As of Monday evening, public comment sessions – which are held for a half-hour prior to Denver City Council’s Monday evening legislative meetings – can now be watched on television.  

Councilman Paul Kashmann direct filed the resolution on June 4 to amend the 13-member body’s procedural rules and allow the public’s open-mic time to air on Denver 8 TV. The resolution was approved 12-0 on Monday, with Councilman Chris Herndon, who represents District 8, absent.

“We had been ready to move forward and then COVID hit,” Kashmann, who represents District 6 in south Denver, told Colorado Politics in an email. “Now, as we want to encourage folks who do not need to come to our meetings to watch from the safety of their home, there couldn’t be a better time to begin televising.

“Some members of Council initially felt television was meant so those who elected us could see us in the exercise of the duties we’re charged with fulfilling, and public comment did not fill that bill,” he wrote. “My colleagues have seen the value in providing the time for comment, and in these COVID times, letting folks hear their neighbors’ thoughts, without having to pack Council Chambers.”

Since Kashmann was first elected in 2015, he has worked to make it easier for community to be heard by council members, and for community to be heard by each other.

In 2016, he passed a resolution that required the public be handed the mic for 30 minutes once a month to talk about any city-related topic, with each speaker given three minutes. The following year, the council added a second public comment period to its monthly calendar.

Kashmann took another step earlier this year to improve accessibility by making the public hearings weekly, now occurring before every council meeting.  

Denver City Council spokesperson Stacy Simonet said that Kashmann’s latest changes to council’s rules of procedure make sense, especially considering current events.

“Times have changed,” she said.

Monday evening’s public comment session drew in roughly a hundred people, she said, all of whom showed up to listen or talk directly to council members about defunding or abolishing the Denver Police Department in light of its controversial response to George Floyd protesters.

Council President Jolon Clark allowed for all speakers to be heard if they wished to be, resulting in more than two hours of public outrage. 

City Council chambers currently only have seating for about 22 people due to social distancing requirements related to the coronavirus, Simonet said, so most of those who showed up Monday night had to sit in the overflow room or stand in the hallway.

“It would have been nice to be able to let them watch the public comment session that they were there for,” she said in a phone interview early Tuesday afternoon. “There are a lot of reasons that make the timing right for us to move in this direction.”

On June 4, during a special meeting that had been rescheduled due to violent clashes between police and protesters, Denver City Council bent the rules and resumed its general public comment sessions for the first time since they were suspended because of the coronavirus.

Dozens showed up to describe their recent violent interactions with police and express frustration, sorrow and anger.

The council, which has unanimously called for an investigation into DPD’s use-of-force tactics, understands right now that “people have very strong emotions about what’s happening in the world,” Simonet said.

“We want to make sure that they have an opportunity to be heard.”

To watch Monday evening’s general public comment sessions, click here.