A train heads northbound near recent developments in Riverfront Park and the Central Platte Valley in 2014. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)
For the first time since he took office in 2011, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock is weighing how to respond to a formal budget amendment passed by the City Council.
The council approved an amendment 7-5 Monday night to add $250,000 for a rail safety study to the city’s proposed $1.8 billion operating budget for 2016. The money would be earmarked for the evaluation of risks associated with the transport of hazardous materials along the city’s heavy rail corridors, especially near neighborhoods, and the recommendation of prevention and preparedness plans.
Denver City Councilwoman Debbie Ortega. (Campaign photo)
At-large member Debbie Ortega has pushed for action on the issue for months and is concerned about areas such as the Central Platte Valley that have had residential development occur near rail lines in recent years. But last month, Hancock for the study and spending as part of his response to several budget change requests.
In taking the unusual step of passing an amendment Monday, the council is forcing Hancock to consider paying for the study again. Under charter rules for the budget process, though, Monday’s vote falls short of the two-thirds majority that would be needed to override a rejection by Hancock. That could render the amendment vote a symbolic gesture.
The deadline to accept or reject it is Friday, and Hancock spokeswoman Amber Miller said he would make a decision by then.
Previous mayors have dealt with council budget amendments. Under Hancock, the mayor and council members have conferred each fall via informal requests for changes to his annual budget proposal, with Hancock often granting them but sometimes turning down others in whole or in part.
The council hasn’t pushed further — until Monday.
In fact, the council deadlocked on a second proposed amendment that took issue with another request that Hancock had not embraced. In response to new Councilman Kevin Flynn’s earlier request to increase the number of planned police recruits next year from 44 to 100, Hancock said he first wanted to form a working group to develop a long-term police staffing plan. He set aside $1.5 million in a contingency fund for a potential increase, depending on the group’s recommendations.
But Flynn said Monday that that wasn’t good enough, arguing the need for more police officers was clear. His amendment, which garnered a failing 6-6 vote, would have forced the phased hiring of 45 additional officers by the end of 2016. Joining him in voting yes were Rafael Espinoza, Paul Kashmann, Paul Lopez, Wayne New and Ortega.
The council also initially deadlocked 6-6 on Ortega’s amendment, resulting in its failure. In that version, she assigned specific tasks related to rail safety to a new emergency management coordinator and a new fire captain.
During the debate, Ortega pressed her colleagues to pass the amendment to call attention to the issue, and several agreed that the city should take the potential of a rail disaster — and the impact on people living or attending big events nearby — more seriously.
But without the needed votes, Councilwoman Robin Kniech suggested a slimmed-down option calling for the study, possibly to be done by a consultant, rather than dictating the hiring of new staff to do it. Kniech provided the needed seventh vote for approval of the new version of the amendment.
Besides Ortega, the others voting yes were Espinoza, Flynn, Kashmann, Lopez and New.
The passed amendment asks for a report to the council by Jan. 1, 2017. The amendment, if accepted by Hancock, would “increase Emergency Management and Homeland Security expenditures in the amount of $250,000 for consulting services related to the evaluation and development of mitigation and evacuation planning associated with railway management.”
The council is set to take a final vote to adopt the 2016 budget next Monday.
