorado are taking bold measures to significantly decrease estimated new transmissions.

First, by identifying persons who remain undiagnosed and linking them to care.

Second, by supporting those diagnosed with HIV to engage in care and treatment with access to medication to attain viral suppression, recognizing that early initiation of anti-retroviral medication allows individuals to take medication as prescribed and to get and keep an undetectable viral load, which allows them to live long and healthy lives and not transmit HIV.

This supports the undetectable equals untransmittable message that individuals with a sustained undetectable viral load cannot transmit HIV.

Third, by expanding access to pre-exposure prophylaxis or PREP for prevention.

And whereas World AIDS Day is an opportunity to remember those we have lost to celebrate those who are surviving and thriving with HIV, to honor healthcare workers, advocates, and researchers who have dedicated their lives to this disease, and to recognize those who continue to provide support and leadership in the fight to end HIV and of AIDS in our lifetime.

And whereas at a time when our LGBTQIA plus communities, in particular, our trans neighbors are under increasing legal attacks throughout the country.

It is imperative that we continue to reduce stigma, strengthen protections, and follow the lead of communities most impacted.

The continued fight for the rights and dignity of people living with HIV and AIDS is central to that imperative.

Now therefore, be proclaimed by the Denver City Council.

Section one, that the Denver City Council commemorates 37 years of World AIDS Day on December 1, 2025.

Then section two, 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 Angels Unaware, Brother Jeff's Cultural Center, CDPHE, Center for Health and Hope, Children's Hospital, CHIP, Colorado Health Network, C O R A, Crazy Love Africa, Denver Element, Denver Health, Denver Health PHI, the Denver HIV Planning Council, Fast Track Cities, Gilead, the Harm Reduction Action Center, Hey Denver, It Takes a Village, Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, Park Hill United Methodist Church, the Positive Women's Network of Colorado, Project Angel Heart, Promotores de Esperanza, the Center on Colfax, Servizios de la Raza, UC Health Infectious Disease, VIIV Healthcare, and Vivant Health.

And we left out DDPHE.

Thank you.

Council members, your motion to adopt.

It has been moved and seconded.

Comments by members of council.

Councilmember Watson, Lewis or Perdy.

Who's going to start us out.

Council President, we have a large group of folks that we are providing proclamations to, but we'll first start with the question.

Wait, hold on, hold on.

No, it's your comments.

It's your comments because then we haven't even uh we haven't even voted your your five steps ahead.

So let me go back to my script.

Comments by members of council.

My apologies, Madam President.

I jumped ahead.

How good I'm here to keep you on your you are doing a great job because I need it.

Go ahead.

Um wanted to first start by by saying uh when I uh first came out in in 1993 in Omaha, Nebraska.

Um I one of the first volunteer opportunities uh work that I did was at the Franciscan uh Mother House.

Um in 93, there weren't the um medications and the treatments.

Uh we were still burying lots of our friends, um, especially those in the African-American community and the Latino community.

And in Omaha, the St.

Francis Center was a hospice, a place for folks who have went through all of the viral uh tests, all of the medications that were available at that time, and they simply were living there in hospice awaiting um their death.

Oftentimes uh family members didn't show up.

We were the only folks that came and held their hands um and spoke to them.

Uh that was a uh impactful moment in my life as a queer man, and my life, quite frankly, as a human, seeing so many folks discarded, uh, so many lives destroyed, not just because they were infected, but because they were unloved by the families that they so desired to be loved by.

The many communities on this list that are part of this proclamation, and the folks at the Franciscan Mother House, and the folks at all of the other um AIDS projects that I've had the opportunity to serve and support, they have continued the work of angels, ensuring that no one lives through this disease um without love and without support.

Um, that no one goes unnamed.

Um, and that's where the names project came from to make sure that the names of folks who died anonymously, some of them, um, that their names will be forever remembered uh by this community.

Um, I am honored each year to elevate World AIDS Day as a moment of triumph as well, not simply of loss.

We know too often that the places and spaces and the institutions that we rely on um lets us down, especially when it comes to discrimination and it comes to communities um that are unloved.

And it takes those communities to stand strong and to fight on their own, and without the LGBTQIA plus communities, um, through the 80s and the 90s, fighting and pushing forward to ensure that a government listened, um, more souls would have been lost.

And so to everyone on this list, I want to thank them and councilwoman party uh quickly added uh DDPHE, which we uh should have listed as well.

Um I want to acknowledge Robert George, um, with DDPHE for the work that they do and the Ryan White Act um as part of the the grant giving um that saves lives and the good work that DDPHE provides to make sure that those funds uh get to the families that need it.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you, Councilmember Lewis.

Thank you.

I'll I'll be brief.

I just wanted to say, especially in the context of what we are seeing politically that oftentimes um when things are wrong in our society, the person who speaks up first is often isolated.

Um and it took an individual being unafraid and unapologetic to stand up against injustice when it comes to the AIDS epidemic, um, to be unafraid to stand alone, and so often that is so necessary.

And so to translate that into 2025, almost into 2026 is um there are going to be circumstances in which all of us are really going to have to stand in our courage and have to still and our brilliance and sometimes stand by ourselves um and be the first person to speak up against an injustice in the same way that the folks during the AIDS epidemic had to do the same and to be the first and to be alone.

And so I really appreciate the opportunity to continue to have this conversation, but let's not forget that the folks who were the first were often isolated and often critiqued and often criticized because of their stances and because of their fierceness and because of their ability to be able to stand alone and in isolation and how that translates into a lot of the movements that we see today, whether that's civil rights or the voting rights act or whatever that might be when it comes to advocacy and to activists that it takes activists oftentimes to say the thing that needs to be said when people are too afraid to say it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Perdy.

Yeah, so I have family members whose names are on the AIDS quilt.

Um, my um, she would have been my aunt had I ever gotten to meet her by marriage, Alice and her baby.

She was an injection um drug user in New Jersey.

Um she died in the early 90s.

Um, and to this day, so again, they're on the AIDS quilt.

I really value the family that I married into for um not for really rejecting shame, you know.

Um, talking about her, talking about how she died, continuing to love her.

They're the kind of family where I have to go back to New Jersey like a billion times a year, and there's always a giant party with all the aunts, all the uncles, all the cousins.

Um, and Alice and her little girl would not, I mean, she'd be an adult, she'd be older than me, but um they would be there, you know.

So um I just want to say that we have to, we have to really really push on this rollback of public health and this like re-stigmatization that we're seeing right now, um, because it's just so dangerous.

Um, we all remember in the late 1990s when um HIV infections were at their peak and it was really scary, um, and we have fought back against that.

Not with any, I mean, there have been miraculous sort of um changes to the medication that's available and everything like that, but by far the the biggest piece of how we've done that has just been public health response, you know.

Um, and for that to work, you've got to fight the stigma.

People cannot be living in shame, or the public health response falls apart.

Part of the way that we all got through um the COVID pandemic was because of lessons learned from the AIDS pandemic.

So I think um many of us, whether we know it or not, owe a lot to the activists who um who sort of exploded into public view and said we're not gonna um go die in secret, we're not gonna be ashamed.

So um, really grateful to everyone that's carrying that work forward um here in Denver.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Alvidres.

Thank you so much, Council President.

I can't beat all the wonderful things that my colleagues have said, but just like earlier, um, with the proclamation, I didn't want to say anything, but I have to acknowledge the people that I've lost as well.

Um, and I was just a child when I lost my aunt to AIDS and other little kids at school wouldn't play with me anymore.

And that was a reality that you all are speaking to.

And um, I'm not gonna lose the opportunity to say Mary Hope's what is my aunt's name.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you.

Um, so world's AIDS, World's AIDS Day is a moment um to honor the lives touched, shaped, and lost in the global fight against HIV AIDS.

It's a global fight.

I remember listening to Colorado Public Radio hearing that Trump was gonna take away funding for a lot of the medication in Africa.

Um for me, it touched on a very personal story.

When I was young, um my mother spent four to five months in South Africa working at an orphanage, caring for children who had lost their parents to AIDS, hearing her stories, stories of resilience, of heartbreak, of children who faced unimaginable, unimaginable loss.

Yet she found ways to find laugh, laughter, and hope.

Changed me forever.

It opened up my eyes to the humane impact behind the statistics of the HIV epidemic and instilled in me a lifelong commitment to compassion, public service, and advocacy.

Today, as we are in solidarity with those who live with HIV, honor those who we have lost, and we commit ourselves to ending a stigma.

We also have to think about the caregivers, the families, and the communities to who continue to show us what courage looks like, their strength.

My mom has a picture of those kiddos in our house, and I remember their faces, and it's their strength, their lessons my mother passed down to me, guide me, and my belief that we must keep fighting for health, equity, dignity, and the promise and a future free from HIV AIDS.

So thank you for the council sponsors for bringing such an important proclamation this afternoon.

Madam Secretary, roll call.

Council members Sawyer.

Albitres.

Aye.

Heinz?

Cashman.

Lewis.

Aye.

Parity.

Aye.

Romera Campbell.

Aye.

Watson.

Aye.

Madam President Sandoval.

Aye.

Madam Secretary, close the voting, announce the results.

11 ayes.

Eleven eyes proclamation 1906 has been adopted.

We have five minutes for the proclamation acceptance.

Council members on the sponsors, who would you like to be inviting up this who would you like to invite up to accept the proclamation?

And now correctly, Council President.

An ED of Crazy Love Africa is Jess with us.

Yep, coming to your left.

Oh, there you are.

I would actually like to invite everyone to come forward who is receiving the proclamation.

To stand beside me.

Don't be shy.

Okay.

Good evening, council members.

Thank you so much for this recognition for all of our organizations tonight.

My name is Jess Widerholt, and I'm deeply honored.

We are deeply honored to accept this proclamation.

I asked if I could accept the proclamation this year, because I wanted to help recognize these beautiful humans beside me for all their contributions to all of those who are most affected by HIV.

So I stand here before you today as an affected individual to express this to you.

These individuals do not receive many accolades.

One that is still wrapped in stigma, silence, and fear.

And because of that, they show up with an extraordinary amount of respect and grace every day.

When someone living with HIV can tell no one about their status, they turn to each of these individuals.

During COVID, when we were scared and unsure how this new virus would affect us, we turn to you.

When we lose someone to HIV, we turn to you.

When new research emerges, we turn to you.

When we need information about prevention and harm reduction, we turn to you.

And you are always there.

Some of you have been doing this work for decades, truly since the very beginning.

That is commitment, that is belief, and that is love and action.

And for that, we honor you today.

So on behalf of those affected by HIV in our community, we rise in gratitude and thank you for being here for us, even in the moments when no one would.

Thank you.

As a reminder, council members need to turn their video on during the vote.

For those participating in person when called upon, please come to the podium on the presentation monitor on the wall.

You will see time counting down.

For those participating virtually when called upon, please wait until our meeting host promotes you to speaker.

When you are promoted, please accept the promotion, turn on your camera if you have one, and your microphone.

All speakers should begin their remarks by telling the council their names and cities of residence, and if they feel comfortable doing so, their home addresses.

If you have signed up to speak answer questions only, state your name and note that you are available for questions of counsel.

Speakers will have three minutes.

There is no yielding of time.

If translation is needed, you will be given an additional three minutes of your comment to be interpreted.

Speakers must stay on the topic of the hearing and must direct their comments to council as a whole.

Please refrain from profane or obscene speech and refrain from individual or personal attacks.

Council member Romero Campbell, will you please put council resolution 1600 city council sitting as ex officio board members of directors for the ballpark general improvement district, approving a work plan, adopting a budget, and making the appropriations for the budget year 2026 and approving a mill levy and amending the 2025 budget on the floor for adoption?

Yes, I move that council resolution 25-1600 be adopted.

It has been moved and seconded.

Excellent.

Good evening, member.

Uh good evening board members.

Uh my name is Dennis Progenick, and I work in Department of Finances Capital Planning and Programming Division.

I'm here to give a brief staff report for the Ballpark Denver General Improvement District and request approval of the 2026 work plan and budget, making appropriations for the budget year 2026, approving a mill levy and amending the 2025 budget.

So a ballpark Denver GID is located in downtown Denver in the immediate vicinity of Coursfield.

The boundaries are generally described as 20th Street to the southwest, Coorsfield and the Railroad tracks to the northwest, Broadway and parcels adjacent to Broadway to the northeast and the alley between California and Weldon to the southeast.

In 2024, City Council approved the formation of the Ballpark Denver Denver General Improvement District and the creation of the district advisory board and establish city council as the ex-officio board of directors of the district.

The ordinance specified that the advisory board should, subject to the approval of the board of directors, conduct and manage all affairs of the district as the authorized agent of the board of directors, including its financial and legal affairs.

The district advisory board held a public hearing on September 18th, 2025, where the 2026 work plan and budget was adopted.

And after that hearing now recommends that you, the Board of Directors, approve the proposed work plan and budget, including the mill levy and amend the 2025 budget.

In 2026, the work plan budget include total projected revenues of 1 million 383,500, which is generated primarily by an assessment of five mills on taxable property within the district.

Total projected expenditures are uh projected to be 1,731, um yeah, 1,731,000.

We're also amending the 2025 expenditures to 1,585,373.

C staff has reviewed has reviewed the 2026 work plan budget filed by the city clerk under file number 2024-0064-C and recommends resolution 25-1600 for approval.

We do have uh representative of the GID available for questions as well.

And with that, uh thank you.

Thank you.

We have two individuals signed up to speak this evening.

First up, we have Stevenson Fransworth.

Evening, council.

My name is Stevenson Farnsworth.

I'm a resident of the ballpark neighborhood and have been there since 2009.

First, I want to thank you for your support.

Um every time we've come to come before y'all.

Um we were successful at the ballot box last year, passed resoundingly, and we have officially started in 2025.

Um, as the volunteer treasurer of the board, I wanted to share my five favorite facts about what our ambassadors have been able to do since they hit the ground on March 1st and continued their work through the end of October.

Um, first, in regards to our right of way, we have moved over 3,134 bikes and scooters, allowing for mobility for visitors of Wall Park for our residents and for those that come to us.

Second, our biohazard cleanup, as you can imagine, unpleasant, over 12, 1,283 items from our ambassadors.

Um graffiti on the public right-of-way as long as as well as vertical trash, so think about posters, stickers and that nature.

Over 5,314 items have been removed.

And over 4,922 trash cans have been emptied.

And for the items that haven't made it to the trash cans that we have picked up over 13,320 pounds of trash and rubbish that are all within the public right-of-way.

As a reminder, the ballpark ambassadors work in conjunction with Dotti and our city services and provide services up and above that.

Um I want to thank you all for your support, the great connections that we made with the city through the help of our councilman Watson, and support this.

So thanks.

Thank you.

Next up, we have Kate McKenna.

Good evening, City Council.

My name is Kate McKenna, and I'm the General Improvement District in Ballpark.

I'm the um executive director for the general improvement district.

Um, following Stevenson, I have very little to say.

He's done a really fabulous job representing me both as a resident and um our organization as a member of our board of directors.

We're just here in favor, and we would like to say thank you for your support.

Thank you.

Do we have any questions from members of council on council resolution 1600 approving the ballpark general improvement district?

Seeing none.

The public hearing is closed.

Do we have any comments from members of council on council resolution 1600?

Councilmember Watson.

Uh, thank you, Council President, and thank you for the uh leadership and members of uh the ballpark jet for being here tonight.

I gotta tell you, I mean, this is uh the work that you have done, first and foremost.

So, folks who aren't aware of Ballpark, a far a third of the institutions within this general improvement district are service providers.

They are nonprofit organizations.

This is the most unique general improvement district, and it took uh this community of folks, and it took an amazing leader like Kate, to look at this um segmentation of a district, which is set up by tax incremental funding, um financing to fund the the improvements within the communities that they're serving.

And they looked at that segmentation not as a fault, not as something to be um that that they are that is uh a difficulty for them, but it looked at it as an opportunity, an opportunity to ensure that they can still serve the businesses and the residents within that community and also partner and make as part of their partnership the service providers that have been there for almost 70 years.

Um that is not an easy task.

Um that work is not um without its difficulties, but I have been blown away by your leadership as I'm staring at all the board members that are in the room.

I've been blown away, Kate, by your your strong uh dedication, your innovation, and your focus.

Um uh this jet is necessary.

We cannot have a connected city um with ballpark in the middle without services, without support, and without a city leaning in and saying that we want to be a partner.

And so I thank you all for your trust and friendship of me, and I commit to you as well um to continue to push within the city to make sure the dollars and the taxes that you are self-imposing on yourselves that we as a city come in and we match um your energy and your excitement.

So thank you all for your good work.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you, Madam Secretary.

We'll call on council resolution sixteen hundred.

Council members Sawyer.

Aye.

I'll be today.

Flynn.

All right, Gonzalez Cutietes.

Aye.

Heinz?

Aye.

Cashman.

Lewis, abstain.

Parity, aye.

Romero Campbell, aye.

Watson.

Aye.

Madam President Sandoval.

Aye.

Madam Secretary, close the voting, announce the results.

Ten ayes.

Ten ayes.

Council resolution sixteen hundred has been adopted.

Councilmember Parity, will you please put council resolution sixteen oh one city council sitting as ex-officio board member for the Denver 14th Street General Improvement District to approve the 2026 work plan and 2026 budget, including the capital charges, 2026 maintenance charges, and making appropriations for the 2026 fiscal year and amending the 2025 budget on the floor for adoption.

I move that council resolution 2516.

Alrighty.

It has been moved.

And now it has been seconded.

The required public hearing for council resolution 1601 is open.

May we still have the staff report?

Excellent.

Um good evening, board members.

I am here to give the this is Dance Regenek again.

I'm here to give the staff report for the Denver 14th Street General Improvement District and request approval of the 2026 work plan, 2026 budget, uh, including the 2026 capital and maintenance charges, making appropriations to the 2026 fiscal year and amending the 2025 budget.

Uh Denver 14th Street GID is a approximately uh just under 23 acres in size and is located along the 14th Street from Market to Colfax and generally includes all uh all parcels along both sides of 14th Street.

It was created by council and approved by the electors in response to the 14th Street initiative to create downtown's ambassador street.

In 2009, City Council approved the formation of the 14th Street GID and the creation of the district advisory board.

The district was established to acquire, finance, operate, and maintain street improvements in the district's uh creation ordinance calls for the GID to pass a work plan and budget each year.

The district advisory board held a public hearing on September 23rd, 2025, where the 2026 work plan and budget was adopted.

And after that hearing now recommends that you, the board of directors, approve the proposed work plan and budget, including the maintenance charges and capital charges before you tonight.

Uh, in summary, the 2026 work plan and budget includes total projected revenues of $606,425 dollars, which is comprised of uh just under $300,000 in maintenance charges and uh just over $300,000 in capital charges.

And projected expenditures are uh projected to be uh $606,679 dollars.

Uh additionally, we are amending the 2025 budget expenditures to $656,480 dollars.

Uh, city staff has reviewed the 2026 work plan and budget filed with the city clerk under filing number uh two zero zero nine-0629-AJ and recommends uh resolution 25-1601 for approval.

Um I do uh we do have representatives here of the GID to answer questions if needed.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We have no individuals signed up to speak this evening.

Do we have any questions from members of council on council resolution 1601?

Councilwoman Lewis.

Thank you.

I have a few questions.

Um can you tell me what oversight do we as the board of directors have over the work plan once it's approved?

And how do we receive updates from the advisory board over the course of a year?

Uh thank you, Councilwoman.

Uh Brad Neiman, City Attorney's Office.

Uh the City Council sits as the ex official board and it has delegated certain responsibilities for the day-to-day operations to the district advisory board.

Um there can always be uh efforts to get briefings or get updates from the district advisory board throughout the year to make sure that the work plan and budget are being um excuse me, adhered to.

Okay.

Did answer your question?

Yeah, it does that, it does that it does.

Excuse me, answer my question.

The second question um I have actually two parts is did the advisory body in this work plan make arrangements for private security, and the second part is are there any plans for the coming year that may involve the incorporation of private security?

I I can answer that.

Uh Dash Jack Department of Finance.

Uh, they do not have plans to um they do not have security in their budget this year, they uh primarily focus on maintenance of of the um of the streetscape and along the right-of-way, and they do not have plans to do so going forward.

Okay, thanks.

Thank you.

The public hearing is closed.

Do we have comments by members of council on council resolution 1601?

Seeing none.

Madam Sec uh Councilmember Heinz.

Thank you, Madam President.

I stand on the board, so I will abstain.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Madam Secretary, we'll call on council resolution 1601.

Council members Sawyer.

Albiteras.

Aye.

Flynn.

Gilmore.

Gonzalez Gutierrez.

Aye.

Heinz.

Abstain.

Cashman.

Aye.

Lewis.

Aye.

Parity.

Aye.

Romero Campbell.

Aye.

Watson.

Aye.

Madam President Sandoval.

Aye.

Madam Secretary, close the voting and announce the results.

Nine ayes.

Nine ayes.

Council resolution sixteen oh one has been adopted.

Councilmember Parity, will you please put council resolution 1602 city council sitting as the ex officio board of directors of the Gateway Village General Improvement District approving a work plan, adopting a budget, and making appropriations for the budget year 2026 and approving a mill levy on the floor for adoption.

I move that council resolution 251602 be adopted.

It has been moved and seconded.

The required public hearing for council resolution 1602 is open.

May we please have the staff report?

Excellent.

This is Dennis McGennick again, Department of Finance.

I am here to give a staff report on the Gateway Village General Improvement District and request approval of the 2026 work plan, 2026 budget, making appropriations for the budget year 2026 and approving a mill levy.

Gateway Village GID is located uh northwest of the I-70 and of I-70 and Chambers Road intersection.

It consists of approximately 243 acres in the Montbello neighborhood.

It is uh completely developed and primarily consists of residential property at this time.

Um responsibilities for the district include maintaining landscaping uh and um maintaining landscaping in parks.

Uh in 1994, City Council approved the formation of the Gateway Village GID and the creation of the district advisory board.

The creation ordinance specified that such advisory board should conduct and manage all affairs of the district as the authorized agent of the board of directors, including its financial and legal affairs.

Uh pursuant to resolution number thirty-two series of 1995, Denver City Council will authorized the District advisory board to create a work plan and budget for approval by the Board of Directors annually.

The District Advisory Board held a public hearing on September 15th, 2025, where the 2026 work plan and budget was adopted.

And after that hearing has now recommends to you the board of directors that you approve the proposed work plan and budget including the mill levies before you today.

In 2026, the work plan and budget includes a total projected revenues of 486,556 dollars which is generally generated primarily by an assessment of 10 mills on real property within the district and projected expenditures are expected to be 1,868,433 dollars.

City staff has reviewed the 2026 work plan and budget filed with the city clerk under filing number 2005-0860-AD and recommends resolution 25-1602 for approval.

Like before we do have a representative uh online available for questions if necessary thank you.

Thank you.

We have one individual signed up to speak this evening it's Sarah Shepard.

No.

All right that concludes I'll say that that is the executive director she's at another board meeting and is calling if questions are necessary.

Okay.

That concludes our speakers questions from members of council on council resolution 1602.

Councilmember Lewis thank you um same question for this one did the advisory body in this work plan make arrangements for the private security in the second part are there plans for the coming year that may involve the incorporation of private security yes so I I can't answer that question Dennis forgenic Department of Finance.

They do not have private security in their budget nor do they have plans to going forward.

Thank you.

Of course thank you.

Public hearing is closed we have comments by members of council on resolution 1602.

Seeing none Madam Secretary we'll call on council resolution 1602.

Council members sawyer Albitrez Gonzalez Gutierrez aye Heinz?

Hi.

Cashman Lewis Aye Parity Aye Romero Campbell aye.

Watson aye Madam President Sandoval Aye.

Madam Secretary close voting announce the results 11 ayes eleven ayes council resolution 1602 has been adopted.

Councilmember Parity will you please put council resolution 1603 city council sitting as the ex officio board member board of directors for the Rhino general improvement district approving a work plan adopting a budget imposing capital charges and maintenance charges approving a mill levy and making appropriations for the 2026 fiscal year on the floor for adoption I move that council resolution 251603 be adopted.

It has been moved and seconded the required public hearing for council resolution 1603 is open.

May we please have the staff report of course uh Dennis Wood Department of Finance again uh I am here to give the staff report for the Rhino general improvement district and request approval of the 2026 work plan and budget imposing uh the imposition of capital and maintenance charges uh making appropriations for 2026 fiscal year and approving a mill levy um rhino Denver GID is located northwest of downtown and includes residentially and commercially assessed properties around the Brighton Boulevard corridor generally the GID is centered on Brighton Boulevard stretching from I 70 on the north to 29th Street on the south and bounded east by the Union Pacific Railroad line and to the west by the Burlington Northern Railroad line.

The GID primarily supports infrastructure enhancements and maintenance in the Rhino area.

In 2015 City Council approved the formation of the Rhino Denver GID and the creation of the district advisory board and establish city council as the ex officio board of directors for the district the ordinance specified that the advisory board should subject to the approval of the board of directors conduct and manage all affairs of the district as the authorized agent of the board of directors.

The district advisory board held a public hearing on September 24th, 2025, where the 2026 work plan and budget was adopted.

And after that hearing now recommends that you, the board of directors, approve the proposed work plan and budget, including the capital charges, maintenance charges, and the mill levies before you tonight.

For 2026, the work plan and budget include total projected revenues of 1,808, 157 dollars which is generated primarily by an assessment of four mills on taxable property within the district, as well as uh approximately 175,000 from capital charges.

The total projected expenditures for 2026 are 2,797,211.

Uh city staff has reviewed the 2026 budget and work plan filed with the city clerk under filing number 2015 0201-0.

Uh sorry, is I guess I should say 0201-0, and recommends resolution 25-1603 for approval.

Uh we do have a representative of the GID here as well to answer questions if necessary.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We have two individuals signed up to speak this evening.

First up, we have Adam Larkey.

I'm just available for questions if needed.

Got it.

Next up we have Rachel Marion.

Rachel Marion also available for questions as needed.

Thank you.

That concludes our speakers.

Do we have questions from members of council on council resolution 1603?

Councilmember Lewis, thank you.

Um, same question.

Did the advisory body in this work plan make arrangements for private security?

And are there plans for the community or for the coming year that may involve the incorporation of private security?

So the JIT board did decide to allocate six percent of the budget uh for the clean team and a potential pilot program uh for security that would be partnered with the bid.

So they would the bid would be taking the lead on it.

Um the JID would be sort of in support um because geographically they do overlap.

Tell me this um partnership with the clean team and um the parallels with private security.

Well, uh currently the clean team that um handles Rhino um does not have a safety component to it, they are purely a clean team.

Okay, got it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Come Councilmember Watson.

Uh yes, Council President.

I just have a procedural question um, um, because of uh council member Heinz abstaining from the last vote, and and this is to Brylon.

Uh, Council President, if you don't mind me asking, um, since we're sitting as the ex officio board as city council members, if you are um for most of my bids and jids within district nine, I sit on the board.

Um, I often do not vote as a board member, but are we supposed to abstain if we are board members of uh general improvement district or a business improvement district when it comes before council and we're voting on their work product?

I thought I knew the answer, but I thought let me just ask this before our the vote comes on these.

Hi, uh Bryland Drady, assistant city attorney.

Um I may ask Brad Neiman to help me a little bit.

Um, but if we do need to give specific legal advice on whether you should abstain, we may need to go into an executive session.

Okay, in general, not specific.

Let me have Brad Dicker Crack at that person.

Yeah.

Uh thank you for the qu thank you for the question and the joke, actually.

Uh appreciate that, uh, councilman.

Um I would not give you legal advice, but I think it is up to you to decide if you want to um abstain or not abstain.

Can I interject?

Can I interject?

I need to interject.

You're not giving him legal advice.

What you're doing is you're advising your client or your client.

So why would you have to abstain?

What are the rules of abstention?

Can you go over them so then he can understand the risk that he would be taking?

Because we need advice from you as our counsel.

Or if you don't want to do that, I can always phone a friend and call John Griffin, who's online.

Would you rather have it come from John?

Well, I I can give abroad, but I would certainly defer to John and to Brylon as well as legislative counsel.

Is John Griffin online?

Is he he's off?

Okay, then we're gonna have to go with you.

Um just generally speaking, uh, Council President.

Um an abstention would be appropriate if there is a conflict of interest that would prevent um a council member from making their official um uh decision as a member as a sitting member of council.

Um whether that rises to the level of sitting on as a non-voting member on the GID board, um, would be up to the council member to determine whether that is sufficient to make a record of it or not make a record of it.

And usually you have abstentions because the conflict of interest equals what?

Equals a monetary or a financial involvement or um, well, those are the primary examples that come to the top of my head.

Yeah, that's according to our our vow that we take when we get sworn in with the board of ethics, correct?

Correct, and the board of and the uh code of ethics under the DRMC as well.

Got it.

Okay.

Councilmember Watson, does that answer your question?

I appreciate your general statement.

Uh very helpful.

Thank you.

Um, do we have comments okay?

Madam Secretary, roll call on council resolution 1603.

Comments.

Do we have comments?

Yeah.

We have to gavel out.

I thought we did.

I thought I closed and I closed it, and then I did comments by members, and that's how that was.

Oh, is that a question?

Okay.

Comments of members of council on council resolution 1603.

Thank you.

Um, so I am voting no on this one tonight because of the provisions for private security, and I've spoken on this issue twice already tonight in the context of its use of private security.

Um, here we have more oversight than we're looking at it a bit, but in my role as a director, I'm voting no because of my previous experience as an RTD board of director with private security that we had there.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And just I'm sorry.

Yeah, Councilmember Watson.

And just quickly, just wanted to say thank you to the Rhino General Improvement District.

Uh lots of hard work was done in the separation of the three districts, uh, not three districts, the general improvement district, the business improvement district, and the art district, and clarifying those roles, separating the executive directors, and a year and a half of community meetings.

And so I just wanted to put on the record and thank you all for the amazing work and congratulations to the new executive director.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you.

Seeing no other comments in the queue.

Madam Secretary, roll call on council resolution 1603.

Council members Sawyer.

Aye.

Albitrez.

Aye.

Flynn.

Aye.

Gonzalez Gutierrez.

Aye.

Heinz.

Hi.

Cashman.

Aye.

Lewis?

Nay.

Harity.

Aye.

Romera Campbell.

Aye.

Watson.

Aye.

Madam President Sandoval.

Aye.

Madam Secretary, close the voting, announce the results.

10 ayes.

10 ayes.

Council resolution 1603 has been adopted.

Councilmember Parity.

Will you please put council resolution 1604?

City Council sitting as the executive executive executive official board of directors of the Sun Valley Denver General Improvement District approving a work plan, adopting a budget, approving a mail levy, and making appropriations for the budget year 2026 on the floor for adoption.

I move that council resolution 1604 be adopted.

It has been moved and seconded.

May we please have the staff report.

Thank you.

Making appropriations for the 2026th fiscal year and approving a military.

The Sun Valley Denver General Improvement District is located southwest of approximately 12 properties own and is centered in the Sun Valley neighborhood.

The district is generally bound by Denver Housing Avenue on the South, Decatur Street on the west, the South Plant River on the east, and the W light rail line to the north.

In 2022, City Council approved the formation of the Sun Valley Denver General Improvement District, which established City Council as the ex-officio board of directors of the district and create the district advisory board.

The GID's primary focus is to provide for the ongoing maintenance and street uh sorry excuse me, the ongoing maintenance of streetscape, plan public improvements, open spaces, green infrastructure, and relayed improvements in the Sun Valley neighborhood.

The district advisory board held a public hearing on September 29th, 2025, where the 2026 work plan and budget was adopted, and after that hearing now recommends that you, the board of directors, approve the proposed work plan and budget, including the mill levy before you tonight.

In 2026, the work plan budget includes total projected revenues of 94,600, which includes uh which includes an assessment of six mills on taxable property within the district, as well as overall expenditures projected of $94,600.

Uh city staff has reviewed the 2026 budget and work plan filed with the city clerk under filing number uh 2022 0076-f and recommends resolution 25-1604 for approval.

Um, like the previous districts, we do have uh representatives of the GID here to answer questions if necessary.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We have one individual signed up to speak this evening.

First up is Aaron Clark.

Good evening, council members.

Um, I'm just here uh to answer questions if you have any on behalf of DHA as the property owner within the Sun Valley Denver General Improvement District and uh on behalf of the JID advisory board.

Thanks.

Thank you.

That concludes our speakers.

Do we have questions from members of council on council resolution 1604?

Councilmember Lewis.

Thank you.

Same question.

Um, did the advisory body in this work plan make arrangements for private security?

And are there plans for the coming year that may involve the incorporation of private security?

Thank you, Councilwoman Lewis.

We do not have plans um to operate private security through the general improvement district.

Our district is unique in that it is um on land owned by the housing authority.

We do provide for third-party security through our housing developments and as part of the overall operations of our properties there.

And so to that degree, some of that work also um redounds to the benefit of of the sidewalks and other exterior areas that are adjacent to those properties.

Um, but we of course are also quasi governmental, so have an element of additional scrutiny that we put onto those vendors and how we select them and how we oversee them.

But nothing would go, nothing is planned at present that would go directly through the district.

Thank you, Ms.

Clark.

Thank you.

The public hearing is closed.

Comments by members of council on council resolution 1604.

Seeing none, Madam Secretary, we'll call on council resolution 1604.

Council members Sawyer.

I'll be the day.

Aye, Flynn, Gonzalez Gutierrez.

Aye.

Heinz.

All right, Cashman.

Lewis.

Aye.

Parity.

Aye.

Romero Campbell.

Aye.

Watson.

Aye.

Madam President Sandoval.

Aye.

Madam Secretary, close the voting, announce the results.

Eleven ayes.

Eleven ayes 1604 has been adopted.

Council Member Parity, will you please put Council Bill 1578 approving and accepting the downtown Denver area plan, which plan shall become a part of the comprehensive plan 2040 for the city and county of Denver?

Pursuant to the provisions of section 12 through 61 of the Denver Revised Municipal Code on the floor for final passage.

I move the council resolution 25, 15, 78, be placed upon final passage and new pass.

It has been moved and seconded.

The courtesy public hearing for council bill 1578 is open.

May we please have the staff report.

Go ahead.

No, please.

I'm just going to introduce you.

This is how close of a partnership we have.

Uh David Gaspers, uh special project supervisor with community planning and development, and just uh happy to be here tonight and introduce Andrew Iltis from the Downtown Denver Partnership.

We'll start you off uh with some slides about our process, and I will cover uh your criteria evaluation.

You've seen spies like us where Dan Afroid and Chevy Chase go into the room at the same time.

Um that's what that felt like.

Um, good evening, uh, well, Madam President and members of council.

Uh my name is Andrew Iltis.

I am the Senior Vice President of Planning Community Impact at the Downtown Denver Partnership.

And it is truly my honor tonight to present the downtown area plan before your consideration and adoption this evening.

My honor in this moment is uh rooted not just in my pride for this work and for this city.

I have to share a little bit of a personal anecdote.

I remember um my dad bringing me to 16th Street, the 16th Street Mall when I was a kid, and he used to lift me up on the shuttle uh buses.

There were stainless steel railings, and it felt like I was about to go to the moon.

And I loved that experience so much that I uh in my um late teens, early 20s moved into affordable housing at the Denver Dry Building where um where I proceeded to work at a restaurant.

I worked at the Palomino restaurant, which, if you remember, is now exactly where I work today.

Same office, same space.

I can still smell it and feel the plates in my hands as I walk down the hallway.

But my pride really is for this city, and I'm honored to have the opportunity to represent the thousands of community members, the consultant team, and the city and partnership staff who work together to bring this uh before you this evening.

Through this incredible partnership uh with the city, which includes staff and leadership from most of the city departments, it includes community advisory committee meetings and focus groups, and the public who volunteered thousands of hours sharing stories, framing priorities and honing actions within this document.

Together, we're bringing forward a plan founded in the belief that better is possible.

In this moment, we're prompted by the public who, when we work collectively, have the strength to do better.

And that's what this plan is all about.

We know that when we work collaborative, collaboratively, great things can happen.

Neighborhoods can grow out of the ground, people can find work in future generations, can have a city to be proud of.

Just as strong vision uh was for Union Station, created by the commitment from our leaders to collaborate on making difficult things possible.

This plan frames a vision for downtown and gives us all a way to be accountable to each other in our future.

Our charge in creating this plan in this moment is about finding near-term solutions towards a long-term vision.

This plan showed us how important it is to have a downtown where a density of jobs and economic activity can provide one-fifth of the taxable land value for the city, one-fifth of the lodging and retail sales tax.

There are very few places in our region that are poised to play a role in the economy like downtown is.

People who have yet to experience this place.

And in reconciling with the community on downtown's past, we uncovered many new priorities for housing, jobs, equity, and sustainability that you'll find in the plan.

But most importantly, we realize that a new hope from the public in the next chapter of downtown is that we focus a lot more on play.

And when we talk about play in this plan, we're using the most broad definition possible, inclusive of all ages and abilities, and broad enough to spark joy from the kid in a spinny chair on 16th to visitors at a show in the performing arts complex.

We already know that when creating opportunities for fun, joy, we amplify the opportunities for people to gather with each other.

Focus on play helps us overcome the stigma that downtown is just one thing.

And believe it or not, a downtown that focuses on play is actually more economically resilient too.

A dense urban center like downtown Denver, I believe, is the best hope we have for eliminating conscious and unconscious bias in our communities because when we interact with one another like we do downtown, we are forced to share, to challenge each other, to play together.

So after that, I'll turn it over to David who's gonna walk through more of the technical pieces of the plan.

Thank you.

Thank you, Andrew.

Well, I'll run through uh the comments that we received during our plan process and the overall plan content.

Discuss the criteria for your evaluation and ultimately uh our staff recommendation of adoption.

Uh quick slide here on the schedule.

We are at the end of the process.

Uh we really launched this in the public around Labor Day 2024, so it's been a relatively quick process, and uh want to acknowledge all the hard work that not only CPD staff but uh so many different city departments.

We have representatives here from uh Dotti, DPR, Dito, uh CASAR, uh DAV that have uh played integral parts of getting this plan to the finish line in partnership with CPD and the downtown Denver Partnership.

Uh we had an August public review draft, which had over 1100 comments.

We also had hundreds of comments from our community advisory committee.

Members are here again today, internal review as well as uh a thorough planning board review of the document.

Major themes we heard were safety, affordability, job creation, economic investment, mobility and access, better streets and public spaces, arts and culture, and green and sustainable.

Uh I'll run through the planned content relatively quickly, but pause on a few places where we have added important uh pages to the plan that reflect that input from the community.

Uh I want to land on this plan snapshot for just a second.

I think it's a really valuable kind of visual elevator speech, if you will, that really speaks to a lot of the things that Andrew just went through.

Right?

The plan has these near-term action items that set us up to improve and invest in downtown to address uh the community's interest in safety, affordability, uh, streamlined governance, supporting local business and office users as well as connections and access.

And those are all built on these foundational elements of the building blocks of the plan.

That's the investment, resilience, stories, innovation, equity and connection, and most importantly, play.

Uh, as Andrew mentioned, play really rose to the top as we were taking input in from the community.

A lot of those stories and memories of downtown really helped us galvanize this idea of a focus on play could lead to the spark that we need in downtown to help deliver some of our short-term projects.

Uh we have a lot of momentum on civic center.

Let's make sure we deliver that type of great open space.

Uh, same thing with Skyline Park, uh, Denver Pavilions, and a reimagined uh Glenaron Plaza, our short-term opportunities that this plan advances.

Uh, all in support of big change for tomorrow.

There are significant catalytic investments outlined in this plan, like reimagining Broadway, uh, thinking about how we can uh realign spear to open up access to Cherry Creek in a really meaningful way, as well as adding transformational park space.

Uh I won't belabor these numbers again.

Andrew talked about them, but a huge impact on not only the city but the region with downtown, and it's a critical uh to address those issues right now.

Uh, one thing we added in the in this introduction section about the plan is really leaning into the stories and history and culture of downtown, building upon the success of Denver Union Station and and lower Downtown, and thinking through how we can uh recreate those opportunities by celebrating uh more of our stories today and making sure that downtown is uh inviting to everyone.

Uh the building blocks, as I mentioned, are the kind of the foundation of a vibrant, healthy, and complete downtown.

And then we also plan very much uh acknowledges that there are uh real challenges, acute challenges in downtown that we need to address right now.

Uh, with challenges though, there are opportunities, and with the barriers of connection that we see in downtown, we want to be able to better weave uh mobility into uh all of uh downtown's streets and and open spaces where there's inconsistent investment.

Uh we can activate the market and make sure that our private, our public dollars uh bring about uh private uh investment, as well as acknowledging that there's a lack of places to explore and linger, and really opening up uh downtown Denver to be a premier play destination.

I think this is a great slide or that uh spread that we added into the plan that really expresses that you know, downtown is not a complete, right?

There's so many opportunities here to take what we have on the ground today and reimagine what it could be, and the plan has uh these catalytic investments that will will change the face of downtown over a 20 year period.

Most of the plan recommendations, in fact, all the plan recommendations are in chapters four and five.

First one here is seven policy and program bundles that highlight um a lot of the uh kind of big moves uh for uh Denver and downtown.

Uh this is an example here with navigation and legibility, where we uh highlight the outcome-based goal on the left side of the spread, and on the right side, more detailed policies and programs uh again with outcome-based policies as well as those numbered uh uh strategies.

We also have an appendix that has an implementation matrix as well as an implementation plan that dives much further into each one of these strategies and will be a key part of our implementation efforts.

Focus areas, also seven of those uh that really focuses where we want to be able to bundle projects together to have the biggest impact on downtown with public and private investment.

Civic Center is a great example of that.

Many things are already moving forward on here.

Excited to see some of these uh come to fruition in the near-term future.

And the implementation chapter, probably one of our most detailed uh plan of action that I've seen in any of our small area plans where we have immediate short-term and long-term action items uh that actually are detailed quite extensively uh in this document that allows us to move forward very quickly with uh some impact impactful action.

And the appendix, I mentioned those Denver stories.

We have a really great um uh write-up on some of those in Appendix A, there's uh multiple maps, as well as that implementation plan and matrix.

With that, we'll dive quickly into the evaluation criteria when evaluating plans to be adopted as supplements to the comprehensive plan.

Uh, city council shall consider the following criteria and inclusive community process that the plan is consistent with the vision goals and strategies of the comprehensive plan, and that the plan demonstrates a long-term view.

Andrew highlighted the inclusive process that had thousands of people participating.

I think we're really proud of how we uh touched so many different people in different ways with this process, and uh we use an actual storefront on 16th Street.

I think that was a really fun example of how we got uh a lot of great feedback.

Consistency with the comprehensive plan and Blueprint Denver outlined in your staff report, uh, extensive alignment with both of those citywide plans.

And then with the long-term view, uh this is the collective aspiration of the community and envisions a vibrant, healthy, and complete downtown and is a compass for guiding growth and investment in downtown for the next 20 years.

So, with that, staff's recommendation to adopt the downtown area plan as a supplement to the comprehensive plan 2040.

Thank you for the great report.

So the first five are Lisa Pope, Ryan Ross, Jesse Paris, Rebecca Hernandez, and Brandy Majors.

So if you're in that first group, first up, Lisa Pope.

Okay, I think I'm unmuted.

Yep, we can hear you.

Okay.

Good evening.

My name is Lisa Pope.

I'm a resident of Upper Downtown Denver, president of the Upper Downtown Neighborhood Association.

And over the past year, I've been proud to serve as a member of the Downtown Area Plan Community Advisory Committee.

I'm thrilled to be here this evening to voice my strong support for the downtown area plan.

As you know, downtown is an important juncture, one filled with incredible opportunity.

This downtown area plan could not have come at a more critical time for our city's core.

What makes this plan particularly special is the community process that created it.

Over the past year, I've witnessed hundreds of residents from downtown and from neighborhoods across Denver come together to shape the vision.

As a member of the Community Advisory Committee, I've been proud to be a part of a robust, thoughtful, and collaborative process.

The level of engagement, the quality of dialogue, and the genuine commitment to listening have been remarkable.

The result is a solid, actionable and visionary plan that will usher downtown Denver into a bright future.

This isn't just aspirational language on paper.

This is a roadmap with concrete strategies and implementable actions.

As a downtown resident, I'm pleased by all that the plan envisions.

A dynamic, inclusive neighborhood that will bring even more people to experience.

What those of us who already live here know and love about downtown living.

At its heart, this plan is about creating a great neighborhood, a place to call home, from addressing livability concerns to strengthening connections, from diversifying our housing mix to expanding amenities.

The downtown area plan thoughtfully addresses what it takes to build a thriving residential community in the heart of our city.

It recognizes that downtown must be more than office building and buildings and entertainment venues.

It must be a place where people of all backgrounds and incomes can build their lives.

Shows a deep understanding of what it takes to make a neighborhood work.

Denver's future depends on a vibrant downtown, and this plan provides the blueprint to get us there.

I urge you to support the downtown area plan.

Thank you for your time and for your consideration.

Thank you.

Next up, we have Rass.

Good evening, Council Presidents and of all Councilman Hines, Council members.

I thank you for the opportunity to make some remarks at the first public hearing held on the downtown area plan by any entity involved in drafting this plan.

My name is Ryan Ross.

I am the director of New Downtown Denver, a nonprofit organization that I and others created earlier this year to put forth proposals to revitalize downtown Denver.

Unfortunately, the plan that is before you tonight is the result of a deeply flawed planning process.

No public hearings were held during the course of the writing of this plan.

No comments were solicited online.

The most recent meeting held by those writing this plan was a public meeting at which comments were not solicited.

The mem the meetings of the community advisory council were not announced ahead of time, and the backgrounds of the community advisory council members were not posted online.

My organization has drafted some proposals that would dramatically reshape downtown Denver and give it the vibrancy needed to revitalize it.

And earlier this year, I reached out to the downtown Denver Partnership, which played a key role in the drafting this plan, and I said, Hey, I've got some ideas.

Can we meet?

And I didn't get a response.

So I reached out to the board president.

And finally, I did get a meeting with the staff members at the downtown Denver Partnership, led by Courtney Garrett is here tonight.

And Cory Courtney's advice to me was simple.

She said, in order for your ideas to be considered, you need to make them part of the process to adopt and draft a downtown area plan.

So soon thereafter, I asked Courtney and David for the opportunity to meet with members of the community advisory council.

My request was rebuffed.

I repeated my request a month or two later.

My request was either rebuffed or ignored again.

So I stand before you tonight, grateful that I finally get an opportunity to address in a formal setting my proposals for advancing of downtown Denver.

And I'll spend as much time as you want describing them for you, but I need to tell you first how they contrast so sharply with what's in the plan.

The plan, as you know, from having read it, consists of a long series of micro projects that even collectively won't do much to get the vibrancy that we need in downtown to get it back on its feet.

And so I asked one of the lead consultants writing the plan.

I said, why are there so many sir?

That's your time.

Thank you.

Next up we have Jesse Paris.

Yes, good evening, members of council.

Those watching at home, those in the council chambers.

My name is Jesse Michael Parris and I'm representing for Black Star Action Movement for Self-Defense, Positive Action Commercial Social Change, as well as the Unity Party of Colorado, the Northeast Denver Residence Council, Frontline Black News, Shabaka's Buck Express Enhanced the Revolutionary Agenda.

And I reside in the fine district nine in the historically Black District known as Five Points at the Legacy Loss.

I want to go by this plan, why this plan wasn't already incorporated into the 2040 plan.

If someone can answer that, I would greatly appreciate it.

Um will affordability be included in this plan.

I I seen from the presentation something about affordability, but it didn't really go into detail about what kind of affordability we're talking about.

I want to know what AMI levels of affordability we're talking about.

I want to know how long it's going to take for the city implemented.

I want to know what's going on with these commercial buildings that are supposed to be being turned into residential buildings, and how long that process is going to be in regards to this plan.

Um glad to see that you did input from the community that is often overlooked, such as my community, the black community.

Um that's good you did such outreach, but I'm ashamed to know that there was no public hearing on this, like the previous speaker stated.

Um, how does this how will this help the Weltland Street Corridor?

I would like my councilman personally to answer that question because we still don't have the business that uh we deserve in the five points.

Uh we have a BID and them businesses are not getting the business that they need.

So it's like why do you have a BID if the business aren't being patronized?

Are the people from downtown actually going to come into Walton Street and actually patronize those black, historically black businesses, the so-called people of color businesses?

I would like to know that.

Um what's going on with the light rail?

Like is the light rail going to be incorporated into this plan?

Um, what's going on with these one-way streets?

We still have a lot of one-way streets downtown.

Are these going to be made into two-way streets?

Because I've noticed with all the gentrification that's going on in the side of the town and all over the city.

You're changing these one-way streets to two-way streets to try to make it more neighborhood friendly.

Um, is that going to be incorporated into the plan?

So, if somebody could please answer my questions, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you, and have a good night.

Thank you.

Next up, we have Rip Hernandez.

Good evening, members of Denver City Council.

My name is Rebecca Hernandez, and I'm testifying in my capacity as senior manager of government affairs at the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak in support of the downtown Denver area plan.

The chamber supports this plan because it presents a clear, forward-looking vision for a downtown that truly works for everyone: businesses, employees, residents, and the consumers who power our local economy.

A strong, vibrant core is essential to Denver's overall health.

We need office space that is active, storefronts that attract patrons, and a workforce that both wants to come downtown and can get to their jobs safely and reliably.

A vision for a successful downtown also must be paired with the regulatory environment that makes that vision possible.

That means a faster, more predictable permitting and development process, clear, workable regulations, and policies that help employers grow and stay here.

Those tools are essential if we want the kind of investment and activation this plan imagines to actually take root.

One of the strengths of the downtown Denver area plan is its focus on creating a more complete, livable neighborhood.

Expanding housing options, improving public spaces, and adding daily amenities will make downtown a place where people feel connected, supported, and safe, not just during work hours, but throughout the day and week.

That matters both for businesses that rely on foot traffic and for consumers who want places they feel comfortable spending time.

The plan also acknowledges the real economic shifts we are navigating.

Adaptive reuse and mixed use flexibility will help bring new life to underutilized buildings, support employers trying to attract talent back into the office, and give workers more reasons to come downtown beyond the workday.

Mobility is another area where we support the plan's general direction and where we encourage continued attention to balance and practicality.

Downtown needs to be accessible for everyone.

Workers commuting in, customers visiting businesses, residents getting around, and deliveries that keep shops running.

Ensuring safe, well-designed streets, reliable transit, and adequate access, whether that's by bus, bike, foot, or car, is essential to a downtown that functions well.

We can improve multimodal options without compromising safety or basic access, and the chamber encourages solutions that do both.

Even though downtown represents a small share of Denver's geography, its importance is outsized.

A strong downtown expands consumer choices, supports stable jobs across the region, and strengthens the economic foundation that benefits the entire city.

For all these reasons, the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce urges adoption of the downtown Denver Area Plan, and we encourage continued collaboration on the practical tools, regulatory, mobility, safety, and permitting that will make this vision achievable.

A thriving downtown is in everyone's best interest, and we appreciate your leadership in moving this work forward.

Thank you for your time and for the opportunity to testify tonight.

Thank you.

Next up, we have Brandy Majors.

Go to my queue.

David Roberts.

Go ahead.

Okay.

Yes, um, my name is David Roberts.

I'm the president of the Lower Downtown Neighborhood Association or Lodona with the RNO that represents just under 10,000 households that live between Lawrence Street and the South Platte River, and also between Spear and uh 20th Street.

I've spent the past year heavily involved as a member of the community advisory council committee for the Downtown Area Plan.

And I want to say today that our board and our community strongly support the downtown area plan, and we urge you to accept it and to adopt it.

We strongly agree that uh downtown should become a complete community with better balance between workspace, living space, and play space.

We think Lodo is the healthiest, most complete, and functional community in downtown Denver today.

So we recognize that our neighbors, Upper Downtown, Ballpark, Arapahoe Square have greater and more urgent needs, and the more of the DDA funds that's generated from our Union Station TIFF should be invested in these communities.

I have a whole speech.

Thank you, sir.

The next four are Rodney Milton, Durrit, Direet Fisher, Patrick Walton, and Mark Falcon.

Good evening, Madam President, City Council.

I spent a decade as a planner, and so I heard staff report and all public comments on calm.

But I'm here on behalf of the Urban Land Institute of Colorado.

My name is Rodney Milton.

I'm the executive director.

ULI is a global organization.

We have about 48,000 members.

Here in Colorado, we have about 1400 members.

We're multidisciplinary land use and real estate member organization.

And usually I wouldn't spend this much time talking about my organization, but it matters in this case because we're here because we represent the built environment.

And so my members, when asked about 1400 of them, what should ULI Colorado's priorities be in the next three years?

They mentioned to me, downtown revitalization, housing attainability, and the impact of the regulatory environment.

And I would argue all three of these are embodied in this planning effort, and it makes sense that we are aligned with this planning effort.

The opportunity to engage the public, the focus on reimagining a downtown as a thriving place that is not just about where you work, but where you play is consistent with the best practices that we see at ULI.

And so on behalf of ULI, I appreciate the opportunity to present with you and our partners at the downtown Denver Partnership and the city.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up we have Dirit Fisher.

Thank you, Madam President.

Good evening, Council members.

I'm Direet Fisher, board chair of the Downtown Denver Partnership, and I'm here to express strong support for the downtown area plan.

Downtown Denver, as you know, is at a critical moment.

As the heart of our city and region, it needs a clear, forward-looking vision to guide its future.

This plan provides exactly that.

What I appreciate most is that the plan is both ambitious and realistic.

It focuses on the essentials, activating our streets, adding more housing, improving safety and mobility, supporting business activity, and creating a downtown that functions as a true 24-7 neighborhood.

It's the plan built for action.

The strategies are practical, achievable, and designed so public investment can help leverage private development.

It gives us the policy tools we need to make tangible progress.

And importantly, this plan reflects reflects broad community input.

Over the past year, residents, business owners, workers, community groups, and civic leaders all contributed to shaping the shared vision for downtown's future.

The downtown Denver Partnership is ready to be an active partner in moving this work forward alongside the city and our community.

For these reasons, I respectfully, I respectfully urge you to adopt the downtown area plan so we can move forward together and build the vibrant, welcoming, thriving downtown Denver deserves.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Next up, we have Patrick Walton.

Good evening, members of City Council Patrick Walton.

I'm the director of government and community affairs with Visit Denver.

On behalf of Visit Denver, I want to express our strong support for the downtown area plan and to thank the city and the downtown Denver Partnership for leading an inclusive and collaborative process.

We're especially grateful that Visit Denver and our partners in the tourism and hospitality industry had the opportunity to participate.

The plan strongly aligns with Visit Denver's tenure Denver Tourism Roadmap, and that it aims to create a vibrant, connected, and welcoming downtown that enhances livability for residents and elevates the visitor experience.

The downtown area plan also builds on the same priorities we've set for the Denver visitor economy, including improving the downtown experience, enhancing mobility, and fostering a sense of community and place.

From reimagining spaces like Civic Center and Skyline Park to encouraging adaptive reuse and mixed-use development.

The plan will continue to support a downtown where people want to live, gather, and explore.

When our city's core feels safe, welcoming and vibrant, it not only benefits those who call Denver home, it strengthens our reputation as a world-class destination.

Denver's visitor economy already supports more than 44,000 jobs in Denver and over 73,000 in the metro area.

And the vitality of downtown is key to sustaining that success.

We ask that you approve this transformative plan, which ensures downtown remains the heart of our community and reflects the very best of Denver.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up we have Mark Falcone virtually.

Hello, uh, thank you.

Uh Council uh members, and I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you.

Um, my name is Mark Falcone.

I have lived and worked in downtown Denver for 25 years.

I've also had the privilege in that period of time to work on several transformative projects in downtown Denver.

We were one of the master developers of the Union Station neighborhood, and we had the privilege of helping to reconceive how visitors and office workers would commute in and out of Denver through this new fixed-rail transit system for which downtown Denver became the hub.

Like this plan, uh there was a plan put in place uh in the late 90s that began to imagine uh the hub that the Union Station neighborhood would become.

And long before there was a particularly detailed and precise plan, the breadth, the general framework of that plan was put in place, and that's what allowed the city of Denver in combination with the state of Colorado and RTD to buy the land area, which is now the Union Station Transit Center.

This plan is similar.

It's laying out some broad principles with some very specific concepts, but it will inevitably change and evolve once implementation advances.

But it's it's essential and valuable for those principles to be articulated now in a way that can guide infrastructure investment and private investment that will be essential to maintaining the vitality and growth of downtown.

Um, I I understand the desire for these grand, bold, transformative gestures, but the truth of the matter is that city building is the simple business of doing the blocking and tackling that it makes to create a healthy, diverse, and and high-functioning place that is really scaled around humans.

The beauty of a downtown is the extent of its walkability.

There are very few places in our 750 mile metro region that create anywhere near the opportunity for people to interact and mobilize themselves on foot the way downtown Denver does.

But we have work to do.

There's parts of downtown Denver that are very inhospitable to people and to the scale of uh and to the scale of a person not in their car.

And that's the good heavy heavy lifting that this plan addresses.

Um, I I as I think about you know what it takes to maintain a long vital place.

I think about where I grew up.

I grew up in the Rust Bell.

And when my parents were young, when they were uh my age, uh, they were very robust and dynamic cities.

And they they literally rotted and collapsed throughout my adulthood.

And I think hard about what could have been done differently.

And I'll tell you the one thing they didn't do very well there was they did not pay attention to the human scale of their places.

None of them can deal with or address the shifts in geopolitical things that shifted some of that, but they could have created a better place that people might have attached to more substantially at the time.

Thank you so much.

The next five speakers are Mike Yankovich, Dick Farley, Andy Cushin, Eric Larazzi.

I always say your name wrong, sorry, Eric.

And then one, two, three, four, five, and then Dane Eckerson.

Got it.

Mike.

Yes, good evening.

My name is Michael Yankovich.

I'm the president and CEO of the Children's Museum at Denver Marsco campus.

And if you've ever been to the Children's Museum, you know that our foundation is play.

So we are here to enthusiastically support the downtown area plan.

The plan envisions downtown Denver as the nation's largest signature play district, making play and discovery accessible to all ages and backgrounds.

By integrating playful design elements, the plan fosters spontaneous joy and memorable experiences in everyday urban life.

The plan calls for destination play features and tourism attractions with a focus on Upper Downtown and 16th Street, directly supporting the museum's mission to spark curiosity and creativity.

Downtown is reimagined as a place where connection happens, breaking down physical and perceived barriers between neighborhoods, and making it easier for families to access cultural, educational, and recreational amenities.

Enhanced public spaces and streetscapes are designed to be welcoming, inclusive, and accessible, supporting community events, festivals and gatherings that celebrate Denver's diversity.

The plan supports diverse housing options, including affordable family-friendly units, so more families can live.

They can play and grow in downtown Denver.

It aims to fill gaps in daily life, amenities, grocery stores, child care, health care, and parks, making downtown a truly complete neighborhood where children's needs are met close to where they live, close to home.

The plan's collaborative approach invites champions from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to work together, aligning with the museum's commitment to partnership and community engagement.

Finally, adopting the downtown area plan is a bold step toward a more playful, connected, and inclusive Denver.

The children's museum asks city council to support this vision, ensuring that downtown remains a place where families gather, children learn and play, and community flourishes for generations to come.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up we have Dick Farley.

Good evening, Madam President, City Council members.

I was on the downtown area plans community advisory committee as a voice for Lower Downtown's business and design interests.

The first being the reduction of the Spear Boulevard barrier between Auraria and Lower Downtown through Spears' consolidation along the plans, along with the plan's recognition that Lincoln that linking Auraria with lower downtown through careful development would be an economic boom for both our area and for downtown.

Another important goal is a recognition that the 16th that 16th Street in Lower Downtown is in dire need of renovation because of its deteriorating condition and its outmoded design.

This stretch of 16th Street is the entry to downtown from Union from the Union Station Transit Hub and should be of equal equality to the newly renovated 16th Street Upper Downtown.

Finally, the plan's goal to return lower downtown streets to two-way tree two-way traffic is something that has been a constant request request from the LODA district for years.

It's a good plan and its implementation strategies have been an important part of its development, unlike a number of vision plans.

Loto District supports this plan, and I urge you to adopt it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up we have Andy Christian.

Good evening.

My name is Andy Cushion.

I work at the Clifford Still Museum at 1250 Bannock Street, and I'm one of the many members of the Community Advisory Committee for the Downtown Area Plan here tonight.

I urge City Council to vote in favor of adopting this plan, which commits to the difficult, nitty gritty work of revitalizing much of downtown Denver.

And I say much because downtown is a combination of many neighborhoods, each with their own problems and successes.

In the Golden Triangle right now, there are more people and more dogs and a more vibrant streetscape than the neighborhood has ever felt in the seven years I've lived here.

I uh and right now, just down Spear Boulevard, right now, one of the greatest basketball players of all time is hard at work proving what greatness looks like.

So what's the problem with downtown if these two neighborhoods are on the up?

Well, the heart of downtown Denver isn't attracting jobs, it's not bringing butts into office chairs, and it isn't fostering the innovation we need in order to attract the next generation of downtown believers in Denver.

You've heard from planners and other intelligent folks about how a downtown that hasn't surpassed its 2019 performance is bad for the tax pace and bad for business.

So let me talk sports for a second.

Nicola Jokic is Denver's big man in the opening lineup for the Denver Nuggets.

There are four other men around him.

And the reason for Nikola Yokich's greatness, yeah, he's got a great shot from eight feet away.

But he's no showy dunker, he's not got some signature three-point shot.

He's great because he assists, he passes, he lifts up the team around him.

He's gonna go down as one of the most consistent enablers of success in the NBA.

This could be downtown with some time, some money, some vision, some talent.

We could develop the MVP at the metro area right here, with only one point eight percent of the city's land area as well.

Because when downtown is playing at its best, the Highlands are doing well, Sun Valley's doing well, Cap Hill is doing well.

A downtown that plays like an NVP is well connected, is playful, is available for daily life.

And now I work at an art museum.

I don't think most people expected me to talk sports tonight, but anyone with eyes can see that Nikolayokich is one of the greatest to ever do it.

I was not a sports guy.

I had my mind changed by watching one great player change the game.

Downtown Denver can become that neighborhood that recruits some of our biggest supporters, some of our biggest fans and believers, if we do it right.

I believe this is a plan that does it right, and I urge you to support it.

Thanks so much.

Thank you.

I just had to take a second.

Uh, never had like sports analogy up here.

Um, been here a long time, too.

Eric, you're up next.

Hello, I am Eric Lazari.

Um, I'm the executive director of the Civic Center Conservancy, um, resident of the Cory Merrill neighborhood in Denver.

Uh thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight.

Um for over 20 years I've devoted my career between the Denver Sports Commission and Civic Center Park, working to get people downtown.

I was thrilled to serve on the community advisory committee along alongside several other community members and folks here tonight.

I'm gonna specifically address the the parts of the downtown area plan that talk about public space in the public realm.

These are the places where we build community.

They're where we protest, where we pause, where we play, where we reflect, where we connect, it's where we find our belonging in the city.

It's a place where small businesses get their start.

It's a place where artists test out new material.

It's a place where we start to grow as a community.

Public space is where community is built, and what's where we connect to those people outside of our social circles.

What I appreciated about this planning process was the emphasis it put on bold and intelligent moves as it relates to public space.

This plan understands that great cities are defined by their public spaces.

Downtown's long-term success depends on prioritizing parks, plazas, and streets as community after as community assets, not afterthoughts.

The plan gets that right.

It treats them not just as event spaces, but amenities that enhance our daily lives.

The plan treats the public realm as an economic driver.

Rather than seeing parks and public spaces as competing with development, this plan understands that they are the foundation that makes everything else work.

Quality public spaces attract investment, talent, and activity.

Connectivity and pedestrian experience are central to this plan.

It prioritizes walkability, human scale streets, and linkages between destinations.

The signals of commitment to downtown is a place for people, not just cars or buildings.

It also has a long-term vision for public investment.

It isn't just about buildings.

This plan establishes a framework that protects and elevates public space as downtown grows.

We have recently just made significant commitments as a community to civic center and skyline park.

The downtown area plan recognizes that and sees that for the rest of the downtown public spaces as well.

I would like to thank you for your time tonight and urge you to support this plan.

Thank you.

Next up we have Dane Erickson.

Hello, my name is Dane Erickson.

I'm a resident of Denver.

I'm on the national board and the chair of uh in Denver here of an organization called Street Soccer USA.

And we build soccer street soccer fields all over the country.

We're currently in 18 markets.

We're just opening up our Denver market here.

If I had one phrase to say why we support wholeheartedly the plan, it's uh from it's a line from the field of dreams, which I'm sure you've all seen.

If you build it, they will come.

We recently built two soccer fields at Skyline Park.

Um, it's been amazing just to see in the few short weeks how many people just come down to the field.

Um, so that's the number one reason we really support this plan.

It's because play is at the center of the plan.

And just to give a couple examples, today uh our staff were out there, and there was, I think 15 or 20 kids that just came out to play, and our staff went up and said, where are you from?

And they said, We're from Albuquerque, we're just here visiting, we're staying on the outskirts of the city, but we heard about this park, so we wanted to come down and play, and then they stayed for lunch.

Or just last Friday, uh, we put out something on social media saying, come on and play pickup from six to eight.

We had almost 50 players.

Uh, when we had them sign in, we had people come in from Centennial, Lakewood, and even Greeley just to come and play and be part of something else.

Um, so I think that just encapsulates what the plan can be about.

Um, the second thing that we're really um behind this on is just from a meta perspective, we're living in such a polarized world.

There's so many technology, politics, socioeconomics are pushing people apart.

I think we're all seeing and feeling that.

But when you're out on the soccer field or basketball court or pickleball court, sport has an ability to transcend that.

Uh so when you step out there, you don't care if people, what they look like, what age they are, young, old, gender, race, socioeconomic status.

People just care if you can be a good teammate.

So I think there's so much potential in that, and we're seeing that already at Skyline Park.

Um, so thanks again for having for having us tonight.

Urge you to support this plan and uh come down and play with us at Skyline Park.

Uh, in addition to uh coming and playing pickup anytime, we're gonna throw a big festival during the World Cup next June.

See you there.

Thank you.

Next up, we have Joel Noble.

Good evening, Madam President, City Council.

My name is Joel Noble.

I live in the Curtis Park neighborhood in Five Points.

I'm here to express my support for this plan from the perspective of a member of an adjacent neighborhood.

The downtown area plan, the new one and the previous one, both really understood that connections to the surrounding neighborhoods are core to making downtown work.

As soon as this planning process started, and there were meetings to go to and there were people to talk to.

Members of my community were active in expressing one important element that we've been pushing in our plans for years, and that's to make Welton the transit rich corridor that it really should be.

City Council has already adopted guidance in the Northeast Downtown Neighborhoods plan that contains some element of that vision.

But here we are, it was 2011.

We're now in 2025, and having that expressed again in a way that better links downtown with this transit rich corridor is something that's done not only in the newest way, but in the best way in this plan.

This plan calls for a transit trunk, and it uses that word.

And what that means is multiple services using a two-way Welton Street, connecting multiple sources in and around downtown through Welton Street to multiple destinations, including 38th and Blake.

Importantly, this plan, the first plan that mentions this topic, has an implementation section.

And on page 91, it is very clear, implementation starts with studying the feasibility, getting down to design.

We've never had that in a plan before.

Thank you to the project team, thank you to the advisory committee, and thank you to our council members who sponsor this, who are bringing this plan into focus in a way that's going to connect five points with downtown like never before.

Since I have one minute left, and since one of your criteria for adoption is that this plan was developed with an inclusive community process, I really must rebut an earlier comment that you heard that there wasn't an inclusive community process.

There was, there were many public meetings to attend, there are many ways to participate, many innovative ways to provide input, and a complete draft plan posted with, as you heard, 1,500 comments posted.

I posted a few of them.

So I do believe, in terms of the criteria you're considering, uh, this does meet all the criteria, including having to been developed with an inclusive community process.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up, we have Tracy Lansbury on virtual.

Tracy.

All right, can you hear me?

Yes, we can.

Go ahead.

My apologies that took a second to connect.

Um my name is Tracy Loundsbury.

I am a business owner.

Um I have two properties at the corner of the corner of 25th and Blake and Ballpark.

I'm on the board of the downtown Denver Partnership and on the advisory board of the newly formed ballpark jid.

So to say I am committed to downtown is an understatement.

Um I had the pleasure recently at speaking at Downtown Denver Partnership, state of downtown, and shared my passion about what Denver can become, and believe that this area plan is significant in terms of achieving um the goal of downtown becoming a complete ecosystem.

It is downtown represents places for business, for living, retail, restaurants, play, education, parks, and all of it needs to be activated with people.

We have the unique and new opportunity, renewed opportunity to form Denver as a community, places where people live and work and relationships that we build.

So I am thrilled to endorse the bold comprehensive vision for downtown downtown's next chapter.

It is a great long-term framework that balances growth with livability.

It builds on existing momentum and investments and strengthens downtown's role as an economic engine for the entire region.

People come to downtown from all over the state and all over the region, and we need that strong drawing card.

And this plan does that.

It creates housing diversity and affordability.

It positions downtown for long-term success beyond just a single development cycle, and it prioritizes parks, plazas, gathering spaces, and all the things everyone's already said, and our ability to play.

So you have my strong endorsement and would like you to accept this proposal.

Thank you.

Our last three speakers of the night are Kate Kenna, Foya Kay Longe, and John Deffenbaum.

First up, we have Kate.

Good evening again, City Council.

Thank you for time and attention.

My name is Keith McKenna, and I'm the executive director for the newly formed ballpark general improvement district.

We encompass 42 blocks of taxpaying stakeholders in downtown Denver, and I'm very proud to also stand here as a resident.

I'm speaking today in favor of Bill 25-1578 for the acceptance of the proposed downtown area plan for inclusion in city in the city's comprehensive plan 2040.

For too long, ballpark has been an afterthought left on the sidelines of what is considered downtown during planning and investment mapping, and it has truly been redlined by the center of 20th Street.

Ballpark has historically been skipped by sponsored capital improvement projects, urban renewal funding, downtown development area overlays, as well as the Elevate, Rise, and Vibrant Bonds, leaving behind what is commonly and unaffectionately known as the Donut Hole in Denver.

Big business we've seen has continued to fail downtown, and yet the primary neighborhood in downtown, which is home to over a hundred independent businesses, is treated as though it's a void.

Ballpark Denver sees over 2.1 million visitors from Cooers Field alone, and yet history shows that our community has historically not been a priority when dollars are being spent.

The proposed downtown area plan changes this pattern of disinvestment and includes ballpark as a selected focus area, with six of the proposed projects landing in the technical service area that the General Improvement District oversees.

The community of Ballpark has proven time and again that they are not only united and active in the further development of the neighborhood by investing our own time, talent, and treasure to ensure that ballpark continues to stand is a vital revenue generating asset in the urban core of downtown.

But ballpark also voted to tax ourselves to create the improvement district, which is here to serve City Council as not only a partner, but a conduit that ensures that these projects will become activated with programming and cared for by providing supplemental maintenance that needed to guarantee the return on the city's investment.

When asked for feedback, the ballpark community provided over 74 comments on the six proposed projects, only further publicizing our cries for capital investments to be made in our community that we hold together oftentimes by ourselves.

Ballpark is a focused area.

Um receiving this much support only further proves that it is the collective consensus of ballpark that the downtown area plan, if approved and if funded, will serve as the rising tide that could finally bring past due promises to life in our community.

But that starts today with you voting in favor of Bill 25-1578 to be included in the comprehensive plan.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up we have Fayo K.

Longay.

Good evening, Council.

My name is Fayo K.

Longay.

I'm here to speak in support of the plan as a long-time Denver resident and a business owner here in Denver for 25 years.

I've served on the board at the Children's Museum at Marseco campus, and now consult for the museum, leading strategic plans and focused, leading strategic plans focused on economic growth through experiences, curiosity, and play.

I'm here in strong support of the downtown area plan, specifically as its transformative approach to the play infrastructure.

This plan makes downtown the destination where the entire region comes to gather, celebrate, and experience the best of what our city has to offer.

It does something revolutionary.

It treats play as infrastructure.

Activated public spaces aren't optional amenities.

They are essential investments in community health and economic vitality, just like the roads and utilities.

Play equals connection and trust, and that equals profitability.

But this isn't just about dollars, it's about the quality of life.

These signature play features serve young families, older adults, and everyone in between.

Work, life, and play should be combined and celebrated.

In our post-pandemic world, where workers have geographic mobility, cities that invest in place, specifically parks and activated public spaces win competition for talent and business.

I'm a testament to that magnetism.

My first company I started here 25 years ago, choosing Denver practically sight unseen over places like the Bay Area in Seattle, because of the unique environment that we have here, both literally and figuratively.

I've had the opportunity to net scale, grow, and start other projects, connecting with other businesses here because I chose Denver 25 years ago.

This plan creates a connected network of play experiences throughout downtown.

Not isolated parks, but destinations linked together, accessible from every neighborhood.

Time and time again, we know that the quality of life amenities contribute more to economic growth than traditional business-friendly measures like lower taxes.

Play is simply more than just a good time.

This is infrastructure.

This is economic development.

This is how we build the downtown Denver that its citizens deserve.

Initiatives like this formalized Denver's identity of innovative thinking and put well-being at the forefront.

This baked in curiosity, this baked in community is how we reshape our downtown.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And our last speaker for the night is John Deffenbach.

Thank you.

Um, I'm still trying to refocus after Andy's Jokic metaphor.

Um, thank you, members of Denver City Council, Madam President, for the opportunity to speak in strong support of this plan tonight.

Uh, my name's John Deffenbaugh with Historic Denver at 1420 Ogden Street.

Denver's downtown has had a rich and tumultuous history.

Historic Denver work to document many of its stories in appendix A of this plan.

It's our hope that the inclusion of these stories represents an increased appreciation of the value of the historic built environment and the very human stories it tells us.

Historic buildings are tangible assets.

We can see them and we can feel them, and they provide a constant reminder of past events.

Without them, those events can become lost in the distant haze of time.

Consider Denver's lost Chinatown, for example, which disappeared due to racism and urban renewal.

Without our historic Chinatown, it's more difficult to tell the stories of that once vibrant community, and for Denverites of today to see themselves in the stories of the past.

Lodo is a testament to the value of older buildings as economic drivers and cultural anchors.

We're now at a point in time when many more recent buildings could also be considered historic and embodying cultural value.

The plan before you makes several references to adaptive reuse, and we urge the city to continually prioritize this over demolition of existing buildings.

Finally, and while I am speaking in strong support of this plan, I must voice some concern about the reconfiguration of Spear Boulevard.

Spear Boulevard is a designated national landmark between Colfax and Downing Street, and the nomination explicitly notes that the north side between Colfax and Broadway was the first constructed and remains largely intact today.

It's my hope that at the appropriate time, a design solution can be found that reconciles all challenges of this space.

Thank you so much for your time and for listening, and I urge you to approve the plan.

Thank you.

That concludes our speakers.

Do we have questions from members of council on Council Bill 1578?

Councilmember Lewis, go ahead, start us off.

Thank you.

I just actually have two questions.

The first one is if I wanted to see if we could finish hearing from Mr.

Ryan Ross about um what his concerns, but also what were the proposals that you had given that did not make it into the plan?

Thank you, Councilman Lewis, for that invitation.

Telling you and suggesting to you that even more important that what we're proposing is that the city reach out to the private sector and find out what development developers out there are willing and interested in proposing for the city because if you open the invitation to the private sector, my I'm confident that you're going to find a number of proposals that are not contained in the plan you're considering tonight.

The proposals that we have put forth, for example, include an automated transit network, elevated transit network that would whisk passengers and uh passengers throughout downtown on an elevated guideway, thereby reducing congestion on the streets and giving the state a way, giving the city a way to tap into a connection to the state's premier form of outdoor recreation, namely ski areas.

A second proposal is to construct a Rocky Mountain Eye, a Ferris wheel, a 500 foot Ferris wheel that turns slowly that gives people a bird's eye view of downtown and of the front hill front range and the beginning of the Rockies.

A third proposal is to create an indoor outdoor amphitheater that for the first time would create a space that works both in summer and winter.

And the fourth proposal that we put forth is to create uh a canopy on the 16th Street Mall underneath which be moving sidewalks, also protected in the winter so that with heat so that people have a way of getting up and down the sidewalk without being exposed to the elements.

And if I may, Councilman Lewis, the way to open the door to all of these ideas and anyone else's ideas out there is to consider an amendment to the plan that you're considering tonight by the addition of a section that would obligate the city to issue requests for proposals to the private sector and say, hey, what do you guys think we could do?

Tell us how we could do it, how you pay for it, what it would cost.

And so, as part of my written testimony tonight, I have submitted an amendment that I urge you to consider before you approve this plan that would open to the door to those kinds of ideas.

Thank you, Mr.

Ross.

I really appreciate it.

Um, I have a follow-up question, not for you, Ms.

Ross.

Uh, regarding the specific makeup of the advisory, not for you, Mr.

Ross.

Um, regarding the specific makeup of the advisory committee, um, as I'm as I'm looking at the community advisory committee, I'm curious of two things.

One, are there folks?

Can you can you tell me what the makeup is?

Are these mostly industry folks?

Are these residents?

Like what what is the makeup?

And then one of the things that I saw that was missing as I looked at the um configuration of who served on the advisory committee is that there wasn't any at-large representation, city council at large, more specifically on the advisory committee, and I wanted to know what um the thought process was behind that.

Yeah, thank you, Councilwoman Lewis.

Uh yeah, so the uh community advisory committee was uh made up of uh both uh neighborhood representation.

You heard from several of the RNO members here, as well as the business community as well as well as other um advocacy and and stakeholder groups, including folks like from um the local uh labor union uh that represents downtown workers.

Uh so a diverse set of of count uh community members served on the advisory committee uh and then that was formed through an open application process that we have typically for small area plans, uh and then was also uh vetted through uh council members uh that uh have uh their districts within downtown uh and councilman Hines Watson and Sandoval, as well as the mayor's office.

That's how it was formed.

Um so as you all were thinking about the advisory committee.

Was there any consideration or dialogue about um representation from each of the districts when it came to the advisory committee because ideally you want everyone to pour into um into downtown, and then the second question that you didn't get to was around the representation from at-large council members on the advisory committee, just because they see the entire city in the same manner that the mayor does.

No, absolutely.

Uh yeah, I mean, I I feel like the communication we had with council throughout the process, which is approximately a year long, was uh pretty extensive.

We offered briefings uh at every community engagement window uh that we had.

We had three of those plus when we had the uh public draft out, so four significant windows of engagement and uh briefed many of you multiple times.

Uh so uh you know that didn't really come up where we needed to think through reconstituting the advisory committee to include the at large members during that process.

Um I don't know if other council members that uh helped us um have any thoughts on that.

Thank you.

It does seem like a missed opportunity to not include the at-large council members just because of the preview that they have over the entire city.

Um and then were there you mentioned that there were RO leaders um that uh were part of the advisory committee.

Were they just everyday normal citizens that are not necessarily attached to like an RTD or to an or to a um and or to a registered neighborhood organization?

I would say that the ROs were the m majority of the input from residents, although I would say that many of the CAC members are both also either business property owners or residents of downtown.

So there's quite a bit of crossover there.

Okay, thank you.

That's it.

Thank you.

Councilmember Flynn.

Um thank you, madam president.

A couple questions, uh David.

I waited till you sat down.

Thank you.

I need the exercise.

And you know, we discussed some of this in our briefings, but uh Welton Street.

As uh Joel Noble said as a trunk transit.

And I don't see in the plan any acknowledgement that that would probably mean that the light rail is removed from Welton from Broadway all the way up to 30th and Downing.

So the light rail line, and that's the original demonstration.

Um, can you talk a little bit more about how this improves transit for folks east of Broadway to get to, as the plan says, to uh Santa Fe Arch District or to Laomalincol Park.

Sure.

Because right now, well, after the D line went away and the L line came to be.

Yeah, but under the D line, you could get on at 30th and Downing and go all the way to 10th and Osage or beyond.

But now it involves transfers and possibly talk a little bit about that.

Yeah, absolutely.

I mean the plan specifically uh recommends uh studying two-way conversion of welding and a reimagining of transit on Welton.

I think you know, we heard a lot from both sides of this discussion, and I think that the uh an upcoming DOTI study that will be uh work with RTD will help answer some of these questions of what's feasible.

But I think what we we really heard loud and clear is that what we have today isn't good enough, right?

And so the light rail there is to your point a little bit limited, um, because of single tracking, they can only do 15-minute headways.

Uh and we've not been able to actually see the realization of the extension of that light rail to 38th and Blake, which could make a huge difference.

And uh, you know, RTD is you know challenged with delivering that part of fast tracks.

And so I think it's worth it to re-examine what good transit, frequent high-capacity transit on that corridor, could mean to uh the community of five points and better connecting it to downtown.

So uh if we could solve that by maintaining the light rail, that study may tell us that's still the right thing to do.

Um, but uh we want to re-evaluate the opportunity to potentially look at um as Mr.

Noble said, uh putting multiple bus lines potentially on there.

Uh if you aware of the RTD system, the 43 and the 38 run parallel, some of the neighborhoods, but we can consolidate that on a main street, actually um potentially free up more public realm for the community to have uh better pedestrian access, uh sidewalk cafes, all the things that would make a vibrant main street along five points, and then also actually add a line that does connect 38th and Blake and makes that connection to that station.

If you did add three um bus lines to that corridor, that would mean very frequent service that would make it very easy to get to downtown through downtown on Weldon to other destinations to your point like Santa Fe Arts District.

Right.

All right, thank you.

I just wanted to make sure that folks were aware of that.

The uh and the extension of 38th and Blake is not the only part of fast tracks.

RPG's having trouble delivering uh talk to people in Longmont.

Uh talk a little bit about Broadway and Welton and the recommendation for some kind of open space or park there.

But the the part after that said that this will be facilitated by uh rerouting traffic around Broadway and Welton.

That's a nightmare right now.

Where would traffic go if not straight down Broadway?

What is the plan envision rerouting traffic around there?

Yeah, I know absolutely.

I mean, before we get to that that question, I think we have to start step by step.

It's definitely a uh uh transformational idea that has multiple components to it that are bundled but can be additive.

So the first step is actually looking at two-way streets across all of downtown that includes Broadway and Lincoln, right?

And evaluating um where we have opportunities to potentially convert um one-way streets to two ways.

Um, but we also heard uh, and it's a point of the bundling effect of these plans that uh or these projects, that open space is desperately needed on that part of downtown and really have a catalytic investment that we can focus on.

And so looking at potential open space over there in combination of rethinking the the traffic movement, yeah.

As you mentioned, that kind of knuckle where Lincoln and Broadway and 20th all come together in Walton is very challenging for any mode to do, and we should try to make that better.

Um that could free up the opportunity to um, you know, really reimagine uh a Broadway.

The rerouting would only happen if all of those things I just mentioned kind of come together.

You have to think through a one-way to two-way, think about how you're gonna reuse that space.

But the uh the idea there isn't really to take any traffic off of Broadway or Lincoln, it's just to repurpose um so the idea would be to make Lincoln a little bit more of a uh regional connection, two-way.

So if you're coming through downtown, you'd want to use Lincoln, which northbound you do today already.

Um, and then if you want to actually access downtown, you use Broadway and have that be more of a local street that we can actually then reclaim to be a uh a really great downtown pedestrian street as well.

And so uh lots of more thought to be put into that.

We have Dottie here if you want to go into the technical aspects of it.

But um one of the first steps of implementation is that kind of comprehensive one-way to two-way conversion study that they'll they'll start soon.

All right, and a third thing on uh I don't want to pick up on John Deffenbaugh's comment about uh spear consolidation.

Remind me what side of the creek we were looking at.

It was it the uh the west side of the creek, the left bank basically.

Yeah, multiple studies have been done on on that, but all of them look at moving both uh directions of traffic to the west side of the creek.

And if I recall correctly, correct me if I'm wrong because I thought John was talking about uh from uh Broadway to Colfax, but uh this consolidation was only north of Colfax, wasn't it?

That's right.

The plan does contemplate where we should make that transition, and I think that's really important.

Um, uh our consultant Sasaki uh took and Daniel Church is still here, actually.

Thanks, Daniel, for still hanging around.

Um, thought really thoroughly about like that really key transition point.

So it could happen north of Colfax, but that may actually add some challenges to the pedestrian environment there.

So they just wanted to explore how we could potentially make that transition a little bit further south.

Um I think we are fully acknowledged the the historic designation south of Colfax.

Right, and I think the critical part of there is that anything in this plan does not remove the right-of-way, it may just repurpose some of that right-of-way for more head and bike access uh while moving the vehicular access um to the west side of the creek before you get to Colfax.

Yeah, when I look at uh when I look at Auraria on the west side, it I had to wonder where where would we put uh north and southbound spear and not uh interfere or encroach on Auraria's uh land?

It's a pretty it's actually pretty narrow through there.

Can you talk about how that could fit?

The studies do show that you should be able to make that work.

There are some pinch points that would get narrow, but there's also other opportunities where they have more space, so that's where a further uh study is needed to see how it worked.

Further study.

Okay.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you.

Councilmember Lewis.

Thank you.

Um I just wanted to make sure I understood uh Councilman Flynn's question around the Welton Street tracks and the light rail, and you mentioned the, I think is it 13 or 15 minute headways, I'm not sure.

Um this the can you explain more to me what you all are thinking in that regard?

Is it the potential to be able to pull up the tracks and rethink of what public transmit looks like in that corridor?

Is that essentially what you all are considering, proposing?

Yeah, so one of the first steps of implementation, Dottie has I think approximately 750,000 of uh money, I believe it's through Dr.

Cog and um a fast tracks funding, I can't remember the exact terminology to evaluate Welton from from A to Z, right?

So really rethinking that that section and and how it functions.

So that could mean keeping the light rail as as is, it could potentially um improve the light rail uh to prov better provide service for that corridor, or it could um potentially remove the light rail and put uh bus service in that better serves the community.

Do you know what the current ridership is for that?

I don't have exact numbers, but I I believe it's probably their lowest.

Um, is it their lowest of light rail at least?

I don't know about the rest of the system, but it is is a a lower performing uh part of their system.

Okay.

I just wanted to make be sure since we're on record that it was definitely their lowest or possibly their lowest, because that there's a different that makes a difference for me.

As a part of your considerations, um, are um the extension from the 30th and downing to the A-line a possibility?

Yeah, absolutely.

They'll be looking at in this uh looking at that in the study.

Okay, and then my final question is who would be responsible for it?

I know you said Dr.

Cog um has the 750k, but say they decided that you all wanted to move forward with the pulling up of the tracks and replacing it with butt service.

Would it be the responsibility of the city to pull up those tracks in terms of the who's on the hook for it financially?

Yeah, um, or would that be RTD?

Yeah, I don't I don't have that answer for you, but I think it would have to be done in partnership between uh, you know, thinking through uh from the city side, RTD side, and and others on how to do it.

Two agencies without a lot of money.

Yeah, yeah.

Thanks.

Thank you, Councilman.

Um, just a couple questions.

So, after a neighborhood planning initiative, there usually comes like a legislative rezoning package.

That's what happened in Northwest Denver.

Is there any talk about doing that with this plan?

Yeah, great question, Council President Sandoval.

Uh the plan does recommend uh examining the zoning in downtown in particular for improvements uh where there's uh can kind of conflicting or or um uh confusing uh direction as well as reevaluating the design standards and guidelines.

Um, I believe we'll have that in the CPD work program in 2027.

I want to believe.

I don't believe it's in the 2026.

Looking at Sarah, she was here.

Uh thank you, Sarah.

Yes, it'll be in 2027.

And that would be uh taking this plan and doing like the because this doesn't change the design.

Yeah, the implementation, that's right.

It's just all 100% um advisory per se.

Yeah, so okay.

Um, with that, with that next iteration.

Would you what does that look like?

You have to do a huge study, and because I don't know a zone district that's works that we have like off the book zoning, like like off the shelf zoning.

Would you we would have to create something?

Yeah, I think we'd have to scope that project out thoroughly um and make sure we have the staff resources to do that.

I think that you know, with the design standards and guidelines element of it, I think we want to be able to consolidate um how that is applied using the downtown uh review board that already has oversight over Golden Triangle, for example, um, to be able to do that across all of downtown and have a more unified approach to the design standards, and then uh at the same time we'd have to look at uh what specific issues we want to fix with any zone zoning changes.

Because currently the urban design standards and guidelines, they govern over all the way into Ballerina and into my council district and onto Platte Street, and on to Water Street, which was not really in this plan, right?

So that means taking up like the design guidelines and standards for downtown Denver, there's a whole entire zone district um in the amended downtown area plan that we created for um Ball Arena and for River Mile that specifically talks about having to use those design guidelines and standards so that would which my council district is under underwater street.

Um so that's a big undertaking.

And is that what you mean when you have to scope out that work?

Yeah, exactly.

I mean the difference between that that example in River Mile and Ball Arena is and downtown is that the downtown design review board does not review um projects within what would be known as the old uh B5 zoning, right?

It's administrative review only.

So I think that the opportunity here is to have a more unified approach, uniform approach, excuse me, to how design review occurs in downtown, makes it uh less um complicated to know what the process is.

Got it.

All right.

Thank you.

Seeing no other further questions from my colleagues.

The public hearing is closed.

Comments by members of council on council bill 1578.

Councilmember Heinz.

Thank you, Madam President.

Uh colleagues, members of the public, thank you for being here tonight.

Uh I don't know if the downtown Denver Partnership is functioning right now because we're basically all right here in the chambers.

Uh, so good luck.

Uh, do all the things you want to do uh downtown because the partnerships uh occupied.

Umtown is just 1.8% of Denver's land, uh, but it generates 30% of our jobs, 20% of taxable value, 21% of lodging and retail sales.

Just looking at lodging alone, it's uh 60% of lodgers' tax is collected downtown.

When downtown falters, Denver feels it.

When downtown thrives, the whole city benefits.

Tonight's downtown area plan is a 20-year update.

The first major reset since 2007.

It comes after a year of deep community engagement.

I truly believe that.

Uh, and reflects what residents, workers, and businesses told us they need from the heart of our city.

The plan tackles the biggest challenges head-on.

Historic office office vacancy, underused lots, and the need to create more housing and more activity downtown.

It lays out a practical path to reuse millions of square foot square feet of empty office space, grow mixed-use neighborhoods, and bring new life to our streets and storefronts.

Sometimes the best way to bring new life to our streets and storefronts, literally, is to get cars away and put humans there.

Put life there like on Glenarm, like in Laramore Square.

Um, it also commits to the basics that make a city center work for everyone, safer walking and rolling, better transit, and people-first streets.

Lanmar Square, Glenarm.

That's not just good planning, it's about dignity, access, and independence for our disability community, older adults, families with strollers, and everyone who moves through downtown.

Now, I've heard the comment tonight.

Uh he's obscured right now, but um, that uh that this plan somehow lacks big ideas.

I want to gently push back on that, because this plan is full of big ideas, big projects that will shape the next generation of downtown Denver.

Not every big idea has to look like a gondola, a ski lift, or the London Eye, although I'll note that one of the speakers who raised concerns about a lack of vision also emailed my office encouraging us to consider exactly that kind of large-scale framework framework.

And frankly, I welcome that kind of bold thinking.

Big ideas come in many forms.

Sometimes the most transformative ones change how we move, how we connect, and how we experience our city every single day.

Connection downtown.

The 5280 trail is one of those big ideas inspired by world-class pedestrian and cycling routes in cities like Indianapolis, Atlanta, Austin, and New York.

Denver's version is uniquely ours, a 5.28 zero mile loop that reconnects downtown neighborhoods, prioritizes people over traffic, and creates a healthier, more vibrant urban core.

It's a landmark project, and it's woven deeply into this plan.

And for everyone who thinks that isn't big enough, well, everything's bigger in Texas.

Dallas is planning and underway a 50 mile loop of its own.

But for Denver, the 5280 Trail is exactly the right scale and the right symbol of who we are, a city that thinks boldly and builds smartly.

So, yes, this plan has big ideas.

Uh, they may not all spin or fly through the air, but they will reshape downtown in ways every resident and Denver can and visitor can feel.

What this plan is is a community roadmap for the next 20 years.

What it is not, as Council President mentioned, is not a rezoning tonight and doesn't spend any money by itself.

Adoption gives us a transparent, consistent framework for future investment and decision making.

This plan delivers what our constituents have been asking for.

Homes in the heart of the city, safer, more accessible streets, and a resilient, diverse downtown economy.

As a sponsor, I'm proud of the collaboration that brought us to this moment, and I'm ready to get work on implementation the minute we pass it.

Note that all the ROs downtown have spoken tonight in support of this plan.

I want to thank Lisa Pope of Updona Online.

Maybe you're still watching.

Uh David Roberts of LaDona, he was here in the.

Oh, there he is, yes.

And uh, of course, uh Dick Farley of Loto Inc.

Um, for representing their organizations and sharing their support of this plan.

I respectfully ask for your yes vote to adapt the adopt the downtown area plan and move Denver forward.

Oh, and I want to say one other comment tonight.

Uh, about it's it concerns itself about how one basketball player can get an art lover to love sports.

Mr.

Cushin, yes, uh, MBA champs.

Mr.

Cushum, with testimony like that, you can be the next yoke, as you can inspire people to get engaged with the process of advocating in government.

You are our yoke tonight.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you, Councilmember Alviderez.

Thank you so much, Council President.

Um I will be voting yes on the downtown area plan today.

I believe the long-term vision is a stock for a strong and vibrant connected downtown is here, but I also need to be a little bit honest about what I'm disappointed in.

Some of the essential elements for a healthy, truly welcoming downtown I see as missing.

Recently, I had a really great experience.

My son actually wanted to go walk downtown after work.

And he hasn't ever really wanted to do that, so that was a lot of fun.

But it was a very um uncomfortable experience with a lot of anxieties still around being able to jump around and play it.

Felt like he was constantly gonna get in trouble, or someone was gonna come out and get mad at him for being a kid downtown.

There wasn't any other children.

Um we were around Skyline Park, and there was human feces and urine, and I think that I don't see mention of public bathrooms, which I really feel like we need some supportive services downtown.

People experiencing hobo homelessness are always going to go downtown because it's where there's transit and resources and people, and ignoring that reality creates an unsafe, uncomfortable condition for everyone, especially families when we're trying to be a family friendly city instead of meeting human needs.

But what surprised me most that day wasn't the sanitation, it was the anxiety, even um the empty parks and vacant spaces.

I found myself worried that we were going to get in trouble, as I mentioned.

Um, and so I am concerned about how welcoming it is feeling um when you feel like you're constantly gonna get in trouble by somebody in a vest.

Um the plan also says very little about child care or schools, and if there's gonna be more housing, there should be more children.

There should be a commitment to child care or future schools downtown.

Um, and parent and kid friendly indoor spaces, like an extension of the library or other third spaces that are free and welcoming.

So I'm just saying all of this so that it will continue to be considered as we think about downtown.

Um, but I do know that a lot of work and effort went into this, a lot of public comment went into this, but um I just wanted to kind of express that I think we still have a ways to go, even though this was a really um thoughtful plan.

A lot I really appreciate the parts around mobility specifically, um, and hope to continue to work together to really make a vibrant downtown.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Councilmember Watson.

Uh thank you so much, uh Council President, and I want to turn your mic on.

Thank you so much, Council President, and uh thank you for all the speakers that came forward tonight and the the thousands of folks who provided input throughout this process.

Um, thank you so much for DDDP.

Um I gave you an extra D.

Why?

D D A, D D P D D P to Um our Community Planning Uh Department, um, and to the sponsors of this piece of legislation before us, and and as a sponsor, I am uh strongly in support of passing these.

Um, as your district nine uh council member, I um heard the voices of the folks um community members in ballpark and community members in five points.

Too often the transit hubs or the transit connections uh to downtown are ignored in these um plans, um, and to have specifically laid out from the good work that Kate and her team has been have been doing with a ballpark jid to lay lay out um 24st Street, 21st Street, um Sherid Street idea, um the idea of ensuring that we're connecting from course field all the way up 21st.

I think it's absolutely necessary within a plan for us to put down in writing kind of what we hope, and then for us as a community to kind of build the out uh the planning around that, and to uh the community members on Welder Street Corridor, the transit trunk is just that, transportation trunk is just that, it provides an opportunity for transit options throughout the Wellton corridor.

The L line is the least served fast tracks line in the city by far, and it has been that for a very long time.

Um we have an opportunity, and we we've had um uh the first of what would be many um uh meetings with uh Department of Transportation and Infrastructure and with RTD and community members to look at the mobility plan to ensure that through that planning process, it doesn't, this plan doesn't become one of the prior six plans we've had for the Walton Street Corridor, but that we actually implement on a transit rich corridor that elevates community, our small businesses and transportation connecting towards downtown.

We have the plan, we have uh the scope within this document, and I look forward to working with my community, collaborating with RTD, collaborating with Dotti to make sure we execute on this plan in this time.

Thank you so much, Madam President.

Thank you, Council Pro Temeral Campbell.

Thank you, Madam President.

Um, I just wanted to say thank you for everyone who came to testify.

Um, really appreciated the um your perspective and kind of the breadth of those who have been working on the plan and the support.

Um so thank you all for being here as it's getting late.

Um, and I also appreciate the briefings.

Um we did have multiple briefings and um taking the time to listen and answer the questions because I know I had a lot of questions and and taking the feedback of the plan.

One thing that I would like to highlight, and I think um, Councilmember Alvidas, um, you brought it up about child care and how critically important that is and networking that within um housing plans and thinking about how children are part of our downtown system.

Um, and oftentimes we you know we talk about child care, but also thinking about young people, um, and young people being our teens um and um youth that need safe spaces to be, um, to be young people and not be moved on, um, and to occupy those spaces.

So I do appreciate the soccer um conversation because I think it does span um and creates um a spaces.

I have you know family members who came down for those pickup games and who have been just very intrigued by oh, look at we can go downtown and have a pickup game.

So just different and unique things that are bringing um people downtown.

But I just wanted I'll be in support of this tonight, but I just wanted to thank you all for being here and um for all the briefings.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Lewis.

Uh yeah, thank you so much.

I just wanted to um take the opportunity to thank you all for this this time, this presentation.

I am worried about the um the uh Line um and welcome the opportunity for you all to consider the extension from the L line to the A-line as it's one of the projects that actually cost the least when it comes to the finishing out of the fast tracks program, um, but is often ignored because uh folks want a train to Boulder Longmont.

And so there's an opportunity there.

I also think about the folks that do rely on um the L line, and I think we used to have these conversations at during my time at RTD where we have talked about the aesthetics versus what's important versus excuse me, what is important for folks to be able to access their um basic needs, um whether that be education, child uh child care, transportation, whatever that looks like.

Um, and so I hope that you all keep the people in mind as you all are uh moving forward in that that um conversation.

I am also worried that we don't have an answer as to who would be financially responsible if we were to pull up the tracks, whether that be RTD or whether that be the city.

I feel like if we're going to be investigating this conversation at minimum, we should know that.

Um, and the fact that we don't um is concerning.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Flynn.

Uh thank Madam President, just a quick note uh uh Nicola Yokich.

I don't know how what kind of a job he's doing tonight, but the nuggets are only ahead by two points in the third quarter to the bulls.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And now it's on the record.

That doesn't say anything about the plan.

Uh thank you all.

So thank you for the uh numerous briefings.

Thank you to um this was actually um a partnership between the downtown Denver Partnership.

I believe the downtown Denver Partnership paid 50% of the plan, and the city paid 50% of the plan.

Um, and that was really needed during this budget cycle.

This was a super challenging budget cycle.

We lost a lot of employees this year, and we lost major uh really good planners in CPD, and the lift is really heavy in community planning and development.

Um I agree with a lot of aspects of the plan.

I will go on record and say I don't agree with the Spear Boulevard plan.

There's a lot of park space there.

There is more council actions than I would ever want to think about to redo that.

It's more money than I would ever want to think about to do that.

And the reason why I say that is because in Northwest Denver, in the neighborhood that I represent, I represent part of Union Station that's in this plan.

Um we don't have a neighborhood plan, and this is the, I don't even know how what number neighborhood plan this is for downtown Denver, but part of my council district west of federal only has Blueprint Denver, and it has seen mass gentrification in the neighborhood I live in in Berkeley.

I bought a house there 23 years ago, and it does not look familiar to me.

Sloane's Lake does not look familiar to me.

Um, West Highland does not look familiar to me.

The north side where I grew up and was born and raised does not look familiar to me.

And instead of investing in all of these moving of rail tracks and moving of right-away, we need to invest in the other 78 neighborhoods that we have in Denver.

And I serve on the downtown development authority board.

I am approving projects for downtown Denver.

I am a fan of downtown Denver, I believe in downtown Denver, and if we do not invest in our other neighborhoods in Denver, we will not have a thriving downtown Denver.

And so I ask everybody, all my colleagues to support this plan, and let's get it up and moving.

Let's get the plan implemented.

Let's partner with the downtown development authority, which I I happily serve on for right now, and get it looking different, and let's invest in the 77 other neighborhoods we have in Denver.

Like my neighborhood does not have a neighborhood plan.

I think Council Pro Tems neighborhoods don't have a neighborhood plan.

Um there's several places in Denver.

So I know CPD, I'm speaking to a broken record.

You know how I feel about this with my neighborhood planning initiatives.

Getting them out to every neighborhood deserves a neighborhood plan.

And the reason I'm saying this for you to all don't who don't know, I am tired of having to get in the middle of every single rezoning in Northwest Denver.

I enter myself into every single one of them.

I have spent two years negotiating on Regis University, two years of my life because they do not have a neighborhood plan.

They have to look at Blueprint Denver, and it's not specific enough for my neighborhood.

I have been a sponsor of all types of rezonings that you all that are coming through because my neighborhoods did not have neighborhood plans.

So I will get off my soapbox, but if you all need want support downtown Denver, you have to support the 77 other neighborhoods in Denver that make all Denver great.

Because I don't think I think I see two people who live in downtown Denver, maybe three who live in downtown Denver right now.

The rest of us, we all live in the neighborhoods, and so we've got to support all of them.

So with that, I will be supporting that, and with that, I ask CPD to let's go into all the other 77 neighborhoods as well.

Madam Secretary, um roll call, Council Member Sawyer.

Albiz.

Hi.

Flynn.

Aye, Gonzalez Cutieres.

Aye.

Heinz?

Aye.

Cashman.

Aye.

Lewis.

Parity.

Aye.

Romero Campbell.

Aye.

Watson.

Aye.

Madam President Sandoval.

Aye.

Madam Secretary, close the voting, announce the results.

11 ayes.

11 ayes.

Council Bill 1578 has passed.

Well done, everyone.

On Monday, December fifteenth, 2025, Council will hold a required public hearing on Council Bill 1541, changing the zoning classification of 709 South Delaware Street in Baker.

Any protest account against Council Bill 1541 must be filed with the council offices no later than noon on Monday, December 8th, 2025.

There being no further business before this body, this meeting stands adjourned.