Meeting colors

OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Weekly Joint Meeting of Mayor and Denver City Council - November 18, 2025

Mayor-Council Meeting — Tuesday, November 18, 2025

BodyDenver, Colorado

SessionMayor-Council Meeting

DateTuesday, November 18, 2025

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 30:29

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:00

Thanks for joining us for this weekly joint meeting of the mayor and Denver City Council.

0:06

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.

4:40

Does it look at it?

6:25

A little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit more.

9:09

We are now live on the air.

9:10

We will start with the traductions.

9:12

Thank you, distinguished gentlemen on the right.

9:14

Good morning, Mayor.

9:16

Good morning.

9:16

Paul Cash from South Denver District 6.

9:20

Savannah Gonzalez, you can as one of your council members at large.

9:23

Amanda Sawyer District 5.

9:25

Hi, good morning, Diana Romero Campbell, Southeast Denver District 4.

9:29

Hi, good morning, Darrell Watson, five district nine.

9:31

Hey, Denver.

9:27

Denver's perfect in.

9:33

Chris Hydes.

9:28

Good morning, Amanda Sanval, North West Denver District.

9:36

I'm sorry, we're tardy.

9:38

Uh apologize for starting late.

9:28

Delighted to be here.

9:40

Are there any announcements that members have for each other or for the listening public?

9:45

Yes, Councilman Sawyer.

9:46

Thanks.

9:46

Just a reminder for District 5 residents that our annual survey is open.

9:50

So please take it.

9:52

We have about a thousand responses so far.

9:54

It'll be open for another six weeks till the end of the year.

9:57

So if you are a resident of district five, please take our annual survey.

10:07

And we really do use your responses to shape our work plan for the next year.

10:12

So get out there and take our survey.

10:14

Thanks.

10:15

Councilwoman Gonzalez.

10:17

Thank you.

10:18

So myself, Councilwoman Parody, Councilman Cashman, and Councilwoman Lewis are co-hosting a um, we're calling it a community hangout.

10:27

It's, you know, things have been very difficult, I think, for employees that work for the government on various levels, whether it's at the local, city, at the federal level, most definitely.

10:37

And we are just inviting folks to come and have a meal and to share some space with other folks that may be just feeling just a lot of weight right now.

10:48

And so this is just an opportunity.

10:49

We'll be doing it at the firefighters union hall, 775 Mariposa, 3 30 to 6 30 on Friday, November 21st.

10:59

All council members, you're all invited.

11:01

So please come through so we can hang out with our fellow government employees and um, you know, just help them in this in this really tough time.

11:10

So thank you.

11:11

Thank you.

11:12

Any other announcements?

11:13

Councilman Watson.

11:14

Council President Pro Tem.

11:16

Thank you, sir.

11:17

Welcome.

11:18

Um, there's uh two things.

11:20

One, we have our senior luncheon, which is on Friday, December 5th.

11:26

Um I had to think about it.

11:27

Contact our office.

11:28

Um if you live in Southeast Denver.

11:29

Um, this is our annual luncheon um that we have at the Weltshire um event center.

11:35

Um, super excited to do that.

11:37

It starts at 11:30 at Welshire on December 5th.

11:41

Contact our office.

11:42

And then second, um, we have so many fun things going on.

11:47

Uh we have a number of our RO's um our neighborhood registered neighborhood organizations that are holding turkey trots.

11:56

So little neighborhood community events that um just bring people together.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Legislative Affairs█████████████████████████████████████████████49%

Procedural██████████████████████████████████████████46%

Public Health Policy█████5%

Summary of Proceedings

Weekly Joint Meeting of Mayor and Denver City Council - November 18, 2025

On November 18, 2025, the Denver City Council and Mayor held their weekly joint meeting. The meeting included council announcements, an update on the federal government shutdown by the Brownstein legal team, and a question-and-answer session on impacts to Denver residents and services.

Council Announcements

Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer reminded District 5 residents that the annual survey is open for another six weeks (until end of year) and has received about 1,000 responses. It shapes the District 5 work plan.
Councilwoman Savannah Gonzalez announced a "community hangout" for government employees on Friday, November 21, from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the firefighters union hall (775 Mariposa), co-hosted with Councilmembers Parody, Cashman, and Lewis.
Councilman Darrell Watson announced a senior luncheon on Friday, December 5, at 11:30 a.m. at the Weltshire event center for Southeast Denver residents, and highlighted neighborhood turkey trots in Sophomore, University Hills, and Hampton Heights on Thanksgiving, noting that the Mile High United Way Turkey Trot at Wash Park raises funds for community partners.
Councilman Chris Hydes mentioned his November community office hours on Friday, November 21, from 1:30 to 2:45 p.m. at Welton Street Cafe (2883 Welton Street).
The President noted Councilman South’s birthday (November 22).
Councilman (unidentified) gave a sports update: Denver teams had no home losses across three sports until the Nuggets lost the previous night, and the University of Denver Pioneers are ranked #4 in the nation.

Discussion Items

Federal Government Shutdown Update The mayor introduced Bart and Nadim Al-Shami from the Brownstein law firm to brief the council on the federal government shutdown and its implications. Key points:

The shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, ended the week prior (around November 11, 2025). Congress passed three appropriations bills (Agriculture, Military Construction/VA, Legislative Branch) and a continuing resolution (CR) funding the rest of the government through January 31, 2026.
Two critical deadlines: December 31, 2025, when health care subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are set to expire, and January 30, 2026, when the CR expires. If no agreement on subsidies, some individuals may face higher premiums or fail to sign up during open enrollment.
Negotiations are ongoing for a second package of appropriations bills (Defense, Labor-HHS, T-HUD, possibly Interior, CJS, Energy/Water). Bills like Homeland Security, FSGG, and State/Foreign Ops are likely to be CR’d for the remainder of the year.
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is expected to pass as it has for 50 years.

Q&A Highlights

Councilman Darrell Watson asked about long-term impacts of HR1 on SNAP benefits, noting Denver received $10 million from the state to fill pantries during the shutdown. Bart responded that the CR funds SNAP at current levels and conditions under HR1, including work requirements and eligibility changes that shift costs to states. He offered to share detailed research.
The President asked whether a standstill on December 31 could lead to another shutdown. Bart clarified that funding runs through January 31, so no immediate shutdown, but if health care subsidies are not resolved, they could become a sticking point in January negotiations.
The Mayor asked about the health care subsidy deadline and whether a deal could be reached by January 30. Nadim explained that while premiums are already affected in some states, retroactive adjustments or extended open enrollment are possible but uncertain.
Councilman Watson requested contact information from the Brownstein team, which was offered via the mayor’s office.

Key Outcomes

No formal votes were taken. The council received the federal funding update and will follow up with the Brownstein team for additional data on SNAP and other impacts.
The mayor’s office will share Brownstein’s contact information with council members.
The meeting adjourned early with no further business.

Meeting Transcript

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. Does it look at it? A little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit more. We are now live on the air. We will start with the traductions. Thank you, distinguished gentlemen on the right. Good morning, Mayor. Good morning. Paul Cash from South Denver District 6. Savannah Gonzalez, you can as one of your council members at large. Amanda Sawyer District 5. Hi, good morning, Diana Romero Campbell, Southeast Denver District 4. Hi, good morning, Darrell Watson, five district nine. Hey, Denver. Denver's perfect in. Chris Hydes. Good morning, Amanda Sanval, North West Denver District. I'm sorry, we're tardy. Uh apologize for starting late. Delighted to be here. Are there any announcements that members have for each other or for the listening public? Yes, Councilman Sawyer. Thanks. Just a reminder for District 5 residents that our annual survey is open. So please take it. We have about a thousand responses so far. It'll be open for another six weeks till the end of the year. So if you are a resident of district five, please take our annual survey. And we really do use your responses to shape our work plan for the next year. So get out there and take our survey. Thanks. Councilwoman Gonzalez. Thank you. So myself, Councilwoman Parody, Councilman Cashman, and Councilwoman Lewis are co-hosting a um, we're calling it a community hangout. It's, you know, things have been very difficult, I think, for employees that work for the government on various levels, whether it's at the local, city, at the federal level, most definitely. And we are just inviting folks to come and have a meal and to share some space with other folks that may be just feeling just a lot of weight right now. And so this is just an opportunity. We'll be doing it at the firefighters union hall, 775 Mariposa, 3 30 to 6 30 on Friday, November 21st. All council members, you're all invited. So please come through so we can hang out with our fellow government employees and um, you know, just help them in this in this really tough time. So thank you. Thank you. Any other announcements? Councilman Watson. Council President Pro Tem. Thank you, sir. Welcome. Um, there's uh two things. One, we have our senior luncheon, which is on Friday, December 5th.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI

TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com