Elections Division Approves “Let’s Do Better” Initiative for November Ballot
By Robert Davis
Last week, the Denver Elections Division (DED) approved a ballot initiative that asks Denver voters to create a pathway to privately enforce the City’s urban camping ban. It will appear on the ballot for the election on November 2, 2021.
Photo: Tiffany Tertipes/Unsplash
Known as “Let’s Do Better,” the initiative is asking voters to create an ordinance that will allow property owners to sue the City if it fails to clean up a homeless encampment within 72 hours of notice. It also would require the City to provide no more than four safe outdoor spaces within the city and that each space includes running water, restroom facilities, and lighting, all of which must be paid for by city tax revenues.
The initiative describes homelessness in Denver as a “public health emergency” that must be “restricted to areas that have these basic facilities to support overnight stays in order to protect [the] public health and safety of all Denver residents.”
The Denver VOICE previously reported that the initiative is being funded by a dark money group, called “Defend Colorado,” that made its name protesting proposed oil and gas regulations in 2019. To date, the group has donated over $100,000 to the campaign which has primarily been used for canvassing, according to campaign finance records.
Records from the Secretary of State’s office show the nonprofit group is controlled by a lobbyist who also works for three other organizations that have donated to all three of Mayor Michael Hancock’s election campaigns. Those groups are Metro Housing Coalition, the Apartment Association of Metro Denver, and Colorado Concern, a pro-business advocacy group.
All three groups combined to donate $10,000 to Hancock’s election campaign in 2011. Since then, the groups have donated a total of $13,000 to the mayor’s campaigns, according to DED records.
“Its only result will be the increased criminalization of our homeless community,” Dunning told the Denver VOICE in a statement. “It makes poverty a crime.”
Benjamin Dunning, who works with Denver Homeless Out Loud, a street outreach organization, says the initiative is “very poor policy.” “Its only result will be the increased criminalization of our homeless community,” Dunning told the Denver VOICE in a statement. “It makes poverty a crime.”
It is unclear how the initiative will progress following Denver’s announcement that it is forming a Street Enforcement Team (SET) to enforce the city’s quality of life ordinances. The Denver VOICE reached out to “Let’s Do Better” for comment but did not receive one by press time.
The six-person enforcement team will be unarmed and cannot make arrests, but are permitted to issue citations. Team members are not required to have a background in crisis management or a related field. According to a job posting from the city, applicants only need to have one year of customer service experience to apply. Once they are hired, team members will receive training from various city agencies, including the City Attorney’s Office.
SET is currently authorized to operate until the end of the year, according to the Department of Public Safety.