Denver council delays receipt of $38.6 million from FEMA

Two Denver City Council members denied the Hancock administration’s request to add a last-minute item to the council agenda Monday — perhaps delaying receipt of millions in federal cash to the city by a week — in a move an administration official called a protest vote.

Earlier this month the Federal Emergency Management Agency sent $38.6 million to the Colorado Department of Public Safety to be allocated among the City and County of Denver, Denver Health and Hospital Authority, and Denver International Airport to aid their responses to the coronavirus pandemic.

But for the city to accept that money, the council must first approve a resolution for the grant agreement with the state. That grant agreement was sent to council members to review with less than the required 24-hour notice for meeting agenda items.

Council can circumvent that 24-hour requirement with a unanimous vote to suspend its own rules, but in the meeting Councilman Chris Hinds voiced concerns both about the grant agreement and other issues.

Among those other issues: a recent CBS4 report that Denver Health Medical Center awarded executives bonuses of up to $230,000 just a week after frontline hospital workers were asked to take unpaid leave or reduce their hours as the hospital faces financial shortfalls because of the pandemic. Last week the councilman called the bonuses “disgraceful.”

In a text message Monday evening, Hancock spokesperson Theresa Marchetta characterized Hind’s action on the FEMA agreement as a protest vote, but the councilman disagreed and said he wanted to do his due diligence for the issue at hand.

First, the grant itself was more than 70 pages long and contained multiple errors, Hinds said. Second, he had questions about how the agreement would operate and how the money would be allocated.

“Our job on council is to scrutinize contracts. Our job is to make sure that we have three full branches of government,” Hinds told The Denver Post. “We should at least be able to read the stuff that we’re voting on.”

City officials reportedly learned of the grant on April 21 but didn’t send the language to the council until Sunday morning, Hinds said.

“It took (city staff) five days to get through it to get it to us and now they expect us to do it with a fifth of the time and far fewer resources?” he asked.

Councilwoman Candi CdeBaca also voted against allowing an immediate vote on the FEMA agreement.

Council can vote on accepting the grant next week.