Denver City Council members agreed Monday to spend $2.5 million more on child care and outreach to the homeless after debating whether it was fiscal folly or compassionate.
Councilwoman Carol Boigon and Mayor John Hickenlooper worked on the plan to use contingency funds to shore up the city’s Department of Human Services, which slashed programs this year to close a budget gap. If the proposal gets final approval next week, the city will have $14.3 million left for contingencies.
The city has another reserve fund of $118 million for emergencies.
The council granted initial approval over the objections of council members Charlie Brown and Jeanne Faatz, who stressed that plunging sales-tax revenues have forced the city to cut $56 million for services.
In other business, the council:
• Finalized naming rights at the new Justice Center complex. The council approved naming the courthouse after former Judge Benjamin Barr Lindsey, who pioneered a stand alone juvenile court system, and James Flanigan, Denver’s first black district judge.
The council named the detention facility after a former director of corrections, John Simonet, and Philip Van Cise, a district attorney who prosecuted mobsters and the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. It named the jury room in the courthouse after Roger Cisneros, a retired district judge.
• Approved legalizing “sandwich board” signs again — a decision that supporters said will help businesses attract customers. The council also named the plaza after former district attorney Dale Tooley.
• Approved a proclamation honoring community activist Sarah Lee Shelton Foster, who is moving to Texas to live with her grandchildren.
Christopher N. Osher: 303-954-1747 or cosher@denverpost.com
