City Council

Monday, September 14, 2026, 3:30 p.m. (Denver time), Cathy Reynolds City Council Chamber 1437 Bannock Street, Room 450

Video of the meeting

On the agenda

Roll-call votes

Documents

Summary

The Denver City Council held its regular weekly meeting on Monday, September 14, 2026. The meeting opened with council announcements covering community events, the Vibrant Denver bond, shelter proposals from the Department of Housing Stability, and the annual budget book club. The Council adopted two proclamations — one celebrating the 15th anniversary of the Clyfford Still Museum and one recognizing September 2026 as National Service Dog Month — both accepted by guests in attendance. The Council approved Vibrant Denver bond funding agreements with the Denver Zoological Foundation and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, a federal grant agreement for the Sanderson Gulch Resiliency Project, a construction contract for a new Denver Parks and Recreation northwest facility, and a resolution continuing a reduced gunshot-detection contract with Sound Thinking Inc. Bills were ordered published including amendments to the housing stability strategic plan and a minority/women business enterprise and small business contracting ordinance. The Council held a required public hearing and approved a rezoning at 3201 (per transcript "32 1 or") Speer Boulevard in West Highland. No vote counts were disputed; results announced were 10 ayes on the proclamations, resolutions, and most items, with an 11-aye consent block vote.

Transcript

0:06 A Denver. It's time for the

0:09 weekly general session of your

0:14 Denver City Council. In

0:15 tonight's coverage of Denver

0:18 City Council starts Napa

0:39 i that idea. Coming Thank you

0:41 for taking time to join us for

0:43 Denver City Council meeting

0:46 today is Monday. SEPTEMBER

0:46 14th 2026. Tonight's meeting

0:49 is being interpreted into

0:51 Spanish Samara. Just mainly

0:52 you. Please introduce yourself

0:54 and let our viewers know how

0:55 to enable translation on their

0:59 devices. Yes, of course. Think

1:00 you hello, everyone. My name

1:03 is Sam Guzman with the coc. 2

1:05 new virtually through zoom and

1:06 along with my calling just

1:09 mean. We will be interpreting

1:12 today's meeting into Spanish.

1:14 Please allow me a quick

1:15 moment. Will they give

1:15 instructions in Spanish and

1:19 how access interpretation? On

1:20 the status of those men on the

1:20 someone was mined from the

1:24 conclude that just means

1:24 cdc. You can come in to

1:25 center for the Millennium

1:31 million Sunak. So those based

1:32 on men most keen to point it

1:32 out when you go into the

1:33 global could be that up with

1:37 the Opening this and what

1:38 don't you gaze cynics unit

1:41 Lopes who protecting us from

1:42 Too soon. A close look at

1:43 present government. The study

1:43 thing that coming up before

1:47 voting was scant o sent the

1:50 only for most pull the disc

1:52 which this is that think you

1:55 very much. Thank you very

1:57 Welcome to the Denver City

1:58 Council meeting of Monday,

2:01 SEPTEMBER 14th 2026. Council

2:02 members. Please join me in the

2:18 Pledge of Allegiance

2:26 council

2:27 members please join council

2:28 protests, Pro Tem Gonzalez as

2:29 they lead us in the Denver

2:31 City Council land

2:33 acknowledgement the Denver

2:34 City Council honors and

2:35 acknowledges that the land on

2:36 which to resign as the

2:37 traditional territory of the

2:41 Ute, Cheyenne and Arapaho

2:43 peoples. We also recognize the

2:44 48 contemporary travel nations

2:45 that are historically tied to

2:46 the lands that make up the

2:48 state of Colorado. We honor

2:51 elders past present and future

2:52 and those who have Stewart

2:55 this land throughout

2:56 generations. We also recognize

2:59 that government academic and

2:59 cultural institutions were

3:02 founded upon and continue to

3:03 enact exclusions. Any rangers

3:06 of indigenous peoples made

3:07 this acknowledgment

3:07 demonstrate a commitment to

3:09 working to dismantle ongoing

3:12 legacies of oppression and

3:13 inequities. Recognize the

3:14 current and future

3:14 contributions of indigenous

3:18 communities in Denver. MADAM

3:23 Secretary Pro Call

3:28 Councilmembers. Cashman All

3:32 the plan here get here can

3:41 solve it. Ines just kind.

3:46 Here. So here here. Not a

3:50 PRESIDENT. American Members

3:51 present. There are 10 members

3:54 present council has a quorum

3:56 approval of the minutes. Are

3:56 there any corrections to the

4:01 minutes of AUGUST 31st? Seeing

4:03 none. The minutes stand to

4:04 prove council announcements.

4:04 Are there any announcements

4:06 from councilmembers

4:13 Ok? Let's go ahead and get

4:15 started with Councilmember

4:17 Sawyer, things that a

4:17 PRESIDENT Just wanted to

4:20 remind residents of District

4:21 5, 2, things. First of all,

4:23 community clean-up day is

4:24 coming up with Sunday

4:25 SEPTEMBER 27th. So you can go

4:28 on to our any of our social

4:30 media. Find the link. Join

4:31 will meet at 08:30am, at

4:32 Montclair Rec Center where you

4:34 will get and your suppliers

4:37 and then head out into the

4:38 community too clean up some of

4:40 our parks and bus stops in

4:42 district And then second, just

4:44 want to remind everyone every

4:45 fall we send our annual survey

4:49 to our community. This is a

4:50 postcard survey that goes out

4:51 to about 25,000 households in

4:55 district 5 so that we can here

4:56 our residents about the issues

4:56 that matter to you. It helps

5:00 shape our work plan for the

5:03 following year. And so really

5:04 appreciate everyone filling

5:05 that out. You can do it until

5:07 the end of the year. DECEMBER

5:07 31st of this is not the last

5:08 time that you're going to hear

5:11 about it from But you can

5:11 either check your mailboxes

5:13 and find that annual Miller

5:15 where you can find the link

5:16 online. Thank you. Council

5:20 member of thank you. Council

5:22 PRESIDENT. I just wanted to

5:23 share that are very excited

5:25 and grateful for our partners

5:26 that Denver water in Denver,

5:27 Parks and Rec to be part of

5:28 our Houston Lake Town hall

5:30 this week. This Thursday will

5:31 be hosting a town hall to talk

5:32 about the state of Houston

5:34 Lake. For those of you who do

5:35 not know Houston make has

5:36 dried up completely due to the

5:39 severe drought. We are

5:40 experiencing, understandably

5:41 are neighbors are very

5:42 concerned about the condition

5:44 of the lake. It's how and the

5:45 health of the surrounding

5:45 environment and want to know

5:47 what we can expect when we can

5:49 expect going to be filled. Our

5:52 partners at Denver, water and

5:54 parks and and Denver Parks and

5:55 Rec will be stopping by to

5:57 answer questions and explain

5:58 the broader implication of the

5:59 current challenges that we're

6:01 facing. Not just with water,

6:03 but with having lakes and

6:05 Amber be hosting this town

6:07 hall that Habitat for Humanity

6:09 headquarters in district 7, 4,

6:11 30 South Navajo this Thursday,

6:13 SEPTEMBER 17th from 06:00pm to

6:15 08:00pm. We will see you there

6:16 and we're looking forward to

6:17 it. And I also want to invite

6:19 people to attend. We will be

6:24 having a district 7 at-large

6:26 candidate forum that is hosted

6:27 by all of our nose in

6:29 corporation with the It will

6:31 be out far for off Broadway

6:33 next week on SEPTEMBER

6:35 twenty-second from 04:00pm to

6:36 07:00pm. This will be a great

6:37 opportunity to hear from those

6:39 candidates have put their hat

6:43 in the Thank you so PRESIDENT.

6:44 Thank you. I would like to

6:45 just take a moment to

6:46 recognize COUNCILMAN Cashman

6:48 who is on line with us today.

6:50 Council member Gonzalez could

6:52 get us. Thank you. Thank you.

6:53 Council PRESIDENT. I have a

6:55 couple of announcement. So

6:56 this week marks the

6:59 celebration of independence of

7:00 several countries across Latin

7:03 America, not just Mexico.

7:04 Denver is a city with

7:05 immigrants from so many places

7:09 around the world and there is

7:10 no celebrating the

7:11 independence of so many

7:13 countries on this continent

7:15 without recognizing what they

7:17 had to what they had to do to

7:21 make themselves independent

7:21 violent colonization

7:22 independence. Independence is

7:25 not just that for these

7:26 countries that, you know,

7:29 people gather any tacos. It's

7:30 a celebration of people who

7:33 fought to make themselves Some

7:36 even say that this we are

7:37 celebrating many American

7:38 independence days because

7:39 America is not a country.

7:42 America's the continent. So I

7:44 want to give a shout out to

7:46 bad bunny for for lifting this

7:49 As we as he highlighted.

7:50 They're so I want to wish a

7:51 happy Independence Day to the

7:54 country's of Costa outside of

7:56 the odd what them on 100 us

7:59 get which are on SEPTEMBER.

8:00 15th, Mexico, SEPTEMBER 16th.

8:03 And it is SEPTEMBER 18th. So

8:06 Mayor City continue to do the

8:07 work to welcome immigrants

8:08 celebrate our Latino history

8:09 and make a city that works for

8:11 people from all parts of the

8:15 world to call Denver home. My

8:16 second announcement is about

8:19 the budget book Club. So I'm

8:21 excited to join COUNCILMAN

8:23 Luis COUNCILWOMAN Sandoval,

8:24 COUNCILMAN Hines and Cashman

8:26 for this year's City Budget

8:27 Book Club. This is an event

8:28 that allows us to be to get

8:31 meaningful public engagement

8:33 on what is or is not in the

8:34 budget. And as community

8:35 panelists, we would love to

8:38 have you all attend. So this

8:39 year's schedules schedule for

8:41 the event is as follows. So

8:44 this Thursday, Thursday,

8:46 SEPTEMBER 17th is a virtual

8:48 event from 06:00pm to 07:00pm.

8:50 It's a city budget 101. It's a

8:50 30 minute crash crash course

8:52 on how Denver's budget

8:54 functions followed by 30

8:57 minutes of open community qna

8:59 on Friday, SEPTEMBER 25th. So

9:01 next Friday at Flight Tower in

9:02 District 8 from 5.30, to 7 is

9:04 the budget. Happy hour. So

9:06 this is more of an informal

9:09 session reviewing what council

9:11 members heard during agency

9:11 hearings. So this was this

9:12 will come on the heels of the

9:13 budget hearings taking in

9:15 constituent questions and

9:17 feedback. It is free to

9:18 attend. But we ask that folks,

9:19 please sign up beforehand just

9:20 so that we can make sure we

9:21 know what attendance is going

9:25 to look like. And then finally

9:27 on Saturday, OCTOBER an

9:29 in-person event, we are still

9:30 determining the location from

9:32 12:00pm to 02:00pm on OCTOBER.

9:33 3rd will be the community

9:35 convening and workshop. So

9:38 will rotate through topic

9:40 space topic, face tables to

9:42 workshop, specific budget

9:43 proposals and amendments

9:44 directly with council members

9:45 and folks can sign up for

9:47 these events and find it

9:48 trails and resources related

9:50 to the budget. The club online

9:53 at COUNCILMAN Luis sizzling

9:56 country at link Tree that

9:59 slash us until and Lewis. So

10:01 please feel free to sign up if

10:02 you're interested. And we did

10:03 this last year was it was a

10:04 great turnout that we had at

10:05 all these events. So would

10:07 love to see people come

10:08 through again. Thank you.

10:10 MADAM PRESIDENT, thank

10:11 COUNCILMAN Plan. Thank you.

10:12 MADAM PRESIDENT, just briefly,

10:13 I found out yesterday, I want

10:18 to make note the last of 0,

10:19 long-time Bear Valley activist

10:20 and comes to trim Rita

10:22 Baumgartner who for many, many

10:24 years was on the board of the

10:26 Improvement Association Brno

10:27 down there. I've gotten to

10:29 know her when I first took

10:33 office 2015, you would see her

10:34 everywhere around verbally

10:37 very active in her community.

10:37 And that type of constituent.

10:40 I think we all hope to have in

10:43 our service time. PRESIDENT,

10:48 thank Councilmember Sandoval

10:50 thank you, MADAM PRESIDENT.

10:54 And that come northwest

10:55 enjoying my staff a night for

10:58 a park cleanup at Berkeley

11:02 Park this from 10 to 11. Well

11:04 after street coffee, free if

11:06 you help us clean up, you get

11:09 ticket to the Orient or

11:10 federal theater and they

11:11 always have great bands. Amend

11:12 that same day. This coming.

11:13 Saturday's the jamming on the

11:15 jetty at Sloan's Lake one to

11:17 08:00pm. So come listen to

11:19 some great music can jam out

11:22 at times this. Thank you,

11:23 MADAM PRESIDENT, thank you.

11:24 Councilmember Taurus. Thank

11:25 you. MADAM PRESIDENT, to

11:29 events coming up in council

11:31 district Saturday. The vibrant

11:34 Denver Bonds, American Indian

11:35 cultural Embassy committee is

11:37 our council is holding a

11:38 listening session from 2 to 4

11:41 o'clock at the Denver Indian

11:43 Center. That's at 44, a 7

11:45 Morrison Road. So folks

11:47 remember, Council approved

11:50 20 million dollars voter

11:50 voters acknowledged in

11:53 approved that bond item create

11:54 a cultural embassy. This is

11:56 part of a multi month effort

11:59 to gather community feedback

12:01 and community input on what

12:02 that embassy should So hope to

12:05 see folks there for that. And

12:06 the Mid Autumn Festival takes

12:07 place this coming Saturday at

12:10 the Far East Center. This is

12:12 from 2 o'clock to 10 o'clock

12:13 pm right at the intersection

12:14 of Alameda and federal. You'll

12:18 find the fiery Center. My

12:19 office is a sponsor's that

12:20 large COUNCILMAN Out the dolls

12:23 could get us the Office of

12:25 Climate Action, Sustainability

12:26 and Resiliency many others.

12:27 But hope to see folks there.

12:29 It's a wonderful time. Thank

12:32 Thank you. Councilmember kill

12:38 thank you. Council PRESIDENT.

12:39 Was really honored to carry

12:42 forward the American Indian

12:43 cultural embassy as it was

12:47 referred to the vibrant Denver

12:49 bond and wanting to also share

12:53 with my that that listening

12:54 session as was mentioned, will

12:57 be held at the Indian Center.

13:01 There are also plans to hold

13:01 numerous listening sessions

13:04 throughout the city and as a

13:07 reminder District 11 received

13:09 the least amount of the

13:12 vibrant Denver allocation. It

13:16 was 24.9, 6 million,

13:17 20 million of that being the

13:17 entire American Indian

13:22 cultural embassy. And so and

13:24 if and the means out district

13:29 11, it will be a historic loss

13:31 of bond in District 11. We

13:35 will of received less than

13:37 5 Million. And so again, I

13:38 encourage the mayor and all

13:42 involved with the vibrant

13:43 Denver bar to follow the voice

13:46 of the constituents and the

13:48 voters and and put it in

13:49 District 11 where we advocated

13:55 for it or give us 20 million

13:56 dollars as a backfill to build

14:00 a library there. But what

14:01 we're hearing now is that

14:02 they're just going to move it

14:05 out of the district. That

14:08 isn't just district. 11

14:09 montbello is the number-one

14:12 diverse, most diverse

14:16 community in the city 2, 3,

14:20 about 70% Latino followed very

14:21 closely by African American

14:22 Council in my announced what I

14:23 was just going to say just

14:24 before going to debate. I just

14:25 want to make sure that we have

14:29 that and committee your car

14:31 speaking the facts. I believe

14:32 I don't believe anything that

14:34 I'm saying right now is not

14:41 factual. And so just again,

14:42 for that her to see that folks

14:44 Montbello and Green Valley

14:46 Ranch have justice and a site

14:50 to go to as well of actual

14:51 second announcement is that

14:54 for too long, this council has

14:55 ignored the human trafficking

14:58 that is going on out it.

14:59 Denver International Airport.

15:01 Some folks have been hearing

15:02 about key lime in the Air. In

15:05 the news recently. But there

15:10 are many other companies move

15:13 people out of Denver

15:14 International Airport and just

15:18 on SEPTEMBER 13th, it was

15:23 shown the the 120nd ice. Why

15:25 had left Denver International

15:28 Airport? And so again asked

15:29 Mayor Johnston to actually