City Council

Monday, November 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 November 10, 2025, with Spanish interpretation provided. The main business was the vote on the mayor's proposed 2026 budget: after extensive comments from members criticizing the process's lack of transparency and collaboration (while several praised the Department of Finance's work and the council's adopted amendments), the motion to adopt failed on a 6-ayes, 6-nays vote; the Council President noted the long bill appropriation vote would follow the next week. The council also approved a Salvation Army contract amendment for the Crossroads shelter after Council Member Watson's questions on security, postponed a resolution on eviction legal services, called out and discussed multiple business improvement district budgets (with Council Member Lewis raising concerns about private security in the RiNo, Downtown, and Colfax districts, and voting no on the Downtown Denver BID), and amended and published the Downtown Denver Area Plan bill. Three proclamations were adopted: Veterans Day honoring Mile High Veterans and Leadership Veteran, the Dia de los Muertos Parade and Festival, and Greg Feazell of the Colorado Rockies. A rezoning bill for a Villa Park property with a voluntary affordable housing agreement passed after a public hearing.

Transcript

0:06 a Denver, it's time for the

0:09 weekly general session of your

0:15 Denver City Tonight's coverage

0:16 of Denver City Council starts

0:18 now.

0:33 I mean, some and attended

0:33 by the honor presiding over

0:37 Denver City Council today is

0:40 Monday, NOVEMBER 10th 2025.

0:41 Tonight's meeting is being

0:43 interpreted into Spanish. Sam

0:45 Hurd has mean would you please

0:46 introduce yourself and that

0:48 our viewers know how to enable

0:52 translation on their devices.

0:53 course. Thank you for

0:55 having us once again. Hello,

0:56 everyone. My name is Sam

0:57 Bozeman with the coc chair.

1:01 Joining you. Virtually through

1:03 zoom and along with my

1:03 colleague doesn't mean we'll

1:05 be Turpin interpreting.

1:09 Today's meeting Spanish.

1:10 Please allow me a quick minute

1:11 to give instructions in

1:14 Spanish access interpretation.

1:15 A status with numbers,

1:16 someone's not going to see in

1:19 the city. Don't come into

1:20 clinically had just means to

1:21 them will sink that putt on

1:21 the left they will. You let

1:25 know. Too soon consult gunman

1:28 resume. What followed was can

1:29 someone tell you when economy

1:32 little kid, he that that

1:33 Silicon dea Cilic's. On beach

1:33 that's him opening with

1:37 in the spring. Too soon us

1:39 with those positions have

1:42 meant they just don't eat in

1:43 followed was kept us informed

1:44 a scale of that. It's going to

1:45 do not just particular put all

1:46 that healthy for most, but as

1:48 coach had in this plan. Which

1:48 assists. And thank you very

1:50 much

1:58 thank you very much, Sam.

1:59 Welcome to the Denver City

2:00 Council meeting of Monday,

2:03 NOVEMBER 5th 2025 council

2:06 members please councilmember

2:09 as they lead us to public

2:10 council members. Please join

2:11 comes Gilmore as they lead us

2:13 in the Pledge of Allegiance.

2:34 Council

2:36 members please join

2:36 councilmember get more as they

2:37 lead us in the Denver City

2:38 Council land acknowledgement.

2:41 The Denver City Council.

2:42 Farmers and acknowledges

2:44 that the land on which we

2:46 reside is a traditional

2:47 territory. The huge Cheyenne

2:51 and Arapaho peoples. We also

2:54 recognize the 48 contemporary

2:55 tribal nations that have

2:56 historically tight, the lands

2:56 that make up the state of

3:01 Colorado. Elders past present

3:04 and future and those who are

3:05 the stewards this land

3:05 throughout generations. We

3:09 also recognize the government,

3:11 academic and cultural

3:12 institutions were founded upon

3:13 and continue to enact

3:16 exclusions and the racers of

3:18 indigenous peoples. MAY this

3:19 acknowledgment demonstrate a

3:21 commitment to working to

3:23 dismantle ongoing legacies of

3:27 oppression and inequities and

3:27 recognize the current and

3:28 future contributions of

3:29 indigenous communities in

3:32 Denver. Thank you,

3:35 Councilmember MADAM Secretary

3:35 will call.

3:39 Council members toward of

3:46 pace plan here? Going south.

3:54 Timeshare Cashman Lewis.

3:58 American here. So here it.

4:00 Watson PRESIDENT Signed and

4:04 then members present. There 11

4:07 members. Present council has a

4:10 car council will now vote

4:11 either adopt or reject the

4:14 mayor's proposed 2026 budget

4:15 councilmember get more. We

4:19 need a motion to adopt. I that

4:20 the mayor's proposed 2026

4:24 budget be adopted. It has been

4:28 moved. And second are there

4:29 any comments from members of

4:35 council? Councilmember Sawyer

4:39 Start us out.

4:39 Thanks, MADAM PRESIDENT. I

4:41 said last weekend I follow

4:42 through again today. I'm a no

4:45 on this budget. I really

4:45 appreciate the hard work of

4:48 the Department of Finance. You

4:49 guys have done an

4:49 extraordinary lift over the

4:53 last 2 years in dealing with

4:55 the migrant crisis, dealing

4:56 with house of thousands.

4:56 Frontline you halfway through

5:01 the year in 2023. Dealing with

5:03 revenue that is falling

5:05 significantly due to sales

5:05 tax. And I really want to

5:06 acknowledge you all and

5:07 appreciate that. I'm not

5:10 putting my name for my stamp

5:12 of approval on this budget. I

5:16 am extremely concerned about

5:18 some of the things that have

5:19 gone on some of the things we

5:22 see and hear this year as

5:23 council members. I've been

5:25 here 6 years and really never

5:28 seen anything like it before.

5:29 The lack of transparency, the

5:31 lack of accountability, the

5:36 lack of information sharing.

5:36 Is incredibly frustrating. The

5:38 lack of respect for

5:40 independent agencies. It's

5:48 shocking. I think the biggest

5:49 challenge is if you look at

5:50 schedule 100 sightings,

5:51 easiest place for everyone to

5:52 look at a bunch of a can see

5:53 what I'm talking about. Page

6:03 82 speaks very clearly to the

6:04 appropriation of dollars and

6:06 City Council's authority to

6:07 appropriate dollars that are

6:10 coming in. That's what the

6:11 budget process s there is also

6:14 a very clear piece of

6:15 language. It was voted on by

6:16 the voters several years ago.

6:22 That requires that any new

6:24 dollars that have come have to

6:25 be appropriated by city

6:30 Council. The charter silent.

6:33 On what happens in a year like

6:38 this year where our revenues.

6:38 Are lower than our

6:43 expenditures. And what that

6:47 means is that city council is

6:48 expected to have oversight

6:49 over a budget with half of the

6:53 information or less. And that

6:56 is not acceptable. It is not

6:57 something that I am willing to

6:59 put my name on my stamp of

7:04 approval on. This budget.

7:05 Whether we vote yes or city

7:07 council members by charter

7:10 becomes law, no matter what.

7:11 That's what the charter sent

7:16 So you don't need my approval.

7:17 And I think it's pretty clear

7:18 based on some of the things

7:19 that have gone on during this

7:23 budget season. That the

7:23 administration is not

7:24 interested in my approval or

7:25 my partnership. When it comes

7:32 to this budget. Is sets a

7:34 stance. It's not a stance I

7:35 have to approve by voting.

7:36 Yes. Today. And so I will not

7:42 be doing

7:43 thank you. Councilmember

7:48 councilmember get Thank you. I

7:49 appreciate COUNCILMAN Sawyer's

7:52 words and her.

7:57 Steadfast advocacy for this

7:58 body, too, receive information

8:00 in a timely way to make sure

8:02 that we have all the

8:02 information necessary to make

8:06 hard decisions unfortunately,

8:10 that has not been the case

8:13 there are few areas within

8:14 Denver City Council that we

8:18 can really. Say what we mean.

8:21 But then also by the And I

8:25 will be a no on this budget

8:28 tonight, mainly for the fact

8:33 I've never seen a time in my

8:35 10 years as an elected

8:38 official, the disrespect to

8:42 disregard and the diversion.

8:45 I

8:49 have seen in this short

8:50 administration's time and the

8:51 voters of Denver very, very

8:55 smart. And there's a not

8:55 there's not a lot that they

8:57 can do right now but know that

9:03 they are watching and know

9:04 that they're taking notes and

9:05 know that the citizens of

9:07 Denver, the people of Denver,

9:10 no matter if you're immigrant

9:10 refugee or someone seeking

9:16 safe haven. You still deserve

9:20 to know what is happening

9:20 within the government and

9:22 where those dollars are going.

9:24 And that has not been the

9:29 case. In my experience at all.

9:30 And so there is no way that I

9:34 can vote for this budget. The

9:34 one piece that gives me a

9:39 little bit of rest around it

9:41 is to know that the amendments

9:42 that this body made were fully

9:46 accepted by the mayor. And

9:49 that's something for citizens

9:50 to remember that if City

9:52 Council make strong amendments

9:54 and they have a super

10:00 majority. That next week,

10:00 those amendments will take

10:05 effect. With that, And so that

10:06 is very important because that

10:11 is a power. Play that we have

10:14 never had to use within this

10:16 council before, but it was

10:19 necessary to make sure that we

10:22 say something about what were

10:24 seen happen within the city

10:27 budget. Thank you. Council

10:28 PRESIDENT Council member Jim

10:31 COUNCILWOMAN From the U.S.

10:32 Thank you. I have to

10:33 officially acknowledge to the

10:34 meeting. Thank you. Thank you

10:37 for attending the meeting on

10:38 Monday, NOVEMBER 10 the floor

10:39 is yours. Thank you. I am

10:41 present thank you all so much

10:43 for the opportunity to speak.

10:45 I will echo my colleagues and

10:45 that I was very frustrated by

10:47 this budget process and

10:50 general. But this year in

10:51 particular, I've had issues

10:53 with the budget process each

10:53 time it has come to us and

10:56 circulated a letter my first

10:59 year on council outlining my

11:00 concerns this but budget

11:01 process. However, it was not

11:01 transparent. It was not

11:05 collaborative. And process. We

11:06 learned about the cutting a

11:08 programs not by the mayor, but

11:10 often by the of the media or

11:13 nonprofits. Our own resident

11:15 says directly such as learning

11:17 about the cuts about the my

11:17 magistrates, the cutting of

11:21 overtime from the dmv and the

11:22 impacts to the youth violence

11:23 programs and folks losing

11:25 their funding in 2025, it's

11:27 been very difficult to get

11:30 answers. We do not and I

11:31 received a budget actual so we

11:32 are often shooting in the dark

11:33 when it comes to budget

11:35 amendment and we have no

11:36 oversight on how the mayor's

11:38 office spends the unspent Fund

11:40 balance. I do not think the

11:41 citizens of Denver well served

11:42 by it as it exists now in

11:44 charter. And we'll be working

11:45 on ways that we can address

11:46 the shortcomings with

11:46 COUNCILWOMAN Sawyer and

11:50 COUNCILMAN Bill Maher.

11:51 Additionally, I have also been

11:53 very disturbed by the fact

11:54 that the city MAY spend down

11:56 unspent fund balances without

11:58 council oversight or approval

11:58 with expenditures when

12:02 expenditures exceed revenues.

12:03 I am especially disturbed that

12:05 we have spent very close to

12:06 the 10% requirement over the

12:07 past few years without council

12:07 oversight due to this

12:10 arrangement under the charter

12:11 this year. We have a number of

12:12 important things that we could

12:14 have. You stand unspent fund

12:15 balance on and we were not

12:18 able to because of this. And

12:19 we often say that budgets are

12:21 moral documents in this budget

12:22 misses the mark in conveying

12:24 their collective mortality. I

12:25 am proud of the council

12:26 members as they stood together

12:29 and running budget amendment

12:30 that did reflect our

12:31 principles. But it was a

12:31 fraction of a fraction of what

12:32 was actually needed. Thank

12:38 you. Thank you. COUNCILMAN

12:41 Cashman. Yes, thank you, MADAM

12:42 PRESIDENT. Yeah, it is been

12:46 clear for the

12:48 10 years I've been on city

12:52 council that strong Mayor city

12:55 budget process. Is a mask. It

12:59 as you would expect. Is very,

13:00 very heavily weighted in favor

13:08 of executive of our Government

13:11 City Council, not just in

13:13 Denver, but in have strong

13:16 mayor city that that I've

13:18 spoken to plays a a figurehead

13:22 role in the creation of the

13:23 budget. The mayor has a very

13:27 talented. And I believe honest

13:28 and hardworking department of

13:29 finance to spends a year

13:33 crafting the budget, working

13:36 dozens of agencies looking at

13:37 their needs and figuring that

13:40 out how they think the budget

13:43 should be allocated. Then

13:44 after that year in the middle

13:45 of SEPTEMBER, we get the

13:46 budget the same day the public

13:52 does. We go through a week?

13:54 Budget hearings, 800 page

13:56 Budget Book 600 page Budget

13:57 book. I Forget what the exact

13:59 number was year. And city

14:02 council has no. Department of

14:09 Finance. We have no trained

14:12 staff adequately trained 2

14:15 pull apart. That type of the

14:19 document and give us adequate

14:22 advice on where money should

14:23 come from and what's the best

14:24 way to move things around? I

14:28 want to salute my colleagues.

14:29 2 did yeoman's work in that

14:32 short period of time. And

14:34 coming up with some funding

14:41 sources. But Certainly not the

14:43 best interests of the

14:43 system is not set up in the

14:48 residents of Denver. A few of

14:52 the amendments. That voted for

14:59 last week. I received a couple

15:02 calls that I was trying to

15:06 defund the police. I'm not a

15:11 defund or what I am is a

15:12 funder. I think the city of

15:13 Denver in the state of

15:16 Colorado should be mortified

15:19 at the way we fund education

15:22 at the way we fund children's

15:25 programs in general. We need

15:26 10's of millions of dollars

15:29 every year in Denver alone for

15:32 out-of-school time program. It

15:38 costs around 2 grand a month.

15:39 For for a private child care

15:43 for one child. We don't fund

15:47 mental health. In Denver or in

15:48 the state of Colorado the way

15:52 our people deserve. We don't

15:53 have adequate drug treatment

15:58 beds. I do not believe

16:01 shooting are wounded. And so

16:03 it if we're not going to do

16:06 that, then we have no choice

16:08 but to figure out a way to

16:09 fund the programs that we need

16:11 to fund. To make our people

16:15 healthy. We're doing our

16:18 police know favor. By not

16:22 funding the public health

16:25 modalities. That will increase

16:26 public safety. We're just

16:28 producing more and more people

16:30 who are unprepared. To have

16:35 their needs met in a way other

16:36 than to turn on lawful

16:40 behavior. Does our police no,

16:43 no favors. I have no idea. How

16:46 many cops we need in Denver.

16:48 We MAY have the exact right

16:51 number today. We MAY have too

16:53 few or we MAY have too many.

16:54 I'm not prepared to get in

16:55 that discussion either. I'm

16:58 not a public safety

16:58 professional. I absolutely

16:59 know that we should be

17:02 embarrassed at the way we're

17:05 funding our children's

17:06 programs. Our mental health

17:12 programs, et cetera. I

17:13 appreciate the difficulty of

17:16 crafting the budget this year.

17:18 And in a year where faced a

17:21 200 million dollar budget. I

17:23 appreciate that the mayor

17:26 chose to fight back and the 10

17:30 amendments that we passed at

17:37 the same time my heart out of

17:43 respect for city staff. Wanted

17:44 to vote yes on this budget

17:46 just as yes as a thank you for

17:53 the hard work you've done.

17:55 It's it's a no in that this

17:58 budget fails to address what I

18:00 think are the most important

18:01 areas that we're not