Denver City Council members criticize projects recommended for Vibrant Denver bond

DENVER — Members of the Denver City Council told Denver7 they are not pleased with what they have seen so far from Mayor Mike Johnston's Vibrant Denver bond package.

In February, Johnston announced his plan to put a bond package before voters this fall. The Vibrant Denver Bond Program aims to pay for parks, rec centers, libraries, roads, bridges, and more.

The package, which could total more than $800 million, would be funded through general obligation bonds and repaid over time through property taxes. The mayor’s office often points out that the bond would not raise property taxes. However, this would result in property taxes remaining near their current rates, rather than declining.

• Watch our coverage of Mayor Johnston's Vibrant Denver announcement in the video player below

Before the proposal can move forward, it must first be approved by the Denver City Council, and then voters will decide its fate in November.

The city asked Denverites for projects or problems they want to see addressed through the Vibrant Denver bond. City and community leaders spent the past several weeks reviewing those submissions and on Tuesday released a list of projects they believe should be tackled.

• Read the full list below

Two days later, members of Denver's city council described the list as "out of whack."

"I am disappointed to say the least,” said District 4 Council Member Diana Romero Campbell.

According to some members, the list does not reflect the top priorities they’ve been hearing from their constituents.

“I am out of patience with this process,” said District 5 Council Member Amanda Sawyer. “I am incredibly frustrated. I am incredibly angry."

They also criticized the decision by the executive committee to leave cost estimates for each project off the list.

“I couldn't believe you released a list of the projects without the dollar figures,” said District 6 Council Member Paul Kashmann. “It's a meaningless list. It was just tone deaf.”

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District 11 Council Member Stacie Gilmore said without cost estimates, the council cannot do its job.

“We can't even have a conversation, really, without the numbers attached to it, so that council can really deliberate, so that we're making sure that we're fulfilling our equity promises to the city,” said Gilmore.

On Thursday, Denver7 spoke with Moaw Haile, a member of the Vibrant Denver executive committee, which created the list, and asked him why no cost estimates were included.

“We went through the projects. We have an idea of how much each project is going to cost,” said Haile. “Not all of them were fine-tuned in terms of this is exactly how much it's going to cost."

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Haile said it’ll be up to the mayor and city council to determine what the city wants to spend on each project.

"At the end of the day, we knew that we weren't going to make everybody happy,” said Haile. “We did our best and heard as many people as we could."

It will be up to the city council to decide whether to refer the bond to the ballot. The mayor's office hopes to get a final vote in the council in early August.

Some council members have indicated they plan to make changes, which could include removing some projects and adding others.

"We will do what is necessary to get a good product,” said Gilmore. “I think it's important that we have transparency back and forth, because time is very short.”

The mayor’s office said Johnston is reviewing the executive committee’s recommendations and will submit a proposed package to the council toward the end of next week.

“In the meantime, he and his team will be working with Council members one-on-one to understand their highest-priority projects,” Johnston’s office said. “The Executive Committee spent months discussing, debating, and dissecting thousands of ideas from residents on how to repair and improve the critical infrastructure – such as roads, bridges, parks and libraries – that we rely on every day. Those ideas, while many of them worthy, represented $6 billion in cost. Five subcommittees, the Executive Committee, and now the Mayor and City Council have the difficult task of narrowing that list down so that essential projects can be completed without increasing property tax rates. We are always willing to work with Council and will continue to do so to ensure the process is fair and that the city’s needs are represented equitably.”

KMGH-TV

Denverites have been presented with several bond packages in recent years. In 2017, Denver voters approved the $937 million Elevate Denver bond program to improve infrastructure. In 2021, they approved the $260 million RISE Denver bond, which also went to infrastructure improvements.

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