A proclamation designating May 15 through May 21 as “Public Works Week in Denver” and congratulating the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure’s Employees of the Year for 2021
Moving on. There are no presentations this evening. There are no communications. There is one proclamation being read. Councilmember Cashman, will you please read Proclamation 20 to Dash five, seven, eight on behalf of Council Pro-Tem Torres? Yeah. Thank you, Madam President. As you said, this proclamation was written and filed by Council Pro Tem Torres as she is out of town and in her hopes that we don't suffer any more technological problems. She asked me to read this this evening. So this is Proclamation 20 2-0578. Designating May 15 through May 21 is public works week in Denver and congratulating the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure's Employees of the Year for 2021. WHEREAS, in celebrating the American Public Works Association's 2022 theme of Ready and Resilient, we recognize the employees of Denver's Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, Dottie, who are always ready to serve their communities and resilient amid change or a new challenge. And. Whereas, one challenge being the recent pandemic, we want to acknowledge the work that Torrey employees performed throughout the public health crisis and thank the staff who couldn't work from home and who came in to work every day to keep our city clean and make our streets safer. And. Whereas, Dottie continues to deliver high quality and cost effective services to the city's residents and manage and maintain the public infrastructure to improve quality of life in our city. And. Whereas, the Department focuses on continuous improvement, implementing new trash collection routes to improve efficiency, developing and implementing innovative tools for equitable delivery of projects and accelerating the implementation of bike lanes and bus lanes that make travel by alternative modes easier and better. And. Whereas, the Department keeps the city's infrastructure in a state of good repair, including streets, bridges, traffic signals and signage and enhances Denver's air. And. Water quality through street sweeping and the installation of green infrastructure and improved. Stormwater. Infrastructure to reduce flood risks and protect life and property. And. Whereas. The Department is overseeing the delivery of projects that support a strong economy and put people to work, including the voter approved Elevate Denver bond projects and the expansion of the Colorado Convention Center and renovation of the 16th Street Mall. And. WHEREAS, The Council specifically recognizes and congratulate the employees of the year for 2021 for their achievements. Bossier Commence Project Delivery Administration Infrastructure. Mike Harmon Project Delivery Administration Transportation Micaela Martinez Finance and Administration Cathie Tongue Accounting Richard Court Fleet Management. Lawrence Garcia Right of Way Enforcement. Mike Sazerac Right of Way Services. Anthony Aragon Office of Community and Business Engagement. Darrel Herter Junior Solid Waste Management. Deshawn Mayberry Street Maintenance. Scott Burton Transportation Operations. Paula Stokes Wastewater Management. Special Recognition goes to Juan Esparza for winning National Waste and Recycling Association Driver of the Year. Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Council of the City and County of Denver, Section one that the Council designates the week of May 15 through May 21, 2022, as Public Works Week in Denver and congratulate studies 2021 and. Boys of the Year for their outstanding contributions to the department and the city in Section two. But the Clerk of the city and county of Denver shall attest and affixed to seal of the city and county of Denver to this proclamation, and that copies hereof be forwarded to Denver Public Works and the ten public works employees listed above. Thank you. Council Member Cashman, your motion to adopt? Yes, ma'am. I moved the proclamation 22 days, 0578 be adopted. Thank you. It has been moved and seconded comments by members of council. And we're going to call, I believe, on Council Member Torres first. That was my audio working. Can you hear me? Yes. Thank you so much. Thank you, Councilman Cashman, for your assist tonight. I was honored to be asked to sponsor this proclamation. And really, I think given the past several years that we have experienced, our team has really stepped up. We cannot function as a city without every single member of this agency. They're essential and valued. Thank you all. And I'm happy to support you and to recognize the 2021 employees of the Year. Thank you all so much for your hard work. Thank you, Counsel Pro Tem Torres. And we're going to go ahead and turn it over to Councilman Cashman since he had the the reading duties next to comment. And then we'll go to other members. Thank you, Madam President. There's I can't imagine any other department that touches. More Denver. Lives than the Department of Transportation Infrastructure. Just looking at this list of the people who who won were recognized and the areas that they work in. We've heard tonight and public comment about the need to improve our sidewalks. That's that's Dotty. They pay for our roads. They pick up our solid waste. They are involved with drainage projects. I mean, you could go on and on all day long. Body touches every family every week in some way or another. And so I just joined. Councilwoman Torres, thank her for bringing this forward. Thank you. Not just the winners, but all the employees of the Department of Transportation Infrastructure for what they do for us every day. That's all. Thank you, Madam President. Thank you, Councilman. Councilman. Councilmember Flynn. Thank you, Madam President. Through a little bit of serendipity, I had occasion to call an acquaintance that I was trying to get some information from. And when I was talking to him, he told me that he was at the at this national convention or conference of waste and recycling operators. And I don't know what city it was in. I didn't ask what they dropped out of the window instead of water balloons. But he told me that he had just attended the ceremony where Juan Esparza received his award. And I thought that is really remarkable for one of Denver's drivers to win this national award and just representative of the entire solid waste crew. I know that they've had a rough time through the pandemic, Mayor. They've had a hard time keeping up with the demand in the schedule, and I salute every one of them when I happen to be at my house. When the recycling or the trash truck comes through the cul de sac, I always go out and thank them for the hard work they've been doing under very difficult circumstances. But it's recognition that's well-earned and overdue. So with that, thank you, Madam President. Thank you, Councilmember Flynn. Councilmember Black. Thank you, Madam President. I will be brief. I just want to thank every single one of you. I appreciate all of you and everything you do. And so to my constituents. Thank you. Councilmember Canete. I would just like to add my congratulations to our driver of the year. And if there is ever the term everyday hero, I would apply it to this department, not just to those who do solid waste as it may be large in number, but those who do transportation and all the other pieces of the safety net work , safety, sanitation. My dad worked in the sewer business and he had a saying I can't repeat on air, but the community would be, you know, buried. And you know what? If it weren't for the folks who do our infrastructure? And so I also just want to add a little kudos for a particular example of going above and beyond. Two weeks ago, on a Friday night at 410, a neighborhood in Central Park had an illegal dumping incident that blocked access to their alley. It was an incredible quantity of bizarre items. I, i i'm sure you've all seen way more than I have. I could not explain this particular dumping incident and what motivated it. Or. How it precipitated. But at 415 on a Friday, I was able to get through and the team cleaned it up in time for people to be able to access their homes that evening. The residents were incredibly grateful. I'm privileged to just be able to know how to reach you all, to be able to activate that system. I know you do that often for folks who call 311 or find you in other ways. I've heard those stories, so I know I'm not the only one who's been able to access those kinds of responses in an emergency. Just an example of going above and beyond. So thank you so much and thank you for bringing this forward. Councilwoman Torres. Thank you, Councilwoman Kenney. Councilwoman Ortega. Thank you. Madam President. I also wanted to. Make a few. Comments recognizing the individuals who were named earlier in this proclamation. I won't take the time to read them again, but I know most of you are here in the audience tonight and just want to extend my gratitude and appreciation. I know you don't always hear from people when you're doing a good job. You do hear from them when their trash doesn't get picked up or a stop sign gets knocked down and doesn't get replaced right away. But you all do important work for our city, and I know that the residents do truly appreciate the work you do. You may not hear from them all the time. I know I do. When I'm out and about in the community and people talk about our agencies and the services that they receive. But for each one of you, I know you reflect the work that's done by all of our men and women who work within the department . And you're reflective of the hard work that each one of them do for our city. Day in and day out. So much, much praise and appreciation for your work. Thank you. Thank you. Councilmember Ortega and I will go ahead and add in that we are very, very grateful to our dotty folks. They really did keep the city running during a very tough time. But they also have in my time in office really improved how they listen to the community and how they actually get out and walk in the area that we might need to look at a little bit closer and work on education and work on making sure that people are heard. And that's so important, especially now in our neighborhoods when people are struggling and the cost of living and inflation is so high. And it means a lot when we can make infrastructure improvements that improves people's day to day lives. It makes you a little bit happier when you come home, when you can get in and out of your neighborhood in an easy way and you feel like you're getting those amenities that you're seeing in other parts of the neighborhood or the community. And so really appreciate our dotty folks and and wholeheartedly support this proclamation. Madam Secretary, Roll Call Torres. Cashman I. Black. I. CdeBaca I Clark. I. Flynn. I. Hinds II. Kenny Ortega, I. Sandoval Oops. Allergies. Sawyer. I. Madam President. I. Madam Secretary, close the voting and announce the results. 11 Eyes. 11 Eyes Proclamation 20 2-5 78 has been adopted. We have 5 minutes for the proclamation, acceptance and Councilmember Cashman, who would you like to bring up? Well, it's as much a mystery to me as to you. I'm hoping someone from our find daddy staff. I see Executive Director Adam Phipps. Thank you, Councilman. And thank you, Councilwoman Torres and council president and council tonight. I'll be very brief here. It's my humble ability to be able to accept this on behalf of an incredible department. We have, when fully staffed, 1500 dedicated employees that serve the residents of the city and county of Denver and those who visit, work and play here on a daily basis. You know, the theme for Public Works this year is ready and resilient. We have a team that throughout the pandemic, more than two thirds came in every single day to provide the critical service that our community needs. I can't think of a more ready staff. And as far as resiliency goes. We had an incredibly intense snow season this year. We had 13 weeks of constant deployment. That's 24 hour coverage time away from family time, away from friends time away from hobbies that our team came in with unprecedented short staffing levels to ensure that our roadways were clear. We are ready and we are resilient and I am honored to be able to lead what an incredible and talented. Group of people. I do want to take just a moment while I've got the microphone here to mention safety, safety for our traveling public as well as safety for our employees. Our our commitment and desire to serve at times can come ahead of safety. And we're working to make sure that everything that we do in Denver and how we do it is at the safest standard possible. We ask everybody and I ask those listening online tonight for the ability to slow down. When you see our workers out on a construction zone, slow down when you travel around a solid waste truck doing its or performing its route, slow down when you see a pedestrian or bikeway or bike rider at a bikeway. And please put safety top of mind. And to the council members here, I thank you for the unanimous support of our department. We feel it not only tonight, but every single day that we're doing our job. And we appreciate that. And ask anybody that if you see a dotty employee, think that dotty employee recognize them for the hard work that they do every day. It's what I try to do. Where I strive to lead on a daily basis is recognizing that talent and appreciating everyone for their individual contribution. So with that Council President, thank you. Thank you. We appreciate it. And as a final plug for Dotty, they are also hiring. And so I would say, if you are interested in joining this great, amazing dynamic team, go to Denver gov dot org and look for some of the mini jobs that they are currently hiring for as well. So thank you, Director Phipps and I see Councilman Cashman. Yeah, I'm. Just wondering if we have any of the other winners whose names were mentioned, if they're in the audience, if they could stand up and be recognized. Councilman, we do have a handful and specifically. Directed to recognize that superior national driver as well. So please stand up to any of the non employees as well as our. Thank you, Councilman. All right. Thank you. I love it when we can have a celebration and then we can keep it going by recognizing people. And so congratulations again for your important work. All right. We're going to go ahead and move on to our bills for introduction.