City Council - Regular Meeting

Darn it. There we go. Now for real. Good afternoon. And thank you for joining us to the Denver City Council meeting. Today is Monday, August 10th, 2026. Tonight's meeting is being interpreted into Spanish. Sam or Jasmine, would you please introduce yourself and let our viewers know how to enable translation on their devices?

Welcome to the Denver City Council meeting of Monday, August 10th, 2026. Councilmembers, please join Councilmember Hines in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Council members, please join Council Member Hines 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 the 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 w

There are 12 members present. Council has a quorum. Approval of the minutes. Are there corrections to the minutes of Monday, August 3rd? Seeing none, the minutes stand approved. Are there any corrections to the minutes of August 5th? Seeing none, the minutes stand approved. Council announcements. Are there any announcements from members of council? Let's start with Councilman Watson.

Thank you so much, Council President. It's tough for me to, once again, to have to make this announcement. Many of our neighbors that live in Park Hill along 17th Avenue for the last three years, I know since I've been city council member, have communicated their concerns about speeds and speeding along that corridor. We've held several meetings over the last three years and have made small initial steps to provide for safer streets. This past week, unfortunately, someone lost their lives on that avenue. Many of the community members that I'm familiar with, that I've spent time with in these d

Thank you, Council President. I just wanted to send a shout out and thank you to Police District 3 who helped recover a beloved bike this weekend. It was all over the news that a local DJ that uses a very special bike as part of his DJing had it stolen and it was able to be recovered. It took a lot of community looking around and finding it and ultimately DPD District 3 stepping in to help the people at Desert Social recover that. So I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Madam President. I have, I believe, four times so far this year talked about Vision Zero. And the last time I talked about it, I warned that this is the Colorado Department of Transportation says this is the most dangerous time of the year for pedestrians. And this is one of the statistics that we want a low score, but we continue to move up towards a high score. As of August 10th, there have been 41 traffic deaths, as in 41 Vision Zero statistics. That's not even including those who sustained serious injuries. 41 traffic deaths in Denver so far in 2026. And And I agree, Councilmemb

Council Member Torres. Thank you so much, Madam President. One, I just want to give a shout out to my Westwood community for putting on another Saigon Azteca Festival. It is just such an amazing event. And I want to thank Councilwoman Serena Gonzalez-Cutilleras as well for helping sponsor that event. My office, CASR, Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency, as well as the Office of Children's Affairs. It is through these partnerships that this event is even possible. And it is one of the things that is keeping Westwood alive and reflecting its culture and directly from community. So I ju

Thank you. Council Member Lewis. Thank you so much. So first I'd like to thank everyone who attended our Not Town Hall Town Hall, which was a combination of a town hall and a bowling event. We had some really in-depth conversations, heard a lot of really good ideas about how to address the issues people see within our district and across the city. And we had some fun in between. It was a great time. And thank you to the wonderful staff at FlightCo for helping to ensure that the event went smoothly. It was fantastic. I also want to make folks aware that Vibes in the Park is happening. And so I'

Thank you. I do have an announcement as well. This Saturday, August 15th at Bible Park, we are going to do our South by Southeast summer concert in the park. And the event goes from 4 to 7 p.m. The Thomas Jefferson High School Orchestra is going to be the opening act. And the Don Elwood Big Band will be playing live music throughout the evening. So super excited. They're going to have a lot of swing dancing. So please come and join us. Also want to make sure you know there will be food trucks out there. We have city agencies that will be tabling and other vendors as well sharing information. A

We're good. Councilmembers, this is your last opportunity to call out an item. Councilmember Hines, will you make the motions for us this evening?

Now, I will do a recap. Under resolutions, Council Resolution 261116 has been called out for questions and a vote by Councilmember Lewis. Under bills for introduction, no items have been called out. Under bills for final consideration, Council Bill 261043 has been called out for comments by Councilmember Lewis. Under pending, no items have been called out. Madam Secretary, please put the first item on our screens. Council Resolution 261116, a resolution approving a proposed mandatory agreement between the City and County of Denver and Sunnyside Up Solutions LLC to enable continued collaboratio

Yes, Madam President. I move that Council Resolution 26-1116 be adopted.

Madam President, it was already seconded, but it's been moved to the top.

Okay. I see it's been moved and seconded. Thank you. That showed. It has been moved and seconded. Comments by members of council. Council Member Lewis.

Thank you so much. I just had a few questions regarding 1116. The first question is what are the success metrics for the existing contract as well as the success metrics for the amendment for the additional $600,000? Do I have someone here to answer? Oh, it's you.

Come on. Online. Name? Teresa. Teresa. Is Teresa online? Thank you. Teresa, please go ahead when you're promoted.

Okay. Okay. Thank you. She can hear me. Okay. Hey, Teresa, thank you so much for being online. I wanted to know if you can talk to us about what the success metrics for the existing contract, as well as the success metrics for the amendment for the additional 600,000.

Thank you so much, Teresa. I really appreciate that. So for a follow-up, with the $600,000 amendment, what is expected or what are we expected to get in terms of expansion of services from the contract and for the deliverables? Yes.

Okay, so quick follow up because in the file materials, it reads, amends a contract with Sunnyside Up Solutions LLC to add $600,000 for a new total of 1 million and to add five years for a new end date of 12-31-2031. Is that, was that filed incorrectly? Because you said it was just years, not money, but it's money in the filed materials.

Yeah, no, I understand that. So what is the impact of the original $400,000 contract? Like, what has that been, and what was the decision – to move from the 400 to the additional 600,000 made.

Yeah, no, I'm not challenging them. I wanted to understand what the results from the contract were and what was the reason for the increase. I understand that from a marketing and comms perspective as well as I studied it in school. And so I wasn't challenging what the numbers were on the table. I wanted to understand what the return on that investment was. And my final question for you is, can you help me to understand like as we're increasing this contract, how that scales with the layoffs? How did those two interface or interact? Because it sounds like we laid off folks and now we are exten

Yeah, thank you. Again, I'm not concerned about the value of the contract, the dollar amount, the $1 million. I mean, we approved $20 million contracts here at City Council. I just wanted to better understand what the additional $600,000 was for and what the return on the investment was. I really appreciate your time, Teresa.

Council Member Torres. Thank you so much. Theresa, can you hear me?

Can you let me know how this is exceeding five years on the contract? Is it a particular fiscal rule that allows it to go beyond five years?

Okay. Vic, do you have any background on this?

I thought contracts had to go back out for competitiveness beyond five years. Someone's coming up to the dais. Yes. Can you introduce yourself?

Rob, can you explain that? Sure. Mayor's Executive Order 8. Oh, and sorry, can you speak into the mic a little bit? Sure.

Do you know which particular section of Executive Order 8? Because this has been... Memorandum 8B. Is that the continuity of service? That's one there's multiple justifications that an agency can use that's one of them, okay I'll just say this is the second time that that's been exercised in the past week and So I just it doesn't have to be like you could have extended it two years to get to the five years But we're adding five years

Interesting. I just get worried that we're circumventing some of the process that just allows for competitiveness, which would surprise me if this is the only vendor out in kind of the community that can do this. and why this is the only one. So this was just raised last week with Denver Health, why we were creating a contract without a competitive bid process. So I'll just raise my concern about that. If we continue to lean on Executive Order 8 without doing bids when we needed to, I think that's a problem. Thank you. Thank you.

Madam Secretary, roll call on Council Resolution 261116.

Aye. Madam Secretary, close the voting and announce the results.

Okay, six ayes, six nays. The council resolution has failed. Madam Secretary, please put the next item on our screens. Council Bill 261043, a bill for an ordinance designating certain properties as being required for public use and granting authority to acquire through negotiated purchases 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 in Council District 8. Council Member Lewis, please go ahead with your comments on Council Bil

Thank you so much. I'm sorry, I called this item out today because it represents an important step. in one of the unresolved issues from the vibrant bond process, and it's the second item that has come through recently as part of this project. Last summer, the folks in Central Park asked for the bridges over Smith and Sundown roads to be replaced. These are bridges rapidly approaching the end of their useful life, and they pose safety issues for the community and for others, such as the firefighters at Station 26 on MLK Boulevard, who are no longer able to drive. their engines over the bridges

Thank you. Thank you. That concludes items to be called out. All bills for introduction are ordered published. Councilmembers, 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 Hines, will you please put the resolutions for adoption and the bills on final consideration for the final passage on the floor?

Yes, Madam President. 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. 26-1091, 26-1089, 26-1090, 26-1063, 26-1079, 26-1080, 26-1081, 26-1082, 26-1083, 26-1101, 26-1084, 26-1086, 26-1064 26-1065 26-1075 26-1076 26-1077 26-1078 26-0992 26-1041 26-1042 26-1043 26-1040 26-1048, 26-1055, 26-1044, 26-1045.

It has been moved and seconded. Madam Secretary, roll call.

Madam Secretary, close the voting and announce the results. 12 eyes, 12 eyes. 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. There being no further business before this body, this meeting is adjourned.

magical menagerie of brightly colored lanterns.