Mayor and Denver City Council Weekly Session – December 19, 2023
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Mayor and Denver City Council Weekly Session – December 19, 2023
This meeting of the Denver Mayor and City Council convened on December 19, 2023 at 8:30 AM. The council heard holiday announcements, updates on housing and community events, a review of board and commission diversity efforts, and voted unanimously to enter an executive session. No agenda or minutes were available; this summary is based solely on the meeting transcript.
Announcements & Reports
- Council President Pro Tem Sandoval called for grace and compassion toward city staff, shelter workers, and everyone working with migrant communities during the holiday season, acknowledging that her own patience had been tested by emails.
- Councilman Daryl Watson of District 9 announced a community information meeting on Thursday, December 21, 2023 from 6:00–7:30 p.m. at the Johnson Rex Center regarding the Radison conversion to house unsheltered residents through the 'housing 1000 process.' Food and childcare will be provided.
- Council President Jamie Torres announced the groundbreaking of 'The Three at Theodora' family hotel on West Colfax, a five-story, 60-family suite project with a $27 million budget. It converts an old motel into family homes, with Volunteers of America as a partner.
- Mayor and Council President initiated the holiday 'ugly sweater competition.'
Discussion Items
- Mayor highlighted upcoming appointments to boards and commissions, emphasizing a goal of increasing diversity across all city boards. Esther is leading the review. Council President Torres suggested consulting Human Rights and Community Partnerships about their diversity matrices.
Key Outcomes
- The Council voted unanimously to enter executive session under state statute 24-34-C(a)(3) and (4) for settlement negotiations and legal advice related to municipal bus regulations. The meeting then recessed for that session.
Meeting Transcript
Welcome to this meeting of the mayor and Denver City Council. At this weekly session, city agencies brief the mayor and council members on various proposals and projects across the city. This meeting of the mayor and city council members begins now. Okay, you're early on. Good morning. Council members and residents of the fine city and county of Denver, thank you for joining us for this August morning meeting, in which the council president and I are leading on an ugly sweater competition. So we are proud to celebrate that. I'm actually just tagging along to the council effort on this one. Um we will start with some introductions. I know late night last night, so thank you all for being here. The distinguished councilman from District Six, I'll let you begin. I always like to introduce me that way, Mayor. My my kids never do. Um Paul Cashman, I represent uh South Denver District Six. Good morning, everyone. Serena Gonzalez Cuchares, uh, representing the city at large. Uh good morning, Daryl Watson, flying district nine. Uh and Jamie Torres, Council District Three. Uh, thank you all. Great to see you. Um, we have a shorter agenda this morning, but I would love to open up for announcements that anyone has that they would love to make on any items in their district or uh things that they want to share. Council President Pro Time Sandoval. Thank you. Um I don't think we'll convene again before the holidays, so just want to say happy holidays to everyone who celebrates Christmas, happy Hanukkah to those who celebrate Hanukkah. Um, and in this season of giving, um, my community has really showed up for um the migrant community, and I just ask everybody um to offer a little bit of grace and compassion to all of the city workers, all of our shelter workers, and everybody who's doing going above and beyond right now. It's a lot going on in the city. And I know personally my patience has been tested by some of the emails that I'm getting. And so I also have to work on offering a little bit more grace and compassion during this time of giving and just remind remembering what this season is. It's not about us, it's about others. So I'm just gonna say that publicly and continue to push that for the next week. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council President Pro Tem. Powerfully said. Councilman Watson. Uh thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, in District 9 on Thursday, we have a community information meeting. It may be one of the last ones for the housing 1000 process. It will be in the global Elias Swansea or inviting folks from the global Swansa communities to come and speak with us uh about the Radison uh conversion um to house um um some of our unsheltered uh neighbors. We're holding at the Johnson Rex Center um and that'll be Thursday, December 21st, 6 to 7 30 p.m. Food will be provided, uh child care be provided. We look forward to receiving your input um on this process, and because councilwoman uh Romero Campbell is not here, I'll do her regular PSA um during holidays. We encourage folks to enjoy themselves, enjoy the holidays and all of the experiences with family and friends, but to do it safely, uh use a um a a uh uh uh call a ride to pick you up a ride share to pick you up and take you to and from so that we all can share a uh wonderful happy new year together. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Councilman Watson. Councilman Cashman was laughing at me um taking the donuts apart. It's uh regular PS quite um there's there's a specific rule, and it's called donut math, which is if you eat two separate halves of a donut, that does not equal a whole donut. So you can actually eat three separate halves.
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