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Record of Proceedings

Denver Mayor and City Council Meeting: Summer Youth Programs and Child Friendly City Initiative - May 6, 2025

Mayor-Council Meeting — Tuesday, May 6, 2025
BodyDenver, Colorado
SessionMayor-Council Meeting
DateTuesday, May 6, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 35:07

Transcript — Verbatim
0:01

Welcome to this meeting of the mayor and Denver City Council.

0:05

At this weekly session, city agencies brief the mayor and council members on various proposals and projects across the city.

0:13

This meeting of the mayor and city council members begins now.

2:00

Oh my god, good morning, everybody.

2:08

Thank you for joining.

2:09

Welcome to Mayor Council.

2:10

We are delighted to have you here.

2:12

Yes, I am wearing the Aaron Gordon jersey to work because when you score a three-pointer at the buzzer with the number one up on the city thunder, you get to have your jersey worn by anyone who wants to wear one.

2:22

Um thanks for being here.

2:24

We will start with introductions.

2:26

The distinguished gentleman to my right, could you please kick us off?

2:29

Yeah, thank you very much, Mayor Paul Cashman Shop Dender District Six, and I would just like to say Aaron Gordon.

2:37

Unbelievable.

2:38

Councilman.

2:40

Good to have you.

2:41

Good morning.

2:42

It's lucky just strike seven.

2:43

Tammy Torres, West Denver District Three.

2:46

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

2:49

And you didn't bring a jersey for everyone.

2:50

I should have done that.

2:51

Sorry, I was barely.

2:52

Eric Gordon, there you go.

2:54

Myself in the door.

2:55

Um all right, y'all.

2:57

Delighted to be with you.

3:00

We have a couple of topics this morning that we're really excited to update you on as it relates to our work with our family-friendly goal and efforts to support uh young people around the city and want to talk both about summer programming for school-aged kids.

3:14

And so if you are a parent uh like I have been for many years, you're like, oh my gosh, I forgot to sign my kids up for camps five week months ago when the rest of the family started, and you're now thinking of what is my plan for the summer, what services are available, what can be found, where and when, and that's in my price range at the time of day that works for my work schedule.

3:31

Uh fortunately, our team at Children's Affairs has created an entire platform to make that very easy for parents.

3:37

So I want to have her update us on that.

3:39

Uh, and also talk a little about our very exciting UNICEF Child Friendly City Initiative, which Councilman Cashman has been leading in.

3:45

So I'd love to introduce Jess Ridgeway.

3:47

You can want up and educate us all.

3:49

Announcements.

3:49

Thanks so much.

3:50

And I got so excited I skipped announcements.

3:52

So you could sit down and just wait for a second.

3:54

Stay here, stay here.

3:55

Stay with us.

3:56

Just let me let me um thank you.

3:57

It's good to have the president around to remind me when I'm processing.

4:02

I appreciate that.

4:02

It might not be any.

4:03

Are there any announcements this morning that people might have?

4:08

Yes, Councilman of Vidres.

4:10

Um, I'm double checking really quick.

4:12

But I believe it's Councilman Hines' birthday.

4:16

Is it?

4:17

Tomorrow.

4:17

Tomorrow.

4:19

Councilman Heinz.

4:22

That's all I got.

4:23

Happy birthday.

4:27

Happy early birthday.

4:29

That's my aide Andre uh Sevick.

4:32

Uh, his birthday was yesterday.

4:34

Yeah, well, that's a whole birthday week over in the perfect time.

4:37

Excellent.

4:38

Councilman Sawyer.

4:39

Thanks.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Youth Programs█████████████████████████████████████████████80%
Procedural█████9%
Community Engagement████7%
Business Improvement Districts█2%
Worker Protections█2%
Summary of Proceedings

Denver Mayor and City Council Meeting: Summer Youth Programs and Child Friendly City Initiative - May 6, 2025

This weekly session of the Mayor and Denver City Council featured briefings on two family-friendly goals: connecting 5,000 children to high-quality out-of-school time programs and connecting 2,500 young adults to summer jobs, alongside an update on the UNICEF Child Friendly City Initiative (CFCI). Council members provided feedback on program accessibility, youth employment challenges, and opportunities for deeper youth engagement.

Discussion Items

  • Summer Out-of-School Time Programs: Jess Ridgeway of the Office of Children's Affairs presented the goal to connect 5,000 additional kids to quality programs, with a focus on middle school students. The city has launched a website (DenverGov.org/youth) as a one-stop shop for program and job listings. Funding comes from reallocating existing dollars and an RFP to community organizations; no new city investment was mentioned. Council member McCallby expressed concern about inaccurate listings on the dashboard (e.g., a dentist's office listed as a program) and requested better vetting. She also noted she and Council member Romero Campbell were assigned to the family-friendly goals but had not yet been included in meetings; Ridgeway agreed to reach out to include them.
  • Youth Works Summer Jobs Program: The goal is to place 2,500 youth ages 14–21 in summer jobs. Youth who work 100 hours receive a $500 retention bonus. Employers hiring youth (up to 10) can receive $1,000 per youth as an incentive. Council member Sword highlighted that Denver's minimum wage ($19/hour) discourages employers from hiring inexperienced teens, though an exception allows a $2/hour discount for first-time seasonal high-school workers plus the $1,000 employer incentive. He noted many employers are unaware of the incentive. Council member Hinds noted the $1,000 per employee equates to roughly $10/hour for 100 hours, calling it significant help. Council member Cashman suggested the city provide coaching to employers on positive youth development and peer cohort models to improve retention; Ridgeway confirmed they are already training Denver Parks and Rec and Denver Libraries staff.
  • UNICEF Child Friendly City Initiative (CFCI): Council member Cashman credited constituent Sarah Morgan for the idea. Ridgeway explained that CFCI is a global framework for embedding youth voices in governance. Denver already has the People's Budget and the Mayor's Youth Commission, but CFCI will help create a local action plan by fall 2025 through community engagement and surveys. Council members are invited to co-host community conversations to gather feedback. Cashman emphasized the need to elevate youth participation beyond the initiative.

Key Outcomes

  • The city will send out a newsletter to council members to distribute to their constituents to promote summer job and program sign-ups (800 jobs still open as of the meeting).
  • Council members McCallby and Romero Campbell will be included in regular family-friendly goal update meetings.
  • The Office of Children's Affairs will reach out to council members to partner on CFCI community engagement events over the summer.
  • No formal votes were taken; all actions were informational or directive.

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. Oh my god, good morning, everybody. Thank you for joining. Welcome to Mayor Council. We are delighted to have you here. Yes, I am wearing the Aaron Gordon jersey to work because when you score a three-pointer at the buzzer with the number one up on the city thunder, you get to have your jersey worn by anyone who wants to wear one. Um thanks for being here. We will start with introductions. The distinguished gentleman to my right, could you please kick us off? Yeah, thank you very much, Mayor Paul Cashman Shop Dender District Six, and I would just like to say Aaron Gordon. Unbelievable. Councilman. Good to have you. Good morning. It's lucky just strike seven. Tammy Torres, West Denver District Three. Good morning, Diana Romero Campbell, Southeast Denver District Four. And you didn't bring a jersey for everyone. I should have done that. Sorry, I was barely. Eric Gordon, there you go. Myself in the door. Um all right, y'all. Delighted to be with you. We have a couple of topics this morning that we're really excited to update you on as it relates to our work with our family-friendly goal and efforts to support uh young people around the city and want to talk both about summer programming for school-aged kids. And so if you are a parent uh like I have been for many years, you're like, oh my gosh, I forgot to sign my kids up for camps five week months ago when the rest of the family started, and you're now thinking of what is my plan for the summer, what services are available, what can be found, where and when, and that's in my price range at the time of day that works for my work schedule. Uh fortunately, our team at Children's Affairs has created an entire platform to make that very easy for parents. So I want to have her update us on that. Uh, and also talk a little about our very exciting UNICEF Child Friendly City Initiative, which Councilman Cashman has been leading in. So I'd love to introduce Jess Ridgeway. You can want up and educate us all. Announcements. Thanks so much. And I got so excited I skipped announcements. So you could sit down and just wait for a second. Stay here, stay here. Stay with us. Just let me let me um thank you. It's good to have the president around to remind me when I'm processing. I appreciate that. It might not be any. Are there any announcements this morning that people might have? Yes, Councilman of Vidres. Um, I'm double checking really quick. But I believe it's Councilman Hines' birthday. Is it? Tomorrow. Tomorrow.

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