A day before the declaration was set to expire, the Denver City Council debated and then voted to extend an emergency declaration that Mayor Mike Johnston issued to jumpstart his homelessness program.

The decision came on the heels of new estimates that show the metro Denver region saw a 32% increase in homelessness in 2023.

Multiple councilmembers said Denver’s homelessness crisis has long been at an emergency point and is a top priority for their constituents, who want to see homeless residents find safe housing.

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The emergency declaration was extended until Aug. 21 following the council’s Monday vote. The city council will then consider another extension.

Johnston issued the emergency declaration on July 18, his first full day in office. During the campaign, he vowed to end homelessness by the end of his first term and, once in office, he promised to house at least 1,000 people by year’s end.

The disaster declaration was set to expire on July 25 because state statute requires it receive city council approval to last more than seven days.

District 5 Councilmember Amanda Sawyer lobbied unsuccessfully to postpone the decision by one week, saying the mayor’s office has yet to provide answers to critical questions about all the declaration’s ramifications.

Although Sawyer appreciates “the bold leadership of the new mayor that’s been shown on the issue of homelessness in our city,” the council needs a better understanding of the order’s consequences, she said.

“I don’t feel that it is appropriate for us to be approving something we don’t have the information we need to have in order to approve it,” Sawyer said. “City council is not a rubber stamp for the mayor’s office.”

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Councilmember Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez agreed the council should not rubber stamp Johnston’s decisions, but she added there is an expectation with the declaration that the new administration will make good on its promises to collaborate with the council and community to address homelessness.

“I heard many of my colleagues say tonight that this is an emergency. We know that it has been for some time. This is not new, and I am thankful that we are taking this next step,” she said.

Councilmember Stacie Gilmore also called on Johnston’s administration to better brief the city council about the declaration’s intentions, but she, too, said the issue is too pressing to delay, with the declaration set to expire on Tuesday.

She called for transparency in other forms, too. Discussion about preparing and carrying out the declaration should be done through email so that the public can review that planning process through public records requests, she said to members of the mayor’s administration who attended the meeting.

Councilmember Amanda Sandoval voiced her support of the emergency order, saying it will give the city access to funding for more resources. Extending the declaration is not the same as giving blanket approval of the mayor’s decisions, she had said in response to points raised by Sawyer.

The declaration will send a bold message to the state and federal delegations “that we need help,” Sandoval said.

Councilmember Darrell Watson called the emergency declaration “long overdue,” referencing the recent point-in-time estimates for the number of unsheltered homeless in Denver. That number, which counts the number of people who sleep in public spaces, grew by 33% between 2022 and 2023 from 2,078 to 2,763.

Denver metro homelessness up 32% in 2023

The seven-county region saw a 32% jump in homelessness this year, based on the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative count. Point-in-time counts are estimates taken on a single night and are understood as undercounting the true scale of homelessness in a community.

“We must take decisive action and this emergency declaration is the right first step,” Watson said.

Luige Del Puerto contributed to this report.