OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Mayor-Council Meeting: DHS Gift Program & Executive Session - Dec 9, 2025

Mayor-Council Meeting — Tuesday, December 9, 2025
BodyDenver, Colorado
SessionMayor-Council Meeting
DateTuesday, December 9, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 36:21
Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

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

0:05

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.

0:19

Starting now.

3:50

I mean, I feel that deeply.

3:52

I had chocolate.

3:54

I took that.

3:56

Good morning, everybody.

3:57

Welcome to Mayor Council.

3:58

Thank you so much for being here.

3:59

Um, just over a little.

4:02

You're going to be like, jump in because we have a full agenda.

4:11

Both uh general session, exec session, and closed session today.

4:15

So we have a whole series of items to run through.

4:18

And so we will jump in with introductions and do some announcements, and we will uh get to our program from Denver Human Services.

4:24

Delight to have them here.

4:26

Introductions.

4:27

Distinguished gentlemen on my right, you want to start us off?

4:30

Distinguished gentlemen.

4:32

Paul Cashman, South Denver, District Six.

4:36

Lucky District Seven.

4:37

Sawyer, District Five.

4:39

Good morning, Serena Gonzalez Cutierrez, as one of your council members at large.

4:42

Good morning, Darrell Watson, fine, District nine.

4:45

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

4:49

Give me Torres, West Denver District 3.

4:51

Morning Amanda Sanovo, North West Denver District 1.

4:55

Let's open with announcements?

4:56

Announcements, anyone else they want to share for fellow members or for the listening public, Councilman Sawyer.

5:03

Thanks.

4:59

Just want to remind everyone if you're a district five resident, please take our annual survey.

5:08

We're coming up on the end of it here, closes December 31st.

5:12

So you can go to our social media website and link to the survey there, DenverGov.org slash district five.

5:20

We actually use this information to shape our work plan for the following year in the District 5 office.

5:25

So please take our survey by December 31st.

5:30

Thank you.

5:31

Councilman Watson, and I have President for Tim.

5:35

Yes, I forgot to say this last night.

5:37

We had such a long evening that the Park Hill Pirates went to the Nationals this weekend.

5:45

I don't know the outcomes because I didn't look it up, but thank you.

5:48

Congratulations to Herman White and all of the Park Hill Pirates.

5:51

You all have been an institution in Park Hill on the East Side, and you are demonstrating Park Hill grit.

5:59

In Florida, I believe that's where you're at.

6:01

I'll check the scores, and by next Monday, I will share if we won the Nationals.

6:06

Thank you.

6:07

Congratulations.

6:09

Thank you, Mayor.

6:12

Okay, a few things.

6:13

Thank you to everyone who was able to come to the senior luncheon that we had last Friday.

6:19

It was wonderful, always a joyous event for everyone, over at the Wilshaw golf course, which we will also be celebrating a hundred years in 2026.

6:29

Kind of thinking like we need to highlight those who are 100 who also come.

6:34

We did have a few.

6:36

And we have uh donuts with a Grinch um at Eisenhower Rec Center between 9 30 and 11 on this Saturday.

6:45

If you are interested, uh go to either our website for the link or you can go straight uh to the website for Eisenhower and sign up for your time slot.

6:57

And then Ross University Hills Library will be closed um December 20th for renovations.

7:05

Uh the schedule for the bookmobile and all of the uh activities will be posted and available on December 15th.

7:16

Um so do sign up for my newsletter or um go to the website and we will have um additional information for all of the um library happenings and then finally today is Colorado Gives Day.

7:30

So if you haven't made your donation, you have all day to do that and go online to uh support your favorite nonprofit organization or two or three.

7:42

Um I think everyone really needs it this year, as they do every year.

7:47

But um, do sign up for Colorado Gives Day.

7:50

Um it's your opportunity to give.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural██████████████████████████████30%
Community Engagement██████████████████████████26%
Parks and Recreation██████████████████████22%
Personnel Matters█████████9%
Pending Litigation█████████9%
Legislative Affairs████4%
Summary of Proceedings

Mayor-Council Meeting: DHS Gift Program & Executive Session - Dec 9, 2025

The Denver Mayor and City Council held their weekly joint meeting on December 9, 2025. The session opened with introductions and announcements from council members, followed by a presentation from Denver Human Services (DHS) on the Gift Center and Give Donations program. The meeting concluded with a unanimous motion to enter executive session for legal advice, litigation settlement, and real estate discussions.

Announcements

  • Councilman Sawyer reminded District 5 residents to complete the annual survey by December 31, 2025.
  • Councilman Watson congratulated the Park Hill Pirates for attending the Nationals in Florida.
  • Mayor announced the senior luncheon at Wilshaw Golf Course (100-year celebration in 2026), donuts with Grinch at Eisenhower Rec Center on Saturday, the closure of Ross University Hills Library for renovations starting December 20, and that December 9 is Colorado Gives Day.
  • Councilman de Vitre highlighted that District 7 is featured in the CityCast Denver Awards for community leadership (Caitlin Braun and Blake David), best neighborhoods (South Broadway and Athmar Park), and best artist (Amy from Chaos Bloom Theater). He also noted District 3 nominee Tron Gifts with Mimi and District 1 nominee convivial.
  • Councilman Cashman announced that the Virginia Village Library in District 6 is now open seven days a week.

Discussion: Labor Measure

  • Mayor expressed concerns about a recent council action on collective bargaining, specifically the addition of pecuniary, financial, and punitive damages against the city (no precedent), moving oversight from career services/HR to another agency, and the risk of unilaterally exiting bargaining mid-term without mutual agreement. He noted significant changes were made after committee and expressed hope to work with council on a resolution.
  • Councilwoman Torres supported the measure, arguing that relying solely on OHR limits employee paths against union retaliation or ULPs. She noted as a former city employee, significant job duty changes could warrant reopening negotiations, and that the agreement would specify how and when bargaining occurs.
  • Mayor responded that independent action against a labor entity could be handled through an outside partner, while HR has capacity to adjudicate actions against the corporation, so both remedies could exist.

Presentation: Denver Human Services Gift Center & Give Donations

  • Celia Leal (Gift Center supervisor) and Eileen Alrado (Give Donations program overseer) presented the program's role in Denver's safety net. The Gift Center provides emergency goods and services to Denver County residents every 60 days (food boxes, hygiene, diapers, clothing, resource navigation). The Give Donations team works with the giving community for year-round intake and drives (hygiene, school supply, holiday gift drives).
  • In November 2025, when SNAP benefits were delayed, DHS held an internal food drive that doubled its goal of 1,000 items.
  • Current holiday gift drive runs with partner Denver Santa Claus Shop; participation includes volunteering, Amazon wish list donations, and monetary contributions.
  • 2025 statistics: provided over 18,000 pounds of food and 18,600 snack items, distributed 37,000 hygiene items, 8,000 clothing items (including winter coats), and 469 snack bags via Give on the Go (which also offers hygiene kits, menstrual products, vital document fee waivers for CO ID and birth/death certificates).
  • School supply drive gave away close to 1,500 backpacks.
  • The team is just two full-time staff plus volunteers. Increased need seen in food insecurity, diapers, and vital documents for employment.
  • Council members thanked the team and asked about mobility devices (not actively advertised but can connect to community resources). Councilman asked if the Gift Center always operated with two staff; previously it was one staff member, now two.

Key Outcomes

  • Unanimous motion (all present in favor) to move into executive session under RMZ 234A three four six and seven for legal advice, potential litigation settlement, and real estate acquisition/sale/use.
  • No public comments or consent calendar items were noted.
  • The meeting adjourned to executive session after the DHS presentation.

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. Starting now. I mean, I feel that deeply. I had chocolate. I took that. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Mayor Council. Thank you so much for being here. Um, just over a little. You're going to be like, jump in because we have a full agenda. Both uh general session, exec session, and closed session today. So we have a whole series of items to run through. And so we will jump in with introductions and do some announcements, and we will uh get to our program from Denver Human Services. Delight to have them here. Introductions. Distinguished gentlemen on my right, you want to start us off? Distinguished gentlemen. Paul Cashman, South Denver, District Six. Lucky District Seven. Sawyer, District Five. Good morning, Serena Gonzalez Cutierrez, as one of your council members at large. Good morning, Darrell Watson, fine, District nine. Good morning, Diana Romero Campbell, Southeast Denver, District Four. Give me Torres, West Denver District 3. Morning Amanda Sanovo, North West Denver District 1. Let's open with announcements? Announcements, anyone else they want to share for fellow members or for the listening public, Councilman Sawyer. Thanks. Just want to remind everyone if you're a district five resident, please take our annual survey. We're coming up on the end of it here, closes December 31st. So you can go to our social media website and link to the survey there, DenverGov.org slash district five. We actually use this information to shape our work plan for the following year in the District 5 office. So please take our survey by December 31st. Thank you. Councilman Watson, and I have President for Tim. Yes, I forgot to say this last night. We had such a long evening that the Park Hill Pirates went to the Nationals this weekend. I don't know the outcomes because I didn't look it up, but thank you. Congratulations to Herman White and all of the Park Hill Pirates. You all have been an institution in Park Hill on the East Side, and you are demonstrating Park Hill grit. In Florida, I believe that's where you're at. I'll check the scores, and by next Monday, I will share if we won the Nationals. Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you, Mayor. Okay, a few things. Thank you to everyone who was able to come to the senior luncheon that we had last Friday. It was wonderful, always a joyous event for everyone, over at the Wilshaw golf course, which we will also be celebrating a hundred years in 2026. Kind of thinking like we need to highlight those who are 100 who also come.

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