OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Health and Safety Committee Meeting - August 5, 2026 at 5:45 PM

Council Committees — Wednesday, August 5, 2026
BodyDenver, Colorado
SessionCouncil Committees
DateWednesday, August 5, 2026
StatusNEW · FILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:21:31
Transcript — Verbatim
0:01

Welcome back to this weekly meeting of the Health and Safety Committee with Denver City Council.

0:10

Coverage of the Health and Safety Committee starts now.

0:20

Good morning and welcome to the August 5th uh meeting for the Health and Safety Committee.

0:25

My name is Darrell Watson.

0:26

I'm honored to serve as a chair of the Health and Safety Committee and also as the City Councilmember representing all of the flying district nine.

0:33

Um we have two action items this morning and four items on consent.

0:36

But before we roll into the agenda, why don't we have introductions by city council members, and I'll start on my right.

0:47

Good morning, Diana Romero Campbell, Southeast Denver District 4.

0:51

And good morning, Paul Cashman, South Denver District 6.

0:54

Good morning, Amanda Sanima, Northwest Denver District Right.

0:57

Jamie Torres, West Denver District 3.

1:00

Just verify, I don't think we have any participants that are virtual.

1:05

Seeing none, um, we have the first action item.

1:09

It's uh 261127, the Office of Children's Affairs.

1:12

Um we have our presentation, so I'll turn it over to our good friend uh Red Gutierrez to introduce himself and his team, and I'll turn the floor over to you.

1:20

Yeah, thank you, Mr.

1:21

Chairman.

1:22

Uh Reciteras, I lead the policy and legislative work for the Office of Children's Affairs.

1:26

Um I always feel like it's a privilege to be with you all and to sit at the stable with you all, but today feels a little extra special for me personally because I'm joined by two colleagues that I couldn't be more excited to have their expertise at the table with me.

1:40

And so I'll hand it over to these young leaders to introduce themselves.

1:44

All right, hi, my name is Eiley Donegar.

1:46

Uh, I recently finished my third term on the commission and graduated high school.

1:50

So, hi, um, my name's Anya Sharma, and I recently also completed my third year, and I'm a rising senior at Northfield High School.

2:00

Um, so we are also missing uh one other gentleman, Nico Franco, who is a junior at George Washington High School, who couldn't be with us today, but um know that his imprint is all over this presentation as well.

2:12

Um, and the reason Eileen Anya are with me today is because we're talking about the Mayor's Youth Commission and making some updates to the commission and to the ordinance that governs it.

2:20

Um, just as a little overview of what we'll be talking about, we'll give you a little bit of background on the youth commission.

2:26

Um give you a little bit of the overview of what we're asking to change, the why behind it, some of the strategic partnerships that really led to that work, and you'll see some of those folks in the audience today.

2:37

Um, and then Anya and Eiley will lead us in a deep dive of what those changes will look like and what and what that impact will be.

2:43

Um, then we'll obviously leave time for questions.

2:46

In short, we're looking to amend the Denver Revised Municipal Code, Chapter 2, Article 8, the ordinance governing the Mayor's Youth Commission, so that the youth commission can be more representative and more inclusive of all Denver Youth, and so that that group can have more impact throughout the city.

3:02

I'll hand it over to Eiley.

3:04

All right, so the Mayor's Youth Commission has a deep history in Denver.

3:07

A former mayor has even mentioned serving on a previous version of the commission themselves.

3:11

But for our purposes today, the commission was established in 2003.

3:16

At that time, two advisory groups were created under the mayor's Office of Education and Children, MOE.

3:22

One was the Youth Commission, which is the precursor to Mayor's Youth Commission.

3:26

The other was the Commission on Youth, which oversaw a lot of the youth development work that OCA still leads today.

3:32

In 2013, MOC transitioned into the Office of Children's Affairs, and the Commission on Youth was replaced by youth development work that was already underway.

3:40

That left the Mayor's Youth Commission as the sole advisory group within OCA.

3:44

In 2015, the Mayor's Youth Commission grew from 12 youth members to 20, while the adult commissioners supporting them dropped from 10 members to 8.

3:52

So there's already some precedent for the kinds of changes we're proposing today.

3:56

In 2025, NYC made a significant programmatic shift, moving towards a policy development role and program advisory role beyond solely advising OCA.

4:05

Around the same time, OCA also launched its partnership with UNICEF USA, joining the Child Friendly Cities Initiative.

4:12

That brings us to today, 2026, where we're hoping to make some changes to the ordinance.

4:18

So currently MYC is made up of a total of 28 commissioners, 20 of which are youth, and eight of which are adults.

4:25

We serve as advisors on the problems affecting our youth, identifying the challenges young people face and developing ideas and creative solutions for the mayor's office and OCA.

4:36

So our youth are high school students who live in or attend school here while the adult while the adult commissioners are city employees and representatives from youth serving organizations.

4:49

So before we get into the details, I want to give a quick overview.

4:53

We're proposing several updates to the Mayor's Youth Commission ordinance.

5:00

These changes are meant to strengthen the commission, increase youth participation, and make sure more young people have a voice.

5:04

We'll walk through each change in the upcoming slides.

5:09

So proposing these changes helps fulfill one of these three goals.

5:14

First, it increases youth participation from all around and ensures the many diverse perspectives that each youth can bring to the table.

5:21

It is also meant to position the youth commission to be more involved in the decision making process.

5:26

As youth voice is very necessary to effective policy and program design.

5:31

Now these changes aren't just an investment in young people, they're an investment in Denver.

5:36

By creating more opportunities for youth to participate, we're building stronger partnerships and creating policies that successfully reflect the needs of our communities.

5:46

I'm going to pass it back to Rhett for the next couple slides.

5:49

Thanks, Anya.

5:50

And like Anya said, that our primary driver behind this is making sure that the Youth Commission is an inclusive space for all youth in Denver.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Youth Programs█████████████████████████████████████████████48%
Contracts And Procurement█████████████████████22%
Community Engagement██████████11%
Public Safety█████████10%
Procedural████4%
Racial Equity██2%
Affordable Housing██2%
Public Engagement█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Health and Safety Committee Meeting - August 5, 2026 at 5:45 PM

The Health and Safety Committee of the Denver City Council met on August 5, 2026, at 5:45 PM (scheduled start 10:30 AM per agenda) to discuss two action items and four consent items. The committee voted unanimously to approve all items for filing, including a proposal to amend the Mayor's Youth Commission ordinance and a contract with Denver Health for correctional health care services. Public testimony was heard on the youth commission item.

Consent Calendar

  • 26-1125: Amends a Revenue Intergovernmental Agreement with RTD to expand Denver Human Services' role in the RTD LiVE Program. No change to capacity or term, citywide.
  • 26-1126: Approves a grant agreement with the Office of National Drug Control Policy for $860,516 to support the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program, citywide.
  • 26-1128: Amends a contract with Jefferson County Public Health to add $241,000 (new total $655,180.98) and extend to June 30, 2027, for healthy food access in the Denver Metro area, citywide.
  • 26-1129: Amends a contract with Barton Institute for Community Action (fiscal sponsor of Food Justice Northwest Aurora) to add $239,000 (new total $702,000) and extend to June 30, 2027, for healthy food access, citywide.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Elle Williams (rising junior at Denver East High School, second-year Mayor's Youth Commission member): Expressed full support for the proposed ordinance changes, stating they will increase representation, allow more voices, and provide more inclusive solutions. Emphasized that requiring two youth per district and expanding the commission will ensure forgotten communities have a voice.
  • Sarah McGill (adult commissioner, director of teen and alumni programs at Girls Inc. of Metro Denver): Supported the changes, highlighting that expanding from 20 to 30 youth, ensuring district representation, shortening terms, and removing the compensation prohibition will increase access, diversity, and engagement. Stated that youth deserve compensation for their labor.
  • Dessie Baloffice (current youth commissioner, entering junior year): Supported the updates, noting that expanding the commission and ensuring district representation will give more students a voice. Also supported the commission's role as an advisory board for the entire city, as youth are directly impacted by decisions on transportation, public safety, mental health, and parks.

Discussion Items

Action Item 26-1127: Amending the Mayor's Youth Commission Ordinance

  • Presentation by Rhett Gutierrez (Office of Children's Affairs) and youth commissioners Ailee Doniger and Anya Sharma: Proposed changes to the Denver Revised Municipal Code to increase youth participation, representation, and impact. Key changes include:
    • Increasing youth commissioners from 20 to 30.
    • Ensuring at least two youth commissioners from each of the 11 council districts (based on residence or school attendance).
    • Updating age eligibility to 14-18 at time of appointment.
    • Clarifying the commission's advisory role to include the mayor, OCA director, and other city officials.
    • Removing prohibition on youth commissioner compensation (subject to appropriation).
    • Shortening term length from 3 to 2 years.
    • Allowing new commissioners appointed to fill vacancies to serve full terms.
    • Removing the formal role of chairperson to allow flexible leadership structures.
  • Councilmember Torres: Requested adding city council confirmation of appointments to maintain an active role and ensure permanent records. Suggested this could be added before first reading.
  • Councilmember Sandoval: Supported the changes but expressed concern that compensation language ("may be compensated subject to appropriation") might never be funded. Preferred stronger language requiring compensation. Also supported council confirmation for record-keeping and outreach.
  • Councilmember Flynn: Inquired about recruitment methods. Learned that outreach is expanding through community-based organizations and word-of-mouth; social media and parents are key recruitment channels.
  • Councilmember Gonzales-Gutierrez: Proposed renaming the commission from "Mayor's Youth Commission" to "Denver Youth Commission" to reflect its broader advisory role. Also supported council confirmation. Rhett Gutierrez agreed to discuss these ideas further.
  • Councilmember Kashmann: Expressed 100% support and urged the mayor to reflect youth priorities in the budget.
  • Councilmember Romero Campbell: Asked about the number of youth commissioners (30 vs. 33 for three per district) and adult commissioner ratio. OCA indicated openness to adjustments.

Action Item 26-1036: Contract with Denver Health for Correctional Health Care Services

  • Presentation by Sheriff Elias Diggin and Donna Lynn (CEO of Denver Health): The contract is for $55,031,460 (2026-2028) to provide comprehensive health care services at Denver County Jail and Downtown Detention Center. This was previously part of the Denver Health operating agreement with DDPHE; it was pulled out as a standalone contract due to the sheriff's direct relationship. Services cover 23,000 intakes annually, including behavioral health, opioid withdrawal, and suicide prevention. Denver Health is accredited by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care.
  • Councilmember Torres: Questioned why the contract was not subject to an RFP. Tim Hoffman (Mayor's Office) cited continuity of service under Executive Order 8 (section 4.4.2.6). Councilmember Torres asked for clarity on the end-of-contract process.
  • Councilmember Sandoval: Expressed strong concerns about the process—lack of advance notice from the administration, the use of a contract instead of an operating agreement, the 10% administrative fee, and the 3% escalator for merit increases (which she noted is unusual outside collective bargaining agreements). She stated that the contract language is largely new and that the 3% escalator guarantees raises not offered to most city employees. She emphasized that her concerns are about process, not the service provided by Denver Health.
  • Councilmember Kashmann: Clarified that the contract covers care inside the jails and the Downtown Detention Center, but not the CCMF inpatient unit at Denver Health (which remains under the operating agreement).

Key Outcomes

  • Action Item 26-1127: Approved for filing by a vote of 7-0. Councilmembers requested amendments (city council confirmation and possible name change) to be discussed before final passage.
  • Action Item 26-1036: Approved for filing by a vote of 7-0. Councilmembers expressed concerns about process and requested better communication from the administration for future contracts of this nature.
  • Consent Items (26-1125, 26-1126, 26-1128, 26-1129): Approved en bloc by a vote of 7-0.
  • Next Steps: The youth commission ordinance will be further refined with council input before first reading. The Denver Health contract will proceed to the full council with a 30-day review period ending August 17, 2026.

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 August 5th uh meeting for the Health and Safety Committee. My name is Darrell Watson. I'm honored to serve as a chair of the Health and Safety Committee and also as the City Councilmember representing all of the flying district nine. Um we have two action items this morning and four items on consent. But before we roll into the agenda, why don't we have introductions by city council members, and I'll start on my right. Good morning, Diana Romero Campbell, Southeast Denver District 4. And good morning, Paul Cashman, South Denver District 6. Good morning, Amanda Sanima, Northwest Denver District Right. Jamie Torres, West Denver District 3. Just verify, I don't think we have any participants that are virtual. Seeing none, um, we have the first action item. It's uh 261127, the Office of Children's Affairs. Um we have our presentation, so I'll turn it over to our good friend uh Red Gutierrez to introduce himself and his team, and I'll turn the floor over to you. Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh Reciteras, I lead the policy and legislative work for the Office of Children's Affairs. Um I always feel like it's a privilege to be with you all and to sit at the stable with you all, but today feels a little extra special for me personally because I'm joined by two colleagues that I couldn't be more excited to have their expertise at the table with me. And so I'll hand it over to these young leaders to introduce themselves. All right, hi, my name is Eiley Donegar. Uh, I recently finished my third term on the commission and graduated high school. So, hi, um, my name's Anya Sharma, and I recently also completed my third year, and I'm a rising senior at Northfield High School. Um, so we are also missing uh one other gentleman, Nico Franco, who is a junior at George Washington High School, who couldn't be with us today, but um know that his imprint is all over this presentation as well. Um, and the reason Eileen Anya are with me today is because we're talking about the Mayor's Youth Commission and making some updates to the commission and to the ordinance that governs it. Um, just as a little overview of what we'll be talking about, we'll give you a little bit of background on the youth commission. Um give you a little bit of the overview of what we're asking to change, the why behind it, some of the strategic partnerships that really led to that work, and you'll see some of those folks in the audience today. Um, and then Anya and Eiley will lead us in a deep dive of what those changes will look like and what and what that impact will be. Um, then we'll obviously leave time for questions. In short, we're looking to amend the Denver Revised Municipal Code, Chapter 2, Article 8, the ordinance governing the Mayor's Youth Commission, so that the youth commission can be more representative and more inclusive of all Denver Youth, and so that that group can have more impact throughout the city. I'll hand it over to Eiley. All right, so the Mayor's Youth Commission has a deep history in Denver. A former mayor has even mentioned serving on a previous version of the commission themselves. But for our purposes today, the commission was established in 2003. At that time, two advisory groups were created under the mayor's Office of Education and Children, MOE. One was the Youth Commission, which is the precursor to Mayor's Youth Commission. The other was the Commission on Youth, which oversaw a lot of the youth development work that OCA still leads today. In 2013, MOC transitioned into the Office of Children's Affairs, and the Commission on Youth was replaced by youth development work that was already underway. That left the Mayor's Youth Commission as the sole advisory group within OCA. In 2015, the Mayor's Youth Commission grew from 12 youth members to 20, while the adult commissioners supporting them dropped from 10 members to 8. So there's already some precedent for the kinds of changes we're proposing today. In 2025, NYC made a significant programmatic shift, moving towards a policy development role and program advisory role beyond solely advising OCA. Around the same time, OCA also launched its partnership with UNICEF USA, joining the Child Friendly Cities Initiative. That brings us to today, 2026, where we're hoping to make some changes to the ordinance. So currently MYC is made up of a total of 28 commissioners, 20 of which are youth, and eight of which are adults. We serve as advisors on the problems affecting our youth, identifying the challenges young people face and developing ideas and creative solutions for the mayor's office and OCA. So our youth are high school students who live in or attend school here while the adult while the adult commissioners are city employees and representatives from youth serving organizations. So before we get into the details, I want to give a quick overview. We're proposing several updates to the Mayor's Youth Commission ordinance. These changes are meant to strengthen the commission, increase youth participation, and make sure more young people have a voice.

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