City Council

Monday, May 5, 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 May 5, 2025 with 12 members present. The council adopted a proclamation recognizing May 7, 2025 as National Interpreter Appreciation Day, with acceptance remarks from the city's language access and immigrant/refugee affairs staff. The council voted 12-0 to reject a $600,000 contract extension with Flock Group for automated license plate reader cameras, after members raised privacy, data-sharing, and civil liberties concerns; members reported that the mayor's office had changed course and asked the council to vote no, committing to work on surveillance legislation and a task force. The council also voted 12-0 against a $25 million liquid asphalt contract with Suncor Energy, citing environmental justice concerns, while adopting a consolidated citywide towing contract (10 ayes, 2 nays) despite concerns about towing RVs where people may be living. Members also questioned, then noted, liability claims resolutions and two bills on the Park Hill golf course property exchange and rezoning. The meeting recessed for a general public comment session (not captured in this transcript).

Transcript

0:01 think you very much true.

0:01 Thank you. And thank you to

0:06 list as well. Welcome to the

0:07 Denver City Council meeting of

0:11 Monday. MAY 2025. Council

0:11 members please rise as you are

0:12 able and join me in the Pledge

0:27 of Allegiance.

0:35 Council members. Please

0:35 join councilmember parity as

0:37 they lead us in the Denver

0:38 City Council. Land

0:42 acknowledgment. The Denver

0:43 City Council honors and

0:44 acknowledges that the land on

0:45 which we reside as the

0:46 traditional territory. That

0:48 huge Cheyenne and Arapaho

0:49 peoples.

0:50 We also recognize the 48

0:51 contemporary tribal nations

0:52 that are historically tied to

0:53 the lands that make up the

0:55 state of Colorado. We honor

0:57 elders past present and future

0:58 and those who have started the

1:00 slam throughout generations.

1:02 We also recognize that

1:03 government, academic and

1:03 cultural institutions were

1:04 founded upon and continue to

1:05 enact exclusions under 8 years

1:07 of indigenous peoples. Made

1:09 this announcement demonstrate

1:11 a commitment to working to

1:11 dismantle ongoing legacies of

1:14 oppression and inequities and

1:15 2 recognizing the current and

1:15 future contributions of

1:16 indigenous communities in

1:20 Denver. Thank you, MADAM

1:25 Secretary. Roll Call.

1:33 rest here. Gilmore Gonzalez

1:38 Gutierrez here, Himes Cashman

1:44 u.S. PRESIDENT Parity So here,

1:46 Torres here, Watson, here,

1:49 PRESIDENT Sandoval. MADAM Pro,

1:55 Tem 12 members present. There

1:56 are 12 members present council

2:00 has a quorum. Approval of the

2:00 minutes. Are there any

2:01 corrections to the minutes of

2:06 APRIL 28th? Seeing none the

2:14 minutes stand approved.

2:15 Council announcements. Are

2:27 there any announcements? Okay

2:28 when we get started,

2:30 COUNCILWOMAN Lv this. Thank

2:33 you so much, I wanted to start

2:34 out today by wishing everyone

2:37 a stick happy Cinco de Mayo.

2:39 And take a moment to recognize

2:39 why the state holds a

2:42 significant not just to

2:42 Mexico.

2:45 4 American history as well.

2:46 Some MAY think that Cinco de

2:48 Mayo is Mexican Independence

2:50 Day, but actually commemorates

2:53 the about via Web. 18. 62.

2:55 When everyday Mexican people

2:57 and farmers defeated the much

2:57 larger and better equipped

3:00 French army. This victory had

3:01 a surprising and important

3:02 connection to the United

3:05 States. You see at the time

3:06 the U.S. Was in the midst of

3:09 the Civil War, France under

3:11 Napoleon. The 3rd had plans to

3:13 establish a monarchy in Mexico

3:15 and support the Confederate

3:18 cause. Mexico's victory at

3:19 weather that delayed French

3:23 ambitions in the Americas.

3:23 This spot time for the Union

3:25 Army to strengthen and

3:26 ultimately prevail with that.

3:27 The Mexican resistance at

3:31 Pueblo, France MAY have.

3:33 Succeeded aiding the

3:34 Confederacy, which could have

3:34 dramatically altered the

3:36 course of the Civil war. Cinco

3:39 de Mayo is also a day that

3:41 honors resiliency, unity and

3:42 the fight against oppression.

3:47 I also want to know. That the

3:47 PRESIDENT Of Mexico at the

3:49 time was PRESIDENT. Many the

3:49 hottest, the first indigenous

3:52 PRESIDENT Of Mexico and a

3:53 remarkable indigenous support

3:57 leader Aquinas was committed

3:58 to both Mexican sovereignty

3:59 and the principles of liberty.

4:02 His government. It's

4:04 government's victory in Pueblo

4:07 delayed the French ambitions.

4:07 And what many don't realize is

4:08 that quite is quietly

4:12 supported the Union cause. His

4:13 government sent goal to the

4:14 Union Army helping find its

4:16 efforts against the

4:18 Confederacy. His resistance to

4:18 the French empire and

4:20 solidarity with the United

4:22 States. Not only shapes the

4:24 outcomes of Mexico's fight for

4:25 sovereignty, but also played a

4:28 key role. In preserving the

4:31 union and ending slavery. I

4:33 also just want to say thank

4:36 you to lie lose school

4:36 students who came to spend

4:37 time with me the last couple

4:38 of weeks, then get experience

4:42 at a mock city council meeting

4:43 that was really amazing. And I

4:43 forward to doing it again in

4:47 the future. Thank you. Can

4:48 Thank you. Council woman

4:51 Gilmore. Thank you. Council

4:55 PRESIDENT Pro tem.

4:57 I wanted to bring 2 issues

5:00 forward. The first one being

5:01 recognition of missing and

5:04 murdered indigenous relatives.

5:07 It is on MAY 5th I appreciate

5:10 my colleagues. Wearing red in

5:13 solidarity to bring awareness

5:15 to the number of not only

5:18 women who go missing in on an

5:22 annual basis, children and men

5:25 and especially trans people go

5:27 missing at a higher rate than

5:30 others across the nation. But

5:33 specifically Denver, Colorado,

5:34 we have the missing and

5:36 murdered indigenous task force

5:38 which was created at the state

5:41 level a few years ago and some

5:45 of their statistics are very

5:46 telling. In Denver, Colorado,

5:49 we have the highest rate of

5:52 unsolved missing and murdered

5:54 indigenous relatives cases in

5:59 Colorado at 44.1% in Denver

6:05 and this goes back to around

6:07 some of that data. But then

6:10 also the amount of American

6:11 Indian deaths by law

6:12 enforcement in Colorado and

6:16 Amber, it's 30.8% And those

6:17 are only records that go back

6:23 to 2011. That the oldest case.

6:25 They were able to get

6:29 information for. And so wanted

6:29 to bring those statistics

6:32 forward really appreciate the

6:35 community. I was able to

6:36 attend a walk in solidarity in

6:40 Colorado Springs yesterday and

6:41 we started out at a park and

6:47 then walks to the government

6:49 the council building in

6:52 Colorado Springs and

6:57 remembered the folks who had

6:59 either been murdered or

7:00 missing or are still missing.

7:04 And some of those cases are

7:05 decades old. And so I wanted

7:09 to bring awareness to that. We

7:11 had a big turnout and we need

7:13 to keep the awareness going.

7:17 But that that also means

7:18 resources, monetary resources

7:19 look at our rates and then

7:21 know that Denver needs to

7:22 invest those resources to

7:25 prevent and to solve these

7:28 cases. And the second

7:34 announcement that I have is in

7:37 relation to exploited and

7:38 missing people. I wanted also

7:40 bring awareness to a deer

7:45 friend Jack scratch. She's a

7:47 stylist here in Denver. She

7:51 has been missing since APRIL

7:51 15th and the Denver Police

7:52 Department has been working

7:55 very, very hard. They've been

7:57 following up. Many, many tips

7:59 from all over the country. But

8:02 again, want to raise awareness

8:03 because this should not be

8:05 happening to those who are

8:08 most vulnerable and people

8:09 know something. Someone knows

8:11 something someone saw

8:13 something. And if you look

8:15 away when you see things like

8:17 this happening, I know it's

8:19 Wayne your conscience and your

8:21 heart. And so the more that we

8:22 bring awareness to this,

8:24 hopefully we can bring family

8:28 members of home alive, but

8:29 nevertheless bringing them

8:34 home so that we can have that

8:35 closure and wanted to bring

8:37 that out Also in our of Marcy

8:38 Fairchild, she was found

8:39 finally along Cherry Creek.

8:43 And we continue her family

8:43 continues to look for

8:46 information from the Denver

8:47 Police Department on what they

8:51 can do next. How they can help

8:51 most with this investigation

8:52 because right at this point

8:53 they don't have any active

8:55 leads. And so that is

8:57 someone's mom and grandmother

8:58 and daughter in our city. And

8:59 so thank you. Thank you.

9:01 Council pro Tem. Thank you.

9:03 Council Mikael Moore

9:07 Councilmember Sawyer.

9:08 Thank you, MADAM Pro Just a

9:11 couple of things wanted to

9:11 remind everyone if your

9:12 district 5 resident please

9:16 join us tomorrow night via

9:16 Zoom, 06:00pm for our Holly

9:21 Street traffic study results

9:22 and implementation

9:23 conversations. For those of

9:24 you who've been around a

9:25 while, you know, the District

9:27 Council office does this once

9:28 a year on roads that we

9:29 receive significant numbers of

9:31 concerns and complaints from

9:33 residents about. So we did on

9:35 Holly Street this year and

9:36 tomorrow and at 06:00pm, their

9:40 results will come in. And then

9:41 second, it's just wanted to

9:42 remind everyone next Tuesday

9:43 because apparently I work

9:47 every Tuesday night. Also

9:48 05:30pm. If you are a resident

9:49 of Cherry Creek and you want

9:52 to learn more about the

9:53 proposal to bring a general

9:54 improvement districts to the

9:55 Cherry Creek Statistical

9:57 neighborhood. Please join us.

9:58 That is also online. You can

10:00 find out all of that

10:00 information for where to sign

10:01 up and register and all of

10:03 that kind of stuff on our

10:04 website. Denver, Gov Dot Org

10:08 Slash district 5 or on our

10:09 social media. You can just go

10:11 to at Denver Council 5 and

10:12 you'll see all the information

10:13 there as well. So hope

10:14 residents will be able to come

10:16 out and join us. Thank you.

10:17 Thank you. Councilmember Luis,

10:19 thank you so much. So what I

10:22 wanted to shout out our

10:25 district, a community panels.

10:26 We concluded.

10:26 That work and we are going

10:27 to be working on implementing

10:30 the proposals and policies

10:31 that you all suggested over

10:32 the course of the 9 weeks this

10:34 spring. So thank you for your

10:38 participation. I wanted to

10:41 invite folks to MAY 10 office

10:42 hours. Their vote virtual from

10:46 one 30 to 3.30, can take place

10:46 on my social media. You can

10:49 reach out to the district

10:49 office directly or you can

10:52 find meiling tree which has

10:54 the the for my virtual office

10:56 hours. We also have a town

10:58 hall this Saturday as well.

10:59 That is from 11 to one at the

11:04 VMAs. A campus very excited to

11:05 be in and being community with

11:05 all of you. I know folks are

11:08 having a tough time and so

11:09 would love for us to gather

11:12 and just share some space and

11:13 then finally, I wanted to

11:15 Collins for their civic

11:15 shout out the city of Fort

11:16 assembly process that they are

11:20 using to saw issue over land

11:23 use for those of you that

11:23 don't know specific

11:24 assemblies. Empower the wisdom

11:25 of we the people to solve

11:26 tough public crop frozen

11:30 the weekend learning about

11:30 bridge to bite. And so I spent

11:31 this process and I believe it

11:35 is one that could be used in

11:36 great effect here in Denver.

11:38 And so if there are folks that

11:40 might be in these chambers are

11:41 watching that MAY be

11:43 interested in exploring civic

11:44 assemblies, please reach out

11:45 to my counsel office. I would

11:46 love to have some thought

11:46 partnership potentially bring

11:48 went to Denver. Thank you.

11:51 Thank you. Councilmember Luis,

11:52 there are no presentations.

11:55 There are no communications.

11:56 There's one proclamation

11:58 being read this afternoon.

11:59 Councilmember Torres, we

12:01 please read proclamation. 25

12:04 Dash 0, 6, 5, 4, Thank you.

12:08 Madam PRESIDENT. A

12:12 proclamation. 25 Dash 0, 6, 5,

12:13 whereas.

12:13 National interpreter

12:14 appreciation Days annually

12:14 observed on the first

12:17 Wednesday of MAY. And the year

12:20 2025, it falls on MAY 7th.

12:21 This is an occasion to

12:22 recognize and express

12:24 gratitude for the invaluable

12:26 contributions of interpreters

12:26 in language. Justice advocates

12:29 across the nation and whereas

12:30 national Interpreter

12:32 Appreciation Day serves as a

12:33 reminder to honor the

12:34 linguistic diversity that

12:37 enriches our society and to

12:38 appreciate the individuals who

12:39 facilitate cross cultural

12:41 connections through language

12:42 justice and whereas the

12:45 efforts of interpreters

12:46 contribute significantly to

12:46 building bridges between the

12:48 people of different languages

12:50 and cultures. Promoting mutual

12:52 understanding and fostering

12:53 world where communication is

12:55 accessible to all and where

12:57 deaf and hard of hearing

12:59 services division has provided

13:01 sign language, interpretation

13:01 services to Denver, government

13:05 entities at no cost since

13:06 1984, which allows equal

13:10 access for deaf people to

13:11 fully engage and participate

13:11 in the city's programs,

13:14 services and events and has

13:17 grown since then 500% in the

13:19 provision of interpreting

13:21 hours and where has deaf and

13:22 hard of hearing services

13:23 Division works closely with

13:25 city agencies to ensure

13:26 compliance with state and

13:26 federal legislation by

13:29 creating and distributing sign

13:30 language interpreter request

13:32 protocol for city agencies.

13:34 The 24 7 interpreter, Colette

13:36 protocol for use by Denver.

13:38 Law enforcement and providing

13:41 training to city employees on

13:43 Colorado required credentials

13:44 for qualified sign language

13:45 interpreter as well as

13:46 information on deaf community

13:49 culture and language. And

13:49 whereas executive order 1, 5,

13:50 0, was established in the city

13:53 and county of Denver, the

13:53 language access program within

13:55 the immigrant and Refugee

13:57 Affairs division of the Denver

13:59 Human Rights and Community

14:01 Partnerships. Agency serves as

14:01 the main resource for the

14:03 city's effort to provide

14:04 community members with no cost

14:08 equal access to programs.

14:09 Public program, services and

14:09 activities regardless of

14:11 English proficiency. And

14:13 whereas the language Access

14:14 team closely works with city

14:17 agencies to ensure compliance

14:19 local and federal regulations

14:19 by assisting in the

14:21 development of language.

14:22 Access plans, outlining

14:26 language access procedures and

14:26 protocols for public programs,

14:28 services and benefits,

14:30 including training for all

14:32 city employees. And whereas

14:33 the language Access Program

14:36 manages the Denver City Guide,

14:37 a document that outlines

14:38 resources and services

14:40 available to the immigrant

14:41 refugee Denver community and

14:42 has coordinated the

14:43 translation of the guide into

14:45 Spanish Vietnamese French Lynn

14:49 Gala her it freshen Chinese

14:53 Poly Dari and Pashto over the

14:55 last year. This report has

14:56 been excess access at least

14:57 60% of the time in languages

15:00 other than English for a total

15:03 of 796 times now, therefore,

15:04 be it proclaimed by the

15:05 council, the city and county