Weekly Joint Meeting of Mayor and Denver City Council - November 4, 2025
Weekly Joint Meeting of Mayor and Denver City Council - November 4, 2025
The Mayor and Denver City Council held their weekly joint meeting on November 4, 2025, starting at 4:30 PM. The meeting featured progress updates on 2025 citywide goals through Q3, public announcements, and motions to enter executive session for legal and real estate discussions.
Announcements
- Councilman Watson announced a November 5 community meeting on the Walton Mobility study at Glen Arm Rec Center from 5:30–7 PM, aimed at developing a transit-rich corridor.
- Council Torres invited the public to Westwood’s Dia de los Muertos festival, with events from Friday through Sunday on Morrison Road.
- A reminder was given that Election Day ballots were due November 4 by 7 PM, with same-day registration and replacement ballots available at service centers.
Discussion Items
Q3 2025 Citywide Goals Update
The Mayor reported on six key goals:
- Vibrant: The Vibrant Bond measure (60 projects) is on the ballot, with over 7,000 residents providing input at 50+ public meetings. 16th Street fully reopened. 61 new businesses opened downtown year-to-date, triple the 2023 average.
- Safe: Shootings decreased beyond the 15% target. Year-to-date homicides down 47% (34 compared to 89 full-year in 2023). Non-fatal shootings down 22%.
- Affordable: 1,700 affordable units created so far, on track for 3,000. An office-to-residential conversion program through the Downtown Denver Authority is adding 236 units. A property tax abatement pilot for middle-income housing could permit over 1,000 units. Units are income-restricted (rent ≤30% income).
- All-In Mile High (homelessness): Over 2,000 people placed into transitional housing/shelter, exceeding the annual goal. However, 500 planned housing exits have been stalled due to lost federal and state vouchers (100 federal, 80 state) and a five-week HUD shutdown (273 units unprocessed). This may affect 2026 targets.
- Climate Resilient: 1,500 heat pumps, EV chargers, and solar arrays installed; 2,800 under contract (ahead of 2,000 target). Tree planting at 81% progress. Water savings goal already met via native grass conversion.
- Family Friendly: 52,000 kids served in out-of-school programming (on track for 60,000). 3,600 young people placed in jobs, exceeding 2,500 goal by 150%.
Council Questions & Clarifications
- Council Torres requested neighborhood-level crime statistics and better outreach to community organizations.
- Councilwoman LV dress asked about the affordable housing pilot tax abatement: the abatement is approximately 10–12 years, with a 30-year deed restriction. No projected tax revenue loss because the units are new construction.
- Councilman Watson asked about locations of climate initiatives; the Mayor clarified they are citywide incentives not limited to city property.
- President Protown asked about family friendly programs; discussion included integrating data with Denver Public Schools to track dosage, duration, and outcomes.
Downtown Denver Authority (DDA) Update
Council President (also a DDA board member) thanked the DDA team and noted that two new board members—a downtown resident and a small business owner—have been added, bringing more diverse voices, including women of color. She emphasized that the DDA operates with separate funds and that project success will mirror the model used for Union Station, which was paid off 15 years early. She stressed adherence to the amended plan passed in December.
Key Outcomes
- The council received the Q3 update with acknowledgment of achievements and concerns about federal impacts on housing exits. Continued monitoring was noted.
- A motion was made and seconded to enter executive session pursuant to DRMC 2-34A sections 3, 6, and 7 to receive legal advice and discuss potential settlement of pending litigation. The motion passed unanimously.
- Following the DDA discussion, a second motion was made to enter executive session under DRMC 2-34A sections 3, 4, 6, and 7 for legal advice, settlement discussion, and real estate acquisition/sale/use. The motion passed, and the meeting entered executive session.
Meeting Transcript
Thanks for joining us. Thanks for joining us for this weekly joint meeting of the Mayor and Denver City Council. Follow along as the mayor and city council members hear updates from city agencies and projects. Discuss important city matters and hear about what's happening across the Mile High City. Thank you for coming to this special Paul Cashman birthday edition of the year council. We are delighted to be gathered here. Um we will start with introductions. Let's start with the birthday boy himself. Thank you. Good morning, Diana Romero Campbell, Southeast Denver District Four. Good morning, Amanda Soundboard, Northwest Denver District One. Well, great to see you all. Thanks so much for being here this morning. I know you had a late night, so thanks for being back again this morning. We have a couple of things on the agenda. One is just an update on progress on citywide goals for the quarter. We then do have an executive session and a closed session for a couple other items. But we will start first with announcements. If there are any council members who have announcements for the fellow members of the listening public, Councilman Watson. We have a community meeting to discuss Walton Mobility study that Department of Transportation Infrastructure, my team, and RTD will be engaging in. The meeting begins at 5 30. They'll be at Glen Arm Rec Center, goes from 5 30 to 7 p.m. Really looking forward for neighbors that live near the Walton Street Corridor, that live in five points to come out. Share your thoughts on really what type of mobility you're thinking of for that corridor. Our hope is to develop a transit-rich corridor across DeWalton Street, our corridor up towards uh 38th and Blake. Looking forward to gathering with you tomorrow evening. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, sir. I think Council Torres, you're up. Thank you. Join us in Westwood for the Adelaide Los Muertos weekend. Umartos and Westwood begins on Friday with altar building from uh 6 to 9 p.m. And then uh all day Saturday and Sunday will be open for the festival uh noon to 8 p.m. So that's on Morrison Road and Perry, roughly. That's one of the great celebrations of the year. Definitely come join us. Any other announcements? Oh yeah, we have important eight. I was gonna say, thank you. Vote uh however you would choose to vote. Vote ballots are due today. You can drop them off till seven o'clock. You can still register today if you haven't and vote in the same day, and so try to make it as easy as possible. If you've lost your ballot, you can still come in to a service center and get a replacement one. So Denver works hard to make it as easy as possible. Um, wonderful. Uh we will jump into our general session updates, which is I just want to give you a quick update on our goals for the year heading into quarter three, as the members of the public know at the beginning of the year. We set uh big citywide goals that all of our departments are working on collaboratively that we're trying to accomplish that are focused on key areas of resident need, and then each quarter we update both the public and the council on what progress we're making on those, what uh where we're making great progress, where we have concerns, what those challenges might be. And so we want to update you as some of these as you can imagine are being affected by both federal and state budget cuts as well as by federal government closures.
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