Friday, September 25, 2026, 1:30 p.m. (Denver time), Parr-Widener Community Room, Room 389
This was the final budget hearing of Denver's 2026 budget week, focused on the Mayor's Office of Social Equity and Innovation (OSEI) proposed 2027 budget. Executive Director/Chief Equity Officer Ben Sanders and a deputy executive director presented a roughly $8.4 million budget (about $7.3M general fund plus over $1M in grants, 50.5 budgeted FTE), kept flat from 2026 by repurposing services-and-supplies dollars into three frontline positions (two diversion and criminal justice officers and one program administrator) and eliminating an expiring contract with the DA's office. Council members asked about equity strategy work with agencies, why several Healthy Food for Denver Kids-funded contracts sit at OSEI, the planned gun violence review commission (modeled on Milwaukee), funding for the Juvenile Services Center, and state-grant mechanics for the Colorado Youth Detention Continuum. The Council President announced that follow-up questions are due by Monday the 28th, with agency answers due ahead of the October budget workshop, and the mayor gave closing remarks thanking council, staff, finance, and Channel 8.
0:04 Beginning in 2020.
0:34 Final budget hearing for
0:40 budget week The I got tell you
0:42 so before we start, I just
0:43 want to say these meetings did
0:44 not occur on their own. It was
0:48 not by Most your full to
0:50 really lay down on to make
0:51 sure does happen. I want to
0:53 lift victim year.
1:06 And Stoudemire. If within Air
1:08 Staff City Council staff for
1:09 making sure that the community
1:11 had an opportunity here, but
1:14 important ways in which we
1:15 different identifying spending
1:16 far general fund dollars hear
1:17 directly from the folks who
1:20 are prioritizing and spending
1:21 it. And here tough questions.
1:23 Tough questions from Denver
1:25 City Council members because
1:27 that's our role. So with no
1:29 more Jaren Gavin from miners
1:30 Terawatts I'm honored. Honored
1:32 to serve. All wraps all of the
1:34 residents of the Vine District
1:36 9 and will start introductions
1:40 starting. And we are net
1:42 pretty par what everyone said.
1:44 Also a tennis councilmember at
1:46 men descended earth tempered
1:48 district 7 Flynn, Southwest
1:50 and we're district Justin
1:52 Sikeston Department of Finance
1:53 next deputy executive director
1:55 of aclu expense Sanders
1:58 executive director of policy
1:59 Reagan not on the Office of
2:02 Children's first just helping
2:06 to just against the Mets are
2:07 to survive. Doing tours was
2:09 diminishing Diana Romero,
2:09 Campbell, Southeast Denver
2:10 district court. You can call
2:12 the main issue financial
2:14 officer, but just a And I know
2:15 we have consular Cashman
2:19 online. You Good afternoon.
2:21 Paul Kashmann shot down
2:24 British awfully proud to know
2:26 what as she I and I was she a
2:30 meeting? It is awesome. So
2:32 with that, I'll turn it over
2:33 talk to senators from the
2:34 Office of Social Equity and
2:37 innovation for your. The
2:38 presentation. Good afternoon,
2:38 everyone. And thank you so
2:40 much for having me.
2:40 Congratulations on saving the
2:44 best for last. I am really
2:47 happy to be here to talk about
2:48 the proposed 2027 budget for
2:49 the mayor's Office of Social
2:51 Equity and Innovation. Again,
2:53 my name is been Sanders. I
2:53 serve as the executive
2:56 director sci and the city's
2:58 chief equity officer. As we
2:58 walk through the budget today,
3:01 I'm really excited to focus
3:02 both on what we're spending,
3:03 but also and maybe even more
3:05 important on what Denver
3:06 residents should expect from
3:07 that investment. They should
3:09 expect safer communities,
3:10 stronger pathways for young
3:13 people. More responsive city
3:14 systems and a deliberate
3:16 effort to prevent challenges
3:19 from becoming costly crises.
3:19 These are the goals the
3:22 framework we used to build our
3:24 2027 budget. As you know, se
3:25 also supports the broader
3:27 citywide budget process by
3:29 equity, senator questions and
3:29 helping agencies incorporate
3:31 to their budget development.
3:32 And while we continue working
3:34 to standardize that
3:35 consultation, each agency's
3:35 work, as you all know from
3:37 being in this room all week
3:38 and its relationship to the
3:41 city goals is distinct. And so
3:42 at the exact at the executive
3:43 level, I worked with the
3:44 mayor's office and the chief
3:45 financial officer to help
3:47 ensure that our citywide
3:48 commitment to equity is
3:49 reflected in our financial
3:51 priorities and resources. So
3:52 start off with vision and
3:55 mission. Before getting into
3:56 the numbers just to ground us
3:57 in the mission and vision that
3:59 organize our work as the eye.
4:01 Our mission is to cultivate an
4:02 equitable and inclusive Denver
4:04 by dismantling systemic
4:05 barriers and creating targeted
4:08 solutions for historically
4:10 marginalized populations. Our
4:12 vision straight forward, a
4:13 Denver where race and other
4:14 social identity is no longer
4:17 predict life outcomes. These
4:18 commitments, shape, both
4:19 divisions sci through our
4:20 Office of Neighborhood Safety.
4:23 We work directly with young
4:24 people, families,
4:24 neighborhoods and residents
4:25 experiencing elevated and
4:29 critical risk. And through our
4:29 equity strategies and
4:31 innovation unit, we work with
4:32 city agencies on systems
4:36 around those think policy
4:36 data, organizational
4:37 practices, training, planning
4:41 and resource alignment. One
4:42 side addresses needs in front
4:44 of us today. The other side of
4:45 our agency works to change the
4:46 conditions producing those
4:48 needs in the first place. Our
4:49 budget hopefully will reflect
4:54 to the 3rd slide here. For
4:55 2027. We by dentists, we've
4:56 identified 5 strategic
4:57 priorities are really driving
4:58 our budget. First, we want to
5:00 expand social justice and
5:01 resiliency supports for youth
5:02 and adults in underserved
5:03 neighborhoods. We believe that
5:04 strengthening those
5:06 relationships and resources.
5:08 Well, presidents remain safe
5:10 and connected before a crisis
5:12 occurs. Second, we intend to
5:13 complete a sustainable
5:14 maintenance model for place
5:16 network investigations or p.
5:18 And I building on improvements
5:19 and neighborhoods formally
5:21 challenged by gun violence.
5:23 3rd, we intend to establish a
5:25 gun violence review commission
5:27 to systematically examine
5:27 shootings, identify patterns
5:29 and opportunities for
5:31 intervention and to translate
5:32 those lessons into coordinated
5:35 prevention and response. 4th
5:35 will continue partnering with
5:39 the Office of Children Affairs
5:40 members of City Council and
5:41 community organizations to
5:42 develop a coordinated youth
5:43 violence prevention funding
5:45 strategy, including work
5:47 supported by community safety
5:52 grants. Pilot the Bronco 5th.
5:53 We're prioritizing a unified
5:54 in taking case management
5:55 system that allows us to
5:55 better coordinate services. We
5:59 provide to our clients, reduce
5:59 duplication and services and
6:01 measure outcomes across
6:03 programs together. We think
6:04 these priorities move us
6:05 toward a coordinated
6:08 prevention based system which
6:09 engagement intervention, data
6:09 and system improvement
6:11 reinforce one. Another in turn
6:15 to the next slide. As we
6:16 approached our 2027 budget
6:18 knowing that the city's
6:19 financial state, why we
6:20 trending in the right
6:23 direction. Resources remain
6:24 critically limited. And so
6:24 every dollar has to work
6:28 harder. Our first principle
6:29 was to protect Core mission,
6:30 critical services. We asked
6:31 what functions are most
6:34 central to our mission as an
6:35 agency. What services are
6:38 residents most relying on and
6:39 where would a loss of capacity
6:40 create greatest predictable
6:43 risk. Our second principle
6:44 around organizing our budget
6:45 was to strengthen capacity
6:47 where demand is growing fast.
6:48 That led us to our diversion
6:50 and deflection workwear
6:51 referrals in case loads have
6:52 increased significantly over
6:55 the past couple of years. And
6:56 this budget will shift
6:57 existing dollars towards
6:58 staffing capacity that allows
7:00 us to continue providing
7:01 timely high-quality service in
7:05 those areas. Arthur principle
7:06 was to strengthen Denver's
7:08 community safety sci as a
7:08 growing responsibility not
7:11 only to deliver programs, but
7:12 also to help connect the
7:13 system's organizations and
7:14 communities around those
7:16 programs. So our theme in this
7:18 budget has not been expansion
7:19 for expansion sake. Instead,
7:21 we focus really intently on
7:23 realignment, focusing limited
7:23 resources on core functions
7:26 and demonstrated demand while
7:27 strengthening the city's
7:29 work. That's the Saints safety
7:29 capacity for community-driven
7:33 and opportunity. Equity, of
7:34 course, to the next slide,
7:35 please. Staley was not equity,
7:37 of course, was not a separate
7:38 consideration for us. It was
7:39 the primary land. So which we
7:42 developed our budget, we
7:42 considered who and what
7:45 efforts would be affected by
7:46 reductions, particularly
7:47 communities experiencing
7:47 concentrated violence, poverty
7:49 and systemic inequity that
7:50 meant protecting services such
7:53 as diversion reflection. Why
7:54 which provide young people
7:55 with alternatives to deeper
7:58 justice system involvement. It
7:59 also meant identifying
8:00 reductions to services and
8:01 supplies that would not
8:04 disproportionately reduce
8:06 support for community
8:06 organizations while protecting
8:07 osu eye's ability to
8:10 contribute to the broader
8:10 governance of the city's
8:14 violence prevention. For us in
8:15 equity centered budget does
8:18 not mean that every program
8:18 needs to change. It means
8:19 understanding who benefits who
8:23 bears the burden of a decision
8:23 and whether our investments
8:24 are reducing or reinforcing
8:25 disparities. And so we've
8:25 worked really hard. Next
8:29 slide, please tailing. This
8:31 slide provides a simple
8:32 structure of how I see eyes
8:33 organized. The chief equity
8:33 officer reporting directly to
8:35 the mayor. The 2 divisions
8:37 I've already described Office
8:37 of Neighborhood Safety and our
8:39 Equity Strategies and
8:40 Innovation unit, one s and
8:43 yes, I respectively o n s
8:44 houses are community violence.
8:45 Solutions and juvenile justice
8:49 and resiliency work. So think
8:50 violence intervention,
8:50 diversion, deflection,
8:51 stabilization and support for
8:54 youth and families while our
8:56 yes, includes data and
8:57 evaluation strategy and
8:58 learning and is the current
8:58 home of our youth violence
9:02 prevention pilot. Dsi side
9:03 helps agencies translate what
9:05 we learned through programs
9:06 and community engagement and
9:07 to better policy, stronger
9:09 data practices and improved
9:10 organizational systems. And
9:11 all of that is about upstream
9:14 prevention and transformation.
9:16 So when we us osu, I often
9:18 think about it as a daily
9:19 impact and systems being
9:21 focused on daily impact in
9:22 systems, change in the name of
9:23 racial and social equity. Jump
9:26 to the next slide. Of course,
9:28 that only matters if we can
9:29 demonstrate results. And so on
9:32 the dsi side, one of our core
9:33 performance metrics continues
9:34 to be our use of racial
9:36 equity. Action reaps as we
9:38 call them within our agency
9:39 and the percentage of those
9:41 strategies connected to
9:42 measurable indicators of
9:43 success of this is work. We do
9:46 internally with agencies
9:47 devolution we want is from
9:48 simply having equity strategy
9:51 within city agencies to asking
9:53 a harder question, which is is
9:55 it working? How and why should
10:00 residents be excited? On nsi
10:01 diversion completion helps us
10:03 track the issues like like our
10:04 clients are facing and which
10:06 services are needed and most
10:08 effective. We're proud to see
10:09 incredibly strong completion
10:10 rates even as referrals and
10:11 case loads pressures have
10:12 continued to increase and
10:14 moving forward. We want
10:17 Council and the administration
10:19 and residents to see not only
10:19 where dollars are going with
10:20 those dollars are producing
10:24 next slide. Turning to the
10:26 budget Se eyes proposed 2027
10:28 budget is approximately 8.4
10:32 million dollars. Approximately
10:33 7.3, 7 million of that coming
10:34 from the city's general fund
10:34 with just over 1 million
10:35 coming from grants. That
10:38 funding mix is important
10:39 grants allow us to extend our
10:41 reach to test approaches and
10:43 bring additional resources
10:45 into Denver. Grants also
10:47 expire. And so the general
10:47 fund strategy that put out
10:51 that we're proposing here
10:52 focuses on protecting services
10:53 and capacity that have become
10:55 central to the city's ongoing
10:55 and safety infrastructure.
10:56 Over the past few years. Next
10:59 slide. Looking at how that 8.4
11:04 million is spent approximately
11:05 74% is personnel and 26%
11:07 services and supplies and less
11:09 than one percent is internal
11:11 services. That distribution
11:12 reflects the real nature of
11:14 our sci is fundamentally of
11:16 people in community-centered
11:17 agency, the work we do in
11:18 violence, intervention,
11:19 diversion youth engagement,
11:21 community coordination is all
11:23 about building strong
11:24 relationships and our
11:24 commitments to staff capacity
11:29 reflect that. Our services and
11:30 supplies. But it is equally
11:31 important because
11:32 community-based organizations
11:33 extend our reach and provide
11:34 specialized support that city
11:35 government, I believe, should
11:37 not attempt to replicate
11:38 internally. And so our goal
11:39 here is to maintain the right
11:41 balance between a strong
11:42 community relationships. Next
11:42 internal backbone and strong
11:47 slide. This slide provides
11:48 some important historical
11:49 context related se eyes
11:50 budget. You can see
11:52 significant growth between
11:54 2023 2025. As a neighborhood
11:55 safety functions were
11:57 consolidated sci in the city,
11:59 continue building its actually
12:01 infrastructure following the
12:01 2026 reductions are
12:03 appropriated, budget and
12:05 staffing declined. The
12:05 proposed 2027 budget is
12:08 approximately 8.4 million with
12:10 50 and a half budgeted fte
12:13 compared with 9.3, 9 million.
12:15 And 47.5 Ft in 2026. We'll
12:16 talk about the details of that
12:19 in just a moment. The staffing
12:20 increase hears that we're
12:20 proposing here is not being
12:21 driven by an increase in
12:23 overall budget. Then instead
12:26 we are again proposing to
12:28 repurpose existing services
12:30 and supply dollars to at 3
12:32 positions where workload and
12:32 programmed him and make
12:33 additional internal capacity
12:34 critical to quality service
12:39 and community safety. We're
12:39 making choices, women
12:40 available resources about
12:41 where those dollars can have
12:42 the greatest operational and
12:46 resident impacts next slide.
12:47 The last thing I want to do is
12:48 I want to connect these
12:50 investments directly to City
12:51 Council priorities, which we
12:51 were really intentional about
12:52 doing because we think that
12:53 collaboration is very
12:55 important. Approximately 1.3
12:57 million supports community
12:58 violence solutions in the
12:59 priority of increasing
13:01 community safety. That work