A proclamation recognizing the Denver Women Commission’s unveiling of their year-long assessment: Windows into Denver’s Women and Girls. A proclamation recognizing the Denver Women Commission’s unveiling of their year-long assessment: Windows into Denver’s Women and Girls.
Congratulations. That's really great. We look forward to folding of the plan. Well, we do have another proclamation, and I'll call on Councilman Brooks to recap. Proclamation number 176. Thank you, Madam President. And because I'm so inspired by Jose, I'm going to read this poetically recognizing Denver. And I'm just thankful that that was really good. Proclamation number 176, recognizing Denver's women commission's unveiling their year long assessment windows into Denver's Women and girls. Whereas on March 11th, 1985, Denver City Council adopted an ordinance creating Denver's Women's Commission as the result of the March 20th, 1984 forum on women's issues attended by more than 300 Denver women. And. Whereas, in 1986, the Commission issued a report on the status of Denver women and girls. And. Whereas, since the time of the Commission, it has added as voices to Denver women to public policy debates through information, civic engagement, and by creating awareness of women's related initiatives, thereby becoming recognized statewide, statewide as an advocate on women issues. And. Whereas, in the fall of 2012, the Commission decided to assess the document. The critical issues facing Denver women and girls selecting three subject matter priorities, including the mayor's budget priorities, which is jobs, education, youth and safety, safety net. And. WHEREAS, the intent of the assessment was to create a long term, relevant blueprint for which the Commission would identify and prioritize issues and relevant activities to effectively advocate on behalf of Denver women and girls. And. WHEREAS, the assessment was created with the assistance of various Denver agencies and departments and included a one day hearing on May 10th, 2013 at which 19 different Denver organizations testified. And. WHEREAS, The assessment also creates many opportunities for the Commission to fulfill the mission through the role of Convener, by bringing together relevant city entities, community organizations, groups within the community to methodically implement and progressive women's agenda based upon the needs of the community. Full time employees and those city agencies and their women were underrepresented. Number two, appointing more female county court judges. Number three, housing, including adopting and implementing the recommendations of the Task Force on Homelessness. Number four, analyzing the status of and to attract retain female DIA concessionaires. Number five, transport issue transportation issues. Number six, education, particularly the intersection of poverty and teen pregnancy in those parts of the city the city identified in the assessment and. Whereas at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, March 4th, I hope you guys are there. 2014 The Denver Women's Commission is formally unveiling its assessment assessment windows into the Denver women and girls, and at that event, the writ in the rotunda of the city and county building with speakers, including the Mayor Michael Hancock, and a summary of the key findings. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the county, the Council of the City and County of Denver. Her section wanted the city and county. The City Council hereby recognizes Denver's women commit commissions for their work on behalf of Denver women and girls and looks forward to utilizing the assessment as a resource in coordination with the Commission to identify and prioritize issues to improve the lives of different women and girls. Section two that the Clerk of the city and County of Denver shall attest and affixed the seal on the city and county Denver to this proclamation that a copy be transmitted to the Denver Women's Commission. Thank you, Councilman Brooks. Your motion to adopt. Yes, Madam President. I move that proclamation 176 to be adopted. It has been moved and seconded. Comments by counsel. Councilman Brooks. Yeah, thank you, Madam President. It is a distinct honor and privilege to be able to bring this proclamation forward. As you can see, I am not a woman, but I am an incredible advocate for women in the city of Denver, social opportunities, political opportunities, and also employment. You know, I tell the story that my all the women in my family, about seven of them all have masters, degrees and PhDs. And all the men are just grunt workers. And and so I come from you know, I come from a family of strong, strong women. And so I'm so excited to to present this proclamation. We had the opportunity to have the Women's Commission come to our Health and Safety Committee. And it was just extraordinary to see that the individuals first. What most people don't understand is that folks on our commission do not get paid. These are all volunteers. These are all individuals who have an incredible passion and a vision for our city. And this assessment that was put together, which I just encourage each of council folks up here and also folks in the audience to take a look through it. It is exhaustive and it is well done. And, you know, one of the things that I thought about, I was like, there is a lot of sweat equity in this document as they began to talk about all the different agencies and cross-references and cross tabs that they had to do to get the information just right. I was just blown away. And so I'm excited to celebrate the Women's Commission, but more importantly, celebrate the women in Denver, because this is groundbreaking material that are going to provide opportunities for a lot of individuals, including my two sweet daughters, Kaia in Kenya. And Kaia is two and Kenya is four. And she has no idea the hard work that these individuals in the Women's Commission have put together to bring out this document. So I wanted to congratulate the Women's Commission and on behalf of city council, say job well done. And just point out there is this is my favorite page in here and it's page nine. And it it really goes through, you know, basic information and every agency in the city. How many female employees do we have and how many male employees do we have? And in some agencies, we are killing it, doing a great job with city attorneys. That just kind of shocked me. And then some we need a lot more work. And so this assessment really shows us where to put our focus and more importantly, where to put the the Women's Commission, make sure that they are focusing on the issues that the data show. So thank you so much. Thank you. Councilman Brooks. Councilwoman Sheppard. Thank you, Madam President. I, too, would like to add my name to the record as a sponsor for this proclamation and also offer my hearty congratulations to the hard work of the Denver's Women's Commission on this very substantive and comprehensive. Assessment of women's issues in Denver. I grew up in a working poor family. In the South with a. Mother who worked at an entry level job and was basically the head of our household, you know? And then, you know, later in my life when I lived in Denver and I was single for such a long time and I struggled so much to always, you know, try to get ahead in this city. Like, I feel like so much of the work that you focus on and, you know, I've lived most of it, you know, and when I actually was in college and I started studying women's issues and eventually became a. Minor in women's studies and all these pieces of the puzzle, you know, started fitting. Together in my head. I really developed. A passion around these issues and. Trying to, you know, really help lift up women in our community and to push these issues ahead. So, you know, I'm just very thankful for you all being engaged and. Participating in our community. And, you know, what is a. Group without its members and leadership. And I was so welcome, so glad to welcome you all. To District One when you held your first community women's meeting. And I looked around that room and I realized that I knew at least half of the women that were on that board because I had worked with them in some capacity or the other. And I could attest to the talent and the passion and the energy of that group. So you've got a great group working together on this issue, and I just want to throw kudos out to Kim Desmond for her, you know, exemplary leadership as well, because, you know, I know you've had a lot to do with helping make sure this happens. So congratulations. And I'm very happy to celebrate. With you all and looking forward to your recommendations on, you know, how council specifically can help you move some of those issues forward. Thank you. Councilwoman Sheppard, Councilwoman Kennish. Thank you, Madam President. Just to thread together both of our proclamations and the Oscars, because who can resist. Waiting to hear? You know. I yeah, I was walking to the luncheon the arts and venues cultural plan luncheon today through the convention center. And I don't know if anyone else walked through the building, but it was filled with men, just thousands and thousands of men in corners and on computers. And it was the physics conference, and they were men from across the world. And and it struck me there were a few women. And it's one of those moments where you start to think, perhaps we have not yet totally finished the work that we have to do. And so sometimes we get asked the question, why? You know, why focus on this. You have so many women up here on this council. And but but, you know, walking through an experience like that and thinking about the acceptance speech. Right. Of our of our of our lead actress last night and saying, you know, it's still women. Women can be the prime time attraction, right. In the arts. And but yet they're still struggling to convince those who invest in the arts. And so I think that really it's a really important thing that the plan that you've put out is very actionable. And I think that's also something that's great about the cultural planning. You know, we talk about what are these things, where are they going to go, are they going to sit on shelves? But what I think is great about both of them is they have these really concrete suggestions. Right. You know, women need to be able to afford to live in the city and they're struggling with that. Or, you know, artists have a hard time affording to live in the city. There's so many interesting things in there that we can address and childcare, access and all of the things you touch on. So so I want to say that I'm very excited that we haven't yet decided that the work is done here. It may look differently than it did for our predecessors and the women whose shoulders that we stand on. But clearly, you know, the torch is being carried forward to continue even in the subtler ways that these challenges occur. And I appreciate that and I support it. And, you know, I dedicate myself to help in any way I can to help carry these issues forward. So thank you for your work. Thank you. Councilwoman can reach Councilwoman Monteiro. Thank thank you, Madam President. I want to thank Councilman Brooks for your sponsorship of this proclamation and to the Denver Women's Council. Just a few quick facts. Women comprise 390 591,000, about 49% of the total population or half of Denver residents. The median age for females in Denver is 33.9. Nearly a third of Denver's female population, 78,819, is under the age of 21. I have a 14 year old daughter. The Denver area neighborhoods with the highest percentage of women all ages living in poverty include Sun Valley, which is 67%. Valverde, which is 49%. Llama Lincoln Park 42%. Westwood 38%. And College View South Platte 37%. So what I want to say is this assessment is long overdue and I want to thank you very much for doing it. The women, the windows in Denver, women and girls. In order to identify the priority issues and the relevant activities that will generate discussion and action for women. This yearlong assessment effort will pay off when a clear direction based on the realities of where the assessment is focused and aligned by all the city agencies and community organizations. I want to tell you, practically speaking, how this assessment helps me. Three of the five neighborhoods with the highest number of women that are living in poverty are in my district, Sun Valley, against 67%, Valverde, 49, and Lama Lincoln Park, 42. So these findings and future opportunity for Action and Commission work are relevant and timely. The topics of jobs, education, youth safety and the safety net are all critical in bringing our women out of poverty and leveling the playing field for women overall. So I want to thank you very, very much. I sat on the Women's Commission a long time ago, and we were always trying to figure out how do we get our arms around the women that live in the city of Denver? So this is a remarkable assessment. And I want to thank you very much. Thank you, Councilwoman Monteiro. And it looks like it's time for a roll call. Brooks Hi. Brown I. Thought. I. Herndon. I can each i. Lehman, I. Lopez Hi. Monteiro Hi. Ortega Hi. Rob. Hi. Sheppard Hi, Adam. President Hi, Mr. Secretary. Please close the voting and announce the results. Supervisor In 12 eyes, the proclamation is adopted. Councilman Brooks, is there somebody you would like to call up to the podium to receive the proclamation? There sure is. There's a lot of folks here, but I'm called McKenzie Ruby Squash and she can call up anybody else that she wants to. Thank you, Councilman Brooks. And I would like to ask the commissioners that are present today and Kim Desmond to also join me up here. This certainly was a labor of love and could not have been done without our entire commission. So just a small representation here with Jessica Schiavo and Kimberly Desmond. And first, would love to start off by thanking all of you for your support. Councilman Brooks touched on six areas that we have brought forward to the mayor, and I'm sure he'll be leaning on all of you as well to help encourage more women to be concessionaires at DIA, to help bring up the number of women who are working in our city government to look at the women we are appointing as judges and many other areas that we can touch on. I had to laugh when we started researching the commission. The commission and I are actually the exact same age of so 1985 great year and being born to an amazing feminist. I've been very aware of how we have and have not changed in the 29 years that have gone by. And I think one of the things that I would really like to recognize today is what a wonderful city Denver is and how far women can come. And what a wonderful picture you all paint of that. This is an incredibly diverse council and I have no doubt that in 1985 it looked very different. So it's exciting to be able to lead by example through our council and show what diversity can do to make a world class city. Again, I would like to really mirror the words of Councilman Brooks and invite you all to our party and unveiling tomorrow, 5 to 7 in the rotunda. So the first thing you could do is come and support us there. And then lastly, as has been mentioned by several of you, we have taken our meetings into the community and we started off by going with the different organizations that supported us at the hearing for this assessment. And so that's really how we've chosen our initial list. But going forward, we'd like to be very thoughtful and ensure that our 12 meetings of year are held in different districts throughout the city, and we would invite you to come join us for those. We would also invite you to bring forward issues that you may be working on that greatly impact the Denver women and girls so that we can help build our agenda around that. And so those are some of the concrete things we would ask for in your support of this assessment. Again, thank you all so much. We greatly appreciate it. And of course, a great thanks to our commissioners and to Ken, who have done so much. Thank you very much and congratulations. Two great proclamations. Okay. And moving on. Let's do resolutions. Mr. Secretary, would you please read the resolutions.