Monday’s Denver City Council meeting was lonely and short.
Council President Chris Herndon gaveled the meeting to order, looking at empty seats to his left and right — all but the one occupied by member Kevin Flynn. Both men rose and recited the Pledge of Allegiance. And after a mostly answerless roll call, Herndon declared that the body had too few members present to have its regular weekly meeting. Why? Ten of the 13 members were in New York City through Tuesday for the Downtown Denver Partnership’s annual trip.
The larger-than-normal council contingent joined the trip to Brooklyn as part of a program that aims to learn about “the successes of other downtowns throughout the country.” While Herndon (along with Flynn and Robin Kniech, who didn’t attend the perfunctory meeting Monday) is back in Denver, here is some Twitter evidence of what the majority of the council was up to Monday:
City Council takes on Brooklyn
— Albus Brooks (@AlbusBrooks)
When the full council convenes next, on June 13, its penance will be what’s expected to be a mega-meeting. Two controversial items are on the agenda: two proposals to in residential neighborhoods, with a required public hearing that could last hours; and to pay for big projects. That matter is scheduled for a courtesy public hearing capped at one hour.
The council normally would have skipped meeting last week, too, because of Memorial Day. But because council members anticipated the lack of a quorum this week, they had a special meeting last Tuesday night to avert a logjam from building up.
It’s rare for the council to lack its seven-member quorum because council members typically treat the position, which , as a full-time job.
The partnership’s trip last year, with a handful of council members joining. But this is the first trip since a majority of the council turned over in mid-2015.
The previous host cities for the program, going back to 2008, were Seattle; Toronto; Chicago; Philadelphia; Vancouver, British Columbia; Washington; and Portland, Ore. Along with council members, dozens of people typically join the trip, including city officials, business leaders, and other “public and private sector stakeholders” from the corporate-friendly partnership.
Exploring retail startup culture w/. . How can we bring more/new retail concepts?
— Downtown Denver Partnership (@DENPartnership)
This year’s group numbers 123, plus 11 partnership staff members providing trip support, said Downtown Denver Partnership spokeswoman Brea Olson. The three-day program officially started Sunday.
𱹱, including some that do business with or lobby the city and other governments in Colorado, including “host sponsor” AECOM, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck and CRL Associates. Olson said the sponsors augment the costs, but attendees each pay a fee to join, while the partnership offers scholarships to enable some city employees to attend.
A few more moments from the trip, as tweeted by Denver council members:
DUMBO in Brooklyn, NYC. Mnhttn, and Bklyn Bridge in View.
— Paul D. López (@PaulLopez5280)
Beautiful night in with
— Councilmember Stacie Gilmore (@SGilmoreDist11)
The crew ran into . We feel honored. He told us to support @BennetForCO
— Albus Brooks (@AlbusBrooks)