Children living in car on Denver’s streets as advocate can't be heard

Advocate Amy Beck said she met a woman and her children Monday who are living in their car. Beck has been trying to address City Council.Photo byAmy Beck

A well-known advocate for immigrants and people experiencing homelessness says Aurora, Colo. is not the only town stifling public comment. Denver also limits public input on items not on the agenda to just 30 minutes each week.

Public comment is an opportunity for people to address the council about anything. Public hearings for specific issues have different rules in Denver. In an email, Amy Beck expressed frustration about not being able to be heard the past couple of weeks. She was 36^th on the list to speak last week and 25^th this week, according to a spreadsheet of speakers provided by the city. Usually there is time for 10 speakers.

“Denver is a large city and restricting the number of residents whose voices are heard each week to 10 people/30 minutes is outrageous,” Beck stated. “It shows how little the council values the voices of the people.”

Beck planned to speak the past two meetings about children living on the street. “When this council was seated last July, we didn't have children living on our streets,” Beck wrote in her email. “There was always a hotel room available for families with children. As a matter of fact, police would criminalize people if they didn't go into the hotel room with the kids. Families always complied and were grateful to be off the streets.

“With the migrant crisis that happened late last year, we now have many families living on our streets,' Beck continued. "Council has become desensitized to it, and now it's just become acceptable. I am very aggravated with the new council members that let this happen on their watch. How has this become the norm?”

Family living in car

Beck said she visited with people experiencing homelessness during Mutual Aid Monday before council public comments. She said she met a family headed by a single mother with two daughters who are living in their car. “They showed up to get a hot meal and clothing,” Beck said. “I connected with the mother. I made sure she signed up with The Salvation Army through their Connection line for family housing. She said yes, she signed up almost two weeks ago. She's still waiting to hear from them. We exchanged numbers and I told her to keep in touch. I may invite her to make the rounds to different city council offices to plead her case.”

Feedback to nowhere?

Beck said last week she received an automated email from the city asking for feedback about speaking to the council. “I submitted my feedback that public comments should be expanded to 60 minutes," Beck wrote in her email. "I did not receive a confirmation email that my feedback had been received. I also did not receive any response from anyone about my feedback. I stopped into the main council office tonight after public comments and asked what is happening with this feedback as it seems to just go into the abyss with no indication that it is received or that council members were able to review it.”

Beck said she spoke with a council employee who said he would look into it. “I mean, why placate people with the feedback process if they don't acknowledge receipt of the feedback and no one on council reads it?”

Aurora limits public comment

On Monday, the Aurora City Council passed the first reading of an ordinance that eliminates public comment via the call-in line. Two weeks ago, a self-proclaimed white supremacist “Zoom bombed” that meeting with racist rhetoric.

Beck said Denver and Aurora should consider policies like Englewood’s. “You can sign up directly before council begins, on a sheet of paper located right outside of chambers, and have your voice heard that night,” Beck wrote in her email. “They listen to everyone signed up, no time limit for public comments. This is the way it should be in Denver.”

In Englewood, Beck said she spoke this week against the camping ban that Englewood is considering passing, referencing Denver’s law as a failure.