Weekly Joint Meeting of Mayor and Denver City Council – April 7, 2026

The weekly joint meeting of Mayor Mike Johnston and Denver City Council convened on April 7, 2026. The meeting opened with council members sharing community announcements and concluded with a unanimous vote to enter executive session. The main agenda item was a briefing from the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment (DDPHE) on the Community Health Assessment (CHA) and Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP), in celebration of National Public Health Week.

Announcements

• Councilmember Ligas thanked attendees of the Constitution book club and announced the next session on April 29. He also promoted a community meeting on unlocking housing choices at 6 p.m. at Athmar Park Rec Center and upcoming town halls on the Front Range Passenger Rail (Colorado Connector) on April 11 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at the Center for African American Health.
• Councilmember Watson announced the Colorado Spartans arena football team home opener at 7 p.m. on April 11 at the Denver Coliseum and the Blair Caldwell Library Community Advisory Committee hybrid meeting from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on April 7. He also noted Denver's finalist status for the 2028 Democratic National Convention and imminent travel to New Orleans for selection meetings.
• Councilmember (name unclear) announced community feedback sessions on the recently released racial equity (RO) report: April 9 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Montbello Rec Center and April 11 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Johnson Rec Center.
• Councilmember Knights expressed personal support for the 2028 DNC bid, recounting his transformative experience at the 2008 DNC in Denver.

Discussion Items: Community Health Improvement Plan Briefing

• Nathan Keffer, Senior Analyst at DDPHE, presented the five-year CHA/CHIP cycle. The CHA, completed in spring 2025, gathered over 2,000 survey responses, held 12 focus groups, two town halls, and analyzed over 100 health metrics. The process was co-created with community members, who took leadership roles alongside practitioners and academics.
• Three priority areas were identified: access to healthcare, safe and affordable housing, and systemic racism as a driver of health disparities.
• Broad goals under each priority:
  • Access to healthcare: increase accessibility and availability of care, strengthen Medicaid affordability and sustainability, and increase equitable services for communities of color.
  • Safe and affordable housing: reduce evictions, displacement, and financial hardship for renters; and increase housing diversity and expand land use options.
  • Systemic racism: improve access to affordable childcare, nutritious food, basic needs to reduce criminalization, and improve financial stability.
• These goals were narrowed from an initial list of approximately 190 potential goals identified through community engagement.
• The CHIP action plan will be published in May 2026, followed by a 180-day operationalization period. The plan is designed as a shared cross-sector agenda with over 60 partner agencies, including Denver Health and community organizations.
• Councilmember Alvidrez questioned whether homeowners were addressed in the housing goals and raised concerns about unhealthy living conditions for homeowners. Keffer acknowledged that homeowner support might be considered under the financial stability goal.
• Councilmember Hines asked about the city's ability to influence Medicaid funding amid federal cuts and suggested including Rocky Mountain Human Services as a partner. Keffer noted that the CHIP could work with Colorado Access to expand Medicaid enrollment and provider acceptance.
• Councilmember Torres strongly supported the community-driven approach and urged embedding CHIP goals into citywide policy, especially regarding historically redlined neighborhoods and specific populations such as LGBTQ, Black, Latino, and American Indian communities. She expressed concern about the scaling back of the city's discrimination office.
• A council member (name not clearly transcribed) emphasized the need to disaggregate childcare by age groups (infant/toddler vs. school-age and out-of-school care) and to address isolation among seniors and Southeast Denver residents. Keffer responded that the city survey oversampled high-social-vulnerability areas to capture those voices.
• Councilmember Watson praised the presentation's thoroughness and community engagement. He highlighted recently approved funding for a food summit that aligns with CHIP goals.

Key Outcomes

• The council unanimously approved a motion to enter executive session pursuant to DRMC 23-4A sections 3, 6, and 7 to discuss settlement of pending litigation and legal advice.