Monday, June 22, 2026, 1:30 p.m. (Denver time), City & County Building, Council Committee Room, Room 391 1437 Bannock Street
Committee: Budget and Policy Committee
The Budget and Policy Committee heard two proposals. First, council sponsors presented an updated draft best value contracting ordinance that would move city construction procurement away from lowest-bid toward multi-criteria evaluation (legal compliance, financial capacity, past performance, workforce practices, safety, compensation and benefits), with members raising questions about Executive Order 8, charter language, pre-qualification burdens on small businesses, and on-call contracts. Mayor's office, General Services, City Attorney, and Division of Small Business Opportunity staff responded, indicating willingness to revise the executive order and coordinate rulemaking. Second, Council Member Alvidrez and her aide presented a proposed tiered seat tax on large private venues (5-15% by ticket price, venues over 1,000 seats, with exemptions) to fund Safe Routes to School, Denver Moves transit, and multimodal infrastructure, potentially for the November ballot. Members questioned revenue estimates (~30 million/year), the venue-size threshold, ticket-resale treatment, and impacts on residents, with some expressing support and others skepticism. No votes were taken; both items remain in discussion.
0:08 Welcome back to this biweekly
0:08 meeting of the Budget and
0:09 Policy Committee of Denver
0:18 City Council. As for the
0:18 discussion didn't promise you
0:21 committee starts now.
0:30 Thank you for joining us on
0:34 this beautiful afternoon. We
0:35 have 2 exciting proposals in
0:37 front of us. But before we get
0:39 started, that's to a round of
0:41 introductions Ray. And then
0:42 we'll go to the council
0:45 members online. Jamie tourist
0:49 customer district, 3, good
0:49 afternoon. Diana Romero,
0:51 Campbell, Southeastern for
0:53 district 4. 10 years or We're
0:55 going be the next Mikey's
0:57 district. 7, good afternoon.
1:00 Paul Kashmann south District
1:01 sentenced in afternoon. There
1:03 was some fine district 9
1:04 everyone said and of
1:04 themselves as one of your
1:06 council members at large and
1:07 then we can go to the council
1:10 members online. Served 30 or
1:13 other councilmember large.
1:14 Good afternoon. Amanda Sawyer,
1:19 District 5. It And I think I
1:21 MAY have been forgot to
1:21 introduce myself. COUNCILMAN
1:24 Voters trust every district
1:26 plan. With that, I'll pass it
1:27 over to my colleagues council
1:28 member of the that come from
1:30 behind to take it away. Great
1:36 woman. With just Wonderful.
1:38 Thank you so much for having
1:40 us here. All pretty well now.
1:41 That chance. Introduce himself
1:44 again talk and he's starting
1:47 or marks. You want to make
1:49 Times. Every city council
1:54 district This is actually our
1:55 3rd time too. Budget policy.
1:59 And have done a fair amount
2:00 socializing. We're excited to
2:01 give you the updates that
2:01 we've had since the last time
2:03 we came to budge in policy
2:05 about that contract. So we've
2:07 been working on this over a
2:11 year now. At least. And maybe
2:12 have having ongoing
2:15 conversations with the mayor's
2:17 office city apartments and a
2:21 wide range stakeholders from
2:24 local unions as well as some
2:25 industry groups and community
2:26 members. One of things that
2:29 has come up across all these
2:30 conversations is the growing
2:30 need for transparency in how
2:32 the city spends its money. We
2:36 are choosing contractors
2:37 Denver's taking on more and
2:37 more projects. Obviously, we
2:40 all know about the virus, bond
2:41 and other projects coming to
2:43 the city. And we have a lot of
2:44 capital investment coming down
2:46 the pipeline, which is really
2:47 exciting. And people want to
2:49 know if those are dollars are
2:52 being spent in a way that
2:52 reinvest in our city, the
2:55 workers are local, small
2:57 businesses. We completed the
2:57 initial draft of the
2:58 ordinance. It's currently
2:59 under review. It's been shared
3:01 its on legistar. And one thing
3:02 worth noting is that we've
3:06 been deliberating about
3:08 separating out contracts and
3:10 service functions with the bbc
3:11 process and we'll get more
3:13 into that. And we're also
3:13 actively coordinating with the
3:15 mayor's office on Executive
3:16 Order 8, which has been a
3:19 topic of conversation and this
3:20 process has been built real
3:21 engagement moving forward in a
3:26 thoughtful, coordinated way.
3:29 So what is best value
3:30 contracting this procurement
3:31 mess? That method would move
3:32 us away from moped contracting
3:35 and closer to value. The
3:36 reason we're pursuing this is
3:38 not Denver currently lacks a
3:39 consistent city, right
3:40 standard for best value
3:42 contracting today, procurement
3:45 departments. In some cases,
3:45 practices can vary across
3:49 it's still remains low as the
3:51 primary determining factor.
3:52 That approach MAY save money
3:53 up front, but it doesn't
3:53 always account for project
3:56 quality workforce Development,
3:56 safety contractor, performance
4:00 or long-term value. We also
4:01 hear regularly from small
4:03 businesses and contractors
4:04 that expectations can be
4:04 inconsistent and difficult to
4:07 navigate. All right. This was
4:08 not in a system that doesn't
4:08 always reflect the values.
4:13 Denver highs. Repeatedly star
4:14 important transparency,
4:16 accountability, local economic
4:17 opportunity and responsible
4:20 stewardship of public dollars.
4:21 So what is best value
4:27 contracting? Different? I must
4:28 tell you contract ing allows
4:30 the city to evaluate proposals
4:33 based on multiple objective
4:34 on one price allowed costs
4:34 criteria. Instead of relying
4:35 remains an important factor,
4:37 but it becomes one factor
4:39 among several under this model
4:40 now handed over to couple a
4:45 manhunt ends with thanks.
4:46 Thinking for, know, I I've got
4:52 a key part. I don't So guys,
4:54 some we evaluation criteria
4:59 that we have so far legal
5:01 complaints, financial capacity
5:02 past performance, workforce
5:04 practices, safety compensation
5:08 and benefits, project approach
5:10 finally just to be clear,
5:11 we're not saying that we
5:15 should ignore the cost and if
5:17 there are values, we should
5:22 pay for them at any What we're
5:22 saying is said that, it's more
5:23 important that think of cost
5:25 in a suite of values of not
5:31 just costs on its own. The
5:33 ordinance does touch on my
5:35 subcontractors. So we have in
5:36 the past pass legislation by
5:41 up the chain liability. This
5:42 ordinance doesn't change the
5:43 of the change up the chain
5:44 liability. So basically the
5:49 values of the subs have to
5:49 also reflect the values of the
5:55 of the prime. Yeah. In part of
5:57 the process the better submits
5:57 the full subcontractor list
6:01 with the bid. And they should
6:05 also have the same
6:06 certifications. So so we just
6:09 we get gist here just as when
6:11 talked about up the chain
6:13 mobility legislation in the
6:19 past is we want to make sure
6:21 if we are providing a contract
6:22 to someone reflective of the
6:23 values that the people of
6:27 Denver wants to have, everyone
6:28 should have that value sign
6:33 the gcc and and the There are
6:33 some a few processees had
6:37 emergencies. Should that be
6:38 necessary? Really? Those are
6:44 for just emergency is. This is
6:45 already been passed in both
6:47 some public counties. Yeah.
6:51 And and if you have questions
6:52 about items in public
6:53 counties, we have people here
6:55 in audience who can help go
7:02 into the details of of
7:03 contracts. So items county
7:05 passed test there that started
7:08 contracting back in 2014. So
7:11 they tied to dozen years to to
7:12 iron out the kinks to
7:16 determine whether was useful
7:17 were not for them pass
7:21 best-value contracting in
7:23 Adams County, day reportedly
7:28 met items county elected scare
7:29 and they're county manager
7:32 they both agreed that they
7:35 they received received as a
7:36 response to the legislation,
7:40 received her quality
7:41 contracts, the baseline
7:41 standards were higher. Rising
7:44 tide lifts all boats. And the
7:48 job sites we're safer because
7:49 Kuz to the vendor wasn't
7:52 having to worry about being on
7:54 the clock so much. And then
7:56 because of the apprenticeship,
7:59 importance of apprenticeship.
8:03 They also Adams County was
8:04 training their employees as
8:09 well. And so Times County was
8:13 adopted AUGUST of 2014. It
8:16 applies to all builds and
8:18 major remodels of at least a
8:22 million dollars not did they
8:25 find a higher construction
8:26 quality projects were
8:30 completed on time. More often
8:33 they agree or they believe
8:37 that at least in the Adams
8:37 County implementation, their
8:42 costs actually went down. So
8:43 if I before that site
8:47 contracting was adopted. They
8:50 only took high-cost is a
8:51 consideration. There are 2
8:53 major relief valves that the
8:57 Bears would get otherwise to
8:58 make up for that low cost that
9:02 the first just stealing wages
9:03 from your employees and the
9:03 second he's from change
9:08 orders. As in you why this wow
9:08 will have change the topic for
9:12 the. The nature of the
9:15 contract. And I will have to
9:16 charge you for it. Also
9:20 created additional
9:22 transparency, I was the
9:26 initial bid far more likely to
9:26 be actually what was provided.
9:28 Obviously, they're change
9:30 orders, particularly in
9:33 contracts that sizable
9:33 amounts. But they found that
9:34 the change orders
9:39 significantly decreased. So
9:40 why now, as councilmember of
9:44 you we've guy more than 2 and
9:45 a half billion dollars in the
9:46 pipeline. 920 million dollars
9:47 national Western 950 million
9:50 dollars from that fiber.
9:53 Different bind. 530 million
9:55 dollars for the from the ada
9:56 downtown Denver Authority,
9:57 which actually says is
10:03 starting to get reinvested And
10:04 then we also have to bonds
10:06 from 2021 2017 that are also
10:11 wrapping up there. There
10:12 Construction starts. So those
10:17 are capital projects. So we've
10:18 got a lot of things starting.
10:21 We continue to authorize
10:21 additional construction
10:24 projects are airport is also
10:25 is undergoing additional
10:30 construction projects. But
10:30 along with all of those
10:31 dollars, we want to make sure
10:34 that we have quality safety
10:35 that we're reinvesting. If
10:37 they're if we're using Denver
10:38 dollars, why does my voice go
10:41 now? I don't know. But if
10:42 we're going to Denver,
10:43 taxpayer dollars were in the
10:46 airport. Still Denver dollars
10:48 it would be best if we
10:48 reinvested that those funds
10:51 back into Denver. I want I
10:53 care about our climate. All of
10:58 us care about equity hide that
10:59 transparency. Delta Public
11:02 Trust to. Well, thanks.
11:11 So again, the opportunity the
11:15 the the capital improvement
11:16 projects services just again,
11:20 to identify it. An earlier
11:21 slide council member of the
11:23 jurors mentioned that we
11:24 wanted to focus on
11:25 construction projects with
11:30 this first to stab because
11:35 services, most include a
11:38 different set stakeholders and
11:39 they might even have a
11:40 different set of values. So we
11:40 want to make sure that if
11:44 we're if we're doing something
11:45 like that, you contract in
11:50 that can limit the scope, not
11:52 of of the conversation we're
11:55 having so this this first pass
11:56 is just for construction
12:01 projects. So we the council
12:02 member of the said more than a
12:04 year. Think we're getting
12:06 close to 2 years that been
12:09 discussing best-value
12:12 contracting and we have labor
12:14 leaders We reached out to
12:15 contractors, small and
12:17 minority women-owned
12:19 businesses. The Hispanic
12:21 Contractors Association. We've
12:22 also had public engagement
12:24 reached out over social media
12:31 as well. So in addition to
12:33 coming back to budget and
12:35 policy. We do have outreach.
12:38 We do intend to do additional
12:40 outreach we did have a meeting
12:43 with the mayor's office last
12:46 Wednesday. We had a mayor's
12:50 office Dottie and Dan there to
12:51 provide some additional
12:56 context I'll talk about that
13:01 more in minute. And here we
13:03 are in questions and
13:06 discussion. I before I ask
13:06 questions. I do have a couple
13:09 questions. I want to ask
13:11 myself I want to ask the
13:12 mayor's office, MR. Moreno
13:16 feud come to a microphone
13:18 somewhere last Wednesday our
13:20 meeting with the mayor's
13:24 office, I asked 2 questions if
13:25 you could give a stab at
13:27 those. The first question, if
13:31 this were to pass, I know that
13:32 multiple council members are
13:34 curious about how rules and
13:37 regulations will be created
13:38 because is it? It's my
13:39 understanding and others the
13:43 mayor's office doesn't really
13:44 do rulemaking. And so how did
13:45 how does the mayor's office
13:51 expect rulemaking to happen?
13:53 Thank MADAM Chair Council
13:54 nines Democrat deputy chief
13:56 operating officer in the
13:58 mayor's office. Just want to
13:59 thank the council sponsors for
13:59 the time that we spent
14:01 together last week talking
14:04 through some of intricacies of
14:07 the proposal, obviously. So we
14:08 do have some ordinance
14:08 language to respond to now,
14:11 which has been very, very
14:12 helpful and already of seeing
14:13 some changes in the current
14:15 draft that so polluted to
14:16 legistar from prior drafts,
14:20 which been very helpful. A
14:21 couple things that I would
14:23 just say related to kind of
14:26 the questions that COUNCILMAN
14:30 Hines posed. One is so we do
14:30 have executive which has a
14:34 provision that does
14:36 contemplate best value crime
14:37 contracting criteria. I would
14:39 say that the one piece there
14:40 is that the executive order
14:43 specific to pre qualification.
14:45 This ordinance does anticipate
14:47 pre qualification and
14:47 evaluation. So that's
14:48 something that we would have
14:51 to sort through of how we
14:52 handle that. That could
14:53 possibly happen through a
14:55 revised executive order or
14:56 something We would work very
14:58 closely with you all to figure
15:00 that out. The other piece
15:02 would be obviously one of the
15:03 things that COUNCILMAN Hines
15:04 in counts, one healthy dress
15:08 have rightly pointed out, is
15:09 that sometimes standards can
15:11 vary between departments or
15:13 agencies that issuing rfp in
15:15 conducting the evaluation. And
15:19 so part of that is solving for
15:21 that rules. The rules the
15:24 implementation of this rules
15:24 and regulations. That's the
15:27 word I was looking for. And so
15:29 that could be conducted
15:30 individually between
15:31 department and the mayor's
15:32 office kind of making sure
15:33 that there's consistency
15:35 between each of them. The
15:36 other option, obviously
15:37 perhaps to utilize executive
15:40 and a revised manner and to
15:43 kind of set forth kind of a
15:45 consistent and uniform
15:46 expectation from agencies
15:47 where it relates to Best-value
15:50 contracting. So in my second
15:51 question, which you rolled
15:52 into? The first question if
15:58 this for the past, how with
15:58 administration cut, modify it
16:05 to Thank you for think that
16:07 one more before I just want to
16:10 take a moment to thank you for
16:11 your collaboration 1000. Think
16:12 of a union, tear in particular
16:14 been helpful to get this to
16:16 this point as well. And I
16:17 wanted to mention that we did
16:19 talk acc and also the black
16:20 construction group. Just add
16:20 that to our list of outreach
16:23 that we've done and we're open
16:23 talking to more people. I
16:29 there's anyone we've missed.