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

Tonight's coverage of Denver City Council starts now.

Good afternoon.

Thank you everyone.

Start that again.

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Thank you for taking time to join the Denver City Council meeting.

Today is Monday, January 26, 2026.

Tonight's meeting is being interpreted into Spanish.

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Welcome to the Denver City Council meeting of Monday, January 26, 2026.

Council members, please join Councilmember Gilmore in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands,

one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Council members, please join Councilmember Gilmore as they lead us in the Denver City

Council land acknowledgement.

The Denver City Council honors and acknowledges that the land on which we reside is the traditional

territory of the Ute, Cheyenne, and Arapaho people.

We also recognize the 48 contemporary tribal nations that are historically tied to the land

that make up the state of Colorado.

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

generations.

We also recognize that government, academic, and cultural institutions were founded upon

and continue to enact exclusions and erasures of Indigenous peoples.

May this acknowledgement demonstrate a commitment to working to dismantle ongoing legacies of

oppression and inequities and recognize the current and future contributions of

Indigenous communities in Denver.

Mr. Secretary, roll call.

Heinz? Here.

Louis?

Torres? Here.

Alvitres? Here. Gilmore? Here.

Gonzalez Gutierrez? Here.

Cashman? Here. Parody?

Romero-Campbell? Here. Sawyer? Here.

Watson? Here. Madam President? Here. 12 members present. We have there are 12 members present. Council has a quorum. Approval of the minutes. Are there corrections to the minutes of January 20th? Seeing none, the minutes stand approved. Council announcements. Are there any council announcements from members of council? Councilmember Sawyer?

Thank you, Madam President.

This is our last week in the District 5 January blood drive.

January is National Blood Donor Month.

We do a blood drive every January to help support our community.

We know that people do not generally donate blood over the holidays,

so there's always a pretty low point in January,

but that does not limit the number of people who actually need blood during that time.

So if any of you are available to donate this week, please do.

We are partnered with Vitalant over in Lowry, which is a part of District 5, just north of the Great Lawn,

and we would love to have you participate.

And then second announcement, we will be having our annual District 5 community open house

coming up on Tuesday, February 10th, 5.30 p.m. at the George Washington High School Library.

So enter park on the north side in the north lot and enter through the north doors and then you'll go upstairs to the library.

Please join us.

It's your opportunity to connect with a number of different city agencies and community partners so you can ask them directly all of your different questions that you have.

So that's February 10th by 30 p.m. George Washington High School.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Next up, we have Councilwoman Gonzalez.

Good theaters.

Thank you, Madam President.

I can't help but mention the things that have been happening across our country.

Last Friday morning, I stood with some of our Denver Public Schools teachers at Skinner Middle School

early in the morning in the very freezing cold temperature

as teachers across the district held a walk-in in support and solidarity with the people of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Immigrant students and citizens alike in Minneapolis have been terrorized by ICE for weeks.

Civilians like Renee Good and Alex Preddy have been murdered in broad daylight,

and community resistance to these violent tactics have only been escalated by the federal government,

the National Guard, and other law enforcement.

What is happening in Minneapolis could happen to any city in our country.

We're seeing this play out right in front of our eyes.

That is why I joined these educators on Friday morning,

and why I support the actions that were taken by our local unions,

faith leaders, and community allies outside of the Palantir headquarters.

Palantir is complicit in helping ICE track and target people's movements,

causing harm in our communities across the country and right here in Denver already.

There is no level of reform that would address the way ICE is operating.

There is no reform in kidnapping and detaining random people, including children.

There is no reforming murdering observers and protesters in the streets.

And there is no reforming, doubling down on causing violence in cities most agents have never even been to.

We are in a humanitarian crisis.

Someday in the future, my kids, your kids, our kids will ask us,

what did we do when ICE did these things to the people in Minneapolis,

the people in Chicago, the people in Los Angeles, and the next city and the next city?

The only solution that I see is that we abolish ICE and immigrant detention as a whole.

I encourage people to email our U.S. Senators, John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennett, and tell them that we do not support additional funding for ICE, and that ICE should be held accountable for their crimes, and that ICE should not exist at all in this country.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you.

Council Member Cashman.

Thank you, Madam President, and thank you, Councilman, for your comment.

It's difficult watching democracy fade before our eyes.

To return to more local stuff, Denver sets aside about $2 million every year out of our city budget for what's known as the people's budget,

where Denver residents decide how to spend the money.

A million dollars out of that, too, will go for projects across the city.

This year, the other million goes to the neighborhoods near southeast Denver, which geographically is Colorado Boulevard to Quebec, Alameda to Yale.

If you would like to put your suggestions in on how that money could be spent, please go to denvergov.org slash denverpb and let us know what to do with $2 million.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you, Council Member Cashman.

Council Member Alvarez.

Thank you, Council President.

I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge something that happened in District 7 last week.

On top of, we also had people taken from our district by ice.

It's been a very challenging time.

In addition to that, the tiny home village in Overland in my district, one of the residents was assaulted.

I continue to be very concerned about the well-being of the people inside the tiny home village,

the services that we're providing, and the safety in our shelter system.

It is very concerning and the residents felt so unsafe going to the actual operator that they ran out into the residents' home to get them to call 911 because they weren't sure that the operator would call 911.

And my heart goes out to the individual that was assaulted.

My heart goes out to the neighbors that have to hear yelling and screaming and violence on a regular basis.

and I'm just asking the administration and the mayor to really look at the way that this is being operated

from all of the issues we've been having.

The general, the community has been asking for a lot of changes,

has been asking for conversations, and it hasn't happened,

and I think it's time that we need to sit down and re-look at this.

Thank you, Council President.

Sorry to hear that. Thank you for bringing it up.

Councilwoman Parity?

Yeah, Councilman Gonzalez-Cutierre has really said what I wanted to say.

But I do want to add something to that, which is that I'd really like to ask the mayor to join the request that our senators don't vote through more ICE funding.

It's being packaged with funding to keep the government open.

And so, of course, that's gamesmanship.

And when we back down and reward that, this administration in particular, they're just going to do it again and again and again and again.

And so the Democratic Party needs to act like the party that it says it is.

and vote against funding ICE, even if that is at the cost of government shutdown, which

we know causes a huge amount of hardship. That's not the fault of anyone other than

the Trump administration. So I wish that the mayor would get on board with that call. His

public statement, notably today, was for Congress to hold the president accountable and pull

ICE out of American cities. But the thing that's actually facing Congress right now

is this funding vote. So I thought it was, it gave me pause that he didn't mention that,

and I'm asking him to do so. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you.

Councilor Pro Tem Romero-Kemble. Thank you Madam President. Two things. I thank you

for saying something. I think all of our hearts are heavy and action is

necessary regarding ICE. It is and ICE is present in all parts of our city

including Southeast Denver and I think for some people that shocking because

that's the first time that they've heard about it. You've heard about it more

south. But it's very real. And I think

collectively taking action in any way that we can

from handing out and being part of the

outreach for the Know Your Rights, critically important, taking other

action in stands, also connecting with the mayor

on those accounts. So thank you.

And multiple things are true.

And to Councilman Cashman's point earlier, on a very local level, we have some surveys that are out that still need to be filled out.

And we still need community input.

And at times it feels like, what does it mean for, there's going to be a new Kennedy golf course update of the center there.

clubhouse

of the clubhouse

but input is necessary

and in any form that we can provide your input

because we still need to make sure

that these things happen moving forward

so online

you can find a link to that

website to that survey

it closes at the end of the month

if you'd like to give input regarding

Kennedy Golf

that would be at district4

at denvergov.org

to find that survey.

And we also, in the year that we are celebrating 250 years

and 150 years of our state being named,

there are multiple ways that we are commemorating that as well.

And so one of them will be in my district with the Welsh Shire,

and there will be more information that we will talk about as the year goes on.

But I think it's important that we remember, and it's all of these little pieces building together that really make a difference for all of us as we think about the country that we are and the country that we want to be.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you.

Council Member Watson?

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you for my colleagues for making a statement.

I want to let a community meeting that's coming up this week on Thursday, January 29th from 530 to 7 p.m.

Denver Water is in the process of moving towards or looking towards moving into the Laird-Swansea community in the old AT&T site.

We're hosting, District 9 will be hosting a community dialogue on Thursday, January 29th from 530 to 7 p.m.

at the Neotech building at 2650 East 40th Avenue.

This will be an opportunity for neighbors for the first time to sit with Denver Water

and talk through what that relationship should look like,

a lot of the ways in which this will benefit the community.

And this will be the first of what we expect to be many other discussions with Denver Water

as this process continues.

This weekend as well, the National Western Stock Show concluded

and wanted to share that this year, the 120th anniversary, was the record-setting year.

We had over 750,000 visitors in attendance, which smashed the last record of 726,000 folks back in 2006.

So congratulations to everyone that participated in bringing the National Western Stocks for this year.

From across the state and across the country that participated.

I'm looking forward to providing a clear report to Council as far as kind of the benefits to the community investment fund that will be derived from this two weeks long process.

Thank you, Council President.

On a very local level, this Thursday at the Sloan's Lake Boat House off of Bryan and Brain Street, we have an open house from 5 to 630.

Please come out and participate.

This is your bond dollars in action.

On a more national level, I would like to start with a quote.

First, they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not Jewish.

Then they came for me, and there was no one left for me to speak out.

and this was from Martin Niemu Lurer.

If you don't know who he is, he was a German Lutheran pastor

who initially supported his government,

but later opposed the Nazi regime.

When he stated, when the state began deciding

who did and who did not deserve rights,

for that oppression, he was imprisoned

in a concentration camp.

After the war, he spent his life

warning the world about the danger of silence

in the face of injustice.

Today, I'm speaking because we are witnessing

violence in our streets

that challenge what America claims to stand for.

Liberty and justice for all

and the promise of freedom

spoken through the Statue of Liberty's words,

give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

This year, we have already seen multiple deaths involving federal immigration enforcement operations,

including the killing of Minneapolis ICU nurse Alex, a U.S. citizen, veteran, caregiver,

whose family said he cared deeply for others.

and was trying to help a woman when he was shot by federal agents.

My heart goes out to Alex, to the family of Renee Good,

and to all the loved ones affected by these tragedies.

We cannot accept a nation where people are killed

and communities are left without answers.

Let us take a moment to reflect on the value of every life lost and recommit to justice,

compassion, and accountability for all people in this country.

And I would like to just take a moment of silence for Alex and Renee and all the people

who are suffering throughout the United States right now.

Thank you.

There are no presentations.

There are no communications.

There is one proclamation being read this afternoon.

Councilmember Sawyer and in solidarity to Arth and Flynn, who are virtual, please join

me in reading Proclamation 260778. Councilmember Sawyer? Thank you Madam President. Proclamation

number 26-0078 honoring Tracy Huggins for 33 years of service to Denver. Whereas with more

than three decades of service to the people and businesses of Denver, Tracy Huggins has played a

critical role in facilitating urban revitalization, creating jobs, and catalyzing the city's

development sector to create a better Denver for everyone to enjoy.

Whereas, having worked with five Denver mayors, Tracy has been described as a collaborative

leader that clearly understands the appropriate time for the public and private sector to

work together to make projects that otherwise would not be able to happen on their own.

And, whereas Tracy, a certified public accountant, came to the Denver Urban Renewal Authority in 1992 after serving as their independent auditor for three years.

In 2000, Tracy was appointed as only the fourth executive director since 1958 when Dura was founded.

And?

Whereas, under Tracy's leadership, Dura played a critical role in many of the city's most important redevelopment efforts, directing the agency's involvement in more than 50, let me repeat, 50 redevelopment projects affecting change in nearly every council district.

with a combined Dura financing portfolio of approximately $1.2 billion,

leveraging more than $9.6 billion in private investment and...

Whereas, in addition to directing these important redevelopment projects,

Tracy managed Dura's housing rehabilitation programs,

which helped revitalize neighborhoods through a variety of programs for low- and moderate-income homeowners.

Whereas, through her planning, leadership during the Wellington E. Webb administration, Tracy Huggins helped Mayor Webb advance a portfolio of catalytic redevelopment projects, including the redevelopment of the former Stapleton Airport, the redevelopment of the former Lowry Airport Air Force Base, the Thorne Museum, now REI,

Northeast Park Hill, the redevelopment of Elitch Gardens downtown, and the Downtown Convention Center Hotel, Highlands Garden, formerly Elitch Gardens, the Adams Mark, the Bear Valley Mall, University Hills, the Downtown Pavilions, and many, many more.

That reshaped Denver's urban form and laid the foundation for decades of inclusive growth and reinvestment.

And whereas the Stapleton, now Central Park, redevelopment plan led by Tracy and her team went on to win numerous awards and international acclaim.

And in 2025, Dura made the last debt service payment on Central Park obligations, including providing more than $168 million in funding to Denver Public Schools to build elementary, middle, and high school schools and high schools for the community.

And whereas during Mayor John Hickenlooper's administration and for many years before and after, Tracy Huggins used her considerable and unique talents to manage complex and challenging processes,

to blend the investment of public dollars with private enterprises

to create benefits to serve the public good well into the future for the enjoyment of all.

Whereas in 2011, Mayor Michael B. Hancock tasked Tracy in evaluating the business, financial, and facilities plans

of the National Western Stock Show to better understand the stock show's current and future needs.

The evaluation and recommendations provided by Tracy resulted in the strategic framework being implemented to provide a sustainable facility for the stock show.

And whereas Mayor Hancock has expressed appreciation for Tracy's dedication and partnership, which have helped shape many of Denver's signature projects, including the redevelopment of Union Station, the transformation of the 16th Street Mall, the revitalization of Five Points, and the redevelopment of Loretto Heights, Dahlia Square, and Hawley Shopping Center.

And whereas Tracy has continued to be an extraordinary partner to the city during Mayor Mike Johnston's administration, advancing numerous catalytic redevelopment projects that serve as a fitting capstone to her decades of selfless and storied service that has driven transformative change for the residents of the city and county of Denver and beyond, serving as an enduring reminder that one person's dedication make a lasting difference.

And whereas Tracy is a leader in the community, having received the Women of Influence Award in the Denver Chapter of Commercial Real Estate, recognized by the Denver Business Journal as an outstanding woman in business in the category of real estate and construction and being named as one of the top 25 most powerful women by the Colorado Women's Chamber.

and whereas Tracy has served on the boards of directors of numerous organizations including

the Colorado I Have a Dream Foundation, the Mountain States Employers Council, the Gold

Crown Foundation, the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, the Urban

Land Institute Colorado Chapter, the Denver Housing Authority, and the Auraria Higher

Education Center where she served as the board chair for three years and whereas during her term

As Executive Director of Dura, Tracy has taken on every difficult project that has been in front of her and worked tirelessly to make it a success.

Not just today, for the next seven generations as well.

Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the Denver City Council, Section 1, that the Denver City Council recognizes and honors Tracy Huggins for 33 years of extraordinary contributions and lasting legacy.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude and our warmest wishes for a joyful and well-deserved retirement.

Section 2, 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 Tracy Huggins.

Thank you, Council Member Sawyer. Your motion to adopt?

I move that Proclamation 26-0078 be adopted.

There is a motion by Council Member Sawyer. Do we have a second?

It has been seconded by Council Member Cashman.

Comments by members of Council?

I'll start with Councilmember Sawyer, then I'll go to Councilmember Flynn, then I'll go to Councilmember Taurus, and then whoever else would like to get into the queue, please do.

Thank you, Madam President.

Saying thank you to, I know, Tracy, I'm trying really hard not to cry.

Saying thank you to Tracy for her extraordinary service is not enough.

Tracy and I met before I even was inaugurated into office, I think Tracy, we met at Metropolitan

to talk about the urban renewal area in Long East Colfax.

And you have the most extraordinary ability to take something that is very complicated

and has a lot of moving parts and a lot of hands in the pot

and make it something that everyone can understand.

And you have taken an organization that has a tough history

and you have acknowledged that history

and you have honored that history

and you have changed that history for the city of Denver for the better.

And you have been a friend.

You have been a mentor.

You have been a sounding board.

And I cannot express enough to you my personal gratitude for who you are and what you have done over the course of your career here in Denver.

And so when I say thank you, I want to just acknowledge that thank you is not enough.

And I so appreciate you.

And I am so excited for you, for your next chapter and your retirement, because you have earned it, sister.

but I will miss you. Thank you.

Thank you. Next up we have Councilmember Flynn.

Actually in the room to speak to you personally about this.

I remember when you took over for Susan Powers.

I think you were the Deputy Director of Dura at the time.

And I remember thinking, who is this person taking over for Susan Powers, who was such a high-powered voice for redevelopment in the city?

But very quickly, you established a reputation for, as Councilwoman Sawyer said, for very thorough, analytical, reasoned, and dispassionate advice.

And every time you've come to council and explained things, it was always very thorough.

And you answered every question we had.

The one anecdote I might offer is the Bear Valley Mall.

Of course, I remember the mall had an ADNF in it.

It had hotels.

It had first cafeteria.

It was an indoor mall in southwest Denver.

And as it declined, as many of these smaller neighborhood type malls did, I remember one of my predecessors, Councilman Hackworth,

who had been initially skeptical of tax increment financing,

one of the primary tools at Dura's disposal,

he saw the benefits when it was in the backyard of Council District 2.

And as a result, it was thoroughly redeveloped.

In fact, it's been redeveloped twice since then.

And without that tax increment financing and that instrument,

that wouldn't have happened.

So we owe a lot to your service, your lengthy service,

and I no longer have to wonder who is that person who took Susan Powers' place.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilwoman Torres?

Thank you so much, Madam President.

And I'm sorry, Tracy, that I'm not there to give you a big hug.

I was honored to be a part of this team pulling this proclamation together just to honor you

and your years of service, your dedication to Denver and your professionalism on behalf of Dura

are unmatched. And it's always difficult to see so much experience and expertise leave the room.

And I hope you're not going too far because there are very few people who can continue to explain to

me the funding mechanisms of the deals that Dura enters into. And so I appreciate you spending the

time to do that with me over the last six years and just wish you only the best as you

only you deserve only the best.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Council Member Cashman.

Yeah, thank you, Madam President.

Congratulations, Tracy.

Way to go.

I hope you have a great time from here on out.

I don't think it's it's very interesting that everybody sees you the same way.

I have nothing different to say.

You're a very straightforward person.

There's no guys.

You've served those five mayors very well.

You've served the city well.

But it has always been in the deals that we've discussed together.

I've always felt your number one concern were the residents of the city.

I mean, you were fair to all sides.

There was no trickery going on, but there was always that concern.

And yeah, as has been said, and I was thinking about it before my colleagues started talking about the clarity of your explanations.

You know your world so well.

and I remember our previous CFO, Brendan Hallen, would come into my office

and he'd start writing numbers up on the website, not just start waving my hands.

It's like, I'm going to have to dumb it down here.

He's always been able to explain clearly to me.

I don't know what it says about either of us, but I thank you very much.

and we'll definitely miss you.

There's big shoes to be felt,

and I hope you enjoy wherever you're headed.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you.

Council Member Albedez?

Thank you so much, Council President.

Tracy, I am so grateful for you

and for the opportunity to learn from yours.

That was as complicated as the soccer stadium project

with so many different,

so such a long history of trying to fix a wrong

in District 7 for so long, which was just a tremendous pollution.

You know, and something that I think about and I've been thinking about more lately,

and it is, first of all, I think about the kids in my district because I was one of them.

So I think about when I was a little girl, I didn't understand why things got torn down and built up

and why certain parts of our city had certain things and certain parts of our city didn't have certain things.

and right now when there's such a high lack of trust in government,

I think it's been so humbling to see someone with your integrity

talk about public dollars and public money and public land

and how the city's investing.

And I think the most important thing to me is that the residents

in our city feel taken care of and that we're acting in their best,

and they're in the best possible way for them.

And I think that's what Councilman Cashman was saying as well.

And you give me that piece that even when,

before I knew what urban renewal was,

before I was in the seat, before I was elected,

before when I was just a little girl

trying to get around District 7,

that there were people making sure

that we were building our communities

in a good and responsible way

with the negative history of urban renewal.

I think that's important to name as well.

it's interesting to see like ball arena now it's becoming a neighborhood it was a neighborhood

before it was ball arena i think about even um the alameda and broadway area in my district that

was part of a neighborhood that was homes and those people were displaced and so um trying to

figure out how that works in the future and investing in these ways that actually help

communities that are displacing communities.

But also just learning about what the financial history of these sites are.

And I'm glad that you're not going too far because we'll still be calling you and asking

you for your expertise.

But thank you because as a resident of Denver, it means a lot to know that there's people

that genuinely care about the people of our city and the well-being of our city.

So thank you for that.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you.

Council Member Parity?

Just to pile on.

You know, we're going to be like, who is this person who's coming after Tracy Huggins leaves to reference Councilmember Flynn?

And I will say that Sue is still around.

She talks to us.

She comes to meetings.

Just saying.

But, yeah, Tracy, you're just a public servant to your core.

And I just want you to know that I see that.

That's a really hard role to play.

And you've just done it very beautifully.

And I only got to overlap with you at the end of your time with the city.

But I'm so glad that I did.

Thank you.

And congrats. Also, you should do what my kid's pediatrician did when she retired, which is she started an Instagram account just for all her adventures, for all of us to follow, seeing what she was up to in her retirement so we can be jealous. So that's just a thought as well. Thank you.

Thank you. Everything that folks have said, Tracy, is so true. I have to hearken back

to our driving tours and our laughs with Susan Stanton. And we knew we weren't going to maybe

get something done through Dura, but the creativity, the go-get-it attitude, and the sage, sage

advice that you've provided over the years, I really, really appreciate, and I hope in

this retirement you get to take all that time with your family that you gave to the city

and County of Denver and her people and put that back on you.

And so thank you so much.

Thank you.

Council Member Watson.

Thank you, Madam President.

I was going to say, Tracy, I think the name Dura doesn't have an enduring name

within the African-American community.

There's lots of displacement.

There's a lot of pain and hurt attached to that name.

and my absolute joy and love of collaborating with you.

I know in many, many projects, and I'll tell you,

you consider retiring when you're not leaving until we close on the Rossonians.

So you go back to that until that is done,

and we expect that to be done before you leave.

I want to say behind our side of every amazing leader is an amazing family as well.

and I had some good chuckles with your husband just a second ago before this started.

I want to say to your family, thanks for loaning her to us,

allowing her to have the time and the focus and the ability to do in our community

some of the tough work describing the financial mechanisms

that can create from neglected spaces to spaces of beauty and wonder.

you were amazing

and I think it's your family

and your staff and I'm seeing all the

folks in the room

you all provided her that opportunity

and that shoulder

to lean on and that

and up what she needed

to a community

meeting and got knocked down

and so I thank you all, but Tracy you're not going anywhere

Rossonian first

Montana second

so thank you so much

thank you Madam President

Thank you.

Council Member Romero-Kemble?

Thank you, Madam President.

I just, again, I appreciate all my colleagues' comments because they are so true.

All of those projects as we were going, as they were being read off of the work that

you've done is tremendous.

Before I sat in this seat, Denver's home, Denver's where I've raised, where I've raised

my family.

This is, Denver's my town.

And hearing those projects, knowing those projects as a resident, and knowing that you did those is just tremendous.

So thank you.

I appreciate it.

And to know that with the care that you carried those through and in partnership with, you know, the people around this table,

but all of our predecessors before us and those before them as well, and maybe before them as well.

But I just really appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you for all you've given to Denver.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you.

Councilor Romero Gonzalez-Gutieres.

Thank you, Tracy, for always keeping it real.

Because that's literally what, anytime I had a question for you, I know I was getting a straight answer.

And you've heard everybody say how you're a straight shooter and you're direct and you are informative.

and similar to what Councilman Watson was saying as far as, you know, the historic piece and

Councilman Alvidrez, you know, just knowing that historical context of, and you and I got the

pleasure of sitting on a lovely panel together at a varied campus and learning a lot more about

one another. And I think, you know, knowing just how, where we come from and where we now end up,

Right. And your part in that work to help reframe how we utilize some of these things.

I mean, we still I still kind of went, you know, went at the word blight, you know, those kinds of things that it's not our not necessarily our decision to use those terms.

And we can make changes to that maybe in another day. But thank you so much, because any time that I needed to better understand something,

you were always open and willing and you were always grateful that we reached out to you and

asked the questions. And you were so gracious with your time that you spent walking us through

any of the crazy questions that we had. So I really, really thank you. And I am

incredibly excited for you on this next chapter and wish you the best.

so where to start tracy i'm going to be like councilman sawyer and do my best to hold back

tears um sometimes when i don't know where to start i guess i just have to start at the beginning

thank you for meeting me in 2012 i remember i was working for councilwoman um uh i'm forgetting

her name right now realmore or no not goodmore

Montero.

That's only Montero.

That's how long of a week it's been.

And it's only Monday.

And we were working on Brighton.

And I was her lead in policy.

And she had me work on a project for the Zeppelin, for the source.

And I had no idea what I was doing.

None.

And she was asking me to prepare all these documents.

And I'll never forget calling you and being vulnerable and saying,

I have no idea what Councilman Montero is meaning. Can you please sit down? And you did. You came to

taxi and you literally sat down with me. I don't know if you remember. And you walked through every

single question I had. And she was at committee and she came back and I told her, okay, I can do

this. I'm prepared. I'll never forget sitting next to you in Mexico City when we were eating

grasshoppers and you and I both were like, why are we eating grasshoppers? And we said it was

the culture. And so that's what we did is we sat next to each other and we ate grasshoppers. And

we talked about how Mexico City, what parallels could we draw to Denver from Mexico City.

And when I was reaching out to all of the mayors that you had worked with over the weekend,

And I've never gotten such excitement from former mayors to participate in a proclamation.

Not one of them, when I called them, hesitated.

Not one of them said I would be too busy.

And I had to tell all of them, you can only have one stanza.

Because they wanted to go on.

And that is a testament of your commitment to Denver, your commitment to this job.

and somebody who other people look up to, like myself.

I remember when you called and I told you thank you for helping me shape the leader that I am today.

It is because of those long conversations that I had with you asking questions.

And thank you for loving Denver with every fiber of your being.

Because honestly, that's what it takes to do these jobs when you're being talked about.

when you're being questioned, when people don't understand you, and when you're sometimes even

going against your own thought. Do I know what I'm talking about? Am I doing the right thing?

And you always move back to your value that you love demmer with every fiber of your being.

And so thank you for doing that. And you will be greatly missed. And I look forward to seeing you

when you're on the other side so we could talk about what does it look like to be on the other side of a public servant

because we'll all be there someday.

And thank you again and thank you colleagues for all of your great comments.

See no other comments, members in the queue.

Mr. Secretary, roll call.

Councilmembers Flynn.

You're muted.

Councilmembers Flynn.

Hines. Aye. Torres. Aye. Alvidrez. Aye. Gilmore. Gonzalez Gutierrez. Aye. Cashman. Aye. Parody. Aye. Romero-Campbell. Aye. Sawyer. Aye. Watson. Aye. Try one more time. Councilmember Flynn. Aye.

There we go. Thank you, sir. Madam President. Aye. Mr. Secretary, close the voting and announce the results.

12 ayes. We have 12 ayes. Proclamation 260078 has been adopted. We now have time for the proclamation acceptance. Tracy, would you like to come up and call anyone else who you'd like to join you up?

I might take me just a minute.

This was so overwhelming.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Every time I come before this body, you know I have a script because I can't be trusted

just to let it rip.

And I promise this will not be nearly as long as when I give the staff report at a public

hearing.

But thank you.

This is just overwhelming.

It has truly been my honor and privilege to serve the Denver community for all of these years.

With every project that I've led, and I do want to note that some of those I just accounted for as the staff accountant,

because some of those were undertaken by those who came before me.

Whether it was just a single historic building or redeveloping a former airport, I've always tried to respect the statutory charge of urban renewal, respect our taxing entity partners when using tax increment financing, respect the community we were working in, and respect the role of this body by always being available to answer any question you had.

being open and transparent with each of you.

You may not have always voted for every project we brought forward,

but I knew I had provided you with all of the information that you needed to

make your decisions.

City building's hard and it takes strong partnerships to make it happen.

I'm so grateful for the partnerships I've enjoyed with the amazing staff at

Dura.

Their creativity and commitment to Denver is absolutely unmatched.

And it would be so disingenuous for me to stand here and take credit for all of these without truly recognizing the team of Dura staff who have been there that have really led the way in saying, we got to figure this out.

Come on, let's figure this out.

For the thoughtful and talented consultant team, legal teams, and financial advisors who spent a lot of their time trying to keep me out of trouble, sometimes when we got a little too creative.

The collaboration with the city departments and their dedicated staff, who just so that you know, they deserve an award just for putting up with me as we tried to work to bring these projects forward.

And certainly I want to recognize the partnerships with all the dedicated developers who embraced the vision of the city and that the city had put forward and took the financial risk to deliver the redevelopment outcomes of our city.

But the partnership I am most grateful for is that with my husband.

He and our three daughters supported me through every challenging project.

They understood that vacations could never happen and could never interfere with Dura

board meetings, with community meetings, or with city council meetings.

Most vacations ended up being working vacations for me.

tolerated our dining room floor becoming a staging area for all of the files that I had put together

when I was evaluating the National Western Business Plan. And he didn't complain too much

when I routinely got up and started working at 4 a.m. because I needed to figure out how to get the next project done.

Thank you.

Being the Executive Director of Dura for 25 years has been an absolutely amazing opportunity.

The work all of us have done together has been amazing,

and I am grateful for being able to play just a small part

in this city's development and redevelopment.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Mr. Secretary, please read the bills for introduction.

Planning and Housing Committee 25-1069, a bill for an ordinance chaining the zoning

classification for 1675 East 35th Avenue, 3532 North Franklin Street, 3558 North Gilpin Street

in Cole, 26-0001, a bill for an ordinance changing the zoning classification for 12-150

East Andrews Drive in Montbello. From the South Platte River Committee, 25-2020, a bill for an

ordinance changing the zoning classification for 2001 South Tacoma and Overland and 26-0008,

a bill for an ordinance relinquishing a portion of the utility easement reserved in ordinance

number 1423, series of 2021, recorded with the Denver clerk and recorder at reception

number 2021231033, located near 748 South Cherokee Street.

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

Council Member Gilmore, will you make the motions for us this evening?

Yes.

Now, I will do a recap.

Under resolutions, Council Resolution 25-2154 has been called out by Council Member Parity for questions,

and Council Resolution 26-0040 has been called out by Council Member Hines for postponement pursuant to Rule 3.6.

Under Bills for Introduction, no items have been called out.

Under Bills for Final Consideration, Council Bill 25-2156 has been called out by Council Member Alvidres for comments.

Under Pending, no items have been called out.

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

Resolution 25-2154, a resolution approving a proposed contract between the City and County of Denver and the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless

to provide funding for the provision of the Housing Central Command HCC Stabilization Project

with the purpose of supporting clients formerly experiencing homelessness in ongoing stability beyond the period of subsidized rental assistance

and case management citywide. I realize I said put that on our screens, but we all know

this is not working this evening. Council Member Parity, please go ahead with your questions

on Council Resolution 25-2154. Great. Thank you so much, Madam Pro Tem. I just have some questions

about we're moving to this more performance-based contract model, and I know we've included

what a post has referred to as COLA's, cost of living increases,

with the intention being I think that that would be

give our providers room to increase staff pay

in our 2027 and 2028 contracts with CCH, including this one.

So I was hoping to get a little bit of detail about

retention rates, caseloads for staff, and some of those kind of things.

But I called it off fairly late, so I don't know if, and it's just for questions, not about,

And I don't know if anyone from CCH is either in the room or online.

We do have someone online.

Okay, great.

Thank you.

So, Tim, let me know who that is and when they can be promoted.

And I'm sorry, my thing just went dark.

So let me look and see.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

We have probably Kyle and Midori and Jeff.

Okay.

Is there anyone from CCH also?

And I don't know if it would be Kathy Alderman or someone else.

I don't believe we do.

I was just going to say, I don't believe we do.

Okay.

I will.

Yeah, I will. Jeff and I were going back and forth about this today, so I would love to, if he could be promoted, Jeff Kositsky. Thanks, Tim.

And Jeff, whenever you get to the point where you can speak to us, just introduce yourself.

Hello. Good afternoon. Jeff Kositsky, Deputy Director at HOST.

If it is okay, Councilwoman, I'd like to defer to Midori Higa, my colleague, who's presented to this contract to committee and is probably more able to answer your questions.

Sorry about that, Midori.

I had some emails with Jeff today.

It's the only reason I called on him, but Midori Higa, our in-house expert.

Midori, as soon as you are promoted and able to, you can introduce yourself, and then I'll ask you my questions.

Hi, Midori Higa. She, her pronouns, Director of Homelessness Resolution Programs with HOST.

So just trying to understand how we do this. I thought that in the past we sometimes had

schedules attached to our provider contracts that went over what their pay rates were for

different positions. And it seems like we may have moved away from that, but that we did include

increases in the last two years that we intended to kind of go for salaries. So if you could,

first of all, describe to me how we thought about those increases. And yeah, that would be a good

first question, if that makes sense. As far as schedules for staff salaries, that's not something

we've ever included in our contracts. We do incorporate budgets. And so those would just be

line items for what we're paying or the portion that we're paying for staff. And that may not be

all of what a staff is paid or what's in their suite of benefits from an agency.

just to be clear on that part. The COLAs that we allotted across all of our contracts was

two and a half percent. And we understand that some agencies may seek to do larger COLAs,

smaller COLAs, but we wanted to be consistent across the board on what we've offered.

Okay. Thank you. That's really helpful. And I'm sure we've heard this information in different

places, but it's helpful to me to hear it in one place. So then I know that in this particular

contract, our case management ratio that we're kind of aiming for, I think, is one case manager

to 20 households. And I believe CCH may be running higher than that. Does host,

how do you go about checking in on what those ratios are looking like over the life of a contract?

We have a staff person that's monitoring the caseloads for this particular contract in our

HCC-related contracts weekly. So that's information that we're very up to date on.

with the transition in year, right from 2025 into 2026 and the number of folks that we house last

year. It's hard to stay consistent over time and we'll continue to level out that consistency over

time. And so they are being asked to do a little bit more as they work to hire up because they

haven't filled all 16 positions that are listed within the contract. And we also work to manage

that caseload for HCC with our Salvation Army partner. And then we also have someone at HOST

who's carrying a caseload to help balance that out. Okay. Do you know what the caseloads are

looking like? And I guess you could answer that over time a little bit, like where they were

before this increase or spike and then where they are now? Before December, their caseloads were

staying at that one to 20 ratio. Um, I don't know what they are exactly today for each person.

That's something that we can follow up on. That would be great. Um, and then, and then related

to that, um, I was curious for case managers who are working under this particular contract, um,

how the kind of retention and longevity in those positions has been, cause they're just,

they're hard to hire. They're hard to hire for the city. They're hard to hire for everybody.

That's not something I can speak to. CCH would need to speak to their retention. Anecdotally,

there's been a lot of folks on that team who have been with us for quite some time.

Okay. And then you said 16 stability case managers. Are those all, I just want to make

sure I understand, are all of those new positions or that we're newly funding under this contract

or just some of them are new this year?

From Evie's presentation, the HCC presentation,

we had eight case managers before,

and so we're increasing to up to 16.

Thank you.

I did not recall, but now I do.

Okay.

And then so those eight new hires,

did you say that some of them are on board

or none of them are on board yet?

I mean, I know the contract we're voting.

Some of them are in process.

CCH has a lengthier onboarding process.

So once someone is hired, they still have training period before they're doing their job.

Okay.

And just turning back to pay, although we're not laying that out in schedules, I'm curious

sort of how we think about pay for workers that are working under city contracts.

Do we ask the provider what their pay rates are, even if we're not mandating that at the contract?

Typically, that's something that's outlined in their budget when they submit an RFP.

So they might share with us what they suspect the pay would be for a person.

And sometimes they may present a range, but that's not something that we're specifically digging into with each provider or setting a base pay.

Okay, that makes sense.

And I think you know where I'm driving at with this, which is just something that I think Host has been extremely in tune with and trying to address through these colos and other things, which is making sure that if the city is paying on these contracts that we're trying to contribute to, like lifting the boat for people that do this kind of work and sort of gradually helping raise their pay over time.

And so we're not contributing to driving those wages downward or anything like that.

So whatever host is able to share with council about those budgets, I would love to see,

and I can put that a little more clearly in an email.

I think the rest of my questions are probably for CCH and can wait until after tonight.

Thank you so much, Midori and Beth and Polly.

Appreciate it.

That's all.

I had met a president, and thank you, Tim.

Thank you.

Anyone else in the queue?

All right.

The next item is resolution 260040, a resolution approving a proposed purchase order between

the City and County of Denver and Vortex Companies LLC for the purchase of one replacement Ford

F-60 Schwalm-Halpa-FSR robotic system truck build 2024 through 136 citywide.

Council Member Hines, what would you like to do with Council Resolution 260040?

So, Rule 3.6, at the request of the Department of Transportation Infrastructure,

I would like to postpone Council Resolution 26-0040 for one week to the next regular Council meeting Monday, February 2, 2026.

Dottie requested an additional week to finalize the paperwork.

Thank you.

Thank you.

No motion is required.

Council Resolution 26-0040 has been postponed to the next Council meeting on Monday, February 2, 2026.

The next item is Council Bill 25-2156, a bill for an ordinance amending Chapter 2 of the Revised Municipal Code of the City and County of Denver by amending Article 7, Division 3, and repealing Article 21 to consolidate the Office of Special Events into Denver Arts and Venues.

Council Member Alvarez, please go ahead with your comments on Council Bill 25-2156.

Thank you so much, Council President. I just wanted to highlight this important work that Denver Arts and Venue did to get rid of the Office of Special Events. I think this is one of the cases where there was a great shift in staffing to save us some dollars. And we can read about it in our latest newslet.

Thank you.

I agree.

I like the consolidation of the Office of Special Events going under Arts and Venues

and the rule changes that they brought forward at committee.

I think events will hopefully be easier for community members in the future.

This concludes the items to be called out.

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 Gilmore, will you please put the resolutions and proclamations for adoption

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.

26-0077, 25-2153, 25-2154, 25-2151, 25-2166, 26-0002, 26-0003, 26-0018, 26-0019, 26-0020,

25-1982, 26-0004, 26-0007, 25-2149, 25-2146, 25-2156, and 25-2144.

Thank you.

It has been moved by Council Member Gilmore.

Do we have a second?

Seconded by Council Member Parity.

Mr. Secretary, roll call.

Council members Flynn?

Aye.

Hines?

Aye.

Torres?

Aye.

Alvidrez?

Aye.

Gilmore?

Aye.

Gonzalez-Guterres?

Aye.

Cashman?

Aye.

Parody?

Aye.

Romero-Campbell?

Aye.

Sawyer?

Aye.

Watson?

Aye.

Madam President?

Aye.

Mr. Secretary, close the vote and announce the results.

12 ayes.

12 ayes.

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

On Monday, February 23, 2026, Council will hold a required public hearing on Council Bill 25-1069, changing the zoning classification for 1675 East 35th Avenue, 3532 North Franklin Street, 3558 North Gilpin Street, and Cole.

The required public hearing on Council Bill 25-2020, changing the zoning classification for 2001 South Acoma in Overland.

And a required public hearing on Council Bill 26-001, changing the zoning classification for 1215 East Andrews Drive in Montbello.

Any protests against Council Bills 25-1069, 25-2020, or 26-0001 must be filed with the Council offices no later than noon on February 17, 2026.

There being no further business before this body, this meeting is adjourned.

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

Hey, Denver.

Here's what's happening around the mile high this week.