DENVER — Denver Mayor Mike Johnston on Friday vetoed an ordinance passed by the Denver City Council that would ban sweeps of homeless camps in freezing conditions.
The council narrowly approved the move on Monday in a 7-6 vote that would ban clearing camps in temperatures under 32 degrees.
Johnston said in a letter Friday to the council that the legislation would "restrict the city's ability to do this life-saving work four months of the year."
The ordinance was intended to keep the city sweeps from disrupting people who are experiencing homelessness while they are trying to stay warm in current shelter, such as tents, when temperatures can pose a threat, according to the ordinance's primary sponsor, at-large Councilwoman Sarah Parady.
In a statement to 9NEWS in response to the veto, co-sponsor and Council President Jamie Torres expressed her thoughts on the decision:
"I am disappointed but not surprised. The Co-sponsors had been in strong communication with the Mayor’s team about their specific issues they had with the bill and while we made significant amendments, we also created routes to continue to conduct clean-ups, keep areas clear and connect people to housing and services, but it was not enough to avoid the veto. At the end of the day, the clearest and most overarching exemption remained in this bill which allowed our Public Health Department to make a public health decision when the city needed to clear an encampment under 32 degrees, exercisable at any time. We will come back to vote on veto-override on February 12th."
Also disappointed are homeless community advocates like Housekeys Action Network Denver (HAND). Ana-Lilith Miller in outreach said the veto maintains the city's power to uproot people's livelihoods.
"This is just going to give him carte blanche to be able to sweep whenever he wants," Miller said. "If it’s -6 outside, if it’s 45 degrees, 75 degrees, it does not matter. It gives him carte blanche to move somebody or have the city take somebody’s belongings."
Miller said one of her biggest concerns with freezing sweeps is the city's ability to remove a community encampment without proper shelter resources available.
"You can’t expect to think every single houseless person is going to be able to go into a warming shelter when there’s significantly not enough warming shelters or shelter space for all the houseless in Denver," Miller said.
Johnston said, in his letter to council, sweeps wouldn't happen unless housing is available.
"I want to make clear that we have not, nor intend to, do large encumbrance removals when the temperature is 32 degrees or below without housing or shelter options, with the exception of major public health and safety risks," Johnston said.
Johnston said the legislation:
- Prevents the city's ability to close encampments and move people into housing.
- Overturns the city-adopted camping ban for up to a third of the year.
- Eliminates the city's ability to close or move encampments that are in the public right of way.
- Eliminates the city's ability to prevent encampments near new shelter sites and maintain closures of encampments that have been resolved.
- Restricts the city's ability to close encampments due to public heath and safety risks.
Johnston thanked the sponsors of the ordinance for open and ongoing engagement about the legislation and their help supporting the design and implementation of a pilot program that would expand the city's cold weather sheltering system.
"Dialogue and discussion, especially when we disagree, are cornerstones of our commitment and obligation to serve Denver constituents and I appreciate the spirit in which the sponsors have engaged during every step of the process," Johnston said. "We all share the common goal of protecting our most vulnerable neighbors as we work to end unsheltered homelessness in Denver. Despite this specific disagreement, I know we will continue to work together toward delivering on this shared goal. I look forward to our continued collaboration."
Miller said she feels the city doesn't understand the people they're sweeping from their encampments.
"Everybody takes turns watching each other in the deep freeze to watch on each other, check up, shake a tent, be like, 'hey, you doing, you okay? you good?'," Miller explained. "There’s just a sense of community. People will band together in one or two tents just to stay warm. We’re together. When you sweep us out that ends that, that takes it away because it’s going to be harder to stay as a group."
HAND held a protest on the steps of the City and County building Saturday morning, in a final effort to call for city council to override the veto.
"It's cold, my feet are soaking wet, my hat is soaking wet, my hands are soaking wet," Miller said.
Miller said Saturday morning's cold and snow helped prove their point.
"We want to show you, like, this is what would be if you were houseless and the cops came and started enforcing the camping ban on you," Miller said. "You would have to get out of your tent, under your blankets, take everything you own and break it down."
The Denver City Council said that at the request of the bill's sponsors, the bill will appear on the council's meeting agenda on Feb. 12. The council will need a two-thirds majority to overturn the veto.
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