A proclamation declaring the City and County of Denver as a compassionate city in accordance with the Charter for compassion.
Thank you, Councilwoman Gilmore. And we just want to applaud you for bringing this up at operations, and I'm glad we were able to add it. So thank you so much. All right. For our fourth and final proclamation. Councilman Clarke, please read Proclamation 1185. Thank you, Mr. President. I have proclamation number 16, Dash 1185, declaring the city and county of Denver as a compassionate city in accordance with the Charter for Compassion. Whereas the entrance to the Wellington E Webb Municipal Office Building proclaims What is the city but the people? And improving the well-being of the people of Denver is the shared work of our government, private and nonprofit sectors. And. Whereas, Denver's many historic champions of compassion, Little Raven, Potato Clark, Emily Griffith, Dr. Justine Afford Paco Sanchez, Minya Sweet Daddy, Bruce Randolph, Lena Archuleta and all the great philanthropists have set a high example for our citizens. And. Whereas, elevating mutual helpfulness and human respect among their citizens is the sole intention of the nearly 80 community governments around the world that have endorsed the Golden Rule based Charter for Compassion. These include the world's first compassionate neighborhoods Denver's LoDo and Luckey District seven Overland Park, with hundreds more cities pursuing such endorsements. And. Whereas, in 2013, the U.S. Conference of Mayors adopted the resolution compassion as an effective public policy, citing the need for secular leadership in promoting compassion, its benefits to at risk youth and potential savings from reduced crime. And. WHEREAS, Denver's own Agency for Human Rights and Community Partnerships, along with other targeted city initiatives, have long facilitated greater equality, deep connection and full belonging for the members of challenged communities within the Denver population. And. Whereas, acts of compassion boost well-being for both helper and beneficiary, but high city population and density link to increased stress, anxiety and depression so that as Denver rapidly grows, measures such as making compassion one of our core civic values can help keep pace with the public health challenges of urban living. And. Whereas, in designating Denver a compassionate city in accord with the Charter for Compassion, Denver calls on its many civic minded businesses, nonprofits, registered neighborhood organizations and on its neighboring cities throughout the metro area and Colorado to join in supporting the cultivation of compassion and acts of compassion for the well-being of all. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the Council of the City and County of Denver, Section one, that the Council of the City and County of Denver hereby commits to participate in and help to expand inclusivity, conversations, and systems that are free of oppression. Section two that the Clerk of the city and county of Denver shall fix the seal of the city and county of Denver to this proclamation, and that a copy here of be forwarded to the manager of Public Works. Thank you, Councilman. Your motion to adopt. Thank you, Mr. President. I move that proclamation 1185 be adopted. It has been moved. Need a second? And get a second. There we go. There's been moves. And second, it comes by members of council. Councilman Clark. Thank you, Mr. President. You know, this dovetails really well with what we've been talking about tonight, and that was not planned. I've been working on this with with one of my constituents who I'll talk about later. For a long time now. And for me, you know, this is after everything that we talked about tonight, this is the. Okay. And and what next? And my favorite part of this is, you know, cultivation of compassion and acts of compassion for the well-being of all. It's really about taking care of each other and having respect and compassion for the people that we are bouncing around this big and increasingly busy and vibrant city every day. And for me, you know, I've seen this both through my involvement with the local community when they adopted it and also before I was on council through my involvement through the South Platte River with the Overland community. But it really didn't hit home for me until I started going every week to registered neighborhood association meetings. And for those of you who might have been to one in your neighborhood, you should really try going to like all of them because it is quite the experience when you all of a sudden are going to all these different community meetings and seeing how different each neighborhood, even when they're right next to each other and share a border, how different they are and how different the discourse at these meetings are and how these communities and these neighbors relate to each other. And immediately, the overland neighbor neighborhood, it just felt different. And when you're going to a lot of these things, you know, if that's the only one you go to, maybe you don't notice. But when you go to these things, you know, three nights a week, every night, every week of your life, you really pick up on these things. And it wasn't that subtle either, that this neighborhood just felt different. And at the end of every meeting in these neighborhood meetings, as everything in our life, as we're talking about our city can be confrontational, they can be full of conflict. And we will see that play out in this room probably tonight and every night that we meet where there are disagreements and there are places where we don't agree and we don't agree on the vision for our city and we don't agree on. Barking dogs and we don't agree on everything big and small. And those play out in these rooms. And so often that's where the conversation ends in conflict and turmoil and anger in conflict and not at the Oval and never had meetings because every single meeting in the Oval, in neighborhood since they have adopted, had become a compassionate neighborhood under the charter for compassion ends with their moment for compassion, and it is the greatest thing ever. I won't lie to you and tell you that I look forward to going to every neighborhood meeting because I really would prefer to be home with my kids occasionally at night so they remember who I am. But I can tell you that when I am feeling beat up and depleted from this job or from life being there at the end of an overland neighborhood, when there is a moment for compassion where everybody says, Yeah, we've had our disagreements, we've had our stuff, we're trying to work through this, we're neighbors, there's conflict. And now we're going to take a second to talk about where we saw these moments. These we're going to cultivate compassion and acts of compassion for the well-being of all. And to hear people reach out and say, you know, here's what somebody in this room did for me or here's what somebody in this room did for somebody else that I saw or hears with somebody who I don't even know who they are. Did for me is really powerful. And I don't think that there like I said at the beginning, it was not planned this way. But I don't think that there is a better night since I've been on council to sit here and declare Denver a compassionate city. Then tonight, given the climate that we are in. So I would I would just ask all my colleagues to enthusiastically support this, and I would invite you all to come see it in action at the Overland Neighborhood Associations, third Thursday of every month. Thank you, Mr. President. I think it's the fourth. Fourth Thursday. Sorry. Thank you, Councilman, for bringing this forward. And I think we need to have a moment of compassion every time after council. That would be very helpful. Okay, Councilman Gilmore. Thank you, Mr. President. I'd just like to be added to the proclamation, Madam Secretary. Great. All right. Seeing no other comments. Madam Secretary, roll call. Clarke. I. Flynn. I. Gilmore, i. Cashman. I. Lopez. I knew. Ortega. I. Sussman. I. Black. Mr. President. I. Please close the voting. Announce results. Ten Eyes. Ten Eyes Proclamation. 1185 has been adopted. Councilman, is there anyone you want to bring up? There is. I would like to invite one of my favorite people on the planet, the resident historian for South Central Denver, and a man that I have a great deal of respect for who educated me on this process and pushed and prodded and helped us get to tonight. Mr. Jack Unruh. And Fox would like to say a word as well. Yep. I thought you were going to pass the baton, so I thought I'd start with you. I will pass it to her. Yeah. It'll be. It'll be past. Yeah. You go, girl. Okay, great. Thank you, Jack. So first, thank you, Councilman Clark, for sponsoring the plaque proclamation and the members, the rest of the members of the City Council for recognizing the value of proclaiming Denver a compassionate city and doing the work you do. And tonight was an amazing example of Denver being a compassionate city. I'm representing tonight the exciting neighborhood of LoDo. We were designated a compassionate neighborhood by the Charter for Compassion in 2014. It was actually the first neighborhood. There were other cities and end states, but we were the first neighborhood. The purpose of the Compassionate Community campaign is to encourage and help communities integrate compassionate action in the fabric of civic life to bring compassion to life. So consider how different our world would be if compassion, a fundamental concern for others, is the motivating factor behind all of our decisions, even when we're in conflict. Karen Armstrong, the founder of the Charter for Compassion, defines a compassionate city as an uncomfortable city. Uncomfortable when anyone is homeless or hungry, every child isn't loved and given an opportunity to grow and thrive. When any group anywhere in the world is marginalized or oppressed and when we don't treat our neighbors as we would wish to be treated. So I was pleased to see that Mayor Hancock recognized the growing uncomfortableness in our city post-election and released his video last week and then the council's proclamation this evening. It is sure, as asked, that you were committed to keeping Denver an inclusive and welcoming city. So when I first learned about the Compassionate Community campaign, my intention was to have Denver recognized. Those who knew about the great things we were doing and LoDo suggested I start there. It's Judy Monteiro, my councilwoman at the time. Michael Sapp, our Neighborhood Liaisons Liaison, and Derek Yakubu, Director of Human Rights and Community Outreach. And it made sense. It is in the neighborhood where everyone has the opportunity to give and receive compassionate acts. And Denver is a city of neighborhoods. So Jack, who you will hear from next, recognize this as well? And he was the catalyst to get his community, Overland Park recognized and then to get us to the proclamation this evening. So although most think of LoDo as an entertainment district in which it is many who live and work there consider it the best sense of community they have ever experienced, which is very rare for an urban setting. And I think it has a lot to do with the fact that residents and businesses work together on projects that give back to the community and those in need. So it has been our experience that the actual process of becoming recognized has helped to enhance an even stronger sense of community by celebrating the compassionate acts that are already being done. And we've done that this evening, many of them. And by expanding our consciousness about compassion, we are more likely to do more kind acts and respond to the needs of others. So I am happy and grateful that I live in a neighborhood and in a city. That sees. Compassion as something worthy to focus on. So thank you. Thank you. Yes. Thank you. We've worked many years on this. Yeah. Profound. Thanks. City council members and to each of you and to District Seven's Julian Clarke and his awesome staff who brought this proclamation to you on our behalf. Thanks to Mayor Hancock, whose mayoral proclamation that today, November 21st. Yep. Here we are is Compassion Moves Denver Day. Good things will happen within the frame that these proclamations have created. Thanks to Han and others who have worked on Charter for Compassion Matters and to my fellow Overland Park Neighborhood Association members who became a compassionate neighborhood side by side with LoDo by membership vote on the first ballot . Adding bylaws requiring that each member each. Meeting close with the Neighborhood Compassion Report. These people are brilliant. Thanks to everyone who came to welcome this proclamation tonight and to those who celebrate Daddy Bruce Randolph here tonight. And with the unexpected city council resolution that Councilwoman. Gilmore brought forth. We got a taste of Dr. King's beloved community. People ask me if I've got an elevator speech about this, and I say, the building hasn't been built. That's tall enough. But out of compassion, I'll keep these next remarks short engaging citizens, as Denver writes in a more consciously compassionate outlook as our overarching goal here. Celebrating Denver's many ongoing compassion. Moves and joining in. Even more of this work will be the result. We can trust that compassion is not a fifth wheel nicety. Something is going on when 80 some cities around the world have taken this step. As with this proclamation this evening, with hundreds more pursuing it. Something's going on. When the U.S. Conference of Mayors issues a compassion resolution and when its 2016 keynote speaker is the Dalai Lama. And when most large university neuroscience programs have a dedicated compassion research component in the National Institute of Health website links to thousands of articles on compassion. And when science is studying urban happiness and well-being as public health and economic. Indicators and businesses are. Looking closely at these metrics when planning to relocate and when people are again crossing racial, ethnic, gender, religious and political barriers to stand up for the beloved community they long for. Learning is the human way into life change. The more you get into compassion, the more it gets into you. You can find out more about this new picture of our ancient moral virtue at the charter for Compassion, Dawg. And finally, gratitude follows compassion as a baby whose diapers have just been changed. Let us be humbly thankful this Thursday and consider the compassion that made possible whatever gifts, however small we enjoy. Amen. Thank you so much. Thank you, Councilman Clark as well. All right, we're ready for the resolutions. Madam Secretary, do you have any resolutions.