Maria Fernandez stood at the front of the room in the Sun Valley People Center, ready to make the case for a project.
Gathered across five tables on a recent weeknight, around 20 of her fellow project delegates had parsed through hundreds of ideas submitted by the public that could potentially receive a share of $1 million earmarked by the city to benefit their neighborhoods in west Denver.
Fernandez, 50, presented a project worth $350,000 that, if selected, would improve the Lakewood Gulch Trail by adding signage and other amenities.
“We’re asking for solar lights, benches, picnic tables, trash cans, parking for bicycles, doggie waste bags,” Fernandez said in Spanish through a translator. “The main part is: We’re looking for lighting.”
Residents of seven neighborhoods will soon decide whether that project is among those that will make the final cut for the $1 million program, called the Denver People’s Budget. There’s one sticking point: The money must go toward local infrastructure because the program is funded through the city’s annual budget process, with the investment coming from the capital improvement program.
Early next month, the public will begin voting on 14 prospective projects, with each voter choosing their favorite three on the program’s ballot. The proposals range from more benches at bus stops and safer street intersections to tree planting in parks and cooling system installations at affordable housing developments.
It’s the second time that the city’s program — which uses a “participatory budgeting” approach — has worked with the community to decide where the money will go.
For this round, residents are eligible to participate in the selection process through November if they live in West Colfax, Villa Park, Sun Valley, Barnum, Barnum West, Valverde or Westwood.
Kiki Turner, the program administrator for the Denver People’s Budget, described the process as one in which a municipality allocates a portion of taxpayer dollars directly to the people, who then decide how to spend that money.
“Participatory budgeting is actually a very new concept in the grand scheme of democracy,” Turner said. “Whatever receives the most votes, the city promises to go out and actually construct.”
The city started planning for this initiative in 2018, during former Mayor Michael Hancock’s administration. The program’s first round took place in 2021, and the current cycle launched last fall.
Mayor Mike Johnston has already thrown his support behind a third cycle. The city would invest $2.3 million in the Denver People’s Budget next year as part of his recently unveiled 2025 budget proposal.
“Residents know their neighborhood the best,” Johnston said. “Working directly with Denverites to budget for the neighborhood improvements that they care most about will help ensure we meet the community’s needs and truly deliver great government.”
Sonia Justiniano, left, guesses the price for a proposal presented by Connie Cox, standing second from left, Kathy Ewing and Moriah Rodriguez, right, as they make their presentation to residents during a People’s Budget meeting at Sun Valley People Center in Denver on Sept. 10, 2024. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
Residents involved from start of process
Fernandez, a Villa Park resident, learned about the city initiative through her colleagues. She applied to participate in the program out of a desire to help her community, while “knowing that there’s lots of projects that we need here in Denver,” she said in an interview.
The city’s participatory budgeting process has four phases, and residents can either apply or be nominated to take part. During this cycle, each steering committee member, project delegate and community outreach volunteer — about 40 people in all — is compensated for their time with a $400 gift card.
After the steering committee spent the initial months deciding how voting would work, the city gathered ideas from residents from March through May. Nearly 400 proposals were submitted.
About 20 delegates then worked with city staff members to turn ideas into actual projects, with city agencies providing feedback.
Project delegates — one as young as 14 — considered potential projects at a Sept. 10 meeting before advancing the final list of proposals.
Turner, who led that final meeting at the Sun Valley People Center, encouraged attendees to ask themselves: What’s most important to west Denver?
Denver resident Moriah Rodriguez writes out a proposal on a card to put on a board during a People’s Budget meeting at Sun Valley People Center in Denver on Sept. 10, 2024. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
When it came time for Moriah Rodriguez, 37, to rise from her seat, she told the group about a $75,000 project that would improve Sun Valley’s Behavioral Health Solutions Center, 2929 W. 10th Ave. The facility, which operates 24/7, serves adults suffering from mental health crises and substance use disorders, helping them through recovery.
If chosen by voters, the money would go toward updating safety measures at the building and boosting the center’s capacity to offer medical care. The project specifically would help clients who are deaf or dealing with physical disabilities.
“I see a lot of people that are on drugs, and I think it’s important for everybody to get help,” Rodriguez said. “It’s important for people to get in recovery and succeed in life.”
She first met Turner after hearing her speak at a meeting of the Westwood Community Action Team. Rodriguez serves as its president and soon got involved with the Denver People’s Budget, too.
“People in the community don’t always know about things like this — or know that they have a voice,” Rodriguez said. “It really does make a difference to have residents involved.”
Now, it’s time for neighborhood residents to vote.
The People’s Budget program administrator Kiki Turner, left, helps Christopher Dowdy, center, present a proposal on improving accessibility at playgrounds during a meeting of the People’s Budget at Sun Valley People Center in Denver on Sept. 10, 2024. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
Different focus than first cycle
The city program’s current focus on projects in west Denver differs from the first cycle, when the city initially split its pot of $2 million: Half for neighborhoods in east Denver and the other half to fund projects throughout the city.
About 3,500 people voted, approving nine projects out of about 25 listed on the ballot.
Turner points to three as already complete: a $225,000 project making shower trailers available to people experiencing homelessness in Lincoln Park and Clayton; $200,000 for tiny homes in Elyria-Swansea; and $37,500 for trash cans at parks and along trails in Montbello, Green Valley Ranch and Gateway.
Residents also put $300,000 toward improvements that are under construction at New Freedom Park in the East Colfax neighborhood.
Two of five new tiny homes built for people experiencing homelessness through the Denver People’s Budget program are seen at Beloved Community Village in Denver on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)
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Several projects are still in the design phase, including a $400,000 project for accessible sidewalks in Athmar Park and Ruby Hill and a $362,500 project to install new lights in Green Valley Ranch West Park and Montbello’s Silverman Park.
The accessible sidewalks project was considered “our highest-ranked project of the whole program,” Turner said. It will help solve a problem for people with disabilities and older residents by widening sidewalks in places that are too narrow to roll their wheelchairs.
Turner expressed a hope that the budgeting program would touch every part of the city eventually.
“We would like each neighborhood to have the chance of a little extra funding to put towards their community,” she said. “Our intention is to keep it going, moving across Denver.”
Details on 14 project proposals
Starting next month, west Denver residents in seven neighborhoods will be able to select their top three choices from among these 14 projects, which each propose an infrastructure investment to benefit the community. The kickoff event is set for 4 to 6 p.m. on Oct. 3 at Paco Sánchez Park near West 14th Avenue in the West Colfax neighborhood. Residents, who don’t need to be U.S. citizens to participate, can also access a digital ballot online at denvergov.org/DenverPB.
The project proposals are:
Benches for up to 20 bus stops along west Denver corridors. Cost: $85,000.
Solar lighting along a portion of the Westwood Via Verde trail near a new “Safe Route to School” by Westwood’s Kepner Beacon Middle School. Cost: $280,000.
Safety measures like stop signs and crosswalks at two to four high-risk intersections in west Denver. Cost: $350,000.
A new vehicle that meets the capacity and safety needs of students at Valverde’s Florence Crittenton High School. Cost: $150,000.
Language-inclusive signage and other renovations of a sensory garden at Mar Lee’s Garfield Lake Park. Cost: $425,000.
New picnic tables, public art and other renovations of the Weir Gulch outdoor classroom. Cost: $200,000.
Solar lighting, signage and other additions along the Lakewood Gulch Trail. Cost: $350,000.
Additional trees at seven to 10 parks and trails across west Denver neighborhoods. Cost: $175,000.
Increased access to west Denver community gardens, with a focus on food insecurity and culturally relevant foods. Cost: $200,000.
Increased food access in west Denver through pop-up food markets, mobile food pantries and more. Cost: $300,000.
Access to job training, digital literacy and more through improvements of west Denver community and job-training centers. Cost: $150,000.
Increased youth support through improvements of west Denver youth centers and transportation options. Cost: $200,000.
Safety and service improvements of the Behavioral Health Solutions Center in Sun Valley. Cost: $75,000.
Cooling systems in units and shared spaces in west Denver affordable housing developments. Cost: $150,000.
Source: Denver People’s Budget program.
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