Denver Health and Safety Committee Meeting - July 23, 2025
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Denver Health and Safety Committee Meeting - July 23, 2025
The Health and Safety Committee of the Denver City Council met on July 23, 2025, at 10:30 AM. The meeting included approval of a block of 12 grant agreements for the Healthy Food for Denver’s Kids (HFDK) initiative totaling over $12 million, and a briefing from the Office of the Independent Monitor (OIM) on a proposed Education-Based Discipline (EBD) policy for the Denver Police Department. The committee also approved one consent item.
Consent Calendar
- Council Bill 25-1044: Amends a revenue agreement with the Colorado Division of Criminal Justice to add $8,376,054.13 for a new total of $16,588,725.53 and extend the end date to 9-30-2026 for continued funding of Denver Community Corrections. Approved by consent.
Healthy Food for Denver’s Kids Grant Approvals
- The committee received a presentation from DDPHE staff on the HFDK program, established by voter-approved ballot measure 302 in 2018, funded by a 0.08% sales tax (approx. $11 million/year). The program has distributed ~$86 million across five cohorts since 2020, serving over 149,000 unique families in 2024, providing over 47 million meals and snacks, creating 670 youth jobs, and distributing 34 million pounds of food. Approximately 15% of Denverites are food insecure, with higher rates among households with children.
- Staff presented 13 resolutions (25-1020 through 25-1031) for the sixth cohort (HFDK 06), totaling over $12 million. The resolutions include grants to Clayton Early Learning ($1,000,000), Colorado Food Cluster ($856,891.09), East Colfax Community Collective ($795,323.24), Frontline Farming ($989,374.82), The Hadanou Collective dba Southwest Food Coalition ($999,680.00), Hunger Free Colorado ($983,116.56), Kaizen Food Rescue ($999,999.87), The Consumption Literacy Project ($1,000,000.00), WeeCycle ($999,999.58), Denver Health and Hospital Authority ($1,000,000.00), Denver Public Schools Food and Nutrition Services ($863,500.00), and Denver Public Schools ($574,179.52). One additional resolution (CWEE) was deferred to the next week. Contracts run through 7-31-2028.
- Council members expressed strong support for the program. Councilmember Torres noted the program’s effectiveness and asked about contingency funds and administrative allowance (approx. 8-9% of 10% allowed). Councilmember Parady asked about WIC application processing times at Denver Health. Councilmember Flynn questioned why only one grantee serves District 2 and inquired about Kamoon Denver. Staff explained Kamoon is a current grantee with a contract through 2027 and that the Hadanou Collective is a fiscal sponsor for Southwest Food Coalition. Councilmember Sawyer suggested exploring future expansion to serve seniors.
- A motion by Councilmember Torres, seconded by Councilmember Sawyer, to approve resolutions 25-1020 through 25-1031 in a block carried 7-0. (Voting aye: Flynn, Gonzales-Gutierrez, Parady, Sandoval, Sawyer, Torres, Watson.)
Office of the Independent Monitor Briefing on DPD Discipline Policy
- Independent Monitor Elizabeth Perez-Castle briefed the committee on the proposed Education-Based Discipline (EBD) policy for the Denver Police Department. She stated that EBD would replace traditional discipline for certain violations (categories A-C) with training, and argued that it lacks best-practice research, reduces accountability, and undermines community trust. She noted that the policy was developed without sufficient OIM or community input, in violation of the ordinance requiring OIM review of significant policy changes. She cited oversight assessments from Washington D.C. and Los Angeles that criticized EBD. She emphasized that the current discipline matrix was developed with extensive community input over three years in 2005-2008, and that changing it unilaterally would betray that agreement.
- Council members expressed concern about the lack of DPD presence at the briefing, the process, and the need for full community input. Councilmember Sawyer requested a future meeting with DPD present for a full conversation. Councilmember Torres noted the importance of understanding charter and ordinance requirements. Councilmember Flynn requested that Chief Thomas present to the committee instead of just at Mayor-Council. Councilmember Gonzalez-Gutierrez conveyed Councilmember Cashman’s opposition to weakening OIM or citizen oversight board roles. The chair acknowledged the concerns and stated that the committee would schedule a full presentation with Chief Thomas.
- No vote was taken on the EBD policy.
Key Outcomes
- Approved: Resolutions 25-1020 through 25-1031 (Healthy Food for Denver’s Kids grants) in a block vote of 7-0.
- Approved: Consent item 25-1044 (Denver Community Corrections funding amendment).
- Next Steps: The committee agreed to schedule a future meeting with Denver Police Chief Thomas to present and discuss the proposed EBD policy, with opportunity for public comment and full council dialogue.
Meeting Transcript
Welcome back to this weekly meeting of the Health and Safety Committee with Denver City Council. Coverage of the Health and Safety Committee starts now. Good morning and welcome to the uh new Health and Safety Committee. My name is Daryl Watts, and I'm honored to serve all the residents of Define District 9. I'm also honored to be the new committee chair for health and safety. Uh this is going to be a weekly meeting, and it will provide an opportunity for us to engage in dialogue around um increasing community health and safety. I want to thank uh council president uh for trusting myself and uh Vice Chair Flynn as well as my colleagues on this committee for stewardship of these uh very important discussions. Uh our focus on this committee will be to increase transparency in government to educate on how your city supports actions to increase community health and safety. Uh this committee will keep our constituents like my mother that's watching right now, and thanks, Mom's gonna be texting me in a second, um, informed and communities engaged on all of these important discussions. Uh today we have several action items as a block. We have one consent item before we begin. Um, why don't we go around a room and have introductions of city council members starting on my right? Is that this way? That's you. Oh, I apparently don't know my right from my left. Amanda Sawyer, District 5. Good morning, Diana Romero Campbell, Southeast Denver District 4. Sarah Perdy, I'm one of your two council members at large. Uh good morning, Paul Cashman, South Denver District 6, and I wish a mother a good committee. Thank you. Good morning, Sadena Gonzalez Gutierrez, your other council member at large. Jamie Torres, West Denver District 3. Thank you so much. And I believe we have Councilmember Flynn online. Yes, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Kevin Flynn. Uh Council District 2 in beautiful Southwest Denver in the heart of your mom. My mom says hi back, Councilmember. We have uh a block action item and a presentation 251020. Um the Department of Public Health and Environment. I'll hand it over to you all to introduce yourselves and roll with the uh presentation. There are about 20 minutes because we uh assume we're gonna have quite a few questions from city council members. So the floor is yours. Perfect. Um, thank you all for welcoming us and giving us this opportunity to speak. We're super excited. Um, my name is Stephanie Briggs. Apologies if on the presentation you may see the name Jess. She's out SECM covering for her today. Um, I'm the contract compliance uh administrator for Healthy Food for Denver's kids, and this is my colleague Mikhaila. Hi, everyone. My name is Michaela Mullins. I use she her pronouns, and I'm a program associate for Healthy Food for Denver's Kids. I'm good to see you all. Hi all. I'm not presenting but can support with QA, Lauren Howe, she, her pronouns, Healthy Food for Denver's Kids Program Supervisor. And we're here today to request the approval of 13 new resolutions for the Healthy Food for Denver's Kids HFDK 06. So a quick overview of today's presentation. We'll begin with the background on the Healthy Food for Denver's kids program and the role of our commission, and then we'll share an overview of our evaluation and funding activities, followed by a brief explanation of our compliance and contracting process.
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