City Council

Monday, February 10, 2025, 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 met on February 10, 2025. The meeting opened with roll call (12 members present) and approval of the February 3 minutes. Council members gave announcements including district town halls, community surveys, and know-your-rights events, and several acknowledged community fear following events the prior week. The Council adopted Proclamation 250164 honoring Denver's Negro League baseball history, its connection to the historic Five Points neighborhood, and the African American Heritage Calendar work of Moses Brewer and Walter Wedgeworth, with remarks from Wedgeworth's family and a community member. The Council discussed a resolution to purchase land in Council District 5 for a new park using Parks Legacy funds, contracts for homelessness shelter operations (with one District 7 contract postponed for follow-up with Colorado Village Collaborative), and a campaign finance ordinance (CB 24-16-76) concerning Fair Elections Fund debates, with extended Q&A but no vote stated beyond moving toward a required public hearing on February 18, 2025. A rezoning bill (CB 25-0086) covering Chaffee Park, Sunnyside, Highland, and Jefferson Park was postponed one week to February 18, 2025. A block of resolutions and bills was adopted on final consideration.

Transcript

0:06 Council. Please stand by full

0:08 coverage of your Denver City

0:11 Council. He begins now.

0:24 means being interpreted

0:26 into Spanish 100. Would you

0:27 please introduce yourself and

0:28 let our viewers know how to

0:29 enable translation on their

0:32 devices?

0:33 Yes, course. Thank you for

0:36 having Hello, everyone. My

0:36 name is Sam Guzman with the

0:40 seal c. And along with my

0:41 calling on the junta, we will

0:42 be interpreting today's

0:47 meeting into Spanish. Give you

0:48 instructions on how to access

0:49 interpretation in Spanish when

0:50 the status, though, number so

0:53 much was month. That's that's

0:55 a compliment to can. We call

0:56 the this time. It wasn't the

0:57 person, the Livonia million

0:59 that's been She soon us a

1:02 little been meant that. So it

1:03 But opponents up and pay up

1:06 was candy corn. If you that,

1:08 but that's when he called the

1:10 global pima Silicon 6 youngest

1:16 coach the To start going to

1:17 put those presents anything in

1:17 that. I'm gonna use escritt

1:20 writing this, but most get

1:21 full coming. A lot on Us. 10

1:23 picking a player that all the

1:23 homes. But that is contained

1:25 in this budget, which is of

1:26 the essence. And thank you

1:28 very much

1:33 thank you very much, Sam.

1:34 And welcome to the Denver City

1:36 Council meeting Monday,

1:40 FEBRUARY 10th 2025. Council

1:41 members please rise is you're

1:42 able and Janie in the Pledge

1:52 of Allegiance

1:56 and which One nation under

2:03 GOD, for all.

2:04 Council members, please

2:05 join councilmember parity as

2:06 they lead us in the Denver

2:06 City. Councilman

2:14 acknowledgment.

2:15 The Denver City Council

2:16 honors and acknowledges that

2:17 the land on which we reside is

2:19 the traditional territory of

2:21 the eu to Cheyenne and Arapaho

2:23 peoples. We also recognize the

2:24 48 contemporary tribal nations

2:25 that are historically tied to

2:26 the lambs that make up the

2:28 state of Colorado. We honor

2:31 elders past present and future

2:32 and those who have sort of

2:33 this land throughout

2:35 generations. We also recognize

2:37 that government academic and

2:37 cultural institutions were

2:39 founded upon and continue to

2:40 enact exclusions. Innovations

2:42 of indigenous peoples. Made

2:43 this acknowledgment

2:46 demonstrate a commitment to

2:47 working to dismantle ongoing

2:48 legacies of oppression and

2:50 inequities and recognize the

2:51 current and future

2:51 contributions of indigenous

2:57 communities in DECEMBER. Thank

2:57 you, COUNCILMAN.

3:04 MADAM Secretary will call.

3:08 Here just here. Here.

3:11 Always good to get here. I'm

3:22 here. Campbell, here. So we're

3:24 tourists here. Watson hear

3:31 modern PRESIDENT. 12 members

3:32 present. There are 12 members

3:37 present council has a

3:38 approve the minutes. Are

3:39 there any corrections to the

3:45 minutes of FEBRUARY? 3rd? Seen

3:48 none the minutes and approved

3:49 council announcements. Are

3:50 there any council announcement

3:55 this afternoon? COUNCILMAN

3:56 Thank you. MADAM Wanted to

3:59 just remind member resident of

4:00 District 5, if you would like

4:03 to join us tomorrow night,

4:04 05:30pm, at George Washington

4:05 High School. We are having our

4:10 annual a community open house.

4:10 So it's an opportunity to just

4:11 come and talk.

4:15 With different city

4:17 agencies ask and talk directly

4:18 with the people who are

4:20 running the operations of our

4:20 city. So again, tomorrow

4:24 night, 05:30pm, that is

4:26 FEBRUARY. 11th 05:30pm, at

4:27 George Washington High School

4:28 in the library, which is on

4:28 the second floor. So please

4:31 come and join us. And the

4:32 MADAM PRESIDENT, I also just

4:34 wanted to acknowledge last

4:37 week was really difficult week

4:38 in our community. And I want

4:39 to just take a second to

4:43 acknowledge the fear, the

4:44 stress and all of the

4:44 different things that our

4:46 community members felt last

4:48 Wednesday. It was a really

4:49 difficult time. And while I

4:50 don't feel comfortable talking

4:51 any specifics about it, I

4:52 didn't want to let a day go

4:56 past without acknowledging

4:57 communities that have been

4:58 affected by things that

5:00 happened last week and just

5:02 wanted to take a moment to say

5:05 we feel you. We hear you. We

5:07 know how concerned, upset and

5:08 scared many of our residents

5:13 are. Thank you. Thank you, Not

5:15 to put words in you mouth, but

5:17 that we stand in solidarity

5:20 with everyone and we stand in

5:20 solidarity as a council with

5:21 the residents of Thank you for

5:22 saying that. I

5:24 to the same sentiments

5:27 council put him American bill.

5:29 Thank you. MADAM PRESIDENT.

5:32 I just wanted to let the

5:34 folks in district 4 know that

5:35 we are sending out a survey

5:37 today. We've talked about it,

5:39 but it's a community survey to

5:41 get feedback for opinion.

5:42 Stockton ideas as we move

5:46 forward for 2025, we're doing

5:46 it a little differently. We're

5:51 sending it out by text. So

5:52 this continue. We will see. So

5:55 if you get it, it's not spam.

5:57 You will see it. My my knee,

5:59 my pictures on it. And if you

6:00 don't receive one by text,

6:04 please contact or office. The

6:05 Denver City Council District 4

6:08 office go to the website, give

6:09 our office a call and we will

6:10 make sure that you have access

6:14 to. To the survey and we can

6:16 do it electronically also have

6:19 hard copy paper copies. If

6:19 that's more comfortable for

6:23 sums. So that's So district

6:25 for a service going out today.

6:26 I'll Thank you. Thank you.

6:28 MADAM PRESIDENT, thank you.

6:31 COUNCILMAN Tires. Thank you.

6:31 MADAM PRESIDENT, just want to

6:32 announce I'll be participating

6:36 in a town hall partnering with

6:37 Revision and Westwood, Denver,

6:40 Health and Denver, Public

6:41 Schools for a town hall for

6:44 immigrant refugee communities

6:45 around City, health and school

6:49 resources as well as recent

6:52 changes know your rights

6:53 information. Please join us.

6:54 It will be at the revision

6:56 Gallery, which is on Morrison

6:57 Road from 06:00pm to 08:00pm

6:59 this Thursday, FEBRUARY 13th.

7:02 Thank you. MADAM PRESIDENT.

7:04 Thank you. COUNCILMAN Thank

7:09 you. Council PRESIDENT First I

7:10 can't ever start speaking. If

7:13 we have another elected in the

7:14 room and so want to

7:16 acknowledge former council

7:19 PRESIDENT Elbert wedge sharing

7:20 her time with us in chambers

7:25 here. And so good to see you

7:26 this evening. Also want let

7:29 folks know that we have the

7:32 10th annual district, 11 town

7:34 hall on Thursday, FEBRUARY

7:37 13th. It will start at 5.30,

7:40 and go until 07:30pm, and it

7:40 will be held at the every

7:44 Garrett, Dennis campus and

7:45 very honored to have the

7:48 partnership and collaboration

7:49 of both of our at-large

7:51 council members as well. A

7:53 councilmember parity and

7:54 council member Gonzalez, Kathy

7:57 Addison, so appreciate their

8:03 support as well. And then just

8:04 a quick reminder to so many

8:05 people, especially in the

8:09 Denver metro area with the

8:10 recent that happened last week

8:14 in our city. I think a lot of

8:17 people beyond being fearful

8:21 are also worried about.

8:22 Speaking up or saying

8:24 something about what is going

8:27 on and that we are safe in

8:30 Denver. If there was an issue

8:32 with our safety in Denver, I

8:36 would fully assume and no.

8:37 The the chief of police,

8:39 the mayor and our director of

8:41 safety would of asked city

8:45 Council for a supplemental to

8:47 help make us safe. But that

8:48 has not happened. And so what

8:48 that tells me is that there's

8:53 a lot of negative, fearful

8:54 rhetoric out there. And I

8:56 encourage Denver residents to

8:59 make sure you're speaking up

9:03 that we do have a safe city

9:05 and that we one 88 number for

9:08 folks to call if they are

9:09 concerned about their rights,

9:11 if they need more information

9:14 and that we are not bullied

9:20 can exercise our First

9:20 are made to be fearful that we

9:21 Amendment rights, which is

9:24 freedom of speech and that is

9:25 very important. As we talk

9:27 about our constitution. And so

9:29 wanted to put that out there

9:32 as well. So that hopefully we

9:33 can start hearing more. So

9:35 from Denver residents who

9:37 don't believe that these are

9:40 the virtues are values that we

9:41 appreciating our city. Thank

9:43 you. Council PRESIDENT.

9:46 Thank you. Councilmember

9:47 Watson.

9:49 Thank you. MADAM PRESIDENT,

9:50 I wanted to thank the members

9:51 District 9 for coming out to

9:54 our for election fund town

9:57 hall that we held on all last

9:59 Tuesday. The forest, thank you

10:01 for coming out. Engaging in a

10:03 robust discussion like thank

10:05 our friends from the clerk and

10:06 recorder's Nick and Andy One

10:06 give a last name. So don't you

10:08 want to follow you? But thank

10:11 you so much for being there.

10:12 Being willing answer the

10:13 questions and really elevate

10:16 the importance of ensuring our

10:16 elections are transparent and

10:17 there are accessible to all

10:19 that used to run. We will

10:22 having a public hearing and

10:23 lots more discussion on for

10:26 election funds next Tuesday

10:29 because Monday is a day So

10:30 next Tuesday at City Council

10:30 discussing all of the

10:32 important changes that we're

10:34 bringing forward based on

10:35 community voice. So thank you

10:38 all. Thank you. MADAM

10:39 PRESIDENT.

10:40 Thank you, Councilmember

10:41 Luis, Welcome to the meeting

10:42 and have announcement. Thank

10:45 you so much. Appreciate it. I

10:46 just wanted to thank the

10:48 District 8 residents who are

10:49 able to attend a town hall

10:50 this weekend. The Saturday.

10:51 It was a beautiful

10:52 visioning session. And so

10:54 really appreciate folks taking

10:57 the time to think about how we

10:58 work together individually and

10:59 collectively to build the

11:02 district. I think we'll can be

11:02 proud of. And then an

11:03 invitation to district 8

11:06 residents as well. And if

11:06 they're interested

11:08 participating on our community

11:09 panels that they can email our

11:10 council office directly to

11:13 sign up. Thank you.

11:13 Thank you. Councilmember

11:16 not be the case. Thank you.

11:20 Council PRESIDENT.

11:21 district that will also be

11:21 having a know your rights

11:25 training as well as

11:26 information with several

11:28 attorneys on site and notaries

11:29 this Thursday at 6.30, if you

11:30 would like to know the

11:32 location, you can contact us

11:33 at district 7 at Denver. Gov

11:38 Dot Org is to Kravis and acc

11:38 many apps are most advantage

11:43 on it. And Bill, this evidence

11:46 was that just But I think the

11:48 them that I most important

11:48 important you see get a set of

11:52 mission for this medical

11:53 director, Nicole. E s it that

11:56 every e set this yet they at

12:01 Denver the and that one or at

12:04 Denver. Gov Dot Org.

12:06 Thank you. Thank you.

12:06 Council PRESIDENT.

12:10 thank you, COUNCILMAN. Just

12:11 want to make an announcement

12:12 that the city's close next

12:13 Monday in observation of

12:16 Presidents Day. So we will be

12:17 moving our city council

12:20 meeting from Monday. The 17th

12:22 and we will be here on

12:30 Tuesday. FEBRUARY 18th. Seeing

12:33 no other No other

12:34 announcements. There are no

12:36 presentations. There are no

12:37 communications and there is

12:40 one proclamation being that

12:40 this afternoon council member

12:41 was We please read

12:46 proclamation. 25, 0, 1, 6, 4,

12:48 Thank you. Council

12:51 PRESIDENT Proclamation number

12:53 2, 5, 0, 1, 6, 4, honoring

12:53 Denver's role in Baseball

12:56 League in the Baseball League

12:57 History and its connection to

13:01 Denver. Historic 5 points,

13:02 whereas Denver, Colorado holds

13:03 a significant place in the

13:05 history of professional

13:06 baseball being the first

13:08 location in United States

13:09 where high-level professional

13:11 baseball was played integrated

13:14 field showing showcasing the

13:16 talent of both White and black

13:19 teens. And whereas during the

13:20 1920's and 1930's,

13:20 professional baseball

13:22 opportunities for fans in the

13:24 western United States were

13:27 limited. Inspiring the Denver

13:28 Post to organize a landmark

13:28 tournament known as the Little

13:31 World Series of the West

13:32 offering substantial prize

13:34 money and drawing some of the

13:35 finest baseball talent from

13:39 across the nation. And whereas

13:42 in 1934 Charles Pass Parsons

13:43 Sports editor of the Denver

13:46 Post demonstrated bold

13:47 leadership and vision by

13:48 inviting the League teams to

13:51 participate in the tournament.

13:52 Despite the challenges posed

13:54 by the racial climate of the

13:57 time when Colorado's

13:57 government was significantly

13:58 significantly influence by the

14:01 Ku Klux. And whereas inclusion

14:04 of League All-Stars such a

14:07 Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson.

14:08 But Leonard and Cool. Papa

14:12 Bell. Love that name. Not only

14:12 elevated quality of

14:13 competition, but also

14:15 represented a courageous step

14:17 towards integration. In

14:21 sports, inspiring progress

14:22 amid systemic racial Barry

14:24 whereas these All-Star player

14:24 state the Raw Sony and hotel

14:27 in 5 points, historic

14:28 neighborhood known as the

14:30 Cultural Heart of Denver's

14:32 enjoy the vibrant jazz scene

14:32 black community where they

14:35 and not live by night while

14:36 making a name for themselves

14:38 day and playing in front of

14:38 by winning baseball games by

14:39 sports writers from across the

14:42 country. And whereas Denver's

14:44 all black team, the white

14:47 elephants sponsored by this is

14:49 meant a h w Ross played for 21

14:51 years representing 5 points

14:54 whose legacy of excellence,

14:55 resilience and cultural pride

14:57 during air segregation and

14:58 discrimination continues to

15:01 inspire future generations.

15:02 And whereas the African

15:04 American heritage calendar

15:05 highlighted important historic

15:05 moments within the

15:06 African-American community,

15:07 including the impact of the

15:11 major leagues in Denver. And

15:13 whereas the African American

15:14 heritage calendar was produced

15:15 and distributed free of charge

15:18 since 1980, until the early 2,

15:19 thousands serving as an

15:21 important cultural and

15:22 historic resource and whereas

15:24 MR. Walter, well, wedge worth

15:27 and MR. Moses Brewer played a

15:28 pivotal role in the

15:29 distribution of the African

15:31 American heritage calendar,

15:32 ensuring that this valuable