City Council - Regular Meeting

Hey, Denver, it's time for the weekly general session of your Denver City Council. Tonight's coverage of Denver City Council starts now.

There we go. That's much better now. Good afternoon, and thank you for taking time to join Denver City Council meeting. Today is Monday, August 3rd, 2026. Tonight's meeting is being interpreted into Spanish. Sam or Jasmine, would you please introduce yourself to let our viewers know how to enable translation on their devices?

Yes, of course. Thank you for having us. Hello, everyone. My name is Sam Guzman, joining you virtually through Zoom. And along with my colleague, Jasmine, we will be interpreting today's meeting into Spanish. Please allow me a quick minute while I give instructions in Spanish on how to access interpretation. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Samuel Guzman with the CLC. And together with my colleague, Jasmine, we will be interpreting today's meeting in Spanish. If you join us virtually through Zoom, please look on your screen Thank you very much. Thank you very much.

Welcome to the Denver City Council meeting of Monday, August 3, 2026. Councilmembers, please join Councilmember Gilmour in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty.

Councilmembers, please join Councilmember Gilmour as they lead us in the Denver City Council Land Acknowledgement.

The Denver City Council honors and acknowledges that the land on which we reside is a traditional territory of the Ute, Cheyenne, and Arapaho peoples. We also recognize the 48 contemporary tribal nations that are historically tied to the lands that make up the state of Colorado. We honor elders past, present, and future, and those who have stewarded this land throughout generations. We also recognize that government, academic, and cultural institutions were founded upon and continue to enact exclusions and erasures of indigenous peoples. May this acknowledgement demonstrate a commitment to working to dismantle ongoing legacies of oppression and inequities and recognize the current and future contributions of Indigenous communities in Denver.

Thank you. Madam Secretary, roll call.

Council Members Alvidrez? Here. Flynn?

Here.

Gilmour?

Here.

Gonzalez-Gutierrez? Here. Hines? Here. Cashman? Here. Lewis? Present. Paradis? Here. Sandoval? Here. Sawyer? Here. Torres? Here. Watson? Here. Madam President Romero-Campbell? Here. 13 members present.

There are 13 members present. Council has a quorum. Approval of the minutes. Are there corrections to the minutes of July 27th? Seeing none, the minutes stand approved. Announcements. Council announcements. Are there any announcements from Council?

Let's start with Councilmember Alvidrez. Thank you so much, Council President. I just wanted to share that normally we would have our Constitution Book Club this week. We're looking at rescheduling that due to competing events, so stay tuned if you're part of our Constitution Book Club. I also want to share it's National Night Out tomorrow, and there's a lot of big events happening across, I'm sure, all districts. In District 7, we have the Night Out at Community Ministries, 1755 South Zuni. This is in partnership with District 4 Police. National Night Out tomorrow will begin from 5 and will go all the way until 7 p.m. We will also be participating in the Westwood Denver Back to School Fest coming up this Saturday, 10 to 2 p.m. If your kiddo needs a backpack, that's another place where you can get some resources. You can look forward to a fun-filled day there. at the Westwood Community Center in partnership with, led by Council District 3. You can pick up more than a thousand backpacks that will be filled with school supplies connected with valuable community resources and fun family activities. And on a fun note, the Porch Fest that will be coming to District 7 in October, which is where a lot of neighbors will have concerts on their front porch, We will have the lineup release party this Thursday at 7 p.m. at HQ on South Broadway. They'll be announcing the first 40 bands in this lineup. So the fun started with Lucifer Festival, and we're continuing it with Porch Fest. All very exciting things. Thank you so much, and I hope to see you around this week, next weekend, and all through Porch Fest and all through the holidays. Thank you. Thank you, Council President.

Thank you. Council Member Sandoval. Thank you. The Denver Police Department is hosting a—well, first of all, I'd like to have you all join us at La Raza Park tomorrow for National Night Out. We'll be doing the Denver Municipal Band, and they'll also be doing a movie in the park, so 38th and Navajo. And the Denver Police Department, along with North High School, is doing a backpack drive this Saturday, August 8th, at North High School. So if you know anyone who is in need of school supplies, go out to North High School from 10 to 12. Wednesday, August 26th, we're doing our free yoga from 6 to 7 at the Historic Elitch Carousel up 38th and Tennyson. And then once again, save the date Friday, August 28th for my movie in the park at Zoo Night Park. Thank you. Thank you, Madam President. Thank you. Councilman Waxman.

Thank you so much, Madam President. I'm encouraging neighbors to come out and join us for Park Hill Day of Legends this Saturday, August 8th from 9 to 6 p.m. at Skyland Park, 5600 East 35th Avenue, right here in Denver. I want to thank Coach Hill and all of the folks who pull this event together each year. It should be an amazing event. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you. Council Member Torres. Thank you, Madam President. We are finally about to break ground on the Morrison Road construction. This has been a long time coming. This was half included in the Elevate bond in 2017 and half included in the Rise bond in 2021. to really get at the full amount that was needed to do full reconstruction of Morrison Road for pedestrian safety. This also includes some really hard-fought community amenities, creating some plazas and cultural locations throughout the Morrison Road corridor. So I'm thrilled for that to begin and It's going to be a huge impact. It's a major corridor, but I think it will be well worth the pain. I do want to share that on August 12th, so in just about a week and a half, there'll be a public meeting regarding the Burdham Yard small area plan. This is where we'll also get an update from the Broncos ownership team about how their plan is transforming. They've picked a new architect since the last time we had a public meeting and some of the plan has changed quite a bit. So I want to be able to make sure folks have that on their radar. That is Wednesday, August 12th from 5.30 to 7.30 at La Alma Rec Center. And finally, this past Saturday, we kicked off La Alma Live, a concert series in partnership with Youth on Record and the Office of Children's Affairs. It was fantastic. The second and last one will be August 15th, so in just about two weeks. So hope to see folks there. Thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Hines.

Thank you, Madam President. A couple colleagues have already talked about National Night Out. We have four events in Perfect Ten that we're going to have celebrating tomorrow at 1 p.m. at William Tell Apartments, between 4 and 7 p.m. at Congress Park. Congress Park neighbors will give out free ice cream. There's also National Night Out at Skyline Park. I believe that's 530 to, no, sorry, 430 to 630. And then there's the City Park National Night Out, which is in City Park. Interestingly, the park itself is in a fine district. Of course, the people who live in City Park are in Perfect 10. So also, this weekend, Saturday, 3 to 7 p.m. on the 1500 block of Cook, The South City Park Neighbors Association is having a block party. Please do join if you're in South City Park or want to learn more about South City Park and meet neighbors. And if you go, please do enter from the 1600 block instead of from Colfax. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you. Councilmember Gonzalez-Gutierrez. Thank you, Madam President. I don't have any announcements of any upcoming events, but as, I guess, a moment of personal privilege, I just want to recognize that tonight will be the last Monday that Councilwoman Parity will be joining us in these chambers. We have more that we want to say. And just for the public's knowledge, we will have a special session on Wednesday where I think there will be a lot more words shared. But I just want you to know, Councilwoman Parity, it's been an honor, a complete honor to serve alongside with you as the other at-large. thank you for everything you have done for this body for me personally and in this role. There is more to come but I couldn' t go on without recognizing that this will be the last Monday night that you will be here with us in this body. I just thank you so much. Thank you Madam President.

Thank you, Madam President. There will be a national night out concert by the Denver Municipal Band's jazz band. Usually it's in Bear Valley, but this year we're transitioning it over on an alternating basis to Pinecrest Park, which is at Lehigh and Chase. That's just west of Fort Logan National Cemetery on Lehigh Avenue. And refreshments will be provided by my office. It'll start at 630. And on a point of personal privilege, this is how my wife and I will be celebrating our 20th anniversary by being at National Night Out. So my long-suffering wife will be right next to me. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you. Council Member Lewis. Thank you. First, I wanted to start with a bowling event that is being hosted by my office on August 9th. And so if you all are interested in having public conversations amongst other residents of District 8 or having one-on-one conversations and bowling to talk about what's happening in our neighborhood and in our district, I would invite you all to attend. We will be having food as well and then bowling in between those conversations. So it's not a town hall, but it is a town hall. In addition to that, I wanted to thank the members of Shorter AME Church for the invitation to their cookout this weekend. It was a ball. Also to the Montbello 2020 for their neighborhood cleanup event. Really appreciate that. And then shout out to the Manuel and my alumni gathering. It was always a good time. We had the opportunity to honor folks in our community as well with awards. And so I'm super proud to be a Thunderbolt. And then working, he had the opportunity to attend Brick City as well. And so closed out the evening after that with the belay celebrating the accomplishments of young men in our communities and raising money for scholarships. So we had a good time this weekend and shout out to my intern Jaye for weathering all that. And then finally I'm gonna say much because I will absolutely cry but you know Councilman Perry's my road dog and so thinking about being on this body without her is just absolutely devastating I know you'll continue to do incredible work from wherever you are because that's who you are as a person But you will be sorely missed on this body Thank you Thank You councilmember parity

Well, I had to say happy anniversary to Harriet and Kevin, especially to Harriet. She, for those of you guys that don't know, she makes us beautiful holiday crafts for every single holiday. And they're like the only way I've been able to bribe my children into being okay with me serving on this body for as long as I have is because I bring those home every holiday. And they expect them now. Also, happy birthday to council member Lewis on August 15th since I won't be here to say it a little bit closer It's yeah coming right up close enough that I can say it and I'll just say really quickly I You know, we have to have this technical meeting on Wednesday to accept my resignation from council I said pretty much what I needed to say in June when I announced that that this was what I was going to need to do, but the main thing that I wanted to add to that tonight is just to say that I In thinking back over the last three years and both how much I love it. I mean, you guys know that I love my job. I really do. I love being here with all of you. It's been amazing. But it's also, there's elements of it that are very hard. It's a very hard time to be a public figure. It's a very hard time to be a public servant of any kind. And that's been, that's sort of come home to me more and more. through having had a chance the last three years to have deeper and broader relationships with a lot of our city employees who just, there's a ton of you all in the room, obviously, because there always are. But it's not getting any easier to try to do what government does and have that translate to the public. And it's interesting to come in here and be full-time obsessed with the city and county of Denver and everything that it does, which Oscar and I, Oscar had to leave because Oscar's wiggly, but my four-year-old and I were talking about earlier this morning because um he was shocked to learn that Red Rocks was a silly city facility you know and so we make lists of like all the things that city employees do and we talk about how that's um we do that from uh like basically a pot of resources that we all make together you know like it's this really basic government stuff um and I just feel so worried all the time about how badly that translates to the public like I I just don't think people know. I mean, I know they don't know the half of what we do in this city to just make it a place where everybody can be safe, where you want to raise kids. I mean, I moved here because I wanted to raise my kids here. I'm not from here. Like, almost all of you are from here, but not me. I'm like the new girl in the dais. And it's... It's getting harder and harder because people don't perceive the value of government. There's like a real question right now about just the value of the project of like, are we going to keep throwing our lot together and paying our taxes and feeling happy about what they go to? All of that has been under attack from so many different angles for so long. And I know that makes it very difficult to be a public worker in almost any position. People have been, you know, even some of our public health workers during COVID faced like physical attacks. Like it's just really, it's a hard time out there to be one of the people that's trying to hold the ship together. And people are doing that every day in so many little ways, you know. My child's raising her hand. This isn't school, sweetie, I love you. Nope, you're not getting called on. Anyway, that's all I wanted to say. I just, it's a rough time to be in the public sphere and I'm really, really sorry to be stepping out of it because I love being here and I also know that, you know, It's just a huge, it's a lot to carry. And so when you leave, you feel like you're leaving that with other people. Very able hands up here, but it's a lot. And all 12 of you were the best baker's dozen I've ever been part of. I love you all a lot, and I hope you all know that. Thank you. Thanks, Madam President. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Parity. And Wednesday, there will be more to come. So we just appreciate you being here today. And we have a full baker's dozen up here. So this is kind of nice to have everybody on the dais tonight. I have a few announcements, and one I wanted to start with was an acknowledgement, and I think a lot of you have heard us talk about it. It's been in the news, but to acknowledge the shooting that had happened in District 4. And it took place in my district on July 20th, and that resulted in eight injured and one loss of life. And it was a tragic event. that has deeply affected our neighborhoods and the families and the victims. And I want to extend my condolences to them all. And there's really no words that can ease that pain. Community members have asked, and I think that it's appropriate also that we just take a moment of silence to recognize the loss of life, not only in my district, but in other districts and individuals who are recovering and healing. So if we could just have a moment of silence.

Thank you, everyone, for doing that.

There are a few other announcements that I do have. One is on August 15th, Saturday, the South by Southeast, we are doing a concert in the park, and we are having a swing band this year. It starts at 4 p.m. with Thomas Jefferson High School with TJ Orchestra, and then we will have a swing band in the park on August 15th in Bible Park. We invite you all to come. There will be food trucks as well as A number of different agencies that will be there to also do outreach and answer any questions that people might have. And then one last announcement, and it's a moment of personal privilege. Congratulations to you on 20 years. I am also celebrating tonight, or today, a wedding anniversary with my husband, and I just want to say thank you, and I couldn't do it without you. He is incredibly kind, patient, and generous. So for those of you who know John, he's just... the love of my life. And we've celebrated another wedding anniversary of our son earlier this summer. So it's been a lot of love. And I just want to say, hi, honey.

I'm here. I'm going to come home soon. So thank you for that. All right.

Sorry, I'll stop and do kissy faces and everything. There are no presentations. We have one communication today. Madam Secretary, please read the communication.

In accordance with the Denver Revised Municipal Code, Section 53-3B, the Department of Finance is submitting to the Denver City Council a revision to the Treasury Tax Rule 004. The Treasury Tax Rule 004 has been updated to align with recent changes to the tax return filing frequencies due based upon sales volumes that the State of Colorado also adopted. Denver's filing frequency should match the state's as to when taxes need to be filed to create simplicity for the business community. The Department of Finance has also updated the frequencies in which occupational privilege tax returns may be filed. These updates are not expected to result in any cost impacts to the city. They may have very minimal revenue, receipt timing impacts, allowing very small businesses to file less frequently if they elect to change. In accordance with DRMC 53-3B3, Treasury Rule 004 will take effect 60 days after this notice on September 18th, 2026.

Thank you. The communication has been received and filed. There are no proclamations being read this afternoon. Madam Secretary, please read the bills for introduction.

In the Finance and Business Committee, 26-0992, a bill for an ordinance authorizing capital equipment purchases from the Arts and Venues Special Revenue Fund. 26-1041, a bill for an ordinance authorizing a capital equipment purchase from the Airport Enterprise Fund. 26-1042, a bill for an ordinance establishing a new fund in the agency fund series for the universal recycling and composting ordinance program. 26-1043, a bill for an ordinance designating certain properties as being required for public use and granting the authority to acquire through negotiated purchase. or through condemnation proceedings of fee, simple, easement, and other interests as needed for the completion of the Quebec and Erlon Bridge project located in the area of Quebec Street between Sandown Road and I-70 and Council District 8. In the Governance and Intergovernmental Relations Committee 26-1040, a bill for an ordinance amending the classification and pay plan for employees in the career service and for certain employees not in the career service. 26-1048, a bill for an ordinance subpoenaing to a vote of the qualified and registered electors of the City and County of Denver at a special municipal election on November 3rd, 2026, a proposed amendment to the Charter of the City and County of Denver modernizing the sections concerning the Civil Service Commission and the Department of Safety. 26-1055, a bill for an ordinance conforming the municipal code upon passage of a charter amendment modernizing the sections concerning the Civil Service Commission and the Department of Safety. In the South Platte River Committee, 26-1044, a bill for an ordinance approving a proposed fifth amendatory agreement between the City and County of Denver and Urban Drainage and Flood Control District to design and construct improvements to Sanderson Gulch. No change to agreement term in Council District 7. 26-1045, a bill for an ordinance authorizing an appropriation in the Wastewater Management Division Urban Drainage and Flood Control District Tracking Fund.

Councilmembers, this is your last opportunity to call out an item. Councilmember Gilmour, will you make the motions for us this evening?

Yes, Council President Romero-Campbell.

great. Now I will do a recap. Under resolutions, Council Resolution 1140 and 1141 have been called out in a block for comments by Councilmember Lewis. Under bills for introduction, Council Bill 1048 and Council Bill 1055 have been called out for a block of comments by Councilmember Sandoval. Under bills for final consideration, Council Bill 1107 has been called out by Councilmember Lewis. Council Bill 0921 has been called out for an amendment by Council President Pro Tem Gonzalez Gutierrez and Council Member Torres and for comment by Council Member Lewis. And Council Bill 1000 has been called out for a vote by Council Member Sawyer. Under pending, no items have been called out. Madam Secretary, please put the first item on our screens. Council Resolution 1140, a resolution authorizing and approving the expenditure of payment for the appropriation account designated liability claims to the sum of $30,000 made payable to Zane, Martinez, AJP Law, in full payment and satisfaction of claims related to the civil action captioned, Cezanne, Martinez and Larissa Pacheco versus V. Jose Duran, and City and County of Denver, which was filed in District Court. City and County of Denver, Colorado case number, oh dear, 2025, CV 3343-7. And Council Resolution 1141, a resolution authorizing and approving the expenditure and payment from the appropriation account designated. Liability claims to the sum of $15,000 may payable to Larissa Pacheco and AJP Law in full payment and satisfaction of claims related to the civil action captioned Zazane Martinez and Larissa Pacheco v. Jose Duran. and City and County of Denver, which was filed in District Court, City and County of Denver, Colorado, case number 2025, CV 3343-7. Councilmember Lewis, please go ahead with your comments on Council Resolutions 1140 and 1141.

Thank you so much. I appreciate it. So after consistent feedback from my constituents, it is my responsibility to ensure that the public is aware of every tax dollar being approved as an expenditure and payment of funds for a settlement with the city and county of Denver. My office is tracking every dollar by department and as a running total. With your approval of 261140 and 261141 tonight, the city will approve settlements in the amount of 30,000 and 15,000 to settle cases brought against the department of transportation and infrastructure. The approval of these items tonight brings the 2026 total of taxpayer dollars in city settlements to $3,992,000. This funding is drawn from a liabilities claim pool of money in order to pay the claims tonight. So we have had to make a $3 million rescission that comes from the city's general fund contingency, and it does not come from agency-specific budgets. And so therefore, we must pay extra attention in this budget environment that we are watching out for how the city spends our money and that we're making decisions for the future with this knowledge. Thank you.

Thank you. Madam Secretary, please put the next item on our screens. Council Bill 1048, a bill for an ordinance submitting to the vote of qualified and registered electors of the City and County of Denver at a special municipal election on November 3rd, 2026, a proposed amendment of the Charter of the City and County of Denver modernizing the sections concerning the Civil Service Commission and the Department of Safety And Council Bill 1055, a bill for an ordinance conforming the municipal code upon passage of the charter amendment modernizing the sections concerning the Civil Service Commission and Department of Safety. Council Member Sandoval, please go ahead with your comments on Council Bill 1048 and 1055. Thank you, Madam President.

Just want to give a thank you to everyone who helped us get to this point of referring this to the ballot. FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE WONDERING WHAT DOES THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION DO, IT HIRES ALL OF OUR POLICE AND FIRE DEPARTMENT. AND WE ARE MAKING AN UPDATE TO THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION SO YOU'LL SEE THAT ON YOUR NOVEMBER BALLOT. Councilman Torres and I started working on this May of last year. I want to give a special thank you to Robin from the Office of OSEI to help us who grounded our work in equity with an equity lens to Chief Thomas, Chief Fulton, Civil Service Commissioner, our city attorneys. Thank you, John, for helping us with all of this. A special shout out to Ian and Melissa. We couldn't have done this without any of your help. getting us this far. And so if anyone has questions on this, this is the last time I'll be able to speak to it because you'll have to call me before nine or after five because I can't campaign for something that I refer to the ballot. But I am happy to talk to you about it because it's a really good and needed update. And I just want to give a shout out to Councilman Torres. Thank you for being my partner on all of this throughout the last year. Thank you, Madam President. Thank you.

Council Member Torres. Hi. Ditto what she said. This was just a great, good governance process. And the independent monitor was also one of the folks that was involved in all of our workshop meetings. We had zero attrition. Folks were very attentive to how we update the charter. And as my colleague, Councilwoman Sawyer says, do this everywhere all over the charter. There's a lot of places that are really old in their language and reference. And so we brought this particular section up to speed on gender neutral language, on allowing noncitizens to serve on the Civil Service Commission. We had already fixed classified service recruitment for police and fire when it comes to that, and really just putting things where they belong throughout the charter and into ordinance. We're also putting a companion ordinance through in this process. So just a good governance process, and it was great to work with all these wonderful folks.

Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you, council members, for your work on these two bills. Madam Secretary, please put the next item on our screens. Council Bill 1107, a bill for an ordinance authorizing a rescission from general fund contingency and appropriation to the general fund to make a cash transfer and appropriation to the liability claims special revenue fund. Council Member Lewis, please go ahead with your comments on Council Bill 1107.

Thank you so much. So I stated, I started with this item last week when it came before us on first reading. This item ought to represent a wake-up call for the city with regards to the amount of money we were spending in settlements. Settlements, again, are not paid out of a specific agency's budgets. Instead, the funding is drawn out of the liability claim special revenue fund. Like other special revenue funds, that money can only be spent on specialized uses, in this case, paying out settlements. However, when the fund is used up, the city has to move money over from the city's general fund in order to continue to pay out the claims. And so, in other words, every dollar that we move can only be spent to settle cases. Since I was inaugurated in 2023, council has approved five of these items for a grand total of $34,957,300. $320, excuse me. Each of these dollars are one Each of these dollars are one less dollar that we could use to fund city staff, city programs, and city services. This is a staggering amount of lost opportunity that could have been used to fund the badly underfunded temporary rental and utility assistance program. And we could have lessened personnel cuts last year, among other purposes. And so I would love to see structural changes made that would prevent these settlements from the city across all agencies, from the Department of Transportation to the Denver Police Department.

thank you so much thank you madam secretary please the next item oh I'm so sorry councilmember parity yeah thank you thank you for calling this off council member Lewis I wanted to just add one other thing for the consideration the public about the amount of of settlement funding that we've seen spent particularly on public safety settlements and that is that that relates directly to how we handle training internal policy and discipline within the safety agencies so the police department the sheriff's department And currently, the Office of the Independent Monitor and the Citizen Oversight Board have raised repeatedly that they have a disagreement with those departments about the scope of the OIM and COB's oversight ordinance, which is supposed to give them a chance to weigh in on policy changes to the disciplinary processes in the police and sheriff's departments. And so understanding that that's a dispute and there may be different ways to legally parse the language, I don't think that there's much question from the point of view of the people of the city that we want the Independent Monitor and the Citizen Oversight Board involved anytime there are internal policy changes. And so to the extent that that's not happening, that's a concern that is potentially a driver of these kinds of settlements. And that's happened recently with moves to education-based disciplinary policies in both departments and also a new TASER policy within DPD. So it's something to be aware of if that's an issue that you care about. Thank you, Council Member Lewis. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you. Thank you. Madam Secretary, please put the next item on our screens. Council Bill 1000, a bill for an ordinance making a rescission from and an appropriation in the Culture and Recreation Special Revenue Fund series to make a cash transfer to an appropriation in the Park Legacy Capital Improvement Fund. Council Member Gilmour, will you please put Council Bill 1000 on the floor for final consideration?

I move that Council Bill 26-1000 be placed upon final consideration and do pass.

It has been moved. And seconded, comments by members of council on council bill, that's probably a better way to say it, 26-1000.

Council member Sawyer. Thank you, Madam President. I called this off tonight so I could vote no on it. This is something that I struggle with because this is a very worthwhile project, and I know that there is a need for more park space downtown. But at the same time, this summer I have spent hours and hours and hours with my constituents in District 5 who have emailed me, who've come to office hours, who've had conversations with Parks and Rec, and who have really struggled. I'll give you two specific examples of how. The first one is E-scooters. So we have in District 5, and I suspect that you all have seen this in your districts as well, in your parks, a number of young men who are, as I refer to, and I can say this because I have teenagers, feral teenagers, running around all summer long, right? And what they're doing is they are driving their e-bikes through our parks. They're ripping up our grass. In June, a young child who was playing on a playground in Robinson Park was almost hit and injured by one of these e-bikes. Now, I'm going to tell you right now, this is the responsibility of their parents. However, when this kind of behavior is happening in a park, it is also the responsibility of our park rangers to ensure that it does not continue. And unfortunately, my residents have been told by Parks and Rec park rangers directly, there is not the staffing. To enforce it, there is not the budget to put up signage to bring awareness to it. So that's the first issue. Second issue. I was going to announce it, but instead I'm going to announce it, but I'll mention it right now. So Mayfair Park is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. And that's really exciting. We're going to do a proclamation. You guys will all see it in a couple of weeks. really looking forward to celebrating the 30th anniversary of Mayfair Park, which is going to happen on August 22nd from 5 to 8 p.m. in Mayfair Park. This is something that happens every year. There's food trucks. The Denver Municipal Band will play. Hundreds of neighbors come out and enjoy community together. What they won't enjoy is a bathroom because Parks and Rec has told our office the registered neighborhood organization and all of the residents who have called in that they are not the dollars or the staffing to be able to put porta potties in Mayfair Park or several other parks in District 5. I know that this is happening across everyone's districts. I'm just only going to speak for, I'm going to use I statements and only speak for District 5 because that's what I know about here. This is a problem because what my residents are saying to me, and they're not wrong, is that the dollars that they're paying in taxes are not coming back to them. They are not getting the return on investment that they deserve for what they are being charged to live in our city. When there are young families with kids, when there are elderly families and they can't access a bathroom for a 30th anniversary celebration in one of our parks, it's not okay. And so what we're looking at here in this ordinance is a transfer of dollars in the Park Legacy Fund. The Parks Legacy Fund was voted on by the voters of Denver. It is a .025 sales tax that goes directly to fund the maintenance of our parks, the acquisition of more parkland, et cetera. And that's what we're talking about here tonight, $3 million to acquire more parkland. And that is a really worthwhile thing that we should be doing. But it is at the expense of providing services to our residents who are paying these taxes. And that is where the problem lies. This is an administration that focuses on major projects and not on the needs and the value for their dollar for our residents of our city. And so I'm going to be a no tonight because I want to make sure that the point is made that this is not okay. that our residents are not happy with this, that they do not believe that they are getting the value for their dollar, and they're right. And so I'll be a no tonight. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam President. Thank you, Council Member Sawyer. You are not the only one who has concerns about how an agency is acting or reacting. So I certainly understand and support you in that. I think... Your concerns are more about parks generally as opposed to this particular acquisition. And I would say these funds are just for capital expenditures, not operating expenditures like providing additional park ranger services. And this is actually only the first time that any funds have been expended in parks. in District 10, and so the Parks Legacy Fund has purchased areas in many other sections of the city. This is District 10's first opportunity to have a purchase, and I still think that it's a very good purchase, and I will be voting for it. So thank you, Madam President.

Thank you. Council Member Gilmour. Thank you, Council President. I appreciate the conversation here tonight. And I just want to remind folks that these votes are important and the way that we vote talks about our values. And earlier this year, I talked extensively about a $7.9 million project that was slated for District 11 for a maintenance shop. And conveniently, Parks decided to slash that project by $5.4 million and divert that money elsewhere outside of District 11 in Montbello and Green Valley Ranch. And so we're getting a $2.5 million metal tough shed in Green Valley Ranch, whereas closer to downtown they're getting a $13.3 million maintenance facility with 79 workstations, an exorbitant amount of amenities, and none of that for a majority community of color. And so this capital Acquirement is important, but capital can also be utilized on building the very buildings that we need. And so I am very happy to vote no on this in a way to push back on the irresponsible and non-accountable way that Denver Parks and Rec has been allocating funds and spending funds with no concern at all around equity, especially for those who historically have been underserved since the inception of the city and county of Denver. And that's very easy to see the lack of parks and park maintenance facilities in the far northeast. Thank you, Council President.

Thank you. Councilman Cashman.

Yeah, thank you, Council President. I agree with Councilman Hines. It's an appropriate use of these funds, but I also agree with my colleagues that there are some basic services that aren't getting funded. I had a request for restrooms to be open recently in Observatory Park. Apparently, all our restrooms now close at 2 p.m. because we don't have the personnel to do better than that. The conditions of our restrooms are very frequently atrocious. It is basic stuff. What are our parks? where our families gather, old, young, in between. We've got to figure out a way to get these basic services funded. You know, I keep saying the same thing. We, in the past year, have come up with large dollar items for major projects, and that's great. The projects... on my mind were needed and will make our city a better place to be. This new park in District 10 will make our city a better place to be. But dear Lord, if we can find the money for these major projects, we've got to be able to find the money to take care of the basics. And, you know... keeping our restrooms clear, clean, and open is kind of basic. So I'll be, as I said, supporting this bill, but I'll also be asking some hard questions at budget this year. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you.

Councilmember Sandoval. Thank you, Madam President. I have a question for real estate. For real estate.

Real estate.

Thank you. When we were in committee, we talked about the, you went out for market value, I think it's called, and we're paying more for this than it came back in. I can't remember the appraised value. Thank you. I can't remember the terminology. Can you remind me how much more we're paying for this?

Oh, and I apologize, Councilwoman. First of all, Lisa Lumley, Director of Real Estate. It was... Yes, I'm looking for a friend right now. Do you have it over? Five over? Yeah, 500,000, I think is what it was, over. And I apologize that I didn't, my understanding was we were, there was a different topic to talk about tonight. So I apologize, I've done my notes. What I will say though is the assessors have also been looking and they're, As the values have changed around there, there's a lot that's happening all at once. But yes, there is a window that is reasonable within appraised values, up or down within a 10% window, that still can be considered inappropriate. But you're right, there was a business decision made as well.

Thank you. And if I remember correctly, when we had this at committee, there's not currently any money for planning this park or implementing it into a park. From what I understand from committee is the building will be used for parks and recreation staff. Is that correct?

Well, there would be some money that we are also including for the design piece of that and being able to talk about programming with the community. The staff would only be using it during that interim time so that we just have activation there. So it's just not an empty building sitting there, not for the long-term use.

I understand that. Can you remind me how much was projected for dollars to turn it into a park?

I'm going to need to verify with parks.

Good afternoon, Owen Wells, Denver Parks and Rec. As part of this transaction, we have a little bit reserved to do that initial concepting and vision planning that will inform what the eventual build-out costs are. So we don't have a precise number. We have some industry standards that we use just as rule of thumb. But we would need to get deeper into that concept and to say like this is what it would actually take to work into our five year plan for that build up. Right now we would just be securing the property and eventually when we have capacity to work it into our plan, be getting those conversations about what should this specific character of this place be.

Thank you. I will also be a no tonight. As I mentioned in committee, I was a no. I moved it on to the full council, but I said I did not support this because of the appraised value and not having funding earmarked towards this. And although I do know I have a park deficit, the park right across the street from us. Civic Center Park is getting a huge update. Skyline Park just got a huge update. So there have been lots of investments. And I just don't agree with using a half a million dollars over appraised value. Thank you, Madam President. Thank you. Council Member Alvidrez.

Thank you so much. And I appreciate my colleagues comments. I think that we do need to look at that and how much we spend over appraised value. I am curious. My understanding is this is not zoned for a park yet. Is that correct?

Correct. It would come back for a rezoning for open space.

The reason I ask is that over the weekend, I found out that some local businesses are using it for parking. And so I was curious, would they still be able to do that? Or it being a park, would that preclude any public use or parking uses?

If we acquire it, then at that point, no, it would not be public parking.

Okay. I just wanted for informational purposes. I definitely have concerns and want to make sure that we get park legacy funding across the city, but I also think this will be really important to these residents here in this area. When I talk to the residents in District 7, one of their biggest concerns is enough park space for all the new high-rises, and this area has added quite a bit of density, and so for those reasons, I'll be supportive of this tonight. Thank you, Council President.

Thank you. Councilmember Hines.

Thank you, Madam President. Just a quick note. Skyline and Civic Center Parks are both things that have been funded in part through a different set of funds than the Parks Legacy Fund. And the vast majority of people who live in District 10 live outside of the footprint where that funds are available. So this is helping people in District 10 that could not... participate or take advantage of those larger pots of funds. Thank you.

Thank you. I actually have a question for you as well for real estate. You had mentioned that things had kind of been changing in the neighborhood. Does that mean that the appraisal value has also decreased?

I will say no, not necessarily. It's not enough probably for me at the moment to say that it would make a difference in the discussion tonight. What I will say though is that we're also fighting though the challenge of even finding any property in that district, in that area, which we had discussed at committee as well. This is something that has been within parks list of assets trying to identify something for almost 15 years. This is the first that we've been able to identify and actually move forward with.

And then another question for the amount that's being approved. Since things are fluctuating, if we approve the amount, would you also then be able to offer the appraised amount? Or does it have to be the amount that we approved? Or that's up for approval?

You mean as far as for what we would actually move forward with? Yes. It would be the approved purchase price, not the appraised value. Which, again, what we are trying to... What you had already approved in the purchase and sale agreement was the purchase price. This then, if I'm not mistaken, is the companion ordinance to move the funds.

OK. Companion ordinance to move the funds. So my question being more, we are in a tight budget season. And so just to go beyond what the approved appraisal value is, and I know that we had talked about this in committee, seems very generous in this case that we have a property owner that would receive far more than what

We had negotiated down from where that had started. I will say that. So we were not just settling at an appraised value. This was through some negotiations where we arrived at the actual price.

Okay. Thank you. Council Member Gonzales Gutierrez.

Thank you, Madam President. I know that in committee I had asked a question, and I think myself and a couple of my colleagues asked about getting some information around how many parks per capita are in each district. I don't know. I had searched for that, but I don't know if that was provided to us, and so I don't know. If you have that information, the parks per capita in each district, we had asked about it in committee, and so I was just following up on that.

Yes, and Jesus followed back up with that. District 10 is one of our lowest 2.5 per thousand, and our citywide average is between 9 and 10. So this is, as Lisa mentioned, a huge priority for us. It closed the five-minute walk gap, and it adds park value in one of our densest and the lowest per capita areas. So those are our two key park service and access metrics. Again, all valid concerns, but from a parks system perspective and the growth of the city, those are the main things we're trying to solve for and haven't been able to find a property in over 15 years.

Thank you. One other question about, and this might be for you, Lisa, because it was mentioned that this is for the capital and parks legacy capital improvement fund, but it's special revenue fund transferring over and as Councilwoman Sawyer was saying was that that fund it can be utilized for the ongoing maintenance of parks and whatnot so I guess just real quick walk me through this fund that it's the money is to being taken that is being appropriated comes from that parks the special revenue fund correct and that can be utilized for maintenance of parks and upkeep of our current parks

I mean, yes, I was looking for Dennis. Yes, that is what it was meant for, capital acquisitions and the maintenance.

Okay. And so I just want to be clear, like this is, so these funds could be used in that way, but they're being transferred over to be utilized for capital to acquire this land? Correct. Okay. Thank you. That's it. Thank you, Madam President. Thank you. Council Member Parity.

Yeah, thank you so much. Lisa, I'm curious if you know this, but I think that location, is that right by the Circle K that has been a site of just a lot of drug activity and things like that for the last couple of years?

I can't speak to what is going on there, but yes, this parcel is actually right in the building. It's the former credit union drive-thru.

Okay. So it is that location right there. Right near there. Okay. That actually, now that I know that that's the exact spot, that helps me sort of visualize the distance to other green space and the need for it. The other question that I have for you is how long will it be until this park actually gets built out? Like I know we're often, you know, there's a big lag between the acquisition and the

I may need to call on my parks friends to speak to the actual.

Thank you.

There will be a lag because we have other park acquisitions that we've made that are working their way through the planning process. Like we have the Emporia Park is one that we need to, that is in the process now. We make these land acquisitions and we need to start working them into the five-year plan. We already have lots of commitments on our capital plan, so it's not something that can start tomorrow. I expect probably in early 2028, starting that community conversation about what is the character and the we have a lot of work to be done to make sure that we have the desired park character but the detailed design and implementation would have to follow in out here so we don't have those projected just yet.

thank you and if you could stay for a second I have a couple just a little follow-up to that having served on the park related committee for the bond I We have to keep the land acquisition one moving, and there's a lag by nature, right? But I am curious how many properties we currently own that are planned to be a park, whether they're designated yet or not, that are not yet built out around the city.

I would need to do some homework on that. Super rough. Just curious. I don't know offhand. Some of them have taken quite a while to construct and have been in the portfolio for many years. Hopefully, that's not the case anymore since we do have more financial resources than we did. But I would have to follow back up with you to give you a number I feel comfortable with.

No, that's OK. And how do you balance between the new acquisitions then and the build-outs? Because the Legacy Fund can be used for both, right?

Yes, the acquisitions was one of the core items that was identified in that ordinance, the Legacy 2A ordinance, so it is a balance. What is the right balance? And I think Part of the question about maintenance is also what constitutes supplanting. There's some language about this is to be not backfilling needs that should have otherwise been addressed by the general fund, but to be able to advance the game plan and the other handful of items that were on that ordinance. So it is a balance. Right now, we try to have a small working capital amount in our acquisition funds so that we can act when the opportunity is available. But by and large, it is far smaller than our annual capital plan for capital maintenance and park build up.

Okay, thank you. Those are all my questions. Thank you, Madam President. Thank you. Council Member Sawyer.

Thanks, Madam President. I just wanted to take a quick second to clarify something that Parks and Rec just said because I find it a little bit concerning. The previous speaker brought up Emporia Park. Emporia Park is a park in District 5. It was purchased using a small amount of legacy dollars. The rest of the money came from the parks trust, Denver parks trust, a gift to be able to purchase that. And I wanna be very clear, the build out, the design and construction of that park is a bond project. It's not coming from the parks legacy fund.

And it really concerns me that false information is being shared up here with you all, thanks. Thank you. Council Member Hines.

Thank you, Madam President. Sorry, this is my third bite at this conversation. It was a question about acres per thousand residents. District 10 has 2.3 acres per thousand residents, which is the lowest amount of any council district. The second lowest council district is Council District 7 at 7.6 acres per thousand residents. So certainly we in District 10 have a lot of density and not a lot of parks. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you. Madam Secretary, roll call on Council Bill 26-1000.

Council Members Alvidrez?

Aye.

Flynn?

Aye.

Gilmour?

Nay.

Gonzalez-Gutierrez? Aye. Hines? Aye. Cashman? Aye. Lewis? Nay. Paradis? Aye. Sandoval? Nay. Sawyer? No. Torres? Nay. Watson?

Aye.

Council President Romero-Campbell?

Aye.

Madam Secretary, close the voting and announce the results. Eight ayes. Eight ayes. Council Bill 26-1000 has passed. Madam Secretary, please put the next item on our screens. Council Bill 0921, a bill for an ordinance amending Chapter 6, 7, 12, 28, 32, 53, and 53 of the Denver Revised Municipal Code repealing ordinance. outdated amusement and cabaret license types, modernizing license provisions relating to entertainment licenses, updating application and licensing fees, and making conforming amendments to the code. Councilmember Gilmour, would you please put Council Bill 26-0921 on the floor for final consideration?

I move that Council Bill 26-0921 be placed upon final consideration and do pass.

It has been moved and seconded. There is another motion on the floor. Council President Pro Tem Gonzalez Gutierrez, which would you like to do with Council Bill 0921?

Thank you, Council President. I move that Council Bill 260921 be amended in the following particulars. On page 7, line 24, strike. The entertainment business shall provide such records following a request from a law enforcement officer or city official that is submitted in the performance of their official duties as part of an official investigation and must provide access to off-premises records within three business days following a request.

It has been moved and seconded. Questions and comments by members of council on Amendment 1 to Council Bill 0921. Council President Pro Tem Gonzalez Gutierrez.

Thank you, Madam President. The amendment removes the language related to the provision of records retained by entertainment businesses to law enforcement or city officials. I will say that... Myself and Councilwoman Lewis worked on this amendment with the licensing and consumer protections and really appreciate their thoughtfulness behind this amendment. And we also, because we heard concerns from ACLU specifically around that language not necessarily being needed because that right already exists. Law enforcement can access records under a warrant or probable cause. And so that is still allowable. It doesn't change city officials from accessing in their investigation process. And we've also received confirmation that both of those things will remain true and that the language was unnecessary to have in this bill. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you. I believe we do have a second, Madam Secretary, on this one? Okay, great. Thank you. Madam Secretary, roll call on Amendment 1 to Council Bill 0921.

Council Members, I'll be dressed. Aye. Flynn?

Aye. Aye.

Gilmour? Aye. Gonzalez-Gutierrez? Aye. Hines? Aye. Cashman? Aye. Lewis? Aye. Parity? Aye. Sandoval? Aye. Sawyer? Aye. Torres? Aye. Watson?

Aye.

Madam President Romero-Campbell?

Aye. Madam Secretary, close the voting and announce the results. 13 ayes. 13 ayes. Amendment 1 to Council Bill 0921 has passed. Is there another motion on the floor? There is another motion on the floor. Council President Pro Tem Gonzalez Gutierrez, what would you like to do with Council Bill 0921? Thank you.

Council President, I move that Council Bill 260921 be amended in the following particulars. On page 10, line 11, after the word rule, insert no video surveillance shall be required or allowed in staff bathrooms, staff locker rooms, or any other prohibited areas described in department rule. On page 12, line 12, after the word rule, insert no video surveillance shall be required or allowed in staff bathrooms, staff locker rooms, or any other prohibited areas described in department rule.

It has been moved and seconded. Questions and comments by members of council on Amendment 2 to Council Bill 0921. Council President Pro Tem, Gonzales Gutierrez.

Thank you, Madam President. This amendment clarifies where required video surveillance shall be allowed in nightlife entertainment businesses and adult entertainment businesses. This came forward from folks in the industry who expressed concern on their rights to privacy in sensitive spaces. And so again, thanking the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protections for taking the time to meet with folks and hearing that out and coming forward with this amendment. And so I ask for support of this.

Thank you. Council Member Paradis.

Yeah, thank you. I just wanted to speak quickly in support of this amendment as well. It's been a learning curve for me to know more about sort of the work conditions of people who work in the entertainment business in the city. And there's really so much that we could be doing about their work conditions, which are often just sometimes really fraught. They experience a lot of danger in the workplace more so than a lot of other occupations. a lot of wage theft, a lot of shenanigans, for lack of a better word. So I just want to thank my colleagues for working with the ACLU and moving this amendment, and also some members of my office team who supported that work. It was just a very, very good catch, so I appreciate it. Thank you, and thank you, Madam President.

Thank you. I'm also in support of this amendment. We have an adult entertainment business, and I appreciate the extra protections. Madam Secretary, roll call on Amendment 2 to Council Bill 0921.

Council Members Alvidrez? Aye. Flynn?

Aye.

Gilmour? Aye. Gonzalez-Gutierrez? Aye. Hines? Aye. Cashman? Aye. Lewis? Aye. Parity? Aye. Sandoval? Aye. Sawyer? Aye. Torres? Aye. Watson?

Aye.

Madam President Romero-Campbell? Aye.

Madam Secretary, close the voting and announce the results. 13 ayes. 13 ayes. Amendment 2 to Council Bill 0921 has passed. There is another motion on the floor. Council Member Torres, what would you like to do with Council Bill 0921?

Thank you, Madam President. I move that Council Bill 26-0921 be amended in the following particulars. On page 19, strike line 18, strike 4 a.m. and replace with 2 a.m.

It has been moved and seconded. Questions and comments by members of council on Amendment 3 to Council Bill 26-0921. Council Member Torres.

Thank you so much. This amendment specifies the hours when it would be unlawful for nightlife entertainment businesses and adult entertainment businesses to operate. This is one of the sections that I think has received quite a lot of attention. due to that I want to make sure that we're emphasizing how good this bill is and the process that excise, excise and license, licensing and consumer protection have gone to really kind of look holistically at their process. This was one that I could not get entirely comfortable with and that was the 4 a.m. provision. I think we're not quite there yet on data that demonstrates that things get safer with a later exit time. I think what I would be interested in is if we can somehow step our way into this, particularly with a pilot, geographic locations, like where is this actually being desired by which sectors? And let's start a little bit more narrowly. So that's, I think, my future interest in this. Tonight, though, I think this bill needs to pull that section of being open until 4 a.m., one, to get, I think, broader support, particularly from me, but I think from others on council, and for us to just think a little bit differently about how that later opening might actually be helpful. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you. Councilmember Hines. Thank you, Madam President. Thank you, colleagues. As I talked with most of you, I was considering an amendment to have a pilot that would rescind this January 1, 2030. I want to thank Council Torres for suggesting this amendment. I have withdrawn my amendment and am supporting Council Torres' amendment because it does I think there are opportunities for us to consider pilots, particularly downtown, maybe in the five-point statistical neighborhood, Rhino, Ballpark. But I can certainly understand that the things that are good for downtown may not be good for elsewhere. And frankly, we don't even know if it is for sure good for downtown. So thank you, Council Towers, for bringing the amendment. I'll be a yes.

Thank you. Council Member Cashman.

Thank you, Council President. Yeah, I actually thought that the way the ordinance was written, that the hearing provisions would have provided an opportunity to extend late night where it is appropriate and that the hearing process would have protected neighborhoods where it isn't appropriate. However, I appreciate this amendment. I look forward, and it's my understanding that a working group will come together to look at how can we pilot this and gather the data that will make people more comfortable. And so I'm hoping not a long time down the line we'll have a pilot that we can look, see, do the benefits actually outweigh people's concerns. I expect they will. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you. Council Member Sawyer.

Thank you, Madam President. First, I just want to say thank you to Council Member Torres for bringing this forward. And I want to say a huge thank you to the staff at Not Excise and License. What is your name now? D-L-C-P.

I'm sorry, you guys.

I promise by the year from now when I leave here, I will get that right. um i really appreciate it uh this has been an issue of major concern for the residents of district five and frankly for the businesses including businesses in business improvement districts in district five so um with this change and a very long email chain and discussion that i had with erica late last week about some of the concerns around good neighbor agreements i voted no on publication i had every intention of voting no but um Assuming that this change is made, I think that this really resolves the challenges and concerns of my residents, so I'll be a yes. Thank you. Thank you. Councilmember Watson.

Thank you, Madam President. I have one question for consumer protection and licensing, and then I have one comment. So anyone from the team, if you don't mind coming forward and speaking to the amendments that are made, what impacts that would have on the good work that you have done, and just sharing your thoughts.

Yeah, hi, thank you. Molly Duplechain, Consumer Licensing and Consumer Protection. I'm still getting used to it, too. Yeah, great question. I think that we had included this provision in the bill with some hopes that there was additional opportunities for entertainment businesses, with some hopes that it would release some of the pressure that we see, particularly in downtown during that time when all the bars and entertainment businesses let out. And what we have seen down there is just some increased issues with safety and violence during that time. And so, acknowledging that that is the key area where we thought this might provide some benefit, I think we're happy to come back if this amendment passes, to come back and see if it's right for a more smaller, localized pilot at a later time.

Thank you so much, Molly. I want to share that I want to thank Molly Duplichane, Erica Rogers, Abby, I always pronounce your last name incorrectly, I say Soyson. Is that correct? Kelly Abrams, Rivers, Kayla Kanabe from District 6, and so many others for the work that you have done over the last year, maybe even longer on this. I support Councilmember Torres' amendment. I think it makes sense. I look forward to working in collaboration with the advisory group as well as my colleagues on pilots that make sense within the districts where the greatest impact. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you. Councilmember Parity. Yeah, I just also wanted to ask Molly a quick question, or whoever from DLCP. Thank you. I just, because I think this is, it's been a subject to some degree of public attention, maybe no one really cares about a licensing bill, but there's been a little bit of media and all that. Could you take us two steps back and explain the rationale of why the 4 a.m. provision would sort of release the pressure of people leaving?

Yeah, so what we see is that when liquor service is required to end at 2 a.m., a lot of the bars will do their last call around 1.30, 1.45, and then everybody leaves the bar right at 2. And so what that results in is kind of a competition of resources for a ride home, to find some food. People are at kind of their... peak intoxication, and so they run into each other, bump into each other, and there ends up being some fights. And so what we were hoping is that, you know, if some bars would stay open until 2.30, in all cases, liquor service was still required to end at 2 a.m. So what was all that was going to be extended was not any drinking times, but just the additional hours of entertainment. So if some bars allowed people to stay on and keep dancing or, you know, having some more entertainment, potentially provide some other, um, options that didn't include alcohol service, um, that that would stagger the number of people and the times that they're leaving, um, and reduce some of the incidents of violence that we see. That was the safety reason. I think there are some other, um, you know, beneficial reasons for as far as, you know, providing additional entertainment options and things like that, that I think, um, contribute to a, a, a you know, a thriving nightlife. But those were the key safety reasons.

So it was not a change to alcohol service would still end at 2, but then the difference would be that doors closing alcohol service wouldn't end at the exact same time. So it creates sort of a period where hopefully people would leave in waves instead of all at once. Correct. Okay. Were you basing that off of other cities or studies or where did that idea come from?

So... There isn't a lot of data around other cities that have tried this where they extend just the entertainment and not the drinking hours. There is some data, although that also is limited, but there is some data that around when you extend the drinking hours or cities that have extended hours of bars, that sometimes there is data that they see increased violence, and then there's also data where they have seen a reduction in violence. So I think there is some conflicting data as well as some conflating of the data as far as what we were proposing with this, which was not to extend any drinking hours, but only to extend the entertainment. So I think there is opportunity if we can identify the right locations, the right timing, and all of that, where we can pilot it and maybe be some, you know, a municipality that provides some of that data. But there's really not a lot out there on this particular, the details that we were proposing.

Okay. I mean, it does make common sense sense to me, but data is better than common sense. We all know that. So do you all have resources, though, if you were to pilot this, how will you be able to create data from that or study that in a way that then everyone can be confident in and feel like is meaningful and non-anecdotal?

Yeah, I think that first... Exploring a pilot will give us an opportunity to have some of the more of those stakeholder conversations with residents as well as businesses around what a pilot could look like in a way that would work for them. One thing we didn't know with this was which businesses would want to even opt into doing something like this. So this would give us an opportunity to craft to that in a way that might, we may see more people opt, more businesses opt into it. But we'll partner closely with DPD, the police department, in an adoption of a pilot, if that happens, where we can track some of the safety data and look at other pieces that would be helpful, too.

Absent amendment, would you routinely look into that data anyway to see how it was going, if this was just passed as is?

Oh, absolutely. Yes. Yeah. I mean, we would be committed to making sure that, you know, if there was any negative consequences of something like this going forward, that we would be tracking and monitoring. And if it ended up not going the way we intended, then we would have been making adjustments anyway.

Okay. Thank you. This bill has been a ton of work. There's a lot else in it that we haven't talked about. And I want to join everyone else in just appreciating that. Thank you so much, Molly. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you. And thank you, Council Member Torres. I also am supportive of this amendment. I think it's a good compromise to be able to get to, I think, the conversation that we're having right now. Madam Secretary, roll call on Amendment 3 to Council Bill 0921.

Council Members Alvidrez? Aye. Flynn?

Aye.

Gilmour? Aye. Gonzalez Gutierrez. Aye. Hines. Aye. Cashman. Aye. Lewis. Aye. Parity.

Nay.

Sandoval? Aye. Sawyer? Aye. Torres? Aye. Watson? Aye. Madam President Romero-Campbell?

Aye. Madam Secretary, close the voting and announce the results. Twelve ayes. Twelve ayes. Amendment 3 to Council Bill 0921 has passed. Councilmember Gilmour, will you please put Council Bill 26-0921 on the floor for final consideration as amended?

I move that Council Bill 0921 be placed upon final consideration and do pass as amended.

It has been moved and seconded. Comments by members of Council on Council Bill 0921 as amended. Council Member Lewis. I'm not in the queue. Oh, I'm sorry. We have it on the script. My apologies. Council Member Hines.

Thank you, Madam President. Director Douglas, may I chat or ask you a clarifying question about, so I believe this, in our conversations, we had talked about the idea of optional hearings and mandatory hearings. We, I think we came to a good spot in that we'll leave that in rulemaking. I do I want to just chat about how we left the conversation, and hopefully we're on the same page about the conversation, that rulemaking will talk about, it will consider the density of licenses and also the size of the venues that hold those licenses. when considering whether a hearing is optional or mandatory. Do I recall that correctly?

Yes, I think we'll have that discussion during rulemaking as far as whether there should be criteria around density and or size of venue that would require a mandatory hearing.

Yeah, I think that the people who live downtown are, they love that they get to live near where all these other people have to travel to enjoy, you know, an evening and then travel back away. But also just because of the sheer density of venues, sometimes that creates additional conflict just as, you know, if you have 20,000 people all getting out on the street at the same time right at 2 a.m. and they... don't want to go home, but they can't stay where they are. I think it really makes sense for us to not just have to opt into those conversations that really, particularly downtown, those conversations should be the norm instead of the exception. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you. Council Member Alvidrez. Thank you so much, Council President. I just wanted to say some words. I think there's been a lot of effort here. I think that we still have a lot of questions, and I know there's going to be the work group, which I appreciate, but I don't feel comfortable at this time voting yes because of the uncertainty and because of concerns I've heard from the businesses in my district about the extra liability and what will reasonable effort look like, and so I'll be a no on this tonight. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Sawyer.

Thank you, Madam President.

Just wanted to follow up a little bit on what Councilmember Hines said. Molly, as you know, the piece about the removing mandatory hearings has been an issue of concern for my residents as well. I really appreciate that you guys are going to address this in rules and regs. My one ask for you, I think, and I just want to make sure that it gets on the record, is that you look at the context of the location, right? Because for example, when you are in the middle of Colfax, there are single family homes right behind, right? It's like the businesses along Colfax, an alley and then single family homes right behind it. And so I just, what might be appropriate for downtown where we don't have any single family homes and we don't have children trying to sleep and what is appropriate on Colfax are I think gonna be different. And the reason why I care about this and why my residents care about this, is because if there's an automatic approval, if there's no required hearing, or my volunteer residents have to request a hearing, it puts the onus on the victim to be aware of it, to make the request that there be a hearing, to gather all the signatures, to do all the work, which is not fair to them. And so that's a part of the process that already exists and is already problematic, but I will just say kind of as we move forward with the idea of having some automatic licensure without a required hearing, that there be something in rules and regs that takes the kind of context into account because I think that it will be really important as we look at the impact of some of these businesses and their distance just from where people are literally trying to sleep, even if it's 2 a.m. Thanks.

Thank you. Councilmember Watson.

Thank you, Council President. I know we're getting close to 5 o'clock, so let me be very quick. I wanted to say thank you so much, Molly and team. I thank you during the amendment. I don't know if folks fully understand the crazy as hell situation steps and processes, the multi-licensures, and that was legal language I used there. The multiple licensures that we have, tens and tens of licenses for the exact same process. The idea that your team survived through that, and small businesses taught themselves how to walk through stuff that was written in 1920, some even earlier. So I want to thank your team for the due diligence, your great work in really making this complex much more simple. I appreciate the amendments from my colleagues, and I look forward to partnering with you on the pilots or any of the other work that you're doing that impacts Five Points, the art district, and any of the entertainment districts in District 9. Thank you so much. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you. Councilmember Lewis. Thank you. I'll keep it brief. I just wanted to thank you all because at the beginning of this conversation back in April, I had a number of businesses reached out to me and had a sign-on letter, as you all know, in opposition. And you all work with them directly and got them to a place of support. And so I just wanted to thank you all for working with our businesses to bring them to a space where they felt like this is going to help them and not hurt them. So thank you for your work.

Thank you. I am in support of this tonight. I appreciate the work that you've done on it. And also, we delayed this to be able to provide an opportunity for me to, well, we had it and it provided opportunity that I was able to communicate again with residents in the district. I think that there are some really key things in here about prohibiting weapons, keeping records to conduct safety investigations, and also protecting workers' privacy, ensuring businesses have and execute safety and security plans that are approved by your office, and then overall increased accountability of managers through the background checks. Those are real Big key things that were that I just appreciate that you've worked on. So thank you to you and your team. Comments, excuse me, that was my comment. Madam Secretary, roll call on Council Bill 0921 as amended.

Councilmembers Alvidrez? Nay. Flynn?

Aye.

Gilmour? Aye. Gonzalez-Gutierrez? Aye. Hines? Aye. Cashman? Aye. Lewis? Aye. Parity? Aye. Sandoval? Aye. Sawyer? Aye. Torres? Aye. Watson? Aye. Madam President Romero-Campbell?

Aye. Madam Secretary, close the voting and announce the results. 12 ayes. 12 ayes. Council Bill 0921 has passed as amended. This concludes the items to be called out. All bills for introduction are ordered published. Council members, please remember that this is a consent or block vote and you will need to vote aye. Otherwise, this is your last chance to call out an item for a separate vote. Councilmember Gilmour, will you please put the resolutions for adoption and the bills on final consideration for final passage on the floor?

I move that the resolutions be adopted and bills on final consideration be placed upon final consideration and do pass in a block for the following items. 1-1-4-4 1-0-3-7 1-0-5-6 1-0-3-2 1-0-3-3 1034, 1035, 1038, 1039, 1140, 1141, 1107, 1024, 1010, 1011, 1019.

It has been moved and seconded.

Madam Secretary, roll call. Council members Alvidrez. Aye. Flynn.

Aye.

Gilmour. Aye. Gonzalez-Gutierrez. Aye. Hines. Aye. Cashman. Aye. Lewis. Aye. Parity. Aye. Sandoval. Aye. Sawyer. Aye. Torres. Aye. Watson. Aye. Council President Romero-Campbell. Aye.

Madam Secretary, close the voting and announce the results.

13 ayes.

13 ayes. The resolutions have been adopted and the bills have been placed upon final consideration and do pass. City Council will provide a half-hour general public comment session to hear from the public on city matters, except for any matter that is scheduled for a legally required public hearing. The general public comment session will begin at 5 p.m. Thank you. There being no further business before this body, this meeting is adjourned.